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You are here: Home / Narration / The Gift Of Narration

March 25, 2019

The Gift Of Narration

#homeschool #narration #charlottemason #reading

Are you familiar with narration? Not sure? Most likely, if you have ever had a child excitedly come tell you something they have seen, then you have experienced narration. My children do this all the time and I must confess, I don’t always give their story telling the attention it deserves.

We should, narration is a gift.

Uncertain are you?

Consider this conversation between my 6.5 year old and my husband:

6.5 year old: Daddy, I had the most pleasant dream last night.

My husband: Yeah? Tell me about it?

6.5 year old: I dreamt that everything was made of scrumptious sugar and I went through the whole dream gobbling it all up. (giggles)

My husband: (chuckles at the use of the word ‘scrumptious’) Is that why you woke up with so much energy?

6.5 year old: It is possible but more likely, I am just well rested.

My husband always notices the use of higher vocabulary in our children. He works with people of all ages and comes across enough children to notice a difference in our own. Their grandfather picks up on it too, “They use such big words.” I smile to myself knowing it is reading from living books that are rich with a wide range of sophisticated language and narration.

Notice something else?

Narration builds relationships. Maybe it isn’t as noticeable from such a short conversation but I notice it when I use narration during our time reading together. We cuddle close on the couch and together we become engrossed in the story. Occasionally, I’ll pause and pose a question, “How do you think Heidi feels since she has been taken away from her home in the mountains?” My daughter begins with a touch of morose, “Sorrowful.” Sadly, it was the perfect word for it. Listening to her inner most thoughts, It was here that I began to notice the act of narration not only build connections with the story, the characters within it, but also with the family that you share the narration with. Narration gifts the reader with deeper relationship building abilities.

 

#homeschool #bookmarks

Narration creates synthetic thinking

This is a concept first introduced to me as I read Know and Tell The Art Of Narration by Karen Glass. “A synthetic approach to knowledge is one that ‘puts together’ or integrates all the different things that are learned into a unified understanding of their relationships. A synthetic thinker is always making connections and noticing similarities between one thing and another.”

How does narration develop synthetic thinking?

In Know and Tell Karen Glass explains, “Because narration strengthens memory, it allows children to gather a growing store of knowledge and understanding. As they learn, one thing reminds them of another. They form connections between old and new knowledge. They gradually see how things are related to each other, and to themselves.” This is a gradual mental habit that slowly trains the intellectual mind but what a gift it is to our children.

#homeschool #charlottemason #narration

 

Narration builds high-level thinking skills.

Absolutely!

Narration builds integral mental habits the most significant- attention. It is something that I’ve really started to observe in both of my children. While my youngest is only 4, he stills sits in and listens to my oldest child’s read out louds. When my oldest provides an oral narration or starts up a discussion, my youngest feels compelled to give a little narration of his own. It is in these moments that I realize how much of a focused attention they are giving to the minute details in the story.

(Holistic Homeschooler is a participant in the amazon services associates program, an associate advertising program designed to provide a means for holistic homeschooler to earn fees by linking to amazon and associated sites, at no additional cost to you.)

Articulating thoughts

After reading a section of a chapter you pause and your child provides a short synopsis of what was read. Think of what all goes on during this process. Your child considers the story, comprehends it, forms his/her own thoughts, and takes any of those newly formed words then articulates them. It is in this ordering of knowledge and then narrating that builds higher levels of articulation.

Since reading Know and Tell, I have become more intentional with integrating narration into our reading time. It has been a gentle yet purposeful addition that has gifted us with significant intellectual and relational gifts. Do you use narration in your homeschool? Are you considering it? Do you notice the beneficial gifts in using narration? What are some that you notice?

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Filed Under: Narration Tagged With: articulation, charlottemason, Education, Homeschool, intellectual, knowandtell, narration, story telling, storytelling, theartofnarration

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Comments

  1. Yesi says

    March 30, 2019 at 5:00 am

    Hello,
    I am new to homeschooling and narration. I’ve started doing narration with my 6.5 yr boy who doesn’t seem to do really good with narration he doesn’t seem to comprehend or remember very much at all what was read. And sometimes he finds it hard to remember and to narrate with big sentences. He did have a speech delay and was taking therapy at school but that’s about it. Any advice on that issue. I really want him to love story time and maybe I’m being to hard on him?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • holistic_wp says

      April 2, 2019 at 12:02 am

      I highly suggest reading Know and Tell that I recommend in this article. There is a great deal of critical thinking and insightful information within it. She addresses the beginning phase of narration, that it will be slow and sort of rough at first. Sometimes they may be unable to give a narration at all or can’t seem to remember. However, consistent use of narration will only produce improvement as you go on. Children with special needs and an in-depth ‘how to’ introduce narration are all covered very well, it is worth your time to read it. 🙂

      Reply

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About Sarah

Just the name of my blog gives me away. Hi, There! I am Sarah Bliss, author of Holistic Homeschooler. I am happily married to the man of my dreams and together we raise two adorable children

We obviously homeschool and believe home education is more than academics.

I hold a personal philosophy that homeschooling is holistic and encompasses the whole child-body, mind, heart, spirit.

When I refer to the spirit, I mean the holy spirit. That ones own spirit needs daily nourishment from the word of God.

I  homeschool mainly using a Charlotte Mason Philosophy of Education. I absolutely love nature which is why the nature study aspect of Charlotte’s philosophy really speaks to me. We spend hours outside, on nature walks or the occasional hike.

Additionally, I have a burning desire to take our homeschool Journey on the road and share our travel adventures with anyone who will read or listen. Yet, this is a plan in progress so for now we are casually road-schooling.

Finally-I am a Registered Nurse, with the heart to spread educational information on health, wellness, and physical fitness. 

I hope to be a source of encouragement and inspiration as we travel along this homeschool journey together.

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