Why Do We Home School? Part 3

Part 3: Children memorizing facts but discouraged from thinking

All three of my children performed well academically. However, I found that, especially with the eldest, their natural curiosity and desire to learn were being “schooled” out of them. In most classrooms the teacher does the majority of the talking, the kids do the listening and because of the number of children per class the children can’t freely comment and process the information verbally. These teachers aren’t egocentric; it’s a matter of practicality. One-on-one with a student there is freedom to exchange thoughts and ideas. Multiply that by 20, 30 or even 40 kids! It looks like chaos.

So the solution is taking turns talking (not a bad thing) and limiting when a student could talk and/ or comment on the information being taught.

Two downsides, your quiet kids that aren’t first to raise their hands tend to get a little lost in the shuffle. They pick up what they are supposed to do by following the other students but may not actually understand the concepts behind the work. I found this to be true with our middle child who tends to be a quiet one.

With our very verbal child, she would be frequently passed over because her hand was always up. She is very verbal because that is how she processes information. She understands there is a time to listen and she has self-control. But being at home gives her more opportunity to process information the most natural way for her-talking.

The other thing I noticed was the lost ability to “tell” or narrate. Little kids read a book (look at the pictures) and they want to tell you all about it… over and over and over again. It’s how they learn. As the complexity of their reading material matures so does their “telling."

But, because there is a limit on where and when a “telling” happens, lots of children lose this ability. This “telling” is referred to as narration by Charlotte Mason and other educators. For more on Charlotte Mason I strongly recommend A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, For The Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, or Charlotte Mason’s Original Home School series.

Karen Andreola also explains narration at this link-[narration]
The reason I think narration is so important is a person with a bright, educated mind who is unable to articulate knowledge is limited in his ability to minister/bless/benefit other people. He himself may be “smart” and get good grades but other people cannot easily acquire the information he has obtained. My thought is learning that only benefits myself or my children individually is close to useless.

God gave us all fine minds and abilities. We should be able to share with others and receive from others the wisdom that comes from Him. Narration is a practicing of articulating thoughts, ideas, as well as sentiment.