Charlotte Mason Q&A

"What is the point of literature-based education?"

Textbooks are written by many authors who each know a little bit about the subject their writing about. Living books are written by one author who is passionate about their topic. For instance, Thornton Burgess was a veterinarian. He wrote many living books, which are basically field guides to specific animals (The Burgess Bird Book, The Burgess Animal Book) but in narrated format. They read like a story, but while my kid is entertained by the sweet story, they are learning what the bird looks like, what he eats, where he lives, who his enemies are, and what he does when pursued by an enemy. I love that!
Rather than reading a couple pages about the holocaust in a history textbook, they will read The Von Trapp Family Singers, Number the Stars, and The Hiding Place. Each gives a different perspective (Austria, Poland, Germany) and it's interesting, not boring, because it's a story. I so wish I could have learned history this way! I hated history in school because I never got the point. It was just names and places and dates with no meaning. I see the passion and understanding that Pedro has for that time period because he learned it through literature.