I was watching a big league baseball game the other day, and during a break they showed a clip of some young children playing

wiffle ball on a little diamond outside the ballpark. The commentators were enthusiastic about those children receiving an opportunity to get started in the sport.

Now, those announcers obviously did not expect the same level of expertise from the children

as they did from the professional ballplayers inside the park, but they recognized and valued

the beginning of the process as they were witnessing it.

And the same is true of narration.

There is a beginning point of introducing the concept

of narration, whatever age your student might be. Many students start at age six, which

is the youngest that Charlotte recommended. But some of you didn't discover the Charlotte

Mason method until your students were older than that, and that's fine. No matter

at what age it happens, that introduction is followed by a gradual process of learning and

growing in the skill. We don't expect a beginning narrator to narrate as fluently and comfortably

as an experienced professional, but

we recognize and value those initial steps in the process. And just as those children on

the Wiffle Ball Diamond can progress more confidently with the guidance of a coach, taking

small steps in the right direction, so our students

can grow more confidently in the skill of narration with help and guidance from us.

So let me give you five tips to help set up your students for success as they begin

narrating. Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast.

I'm Sonia Schaefer.

Narrating is natural to most children.

When your child is interested in something, she will probably talk about it at length.

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