Living Books Curriculum

[Marsha]

Do you use this?
Do you combine grades?

Also, can anyone compare the Foundation year with FIAR?

Thanks

[Mama2Three]

:lurk5:

I'm thinking about K for my DD next year. LBC looks interesting. Looking forward to the responses.

[chaik76]

I have the second grade manual, but have not used it yet. I'm not sure if I'm going to. I really am not liking the book selections or the way it is set up. But I'm going to keep looking at it. I really like Charlotte Mason education in theory, but am not liking it so far in reality.

[angela&4boys]

We purchased and used LBC Grade 3 for 7 weeks. I tried to combine my 8yo and 11yo.



What I liked:

the book selections
the true to CM Method
ease of use
completeness (just add math)
What I didn't like:

I felt the books varied in difficulty and I wasn't sure what my child(ren) should read or what I should read.
the true CM method (lol - I realized I like some elements, but I'm not a die-hard.)
Honestly, if I weren't trying to combine, I think I would've liked it more. However, we missed reading together (especially SOTW!) and the cohesiveness of studying just one time period. In our case, my guys are "just the facts, ma'am" kind of fellas. It was just too much information for them. They want to get their studies done and work on catching critters and building projects.

If you enjoy the CM method of teaching and learning, then it may be worth considering. The Carrolls have done a wonderful job of making it very easy to implement.

Warmly,

[sagira]

Could you please elaborate on what the elements of CM are that didn't jive with you?

Thanks!

[angela&4boys]

Could you please elaborate on what the elements of CM are that didn't jive with you?

First let me say that I personally love the CM method. In hindsight though, I may have been a bit idealistic. I have four very boy boys. KWIM? I had visions of me in a long-flowing calico skirt with my hair in a bun walking through fields of flowers on an English hillside with my boys in tow. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little.:001_rolleyes: Suffice it to say, we are back to the latter year's more eclectic approach and there is more joy in our homeschool.



Some elements that didn't work for us:

Shakespeare ~ I loved it and maybe we'll try this again at some point, but my 11yo tolerated it and my 8yo's eyes glazed over.
Studying two history periods - American & World (And I believe Ambleside studies English as well) ~ We all enjoy focusing on one time period so much more and I find their retention is higher as a result.
The one element I've tweaked:

Narrating ~ They were orally narrating nearly everything they read and it was becoming drudgery. I now have them narrate literature (my 11 yo only) and nature study daily. They do written narrations for science and history once a week via notebook pages.
And I must mention the positive elements for us:

Living books ~ This is what drew me to CM in the first place. Although we still use some textbooks, it has freed me from feeling we must use them in order to acquire a complete education.
Copywork & Dictation ~ I have really seen the benefits of copywork and dictation after a few years. These will be a mainstay in our studies.
I'm sure there are other points, but this is what comes immediately to mind. I'm just so thankful and privileged to be able to teach my own and have found after 10 years that I am still learning so much!:)

[sagira]

Thank you! That's a very informative post, Angela&4boys. I have one boy and he keeps me busy enough :)

We love CM here too, but are too early in (this is our seventh week in our Foundation Year) to have too much experience. We like the short lessons, nature studies, music, art, poetry and living books. Ds is too young for extensive copywork and dictation or narration. Next year we're going to start doing narrations.

I highly recommend reading When Children Love to Learn. It gives you an idea of how many narrations to do a week, how to plan your schedules, etc. Not really geared towards homeschoolers but a CM school, you can still adapt the ideas to fit your family in a homeschool.

[angela&4boys]

Ya know Sagira, I actually own that book, but have read very little of it. I'll have to look through it some tonight. It's always nice to have help in the area of practical application. The Charlotte Mason Companion has helped me some, but I'm the type that can always use more.

Thanks for the recommendation. :)