Wednesday, February 9, 2011

What is a Living Book?

I haven't blogged about Charlotte Mason in a long time. For those who don't know what I'm talking about: living books are one of the main things that set a CM education apart. Living books are the opposite of dry textbooks.

When Susan Macaulay (daughter of Francis and Edith Schaeffer, author of For the Children's Sake) was asked: "How do you define a living book?" she answered:

Oh, that's easy! That's one where they say: "One more chapter, Mommy, one more chapter!" That's a living book!

I think she nailed it. And no sweeter words have ever been heard by a homeschool mom. :)

4 comments:

Chas said...

Ginger, I read a good deal to my kids. I haven't really been able to wrap my mind around the whole CM method of teaching. Do you have any posts to say what you do in the course of a day? I am always feeling like, "Am I doing enough?"
Thanks,
Chas

Anonymous said...

I agree with "Chas". I love the CM mind/approach, but never was able to delve totally into it with my olders. Since we are starting over with four "youngers" :0), I spend volumes of time reading to them. Three years old and for the most part they can sit through a whole chapter of classic Pooh! I have been looking at Before Five In A Row. Do you know anything about FIAR? Loretta, SW VA

Ginger said...

I have done a "A Day in the Life" post about our homeschooling day. Click on the "Charlotte Mason" blog topic on my sidebar.
I didn't use it, but I do know about FIAR and I like it a lot. It's a great curriculum for littles. I prefer to just read to them and not ask a bunch of questions at that age.

MommaofMany said...

I agree on FIAR. It's a good concept, but simply reading is so much better! Analyzing a story takes away some of the "magic" of it. I much prefer just using the AO and other lists for little ones.