When I was first starting college (oh that was a while ago..) and majoring in Early Childhood Education, I had to take a foundations in teaching course that examined the different teaching philosophies such as Pigiet, Dewey, Montessori, Bloom, Mason, and more. I vaguely recall what I learned about any of these philosophies. When I started to look into homeschooling (long before I went to college), I didn't think of philosophies. Now, my children are older and I am majoring in history not education (yes, I still am in college), but I homeschool. I found Charlotte Mason again.
We didn't start our homeschooling with the CM philosophy but after reading and reading about it, it is such a wonderful way to learn. We are slowly (but moving faster as we go) implementing CM into our learning (and our lives).
There are so many references to Living Books in the CM philosophy. Many people think that if it is an old book it is a living book...but not so, I say. Fortunately, no one has asked me what a living book is because I don't think I could have told them. I think my response would have been, "well, I don't know how to explain it."
I was blog hopping today (because there are just such interesting things out there!) and came across a post over at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for Homeschool Library Builder. There are a few more books that I would really like to purchase for our homeschool. I have been to HLB before but didn't really look around. This time I decided to check it out more (they didn't have the book I was looking for, that's why lol). If you click About Homeschooling on the homepage at HLB, you will see Great Books: An open letter about Living Books. If you click on the Living Books link you will be taken to a letter written by Diane McKee -- Founder of Homeschool Library Builder.
This says it better than I think I could have. But now, if someone asks, I think I will be better prepared to give an answer :)
Hey Blossom...thank you so much for stopping by my blog today, I love hearing from new homeschooling mothers teaching CM way! We have just finished tea, so I'll be back later to browse around your site a bit more.
ReplyDeleteGreat to connect!
Cheers,
Sarah xxx
I feel the same way about living books; I don't think I could really define it. The way our family has chosen to apply it to our homeschool: living books should actually interest the child and and teach them something at the same time. As the Guilt free homeschooler says on her blog, "classic literature" doesn't always imply good literature. :) My only criteria is that the book is clean and safe for my impressionable young minds.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I'll look forward to keeping up with you!