Do you remember the lessons back in school of identifying the different parts of speech, and memorizing different rules in grammar? Unless you had a knack for it, chances are, you would be cringing at the memory of what seemed like hours of drudgery.
When I was in school, I had the seemingly uncanny ability of being able to tell if a sentence sounded right or not, even without really knowing the rule. I seemed to know, instinctively, whether the verb needed an -s at the end or not, or what tense to use.
When it came to spelling, I would also look at a word and think, “Hmm, that doesn’t look right.” Then I would try different spellings until it “looked” right, and that’s the spelling I would raise on the contest board or leave on my test paper.
It was only when I studied the Charlotte Mason method that I found an explanation for what I felt, at that time, was an unusual gift.
It turns out it isn’t so unusual, after all.
Maximizing exposure to words on the page
Let me explain.
In the Charlotte Mason method, language arts is not taught like we do in the traditional school system, where we need to start by memorizing grammar, spelling and other rules from the start of our school career. Instead, it focuses on exposing the child to plenty of excellently-written literature from an early age, so that he gets a grasp of what sounds and looks right, and even what sounds beautiful.
How does this exposure look? In this page, we hope to give you an overview, but we will go into more detail on each one in their individual pages. Also, check out our blog to see some real-life examples of how we apply these elements.
Living Books
First, the CM method emphasizes the importance of living books. These are books that are excellently-written by someone who is passionate about the subject, resulting in books that are engaging and can stir up the imagination.
(Quote from Vol 6 about books being the source of living ideas)
We have two ways of using living books in a CM homeschool:
- Read-alouds
This is done for children who do not have the mechanical skills of reading yet. The parent is the one who reads the stories, but the child is, technically, “reading” through listening. For example, a 6-year-old may not be able to read through A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh by himself, but he can easily follow the story when read by someone else.
- Reading Independently
When the child learns to read by himself, the books are slowly turned over to him to read. However, a child’s listening comprehension tends to be higher than his reading comprehension up to the age of about 12. This means that during that stage, he may be able to understand more than he’s able to read himself. Some parents use audiobooks, while the child reads along his book, to keep “feeding” him with ideas until he’s strong enough to read his books all by himself.
Copywork
Part of the Charlotte Mason method of teaching language arts is copywork. This refers to the child copying excellently-written passages, whether from Sciprture, hymns, poetry, or his school books.
The goal is excellent execution, so we only let him copy the passage once—a difference from many of the busywork copying we did when we were in school!
Transcription
One step after copywork is transcription. One difference is this: in copywork, the child copies letter by letter from a model right above the line he’s writing in. In transcription, he copies from a model, but writes down the words from memory, either one word at a time, or progressing to one phrase at a time.
Copywork and transcription both challenge his observation skills and teaches him to visualize in his mind’s eye the correct spelling of words, the proper punctuation, and even helps incorporate grammar structure.
Oral Narration
Narration is a foundational tool in the Charlotte Mason education. For language arts, oral narration trains a child to listen or read attentively and then tell what he has heard or read.
This is not the same as summarizing, and instead we encourage children to tell everything they remember. They may use words from the story itself, or they can use their own words, putting their own individuality into their narration.
In contrast to traditional school that requires children to write essays from a young age, we don’t ask children to write any narration before the age of ten. Instead, we strengthen their telling skills through oral narration, which also gives them time to strengthen their writing and spelling before they are expected to write.
Written Narration: Foundation of Written Composition
One thing that saddens me about students disliking English classes is that they usually develop that aversion from being asked to write essays long before they actually have a strong grasp of the language. This may include difficulty forming their thoughts in English (especially for students in the Philippines), or they may not yet have the physical capability to write and spell as quickly as they would like in order to form a coherent thought on paper.
I have students coming from traditional school who shy away from any writing of any kind, possibly because of bad experiences being required to write something when they did not have the skill yet.
In the CM method, we slowly introduce written narration after age 10, and only after the child has had at least a year or two of experience and growth in oral narration.
We believe this is a very strong foundation for written composition, because long before the child needs to learn the different parts of an essay, he already knows how to formulate his thoughts to tell about the books he’s read.
Studied Dictation
At about 10 years old and older, we also introduce studied dictation, a step up from copywork, where the child studies a passage and then writes them down, as dictated by a parent or teacher, one phrase at a time, with the spelling and punctuation from memory.
Poetry
In a CM education, we also expose children to the beauty of language through poetry. From the first year, we read one poem a day, and focus on letting them experience the musicality of words. We don’t narrate poetry and instead read them once a day for appreciation purposes.
Shakespeare
Shakespeare is, without a doubt, known as the master of English literature. From a young age, we give our children access to Shakespeare, using tales rewritten for children for the first few years and eventually transitioning to the actual plays.
Enjoying Language with the Charlotte Mason Method
If I were to summarize teaching language arts using the Charlotte Mason method, I would say that it helps children to enjoy the beauty of language, and gives them a strong foundation for expressing themselves.
In this age where so many are clamoring to be heard, such as in blogs and videos, I believe that children educated using the Charlotte Mason method are able to think analytically, draw from the great ideas of higher minds before him, and produce something worthwhile to make a difference in our world.