Living Books or Simply Charlotte Mason

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  • January 23, 2010 at 1:46 am
    Homeschooling6
    Participant

    Hi, Ladies,

    Can anyone compare Living Books with SCM. I am considering using SCM GtoD. I like the looks of LB too.

    I do like that SCM looks less cluttered and has less books.

    I’m also keeping in mind that my oldest will use MFW Exp1850. He’ll do this more independently than it was written.

    My four youngest dc have not studied the old testament yet. I feel like they are getting a lot less Bible & attention in this area than my two older.

    January 23, 2010 at 2:27 pm
    mystika1
    Member

    Hi,

    I doubt if I will be much help but…

    A while back I was pretty much in the same situation as I liked the look of LB but was also drawn to SCM. One of the reasons that I chose SCM was because I have a 2 year old daughter who fights for my attention during read aloud time. I knew I would never be able to read lots and lots of books aloud and keep my sanity. If a book is listed on a daily schedule and I don’t get around to it I panic. Also, my soon to be 7 year old is a wiggly worm and would not keep still for the large amount of time that it would take to read the books.

    Next, I found lots of the SCM books at my library so that saved me money. Yes, when it comes to education I am willing to spend the needed money but it is always nice to save.

    My daughter is very picky about our literature read alouds. So far, my daughter has enjoyed all of the titles in SCM which in turn makes me RRRREEEAAALLLYYYYYYYYY happy. No fighting to get our work done.

    I use and highly recommend the SCM ebook “Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education” which has helped me printout my full year schedule in a matter of days. I have been able to tailor the curriculum to fit our needs and I will be able to use it each year.

    I am in no way downing LB curriculum as it looks excellent. Having crashed and burned trying to read a stack of books from a similar curriculum(Sonlight) last year I have chosen the more do-able SCM.

    I think it boils down to the amount of time you have to dedicate to the curruculum. They are both CM and are excellent choices so I would just think it over and see what you think would work better for you.

    Sincerely,

    Penny 

    January 23, 2010 at 5:23 pm
    mrsjamiesouth
    Member

    I also looked between the 2 curriculums for a few months before deciding.  I did not choose LBC for a few reasons:  we had already read a lot of the books listed (my oldest has a hard time re-reading books), I prefer to combine my children for as many subjects and LBC had each grade seperate, and I also tend to rebel against detailed lesson plans.  I too want to do everything listed no matter how much, so I love that SCM’s guide is more flexible and relaxed.  You can always add to it if you feel its not enough, but its harder to leave stuff out without feeling like you are cheating your children out of something.

    January 23, 2010 at 8:21 pm
    3LittleWiseMen
    Participant

    Last year I was trying to decide between Living Books and SCM.  After spending a lot of time on both websites, I started noticing that SCM was more organized and offered a lot of help for Moms.  SCM is not just another lesson plan.  It teaches you HOW to use the CM method and HOW to plan out your kids’ education.  “Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education” made all the difference to me.  I had been doing CM methods for 2 years, but I was at such a loss at how to regin in all the books I’d read and produce an organized system that I was CONFIDENT about.  Sometimes I felt like I was doing too much, and other times I felt like I wasn’t doing enough.  “Planning Your CM Education” put everything in balance and forced me to start with my future goals, narrowing it down to my year, term, week, and finally daily schedule.  I was always trying to focus on it the other way around.  Plus, SCM leaves so much room for you to put your preferences in.  The CM Organizer has also served as a HUGE help.  I was very skeptical about it, but it has proved to allow me to be rigid or flexible.  Sonya has so many great books and tools to help us Moms, which for me was so valuable to our homeschool running smoothly. 

    SCM has worked for me, but do what you think is best!  You will make the right decision when the time is right!

    January 25, 2010 at 3:43 am
    Joytoread
    Participant

    I ordered Living Books Curriculum for our first year of homeschooling.  I then found SCM in the meantime.  You will find that SCM is easier to use.  I like some of the books better with SCM.  I did grade one and there was a lot of Usborne books used for science.  I find them some what more factual and not what I would call a living book.  They are good to supplement with your living books but I find it was harder for my son to connect with them.  I had a hard time keeping up with the pace of LB.  The science 106 Days Creation is so simple to use and even the Modules for History.  I found it very hard to do both American History (in my case Canadian history) and World history in one year.  Now that I have transfered to SCM, schooling has gone much smoother because I’m not doing as much.  But my children are still learning a lot.  Anyway I hope this helps somewhat.

    January 26, 2010 at 9:48 pm
    Homeschooling6
    Participant

    Thank you ladies for your insight and help. I really appreciate you all taking the time to post. I am leaning toward SCM. I need something that tells me exactly what to do or close to it at least. Again thanks!

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