Reviews

A Literary Education: Adapting Charlotte Mason for Modern Secular Homeschooling by Emily Cook

amy959's review against another edition

4.0

Many home educators seem to have one book that they read every year to encourage and ground them for the upcoming school year. This will be that book for me. When I am stuck in a rut and wondering if I am doing enough, or if I need to buy 'just 1 more' curriculum, I will come to this book and read about the beautiful literary education environment and lifestyle Emily describes within this book and it will remind me of the bigger picture and why we homeschool in the first place.

tamarayork's review against another edition

5.0

After using Emily Cook's Build Your Library curriculum in our homeschool for years, I finally got around to reading her book. It was a great synopsis of how a modern, secular Charlotte Mason style homeschool can be accomplished. I have read many books about Charlotte Mason homeschooling and they all feel so old-fashioned, a bit boring, and use books written a hundred (or more) years ago. They all give the impression of children gathered around mother's feet knitting while listening to weighty classics being read aloud and reciting bible verses. This book presents a different take on a great educational model. One that is modern, easy, and bursting with goodness. Highly recommend.

amybatty's review against another edition

5.0

Good info for someone new to CM homeschooling. My one complaint is that it only talked about mothers homeschooling their children.

mharrison13's review against another edition

4.0

This was a very quick and easy read and it left me feeling that it really is okay to take the parts of homeschool philosophy that I like, and leave out the things that just won’t work. As Emily Cook points out, your family is going to be different from my family and her family and we each need to figure out what works for us. I love some of Emily’s ideas and I’be enjoyed her curriculum (Build Your Library) for Kindergarten and Pre-history.

Ultimately I’m left feeling positive and excited about our future.. the bridges can be crossed as we get to them.

dinoreader84's review against another edition

4.0

Would likely be very helpful for a homeschooler that's just starting out and exploring the CM method but for someone that has followed Emily and BYL for what feels like ages now, it was a lot of stuff I already knew/followed/did.

That said, I am glad I got it and I am glad I got it in hard copy so I can pass along the knowledge to a lot of my friends that are going to HS their first kiddos in the coming years!

kpasteka's review against another edition

4.0

Good introduction to Charlotte Mason homeschooling. I appreciate its secular approach, I like the CM pedagogy with living books and short lessons but with most CM books it's hard to get a feel for how to apply it while also trying to weed out the bible lessons, hymn lesson, etc.