510.00 Complete Curricula Review Living Books Curriculum

[LOST]

Name of curriculum: Living Books Curriculum™

Common abbreviation: LBC

Optimal age of students: Foundation Year (Kindergarten) - Grade Six (grades 7-8 coming soon ~May)

Type: Complete Curriculum

Educational Philosophy: Charlotte Mason (abbreviated CM)

Worldview: Judeo-Christian

Website: http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com





Review:

Living Books Curriculum provides the books and materials for each grade level for an academic year. The curriculum uses a literature-based, learn-by-doing approach based on the work of Charlotte Mason, with strong emphasis on the use of oral skills to enhance learning and literacy. LBC has a 36-week schoolyear, divided into four terms of nine weeks each. The first eight weeks of each term are for instruction; the ninth week provides flextime for finishing work and assesses learning through end-of-term narration questions.

This core curriculum has eleven areas of study: Bible, mathematics (scheduled only in Foundation Year), language arts (phonics/grammar & penmanship), science, nature study, art, picture study, music, American history, world history and geography. In addition they include the study of Latin from Grade Four onward and recommend second language instruction begin as soon as possible.

The approaches used for learning are reading classic literature, storytelling, active involvement, time spent in the out-of-doors, using local materials and local knowledge, and creating a supportive atmosphere.

(Note that math is not included beyond the Foundation year.)

A quote from the website:

Living Books Curriculum offers homeschooling parents curriculum packages and materials based on the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. Using high-quality literature and real-life experiences, LBC emphasizes oral expression to promote literacy and learning.

Have you used this curriculum? no



Strengths:

• one of the very few Charlotte Mason-type curricula-in-a-box
  • taking into account many of Charlotte Mason's methods and ideas: short lessons, living books, narration, classic literature, nature study, handicrafts, fine arts, music, etc.
• wonderful booklists for living books, not textbooks
• weekly planner inside a very thorough and expansive teaching guide
• teaching guides and all books can be purchased individually or in a complete package
• 60 day, 100% refund policy on all books and materials (less shipping)
• Living Books Curriculum profits go to support Worldwide Educational Resources www.educationinabox.com, which ensures educating children in developing nations, using the Living Books idea.
• online catalog with author's name for books used are listed along with the option to purchase (helpful for those who use library books)
• online payment options include PAYPAL, VISA, AMEX, Mastercard, Discover or partial payment plan. Otherwise they accept check or money order by mail.
• they have added forums to their website

Weaknesses:

• currently they only have teaching guides available for foundation year through grade six. Grades 7 - 8 are scheduled to be completed this year/
• not as well known, so not as much discussion among users (they have just added forums so this may change)
• not displayed at any curriculum fairs outside of Michigan (their homebase). They are considering displays at the Texas and California conferences for next year.
• more expensive than most other "complete" curricula. But most other curricula usually don't include music, art, penmanship, or science in their base packages.

Comments:

A very helpful and unusual resource for Michigan homeschoolers is LBC's curriculum specific for Michigan History from prehistory to present. They have a wonderful selection of literature to aid in the study of Michigan's past along with a LBC exclusive teaching guide.

LBC also offers a teaching guide to the Middle Ages designed for multi-age (9 and up) and multi-grade. And most recently LBC offers a teaching guide for astronomy (multi-grade; 3rd and up) with additional books available for use with the teaching guide.

Also they have a very nice monthly e-newsletter, Parent's Journal, which can be emailed directly to you or also be accessed through the main website along with past issues.

[INDENT]Future publishing schedule (from website)

Grade Seven - 2009 (mid-May)

Grade Eight - 2009 (mid-May)

In conclusion, I haven't personally used or known anyone who has used this curriculum. I did attend a seminar last year at a Michigan homeschool conference presented by the developer of this curriculum, Shelia Carroll. The room was packed and she did an excellent job in giving an overview of the Charlotte Mason approach to learning. After the seminar we were allowed to get hands-on with every item LBC currently carried. The teaching manuals were easily 200 pages each with week-by-week schedules, recommended reading lists for further studies, end-of-term narration questions, supplies list and articles. I would encourage anyone interested in this type of curriculum to visit the LBC website and explore. The website in itself is a great resource.

FTC Disclosure:
This site is independently owned and operated. The opinions expressed here are those of the independent reviewer/poster who has either used or sampled the product under review. The Library makes commissions on products sold through affiliate and advertiser links. The products reviewed here are sometimes sold by one of our affiiates. For a full list of current affiliates, check out the Affiliate Forum or the links on our Shopping Page.

[jg_puppy]

Thank you for posting this. I have been wondering about this curriculum. We are using a different curriculum next year because I had already bought it before finding this one. I am not sure which of the two I will use the next year.

Jan

[momto2grls]

We are using just the History portion of LBC for 1st grade and love the books. We already have curriculum in place for other subjects that we are happy with which is why we have not used the entire program. We will be using this again next year, and even though we already have a science program in place we will use some of the science books next year as well.

[eliecia]

I'm really interested in this curriculum. Has anyone used the entire program?

[Lynn]

I just found this online this weekend. I was looking for a reading program with living books that had good comprehension questions and tests for them. Their sample pages don't show any testing or questions. Does the Charlotte Mason method not employ these at all? I'm only a 2nd year homeschooler and sometimes I feel a little more secure with these results, but this curriculum looks wonderful and I'm actually considering switching his entire curriculum to this for 2nd grade. Any input?

[sagira]

To answer the PP, Charlotte Mason used narrations throughout, which help cement down information for children and teachers are very aware how much children know. She also has end of term exams beginning in 4th grade which were open-ended questions.

For instance, "tell everything you know about Paul Revere's Ride." Or "Tell the story of Moses in Egypt" if you're doing Bible history. In science, there are questions such as "Explain how a seed develops into a plant". You can also start these earlier, and as you've been reading and discussing together with your child, it should be very easy to come up with your own questions. You can tailor the questions to the degree of knowledge you know your child has and the level of difficulty to what you know about him/her.

I recommend reading When Children Love to Learn and The Charlotte Mason Companion.

I'm curious about the Living Books Curriculum too. I may go graduate school for two years so I would like to have a packaged curriculum for my two children for that time. Right now we're using my own curriculum put together with the help of Tanglewood Education.

[LOST]

Want a closer look at LBC's curriculum?

Join Jim and I for a one-hour webinar on Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 12 noon EST and 9 am PST.

Dad can watch the kids, while you get a cup of tea and meet us right on your computer. No phoning in, no software to download.

It's easy to register and it's *free*.
http://www.instantpresenter.com/PIID=E152DA89

Here's just of few things you can expect:

• The answer to the FIVE MOST ASKED QUESTIONS put to LBC.
• A closer look at our curriculum and how we follow Charlotte Mason's methods.
• A peek at Intermediate Language Lessons by Emma Serl (you won't believe what we're up to with that).
• A curriculum purchase opportunity only for registered individuals. It is the best we have ever offered and good only till April 1st (no fooling!)
• Freebies and downloadable goodies.

You won't want to miss it.
REGISTER HERE:
http://www.instantpresenter.com/PIID=E152DA89

Can't make it at that time? Register anyway and I can send you the replay link.

Glad to be homeschooling,
Sheila Carroll
Living Books Curriculum
Catch the buzz. Join the LBC Forum and talk with others about Living Books Curriculum.

[momstheteacher]

Just wondering if anyone has used this as a complete curriculum?

[momstheteacher]

[MeMomma]

For the PP ~ I am going to be using the Foundations Year this coming year. We are starting in July. Also I am going to be using everything except the history for 5th and 7th grades. I want to keep them on the same cycles for history so we are closely following LBC and SCM for Ancient history this year

I'll try to remember to post when we get some time under our belts Was there anything specific you were wondering?

Also I have called and spoke with their office manager, Brenda, a few times and also Sheila, herself. They are both super nice and helpful!!!!