The Ins and Outs of Recitation in a Charlotte Mason Homeschool

Have you ever sat through a book reading, sermon, or lecture and feel bored to tears? Perhaps you’ve had to quit an audiobook because the reader was just that bad. Charlotte Mason addressed this in her practice of recitation.

In her book, Home Education, Charlotte Mason says,

"All children have it in them to recite; it is an imprisoned gift waiting to be delivered, like Ariel from the pine. In this most thoughtful and methodical volume we are possessed of the fit incantations."

Ah, recitations. It’s difficult to put into words the importance of having a child recite beautifully. For my daughter’s kindergarten year, we focused most on memorization while she was learning how to read. Now that she is in third grade, we are spending more time on intentional recitation practice.

The child should speak beautiful thoughts so beautifully with such a delicate rendering of each nuance of meaning that he becomes a listener to the interpreter of the author’s thought.

-Home Education page 223

We know that recitation is an important part of a Charlotte Mason home education but how should be go about doing it?

Charlotte Mason lays out the schedule for recitation for 3 times a week with each lesson lasting 10 minutes. The recitation pieces should change with each term.

For Form 1:
-Poem of choice
-A Hymn
-A Psalm
-Two passages of Scripture (6 verses)

Form 2:
-A Poem (40 lines)
-Two passages of Scripture (20 verses)
-A Psalm
-Two hymns

Form 3:
-Choice of poem (50 lines)
-Two hymns
-One Psalm
-Two passages of Scripture (20 verses)
-A Scene from Shakespeare

Form 4:
-Choice of poem (50 lines)
-Two hymns
-Two psalms
-Two passages of Scripture (20 verses)
-A Scene from Shakespeare

Recitations Lessons

For the first recitation lesson, introduce the poem or piece that you are working on that day. You can easily fit in one or two recitation pieces per lesson.

-Read the poem to your child, if they would like to have a copy to look at, allow them.
-Review any hard to pronounce words, and discuss the punctuation and how to relay the correct punctuation within speech.
-Practice posture.

For each subsequent lesson:
-Read the recitation piece in full. At the end, correct any mistakes in punctuation. If your child can read, have them read the piece with you. If your child can not read, have them listen to the piece, filling in any words they know.

After several lessons:
-Read through several lines of the piece and have your child recite after. Be sure to pay attention to proper intonation and pronunciation.

If your child can not read you have several options for teaching them their recitation piece: use the recitation pieces as their reading lessons. You can also read one or two lines of the piece and have your child repeat them after you. Make sure you don’t have your child repeat your exact inflections, they should be making the piece their own.

You should correct their pronunciation and posture when reading but do not rush memorization. Memorizing a poem will come with practice. Allow your child to interpret the piece beautifully, meaning, allow them to add expression when they see fit, but not make it overly silly.

Recitation is a precursor to public speaking, children who learn to recite beautifully will learn to share their thoughts beautifully as well. Use these poems to help learn how to recite beautifully.

Planning Your Recitation Pieces:

In our home we often choose a poem from the poet we are currently studying. Since our poet study lasts 12 weeks, we’re easily able to take on a poem to practice recitation with. Our co-op also learns a poem together. The poetry choice often coordinates with the seasons.

-Allow your child to choose a poem that they have connected well with or enjoy. This is the perfect time to bring in diversity through poetry. We like to add poems in different languages, poets from around the world, and poems by BIPOC authors.

We like working on hymns that are sung in our church to coincide with the liturgical year.

-You can also use folksongs, foreign language songs, or other spiritual songs that best fit your family.

We currently don’t have a method for choosing Scripture or Psalm recitation work. When my children are older we will use the curriculum from their catheticism classes. For now, I choose Scripture that is meaningful for our family and that they are able to understand well.

-For your family, you can use Sunday school verses, other religious texts, or affirmations.

What is the difference between recitation and memorization?

"I hope that my readers will train their children in the art of recitation; in the coming days, more even than in our own will it behoove every educated man and woman to be able to speak effectively in public; and, in learning to recite you learn to speak. Recitation and committing to memory are not necessarily the same thing, and it is well to store a child's memory with a good deal of poetry, learnt without labour...
The whole parable should be read to them in a way to bring out its beauty and tenderness; and then, day by day, the teacher should recite a short passage, perhaps two or three verses, saying it over some three or four times until the children think they know it. Then, but not before, let them recite the passage. Next day the children will recite what they have already learned, and so on, until they are able to say the whole parable”   

-Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason believed that memorization is an important task for a child but it should happen by the by, meaning without much effort. Whereas recitation is ultimately work. The point of recitation is to learn to speak beautifully and the point of memorization is to commit to memory long term.

The beauty of memorization is that it often happens right alongside recitation. When you practice the recitation pieces over the term, you will naturally begin to memorize the piece.

There are many reasons to include recitation in your homeschool day. There’s something incredibly special about hearing your older child read to your younger one and do all the voices. Recitation is so much more than just memorizing and saying poetry. It’s the ability to speak and read well, which is a skill we could all use a little practice in!