Should A Child Read His Typed Narrations Before Exams?

Recently, I had a very thought-provoking email exchange with some other CM mothers regarding the practice of typing narrations and letting the children read them as a means of keeping the stories fresh in their minds and aiding retention. The children were allowed to read these typed narrations at any point during the school term. In our own home we have not allowed the children to read any typed narrations until after the term's exam week has been completed. We also do not allow the children to flip through their school books and read bits and pieces of former readings. One of the mothers asked me to expound on our views in this area, so I did :) I've edited it somewhat, but here is my repsonse:

From the Introduction to Volume 6 (this is the passage that led me to believe that the stories must not be reviewed before exams):

"The quantity set for each lesson allows only of a single reading; but the reading is tested by narration, or by writing on a test passage. When the terminal examination is at hand so much ground has been covered that revision is out of the question (she means review); what the children have read they know, and write on any part of it with ease and fluency, in vigorous English; they usually spell well...

...Has an attempt been made before on a wide scale to secure that scholars should know their books, many pages in many books, at a single reading, in such a way that **months later** they can write freely and accurately on any part of the term's reading?"

It was the "months later" part that stood out to me. I can safely say that Miss Mason definitely discourages reading any passage twice to the children. I would also confidently say that she insists upon a single reading because she wants the children to develop the mental habit of careful attention. In the passage above it also seems very clear to me that Miss Mason intended for that attention to be so complete that it would result in a child's ability to vividly retell a story months after hearing it only one time. This ability was one of the primary habits she emphasized.

In our desire to develop these abilities of attention in our children, it seems wise to ask what may hinder the habit of attention and what may develop that same power to its fullest. Obviously, a child is going to think about a passage after he hears it. He might draw a picture of it in his free time or act it out in his playtime. We do want the child to consider the stories and the readings. We want him to assimilate the knowledge and bring it to bear on his imagination. But, it seems to me that the child should have **one chance to get it into his mind**. Once it's there he may mentally go over and over it and, as Charlotte described, "digest" it, but all of his dealings with knowledge must be stemming from that one, initial exposure to the reading.

If a child has been reading and re-reading a typed out page of his own narration - which is, essentially, a synopsis - of the story, what does that do to his power of attention? When his exams role around is there a chance that he has memorized his first narration to some degree by going over and over it? From page 17 of Volume 6 Miss Mason writes, "For this reason it is important that only one reading should be allowed; efforts to memorise weaken the power of attention, the proper activity of the mind." I know there is no intentional memorizing taking place, but could the child be memorizing unintentionally? Could he actually be narrating his narration at exam time and not the initial reading? Will he be digesting the story *in his mind* as much if he can go back and read a summary of it whenever he wants? Will he be relying solely on his memory and habit of attention when he chews on the material or will he be using a printed summary as a kind of mental "crutch" to keep ideas fresh? These are all hypothetical questions, of course, but they get us thinking about the "why" of the Single Reading Rule and the "how" of fostering a habit of attention in our children.

I'm pleased with the way the children are learning to attend so completely to the readings following this practice of "no review". It never ceases to amaze me. Miss Mason assures us that it's not just a certain kind of child that can do this; every child has it in him. But, if she's convinced me of anything, it's that my own careful attention to her methods and the children's habits is key. We not only have to be purposeful about what we are intentionally doing, but we must also be purposeful about what we are preventing.

I have no idea if these ramblings will be helpful to anyone, but I hope so. These thoughts were on my mind anyway, so I decided to share them :)

Blessings.

Injured Eyeballs and Cheering for Our Children (Copywork: Part Three)

Now, isn't that a catchy title? Gotcha here didn't it? ;)

Last Monday, I posted about "perfect accomplishment" in handwriting. Or, as many of us call it, copywork. I've been evaluating my methods for teaching handwriting throughout the last several weeks, so I thought I'd share a few of my thoughts and more than a few of Charlotte Mason's on the subject. Last week's post considered our standards for our children. Are we letting them get by with less than they can actually do? Having decided that most of us probably are not requiring enough of our children in this area, we had to wonder how to "get" that elusive perfect handwriting from our sweet, little students. (Well, mine are little, anyway.)

In her first volume, Home Education, Miss Mason gives us a few specific tips toward our goal. On page 160, she writes the following:

"A Child should Execute Perfectly. - No work should be given to a child that he cannot execute perfectly, and then perfection should be required of him as a matter of course. For instance, he is set to do a copy of strokes, and is allowed to show a slateful at all sorts of slopes and intervals; his moral sense is vitiated, his eye is injured. Set him six strokes to copy; let him, not bring a slateful, but six perfect strokes at regular distances and at regular slopes."

First off, let's make sure we even know what we've just read! What is all this talk about injured eyes and vitiated something or others? My interpretation is that Miss Mason is saying that we harm the child's sense of right and wrong when we let him get by with sloppy and half-hearted work. I would say that, at best, we lose an opportunity to train the child to value hard work carefully done. It's also just a waste of time, our time and the children's, if all we are doing is letting them learn to make their letters poorly. As far as the injured eye comment goes, Miss Mason is pointing out that the child is somewhat harmed when he is told, either directly or indirectly, that careless and sloppy work is the acceptable standard. His "eye" for beauty is undermined and he is the worse for his poorly done lesson because it was deemed acceptable.

Now that we have that out of the way, I think there is a very key point here in this passage that draws the line between a high standard and pushing a child too hard. The line is drawn with these words: "No work should be given to a child that he cannot execute perfectly". I need to know my children and their abilities as individuals. You need to know your children and their abilities as individuals. Regardless of whether a child tends to be a slow learner or is leaps and bounds beyond her peers, the standard is in relation to that particular child's own abilities. This does not mean that we keep things easy for our children so that they are guaranteed success. No, we are to challenge our child with the highest level of work that he can still do perfectly.

This takes discernment. It's a bit like the little boy who says his tummy aches, but you aren't sure if it really does hurt him or if he's just trying to avoid taking out the trash. Each one of us has to assess where our child's true limit is, not just where that child says it is. He might need gently pushed a bit to challenge his mind and abilities. If he's been accustomed to lazy work, he won't like the new standard at first. But, Miss Mason advises that we are doing our children a great disservice to allow them the habits of a careless work ethic and a careless attitude. Maybe I should write it on my lesson planner - "The little things matter".

So, when you establish the new standard and your child still comes to you that day with a page full of his half-hearted work, what are you to do? Miss Mason is so kind to have written this all out for us, isn't she? ;)

"If he produces a faulty pair, get him to point out the fault, and persevere until he has produced his task; if he does not do it to-day, let him go on to-morrow and the next day, and when the six perfect strokes appear, let it be an occasion of triumph!"

We are on their team, on the same side. We ought to be cheering for them! I know it can be so hard to keep from getting frustrated and tired and annoyed, but we must beg God for grace and discipline ourselves in the habit of being positive with our children. If the day's work is sloppy, Miss Mason says to simply have the child do it again. Actually, no! She says if the day's work is less than perfect have him do it again. Matter-of-factly, not with a sigh and a reproving look of disappointment, just matter-of-factly. "Oh, honey, this is better than last week. You are improving, but I have seen you write these letters more carefully and I know you can do it again today if you try." What if the letters are still not well done and the time for today's lesson is over? Whatever you do, please don't have the child write and write and write until his little arm goes numb. That would be completely defeating the purpose. Miss Mason's instructions here are to, in such a case, let the child try again tomorrow. If the letters are not perfect tomorrow, well then, try the next day! Finally, when the perfect letters do appear (and I love this part), celebrate with him! Not with stickers and a new Webkinz, but with genuine praise and pride in his accomplishment. If we would have our children truly value a job well done, we must show them how earnestly we value the same. See? Handwriting just crossed over into character training.

Isn't it a blessing to be on your child's side?

"So with the little tasks of painting, drawing, or construction he sets himself - let everything he does be done well."

Charlotte Mason Distinctives: What Really Reeled Me In

What are the distinctives of a Charlotte Mason education? What makes the CM method so unique and why are so many homeschoolers choosing this route for their children?

When I first began reading about Charlotte Mason and her educational philosophy, I was already implementing some of her methods unknowingly. For instance, I knew I had a strong preference for using living books instead of textbooks in the areas of history, science, and literature. I had never heard the term "living book", but I knew that there were some wonderfully well written books available for children, and textbooks seemed unnecessarily dull and dry to me. I was interested when I heard there was a whole approach to homeschooling that used nothing but books likes these.

I took my first steps toward CM, and barely even knew it ;)

So, what exactly is a living book? In Miss Mason's third volume, School Education, she illustrates how a child's enjoyment of a book may be one measure of whether or not the book is living: "The children must enjoy the book. The ideas it holds must each make that sudden, delightful impact upon their minds, must cause that intellectual stir, which mark the inception of an idea" (p. 178). Here, I think, we find what we are trying to get at with living books. Impact. Ideas. Intellectual stir. There is no yawning and glum turning of page after page. These books are interesting. The thoughts that they stir up both feed and exercise the young minds of their readers. They must also be challenging, well-written, and able to be narrated. This is what is meant by a "living book".

Before I began reading Charlotte Mason, I was already beginning to see the benefit of short lessons in our home. My older two girls were learning to read early and well by means of just ten minutes a day. They were, similarly, learning to write their letters in just as little time. When I read that Charlotte Mason advocated short lessons for all of the school subjects, I was immediately intrigued. After reading more, her method made so much sense to me! With short lessons, children remain fresh, attentive, and engaged. Time is not wasted on dawdling, wandering thoughts, and discipline issues that arise from fatigue. Lessons are crisp, focused, and - short. The result is plenty of free time for playing outdoors and pursuing other interests, as well as a positive attitude about school work in general. Who wouldn't want that?

Around the same time that I was looking more carefully at CM, I was also reading Teaching the Trivium, which actually references Charlotte Mason here and there. I was initially confused when I read Laurie Bluedorn refer to Charlotte Mason as the Habitual Method. Why would she call it that? I had just started reading Home Education for the first time, and it did not take me long to find out why the CM method could easily be just what Bluedorn suggested. Charlotte Mason focuses a great deal on the importance of training our children in positive habits. In the same vein, she writes about preventing the formation of negative habits. We are all creatures of habit, she writes, everyday tracing the paths of habit more and more deeply into our minds. Habits are critical in the proper raising of children and they are foundational to a proper education. Miss Mason's advise regarding habits has been every bit as valuable to me as the best child training books on the market today. I have been continually challenged and encouraged by her writings on this topic. Habits are the backbone of the CM method in our home. As I read more of Volume One, I was beginning to really get hooked.

Then, with my interest peaked by living books, habit training, and short lessons, I read Miss Mason's thoughts on the out of doors life for my children. I know it sounds dramatic, but every page I read left me so joyful, so thankful that I had found this woman so early on in our home education! Miss Mason writes in Volume One, "The chief function of the child- his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life- is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way; and that, therefore, the endeavor of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with Nature and natural objects" (p. 96). I cannot tell you how much these words resonated with me. In my heart of hearts I knew that true education in the early years could not be divorced from the natural world, and here was Charlotte Mason encouraging me to let long hours in nature be a purposeful component in the education of my children! "Never," she writes, "be indoors when you can rightly be without."

Hooray!

Now, before you think that I was ready to just read a living book for fifteen minutes a day and then go run around in the woods all afternoon, let me assure you - there is a final distinctive that really drew me to a Charlotte Mason education. Charlotte Mason's method is academically rigorous. If anyone doubts that statement, one look at the average PNEU curriculum puts all concern to rest. Second graders read Pilgrim's Progress, fourth graders read Shakespeare and Tennyson, and sixth grade children are delving into Don Quixote! Unabridged! There is poetry, nature study, classical music and composer study, challenging history accounts, and more. This is no slacker curriculum. In fact, for some mothers, it can be rather intimidating. I am so thankful for the wonderful women who have collaborated and put together the free CM curriculum resources at Ambleside Online. They have taken so much of the potential stress and confusion out of applying Charlotte Mason's methods in the 21st century. What a tremendous blessing!

There are, of course, many other wonderful aspects of Charlotte Mason's approach. I have left out narration, copywork, dictation, drawing, handicrafts, and foreign languages. This entry is long already, though, and I couldn't possibly touch on all of them. If you have more interest in learning about these and other distinctives of the CM method, please click on the buttons in the sidebars of my homepage. I hope to be continually adding to my store of posts on these subjects.

I hope you have been blessed by something you have read here :)

Coping Strategies (When All Your Children Are Little!)

My dear baby boy is now 3 weeks old :) Can you believe it? Time is flying by! Well, at least it feels that way if it's not between the hours of 3:30 and 6:30 pm on a weekday. Then, time draaaaags by until another adult face shows up in the doorway, lol. The children have been wonderful, though. I truly praise God for the smooth transition He has so graciously given to our little family. I also thank Him for little tips and hints friends have given along the way that have provided an arsenal of "coping techniques" for trying hours (or days). Three practical helps from friends top the list for me.


The first, far and away, is to occupy the other children with something purposeful and productive while I nurse or rock the baby. I've been trying to make the most of the time by having Punkin brush up on her Dostoyevsky. Sorry, I just couldn't resist posting this photo ;)

The real #1 help for me has been the advice to have a plan for the day at the beginning of the day. This "daily plan" has taken on various forms through the last six years. My "schedules" have ranged from highly detailed and neatly written out when SweetP was an infant to, now, mentally thrown together just upon rising in the morning and somewhat subject to last minute changes throughout the day. But, I have a plan! ;) Often, I lie in bed just long enough in the morning to pray and get some idea of what I'm doing that day. I may have a basic idea several days in advance, but not always. Somethings are given and fairly consistent. Lunch always begins around 12 or 12:30pm. Dinner is nearly always between 6:15 and 6:45pm. Punkin's naptime falls nearly always around 1 or 1:30pm, etc. Then, the rest of what I hope to fit into the day falls in the spaces between these set times. I have a friend who literally manages her home on a schedule broken down into 15 minute increments. She has a large, homeschooling family and this seems to work well for them. I might get there someday, by necessity, but - right now - I think I'd be a nutcase. I all too easily become a slave to the schedule, stressing out over getting "behind" 20 minutes here or there. I have a horrible time keeping priorities when I'm so distracted by the next "to do" item on my list. I really, really need a general plan of action, though. A direction for me and for each of the children. "Idle hands are the devil's workshop", and idle little minds are worse! Thank you, Lord, for friends who have encouraged and modeled the importance of a plan for the day :)

The #2 fantastic tip that has saved me more than once from sinking into a sobbing heap in the middle of the kitchen, is cribtime... 30-45 minutes for the older baby or young toddler to play, quietly in her crib. To those who haven't done it, this sounds like a far fetched idea, but - trust me - it works! Around the time that the girls dropped their morning naps, I started them out with "cribtime". Personally, I begin at 10 to 15 minutes and work my way up. I decide when it's over. I'm careful to not reward fussing by ending cribtime with a whiny or crying child. Instead, I wait for a quiet moment (they fuss at first when cribtime is new) then go and get them, praising them for playing quietly). It hasn't taken long to get to 30-45 minutes of quiet play on a consistent basis. It is really, really important to make certain the crib is completely safe. All toys must be chosen very carefully. No small parts, long cords, broken pieces. Larger toys are major dangers for the toddler that may use them as steps to climb up on the crib rail. Safety first. I leave the door to the room cracked an inch or two, set up a baby monitor, and we both enjoy cribtime! I can take a shower, lie down, nurse without distraction, teach phonics, or whatever else I may need to do. Baby benefits from increased attention span (she can't wander all over from this to that), skills in entertaining herself, and a period of restful quiet, too.


Once the girls have gotten too old for the crib, I've moved them to "quiet roomtime" in a well baby-proofed bedroom with a baby gate in the doorway. Even now, at 4 and a half, Shug loves roomtime. Sometimes children, just like adults, need a little time alone with relative peace and quiet. It can be a really positive thing for everyone :) SweetP and Shug don't nap anymore, but nearly every afternoon they have quiet roomtime with a few well-chosen toys, activities, and books. This is SweetP's time to read alone without interruption. I nearly always take a little nap ;)

Last but not least, the third little strategy is Book Time. Forgive the "schedule titles", lol, but the girls really like officially naming different parts of the day :) When I need ten to fifteen minutes of quiet, or uninterrupted time - book time is a blessing! Ten to fifteen minutes of quiet time with each child in a specific seat with a few books. All I need to do is say, "Quiet book time, girls!" and they're off to the bookshelves and then to their respective places in the family room until I'm finished.

Sometimes I may tell the older girls to choose specific books, like "science" books or "history" books, but usually I let them choose 3-4 of their own preferences. I choose Punkin's books for her. Anyone who's waited on a 2-year-old to decide anything knows why ;) And that's it. I try to save booktime for when I'm nursing Little Dude mid-morning, but it's also a great resource when I'm trying to make dinner in a hurry. They aren't allowed, generally speaking, to run back and forth from the bookcase getting new books. Part of the point is that they pay attention, real attention, to the books they chose first. Again, this is a wonderful attention skill builder, too :)

So, there you go! Those are my big secrets of staying sane each day :) None of them are my original ideas - well, booktime is sort of an original spin-off of another idea - but are ideas that were lovingly passed down to me from older, wiser moms. So, I lovingly do the same, although I'm not much older than many of you and definitely lacking in the "wiser" category. Hope something can be a blessing to one of you ;)

CM on Building Character

Well, hoorah! I have finally finished Chapter 3 of the first CM book. I'm only a third of the way through the book and it's almost Thanksgiving! I'm hoping to read A Pocketful of Pinecones and A Charlotte Mason Companion before the new year. LOL, we'll see! :) Certainly they'll be faster reads than Home Education has been.

Truthfully, though, this most recent chapter was a fast and relatively easy read for me. It was absolutely stellar. Not without fault, but, I read it with wholehearted agreement and enjoyment. Having already discussed the importance of exercise, rest, nutrition, fresh air, sunshine, and long hours in nature regarding the education of young children, Charlotte goes on to elaborate upon the importance of habit.

If we thought at first that CM was a bit wishy-washy in this area - remember taking care to not encroach upon the child's personality? - she puts all doubts to rest here in this third chapter. Her basic premise is that the difference between a good education and an exemplary education is the formation of habits within the child. She acknowledges the power and persuasiveness of nature in all human beings, adults and children alike. However, she asserts that, "If that be true, strong as nature is, habit is not only as strong, but tenfold as strong." There is no excuse in an "inherently" inattentive child, a boisterous child, an excessively emotional child. "It rests with parents and teachers to lay down lines of habit"...

This is not to say that the child has no individual will. CM is not talking about assertions of our wills in this section of the book. She is referring to the countless little things we do daily without thinking or willfully choosing, which largely make us into the men, women, or children we are. Are we habitually late or punctual? Habitually cheerful or melancholy? Habitually truthful or prone to exaggeration? And so on.

"...the habits of the child produce the character of the man..."

That is, really, what she is getting at. Educating a child, or attempting to educate him, without also training him in areas of character will produce only a half-satisfactory education - regardless of the method you use. A child prone to letting his mind wander will do so whether reading Shakespeare or A.A. Milne. A child satisfied with clumsy work will not produce careful and beautiful handwriting whether he write a Bible verse or the alphabet. Careful and watchful training in habit and character is essential.

She has some wonderfully practical words for mothers on building positive habits in children. Habits of courtesy, cleanliness, orderliness, a sense of honor, duty, etc. She exhorts mothers to go about training the habits of their children in a bright and positive mood - one of expectation and not reproach. What a seasoned word! How easy it is to simply get fed up with undesirable habits instead of methodically and gently retraining those habits by replacing them with positive ones!

I found this to be such an excellent, excellent chapter for any mother to read. As I said, not without its faults, but certainly the 'meat' tips the scales, and the bones are few and far between. I am so pleased with her thoughts on forming character in children, just as I have been about her thoughts on the out-of-doors life. I have no reservations in agreeing that training children toward what they ought to do regardless of what they feel naturally inclined to do is a major battleground in Christian parenting. What well-placed admonition and encouragement!