"Thinking is Inseparable From Reading"

"People are naturally divided into those who read and think and those who do not read or think; and the business of schools is to see that all their scholars shall belong to the former class; it is worth while to remember that thinking is inseparable from reading which is concerned with the content of a passage and not merely with the printed matter."
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6, page 31

The Commonplace Book has come up over the last week in questions from my blog readers. This is a fairly simple idea that I think facilitates exactly what Charlotte Mason was alluding to in the passage above. Reading and then *thinking* about what you have read is very important to making relationships with the written material.

The words on the page become more alive and when our children narrate back either in speech or in writing, taking their reading to a higher level. We are not asking them to answer a preset list of questions but rather to have them read, think, digest, and then tell back in some way what they learned. Copying quotes from their reading also makes them more intimate with the ideas of the author.


The Commonplace Books that we keep in our family are written by hand into spiral notebooks. They have been put on lined paper and inserted in binders and also written in composition books at various times as well. I generally let my boys choose at the beginning of the year how they want to keep their Commonplace Books. We do not strictly adhere to writing quotes from the books. Mr. B likes to record quotes more than Mr. A. They mix the idea of a Commonplace Book with a journal and have their own unique version of their reading and thinking all mixed together.

A few specifics:

• They copy quotes from the book.
• They can write a short summary of what they read.
• They can record their reflections or responses to their reading.
• Sometimes they make a sketch or drawing instead of writing words.
• The length of the entry varies greatly depending on the subject and the length of the day's reading.
• I do not "grade" the Commonplace Books, but I do read them weekly.
• I do not correct their Books for spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
  
• They know at the beginning of each week which books they need to write about in their Commonplace Books.
• Lately I have been requiring a Commonplace Book entry for their free reading books. I find it is the best way to keep up with which books they are currently reading *and* to see that they are actually completing some free reading each week.
• They are required once a week to make a Commonplace Book entry for their assigned Bible reading.
  

We started keeping Commonplace Books years ago in middle school. I sort of wish now they were in nice fancy bound books so I could line them up on the shelf for them to have at their fingertips. As it is, they are all scattered about in various binders and notebooks. We still enjoy pulling them out and reviewing them from time to time. I keep my own Commonplace Book but only for my Bible reading....it is a treasure.

Now when I talk about Commonplace Books, you will know what those are and how we use them in our family.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom