Six Tools of Learning

                                                      Six Tools of Learning
                                                         By Sheila Carroll                                              

Tool 1 Narration
“Narrating is an art, like poetry-making or painting, because it is there in every child’s mind, waiting to be discovered, and is not the process of disciplinary education.” Charlotte Mason, Home Education

Most children enjoy telling you what they know about a subject. It delights them to tell about an incident, however small it may seem to us. Charlotte Mason believed that this love of telling could be used as a foundation for self-education. Narration is retelling in one’s own words what has just been read (either aloud or silently). It is a natural way to demonstrate and organize what one has learned from the reading. Charlotte Mason’s idea of narration as a tool for education and assessment was far broader in intent than mere “parroting back” of information. It involves really knowing what has been read.

Tool 2 Literature
“Children have a right to the best we possess; therefore their lesson books should be, as far as possible, our best books.” Charlotte Mason, A Philosophy of Education

We call “classic” or “great” those books that have endured and made a contribution to our understanding of what it means to be human.  They have shaped our view of the world and ourselves. They are the great books of world civilization. In many cases, we have them only because wise individuals have preserved them for us. They have survived war, politics, famine and fire. The range and scope of this literature is staggering.

There is no subject of human nature that these books have not touched. Literature encompasses six thousand years of human history. They range from the profoundly simple fables of Aesop to the complex novels of Leo Tolstoy.

Tool 3 Storytelling

One day naked truth went walking. Everywhere she went people scorned her for her nakedness and would not hear her words. Finally, imagination saw her difficulty and offered to accompany naked truth whenever she journeyed. When people saw how beautiful imagination was, they desired her and welcomed her words. Naked truth, of course, was welcomed everywhere imagination went. Adapted by Sheila Carroll from a folktale.

Storytelling can communicate living ideas just as written words can. Think of the Bible stories and the truths they communicate. Remember the story of Moses or Joseph? Both of these men’s lives make an engaging story and yet contain the eternal truths of the eternal God.

Tool 4 Nature Study
“Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.” Job, 37:14

“If we give children regular opportunities to get in touch with God’s creation, a habit is formed that will be a source of delight throughout their lives. Many people know little of the natural world because they never take time to observe it. Once our senses are on the alert, though, nature yields treasure after treasure.” Karen Andreola, A Charlotte Mason Companion

The wonders of nature wait at your doorstep. Even if you live in a busy, crowded city, there are birds, insects, and plants to be found. Finding them is half the fun. Natural wonders are everywhere. When you make exploring and appreciating the natural world a priority, it will transform your homeschool.

Tool 5 Short Lessons
“Children no more come into the world without provision for dealing with knowledge than without provision for dealing with food. They bring with them not only that intellectual appetite, the desire for knowledge, but also an enormous, an unlimited potential for attention to which the power of memory seems attached.” Charlotte Mason, A Philosophy of Education

Children are persons born with a desire to learn and to acquire knowledge in a wide variety of subjects. They are also born with an enormous capacity for attention and remembering. These two statements may seem to run counter to experience in the classroom. We have all seen children as inattentive as magpies. We have also seen their distaste for certain subjects expressed in inattention. How does the teaching parent harness that desire for knowledge together with the capacity for attention?

The answer lies in the length of the lessons themselves. Charlotte Mason recommended lessons be no more than ten minutes in length for a child under the age of eight (Home Education, p. 142). When the lessons are short and varied, your child’s interest is always fresh and ready for what comes next.

Tool 6 Local Resources
A Living Books education makes use of all that is within reach the library, your home, friends and family, your community. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century in America, it was accepted that learning was in relationship to the people, places and events at hand.