Do you want to bring the subjects your children are studying to life? Then you should look into living books! These are books described by Charlotte Mason as “the fit and beautiful expression of inspiring ideas and pictures of life,” and they are well loved by homeschool families who follow the Charlotte Mason method.
So many people find reading books or studying history to be boring, but a way to work around that and bring history to life is to include living books in your homeschool curriculum. Do you want to just read fact after fact in a biography or do you want the person to come to life? When we read a biography, autobiography, or work detailing history, the events come to life and we are more apt to remember the information than if we were to read a list of dates, places, and names.
Living Books and Charlotte Mason
Do you want to bring the subjects your children are studying to life? Then you should look into living books! These are books described by Charlotte Mason as “the fit and beautiful expression of inspiring ideas and pictures of life,” and they are well loved by homeschool families who follow the Charlotte Mason method.
So many people find reading books or studying history to be boring, but a way to work around that and bring history to life is to include living books in your homeschool curriculum. Do you want to just read fact after fact in a biography or do you want the person to come to life? When we read a biography, autobiography, or work detailing history, the events come to life and we are more apt to remember the information than if we were to read a list of dates, places, and names.
What Are Living Books?
Living books are those that allow you to see with your minds’ eye the action of the story. They are written by authors who are passionate about their subjects. When you read novels where the characters jump off the page and enact the story, you are reading a living book. These books work well as read-alouds!
In The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine Summer 2016 Supplement, Dr. Sandi Queen, ND, wrote: “Choose fiction to stretch the imagination and nonfiction to stretch knowledge. With even young children, read from a non-picture book daily. This encourages them to create the pictures in their minds.” What works of fiction would you include to stretch the imagination? Perhaps works like Little House on the Prairie, The Boxcar Children, or The Courage of Sarah Noble.
What Does a Charlotte Mason Homeschool Look Like?
Many homeschooling families endeavor to follow the ideas presented by Charlotte Mason. They want to include discovery, living books, and character development in their homeschool day. While every day looks different for each family, there are some things that will be common during the homeschool week. Interested in a new curriculum that combines Charlotte Mason ideology with classical education and unit studies? Check out the reviews of My Father’s World.
In addition to including living books, a Charlotte Mason Homeschool will also include narration, dictation, and copywork. For example, my daughter is using a curriculum that includes those in each week. She spends time copying the memory verse of the week, which helps her with memorization, handwriting, and character building. And we pick sentences from favorite picture books for her dictation exercises.
We are currently reading aloud Farmer Boy as part of our homeschool curriculum. Even though my younger son and I have read it before, we are all enjoying reading the novel again. After finishing the chapter where Father and Mother are away for a week, I can truly see Almazo, Royal, and Alice chasing after Lucy the pig and the black splotch of blacking-paste on the wall of the white and gold parlor wallpaper. The book truly is a living book.
Connecting with Charlotte Mason
Are you looking to take a new approach to your homeschool using Charlotte Mason? SchoolhouseTeachers.com has several great resources including the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Help page where the method is described as “a style of homeschooling based on the teaching style and principles of the nineteenth-century educator Charlotte Mason. In this style of education, children are active learners, engaged in the exploration and adventure of learning.” At our help center you will find links to eBooks, articles, and other resources.
If you are just beginning your homeschool journey, the Charlotte Mason method is a wonderful one for preschool. SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a Charlotte Mason Preschool Homeschool Science course that focuses on nature study, living books, handicrafts, fine arts, and early academics. Keeping in mind that Charlotte Mason believed that all schooling before age six should be learned through play, this preschool course focuses on fun activities and play-based learning.
Whether you want to include just living books or update your homeschooling lessons and curriculum to fit the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Method, there are many great resources available to you. How will you update your homeschool day?
HomeschoolingFinds.com Author
This article has been written by Kristen Heider. She is the Business Building Team Manager of The Old Schoolhouse® and the Social Media Manager of HomeschoolingFinds.com. She shares more about her family’s homeschooling journey at A Mom’s Quest Teach.