Learning is a courageous endeavor requiring time, dedication and perseverance. Sitting on the sidelines is not permitted. Idly letting someone do the thinking for you is not allowed. Waiting for tomorrow is pointless.
It takes a courageous spirit to engage in a Charlotte Mason narration. My first encounter was at a workshop where we had to participate in an authentic narration. (Narration is the retelling of a passage being read.)
I was too far from the exit to fake an “oh, I’ve got to take this phone call” break.
Terror seized me.
Cold sweat, stop breathing, hope no one is seeing panic attack-type of terror. Sure it sounds easy, just retell what you hear, end of story.
Not true.
Knowing you have to narrate requires your brain to act. No passivity is allowed. We live in a culture of watch this, interact with that and don’t worry-someone else will tell you what you should have remembered. Narration allows no such luxuries.
As a passage of reading is entering your mind-you must rapidly assimilate it, understand it and ponder how you can restate it such that it makes sense.
A narration should be original as it comes from the child––that is, his own mind should have acted upon the matter it has received.
Charlotte Mason’s Original Homeschooling Series vol 1 pg 289
Successful narration requires courage. You have to overcome the fear of looking stupid, the fear that everyone is looking at you, the fear that everyone will find out your mind wanders aimlessly and without control.
I overcame a few of these fears as I mangled sentences together. It was not pleasant. I sounded like a five year old explaining quantum theory using words without vowels. How could I have heard something five seconds ago and yet have no clue what happened?
We practiced another narration. I fought the fears, I raised a battle cry to courage! A visual explosion occurred in my mind.
The result? I can still remember details as I can travel back in time to the scene. I can hear the voices of the characters and feel the humid air as they landed a ship on a new shore. The story remains with me-long lasting learning occurred.
No fill-in-the blank questions or list-five-main points can touch the power of a narration, so, be courageous-narrate!
What are your thoughts/experiences with narration?