Narration

There's a common saying in Charlotte Mason circles that goes something like this:

"That which is not narrated is not remembered"

Narration is, in essence, summary of a text. When we read a story to a child as part of a lesson (in history, for example), they are required to pay close attention. The stories are short to allow this to take place. Afterwards, they repeat back as much as they can remember from the reading.

We've been doing this with our school-age kids for several months now, and I can verify that requiring a child to narrate after a story really does insure that they remember it. Not narrating doesn't guarantee that they don't remember, but not paying attention does. And if you're going to have to narrate after a story, well, you pay attention.

I've been having troubles lately with paying attention while I read my Bible. I always seem to be interrupted at least a dozen times, even if it only takes a few minutes. And if I'm not interrupted physically, I don't concentrate well.

So I decided that I needed to take scripture reading in small chunks, and narrate every single time I read.

Hence these updates recently. I read it once, paying careful attention because I know I have to write afterwards everything that I remember. It's definitely improved my reading and remembering already.

No, at this pace I won't get through the Bible in a year. I didn't last year either. But perhaps I'll retain a larger portion of what I read.

So that's the goal for here and now. Get in the habit of reading just one chapter a day. Write every day what I remember from the reading, so that I develop the habit of actually paying attention while I read. And grow from there.

In addition (because I can't really let anything just stay simple), I'm making a point to notice what God says about Himself in the Bible. What is His character?