On a scale of 1-10, how addicted are you to children’s books? How much do you love reading with your kids?
Even though I’m on a mission to declutter, books are something that I keep buying. I love sharing new books with my little ones, and some of our most precious memories involve being curled up together, reading a story.
So, as I’ve been on this journey to learn more about using the Charlotte Mason philosophy in the early years, it has been a little disheartening to read that she didn’t think young children should be put in front of books.
One thing I find amazing about the Charlotte Mason philosophy is that it lines up with so much of today’s modern research about education and raising children.
This is not one of those areas.
Charlotte Mason’s views on books in early childhood don’t line up with modern-day research.
Charlotte Mason’s Views on Books
I can think of at least three instances where Charlotte Mason spoke against books in the early years:
Away with books, and ‘reading to’– for the first five or six years of life. The endless succession of story-books, scenes, shifting like a panorama before the child’s vision, is a mental and moral dissipation; he gets nothing to grow upon, or is allowed no leisure to digest what he gets. It is contrary to nature.” Formation of Character, page 216
He has a thousand questions to ask, he wants to know about everything; he has, in fact, an inordinate appetite for knowledge. We soon cure all that: we occupy him with books instead of things; we evoke other desires in place of the desire to know; and we succeed in bringing up the unobservant man (and more unobservant woman) who discerns no difference between an elm, a poplar and a lime tree, and misses very much of the joy of living. Parents and Children
It’s Nature’s lore, and the children take to it like ducks in the water; the first six or seven years of their lives are spent out of doors– in possible weather– learning this sort of thing, instead of pottering over picture-books and A B C.” Formation of Character, page 166
Instead of reading lots of books in the early years, Charlotte Mason said that children should spend their time outside observing, using all of their senses to take in the world around them. She viewed reading lots of picture books as unrelated tidbits of scenes that don’t give a child a solid foundation to grow upon.
However, she did recommend that parents have some fairy tales memorized so that they can share them with their children. So, her problem wasn’t with stories, but with the books themselves.
What Research Says about Reading To Young Children
My sister-in-law took her newborn baby to the doctor last year for his one-week visit. She and my mother-in-law were a little surprised when the doctor asked them if they had been reading to him every day. Here was a new family, just trying to get adjusted to life with a precious newborn, and they had been so swamped that they hadn’t read to him yet (understandably!)
In 2014, the AAP wrote a policy advising pediatricians to promote reading to their infants during their very first preventative visits.
According to the AAP, reading aloud to young children on a regular basis
- Strengthens the relationship between a parent and child
- Builds language
- Develops literacy
- Builds social-emotional skills
- Promotes “school” readiness
- Cultivates an interest in reading
These findings aren’t based in a single random survey with sketchy origins. The results have been repeated over and over again, even in different countries (here’s an article from Australia).
What’s A Mama To Do?
Here’s my plan: I’m going to keep reading. Every chance I get, I’m going to snuggle up to my two little sweet hearts and share stories with them. Charlotte Mason loved research (about the brain, at least- I’m not sure how much education research was out there at the time!) and she loved studying other great thinkers. I am sure that if this research had existed during her day, she would have definitely considered it while writing her philosophy. We have to use our common sense and our instincts when we’re educating our child, and my instincts tell me that reading with my little ones is important. Very important.
I’ll still make time for the other things that Charlotte Mason said are important during the early years, like playing outdoors and observing objects. But I think a modern Charlotte Mason education also has room for plenty of beautiful, well-written books.
Book Resources
I have some roundups and other resources to help you pick high-quality books for your little ones.
Follow my Instagram feed for the occasional amazing thrift store book find 🙂
I was never read to as a child. I was however surrounded by adults who loved to read. I wrote my first book at age 7. I immigrated to the US at age 8, learned English, and won my schools summer reading contest. I have always loved to read. And write. And i read to my kids, a lot. But i don’t depend on reading to build a close relationship with them. Which, as the above graphic indicates, is the key to the other benefits. Reading is just one way to build closeness with kids. I follow attachment theory in my parenting. I most certainly did not worry about reading to my newborns. I was busy nursing them, carrying them near me, and sleeping nearby, precisely to build a close relationship with them. Now they love reading, and they’re multilingual. It’s not about any single activity but an overarching atmosphere of learning and attachment/closeness, which can look differently in different families. Charlotte Mason did say education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life… But to actually discourage reading is about as ridiculous, in my humble opinion, as stressing out over reading to a newborn. So on that point, we’re in agreement. 🙂
I too felt this tension. One of the encouragements that I get from CM is that we should be “telling” stories not just reading them. I think sometimes I don’t tell the story because I won’t sound “as good” or because there aren’t pictures to go with my oral re-tellings. However, the act of re-telling stories or rhymes (family, fable, fairy tale or mother goose) should be a part of our “education”. I have to remember that I don’t have to have a book to tell the kids a story – they can hear it from me and make the images for themselves. I think this was something that Ms. Mason emphasized for young children. What a great way to spend your time – lying on the grass, looking at the clouds and telling stories. Reading aloud is super important but don’t let it stop you from developing your own storytelling ability. It comes in handy while waiting in lines or in the car.
You made such a great point! Telling stories shouldn’t be overlooked! Mental images seem to be important throughout a CM education, so starting early is a must!
Well, this makes me feel a bit better about not reading as much as I’d like to my littlest one! 🙂 However, it does make me think of a friend I have, who loves reading and reads tons of books with her little one… fast forward and now he’s 6 or 7, and she is having a harder time getting him to do handicrafts and such because he wants to read ALL the time. It also makes me think of my 3 yo, who will sit down for about half the story before she takes over the book or she starts jumping around and her attention span is just gone. Maybe CM was trying to point to the strength of little ones at that stage – their natural curiosity and observation – and how that shouldn’t be trampled by one’s desire to sit them down for a storybook. And like someone mentioned in the comments, there probably wasn’t a great selection for storybooks at the time.
Anyhow, great post.. lots to think about!
It almost seems like books for young children were to her what electronics or TV are to some in our modern days. Low quality, distracting, preventing connection with and observation of the world…
I do think that reading to kids very early on is important but we don’t need to add one more thing on the plate of new parents. Taking care of an infant is hard enough!
That is such a good point! Electronics really don’t add anything to our lives! I’m not sure we read to our daughter from day one. At that point, as new parents, it seemed a little silly reading to a three day old. For some reason, with my second child, reading to him from birth seemed totally normal! Fortunately, my daughter didn’t suffer from waiting to read to her for a couple of weeks 🙂
This is exactly what I thought! I think reading to our kids is important, but we shouldn’t except the young to sit still. I think CM may also have thought (much like electronics do today) that picture books may inhibit a child’s imagination, as they may just portray what they saw in a book instead of come up with things on their own or that they may have observed in nature.
I love this, Leah. In the earliest years, before I read Charlotte Mason, I had read Teaching the Trivium. One of the big pieces of advice I took away was to read aloud at least 2 hours per day. It seemed like a lot until I realized that a story here and a story there actually added up to a whole lot. I have always been grateful that, whatever other mistakes I made in the early years, they were full of good stories.
As an aside, I felt a tension with CM’s advice in this area from the first time I read it — I began reading at age three, as did my oldest child, and so I have very vivid memories of being shaped by books long before age 6. With that said, I do wonder if perhaps the kinds of books make a difference? CM lived before the so-called Golden Age of children’s books. Maybe it would have changed things if she’d known truly living books for little ones? I don’t know, but I’ve always wondered.
Two hours does sound like a lofty goal! That’s something that I’ll keep in mind, as we often read more haphazardly than intentionally in our house. Books offer so many learning opportunities and my little ones just love to read!
I was also thinking about Charlotte Mason’s views on living books. I think you’re right- had she seen the rich and beautiful options that are available today, maybe her opinion would be different. She mentioned not showing children “children’s books” at all, but if a child doesn’t understand at least 90% of the vocabulary words, then a story doesn’t make any sense to them!
Love this Leah! I completely agree. We are definitely keeping quality books as a huge part of our life. But we also spend tons of time outdoors, experiencing things, and LIVING. I love that my little guy often relates what we are reading in a book to a real life experience or scene we’ve encountered before.
Thank you, Julie! I think it’s good to find a balance between books and other enriching activities.