does this literature-based curriculum exist?

[fdrinca]

I'm looking for a literature-based curriculum that takes the book first and develops curriculum around it. 

 

I've seen some (Moving Beyond the Page, for example), which seem to take a curriculum and put books into it, and while the books are the core of the curriculum, they are made to fit a list of topics to be covered. 

 

Maybe this distinction seems artificial, but it feels important for our home school. For the past few months (with some life changes like a baby and little ones moving into different developmental stages), our school has been the most productive when we orient everything around a rich morning time session. Once we pull out textbooks or move toward more directed activities, all frustration levels rise - including mine. 

 

I'd like to just read great books with my kiddos, selecting books because we like them, not because they are obviously pedagogical, and then to mine the books for learning experiences. So, if someone has invented this wheel, I see no need to re-invent it.

 

Thanks!

[historically accurate]

Five in a Row is what springs to my mind. 

[mysticmomma]

Prairie primer

[Guest]

I'd like to just read great books with my kiddos, selecting books because we like them, not because they are obviously pedagogical, and then to mine the books for learning experiences. So, if someone has invented this wheel, I see no need to re-invent it.

 

Thanks!

 

Hmmm...no I don't think there is a curriculum that has scheduled books that you like, for no other reason than you like them.

[fdrinca]

Five in a Row is what springs to my mind. 

 

I agree, and this is more where I'd like to look, but I've never liked the FIAR series. The activities often fall flat for me and my kiddos. Maybe I approach it with a bad attitude? Either way, we've read the literature selections in the Beyond Five in a Row collections, and the non-fiction selections leave me feeling "meh."

[fdrinca]

Hmmm...no I don't think there is a curriculum that has scheduled books that you like, for no other reason than you like them.

 

Read that line more as: reading four classics of children's literature, not three classics and then another book that happens to cover the time/theme/genre as well. 

 

I'm thinking of our recent experience studying California history using Beautiful Feet. The times we trudged through were when the book selection was chosen to meet the curriculum, rather than the curriculum being driven by the book selections. 

[Guest]

Read that line more as: reading four classics of children's literature, not three classics and then another book that happens to cover the time/theme/genre as well. 

 

I'm thinking of our recent experience studying California history using Beautiful Feet. The times we trudged through were when the book selection was chosen to meet the curriculum, rather than the curriculum being driven by the book selections. 

 

OK but so just read what you want to read.

 

Call it the pleasure-driven wheel if you'd like.

 

Did you read the big circe thread a couple years ago?

[Guest]

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/359457-how-does-one-provide-a-classical-education-circe-institute-lovers/

[fdrinca]

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/359457-how-does-one-provide-a-classical-education-circe-institute-lovers/

 

Thank you for this link. I wasn't on the boards when this went up, but I can see from the first page that it is what I need to hear right now. 

 

I'm so thankful for the experience and long memories of those who have been around this block a few times :)

[SilverMoon]

.

Edited June 11 by SilverMoon

[Haiku]

I think you are making a mental distinction that is artificial. You seem to have have decided that some books are good books just because they are and some books are meh because they are in someone else's curriculum. But those meh books were probably someone else's good books. No one else can anticipate your specific tastes.

 

I say this gently, but my experience over ten years of homeschooling is that I sometimes placed way too much importance on things that were not, in the end, big deals. I made them big deals by fretting over them.

 

My advice would be to either 1) read the books you want to read and do what comes naturally from them in terms of lessons or 2) accept that no one else's curriculum will suit you 100% but use it anyway.

 

Have you looked at Ambleside Online? That comes to mind when I think about what might work for you.

[craftyerin]

I wonder about some Brave Writer Arrows or Quiver of Arrows month-long language arts units for your older two, with the others just listening in on the stories. There are tons to back issues to choose from, so you may be able to find things you like there. Ambleside or A Modern Charlotte Mason or something like that could give you some really fantastic book options, but they don't do much in terms of "lessons" from them. CM is all about letting the book speak to the child, not pulling units from the books. You can pull copywork and dictation from them, obviously, but Brave Writer will do that for you, which earns them big points for me, for simplicity's sake. 

[Amy M]

The Cadron Creek guides do. Prairie Primer (Little House), Further Up and Further In (Narnia), and Where the Brook and River Meet (Anne of Green Gables).

 

 

I was also going to suggest this. Funny, I just posted my own question on literature guides, but I want the opposite of you. :) I don't want a whole unit study built around the book, which is why I didn't want FUFI. Part of me wishes I were brave enough to try something like that and break away from the chronological history model, but I'm not.

[happypamama]

I would be making a list of books I wanted to enjoy, and then I'd be googling for discussion questions, activities, etc. to go with those books.  Like the Prairie Primer has for the Little House books, but for other things I wanted to read.  There is just so much out there now that you should be able to find some things to enhance whatever books you're reading.

[ByGrace3]

I looked far and wide to find something like this. This last year I ended up creating my own language arts around the Narnia series and we used it as a spring board for some history topics as well. Best year ever. Next year I am doing this with my youngest using BraveWriter's Quiver of Arrows for LA and then we will use it as a springboard for history topics. For ds I will use a combination of BW Arrows and MP lit guides to "guide" our LA and rabbit trails. My older two are using self paced history on the computer, but I wish I had the courage and the time to let that go and go full scale lit driven. We have loved what we have done. I am having my oldest do a more traditional year this school year and I am having doubts already!

 

I think in the end I determined there was nothing exactly like what I wanted, but plenty that could help me get there. I have found lit guides to be a good resource. We don't use them as intended necessarily, but pieces of them help form where we head.

[fdrinca]

I think you are making a mental distinction that is artificial. You seem to have have decided that some books are good books just because they are and some books are meh because they are in someone else's curriculum. But those meh books were probably someone else's good books. No one else can anticipate your specific tastes.

 

I say this gently, but my experience over ten years of homeschooling is that I sometimes placed way too much importance on things that were not, in the end, big deals. I made them big deals by fretting over them.

 

My advice would be to either 1) read the books you want to read and do what comes naturally from them in terms of lessons or 2) accept that no one else's curriculum will suit you 100% but use it anyway.

 

Have you looked at Ambleside Online? That comes to mind when I think about what might work for you.

 

I agree that there won't be a curriculum to our specific needs, and I will probably end up constructing our own curriculum. 

 

I'm just hoping that there is a secret, un-Google-able site with a list of classic children's books and then the science/history/geography that is incorporated in the book. 

 

And if there **isn't** one site, perhaps someone with more time than I could build it.

 

Re: Ambleside, I want to like it more than I do. The history selections just haven't worked for our children. But I'm showing myself an unrepentantly picky homeschool matron :)

Edited June 18, 2016 by fdrinca

[fdrinca]

I would be making a list of books I wanted to enjoy, and then I'd be googling for discussion questions, activities, etc. to go with those books.  Like the Prairie Primer has for the Little House books, but for other things I wanted to read.  There is just so much out there now that you should be able to find some things to enhance whatever books you're reading.

 

Yes, this probably will be the route I take.

 

I've been struck lately by how much we can pull from one book, and these rabbit trails take me by surprise sometimes. I feel as though enough of my kids are able to explore trails now, as opposed to our earlier paste-eating days.  I'd like to be more prepared for when these opportunities arise, but in thinking of the nature of rabbit trails and the type of learning I'd like for my children, preparation is **not** part of the plan. Planning a course might remove the spontaneity of learning. 

[ByGrace3]

 

I'm just hoping that there is a secret, un-Google-able site with a list of classic children's books and then the science/history/geography that is incorporated in the book. 

 

 

 

This would be AMAZING. Topics by chapter please! ;) 

[fdrinca]

I wonder about some Brave Writer Arrows or Quiver of Arrows month-long language arts units for your older two, with the others just listening in on the stories. There are tons to back issues to choose from, so you may be able to find things you like there. Ambleside or A Modern Charlotte Mason or something like that could give you some really fantastic book options, but they don't do much in terms of "lessons" from them. CM is all about letting the book speak to the child, not pulling units from the books. You can pull copywork and dictation from them, obviously, but Brave Writer will do that for you, which earns them big points for me, for simplicity's sake. 

 

And this is where I confess that I really wish I could be more Charlotte Mason, but my personality clashes against it. We can make it 60 or 70 percent of the way, and then I get very lesson-plan-y. 

[fdrinca]

This would be AMAZING. Topics by chapter please! ;)

 

This will be my get-rich-quick scheme. Because there is so much money in homeschooling, right  :lol:

[happypamama]

Yes, this probably will be the route I take.

 

I've been struck lately by how much we can pull from one book, and these rabbit trails take me by surprise sometimes. I feel as though enough of my kids are able to explore trails now, as opposed to our earlier paste-eating days.  I'd like to be more prepared for when these opportunities arise, but in thinking of the nature of rabbit trails and the type of learning I'd like for my children, preparation is **not** part of the plan. Planning a course might remove the spontaneity of learning. 

It might, and it might not.  They still might find other things in the books that spark their interests, but at the same time, while Charlotte Mason's ideas are great, and I do think books can speak to the children directly, sometimes children don't know what they'll find interesting.  So you can open another door for them by showing them more about the history or science or whatever -- then it's up to them whether they walk through the door or just glance at it and move on.  I don't think that's a bad thing, to introduce things to them.

 

I do find that spontaneous rabbit trails can be tricky when you don't live close to the library.  You can't exactly pop out right that afternoon and grab some books, y'know?  I very often have a stack of books on various topics waiting, and if the kids seem interested, we'll read them, and if they don't, no big deal.  I have a really good library with a really generous loan policy, and that works very well for me since it's not next door.

[Caviar]

If you don't already have a copy, you might want to buy All Through the Ages:  History Through Literature Guide by Christine Miller, Nothing New Press. http://www.nothingnewpress.com/books/all-through-the-ages-2/ It is a "compilation of over 5600 of the best living books and great literature, arranged by chronological era, geographical region, and reading level."  It also includes short lists of the History of Science and Mathematics, History of the Arts, Great Books of Western Civilization and the Christian Tradition.  This book includes timelines and is interspersed with short written histories. 

 

I'm just hoping that there is a secret, un-Google-able site with a list of classic children's books and then the science/history/geography that is incorporated in the book.

 

I'd LOVE to see something like this too!  It'd be great to have math included too!  Oh, I just thought of another one, apparently similar to FIAR, it's called Layers of Learning by Michelle Copher and Karen Loutzenhiser.  You can buy individual units, not complete years, so you could try it out and see if you like it or not.

 

[Haiku]

Re: Ambleside, I want to like it more than I do. 

 

Me, too.

 

Every year I look hopefully at the book list. Every year, I sigh and imagine my dd full-on rebelling at being forced to read books she would hate. I imagine my son looking at me like I'd suddenly grown three heads. I reluctantly close the browser window and go back to putting together my own plan.

 

I would dearly love an all-in-one curriculum, but the fact is, I hate to be told what to do, and I'm a tweaker, so it would never work for me.

Edited June 18, 2016 by TaraTheLiberator

[birchbark]

You might be interested in Bonnie Landry's booklets, particularly How To Read a Book So It Becomes the Curriculum.

[Chelli]

You might be interested in Bonnie Landry's booklets, particularly How To Read a Book So It Becomes the Curriculum.

 

Have you read/used this? The title is intriguing and I just downloaded it to my Kindle app (Thanks KIndle Unlimited!). 

 

Just curious if you had any reviews of it before I dive in.

[Guest]

Have you read/used this? The title is intriguing and I just downloaded it to my Kindle app (Thanks KIndle Unlimited!).

 

Just curious if you had any reviews of it before I dive in.

I have it. Like all her booklets, ive found that it just gets you jazzed to do, in homeschool, what you wanted to do in the first place. If you hsppen to be me. I recommend the dictation one all the time.

[KeriJ]

Have you read/used this? The title is intriguing and I just downloaded it to my Kindle app (Thanks KIndle Unlimited!).

 

Just curious if you had any reviews of it before I dive in.

[KeriJ]

Good grief. My phone is not cooperating. Chelli, I bought it based on birchbark's recommendation. It's good. For me it was more of a reminder of much of what I already know to do. It was nothing drastically new, but it was great to have all of those points and inspiration in printed form. I'm glad I got it. Thank you birchbark.😊

[Chelli]

I have it. Like all her booklets, ive found that it just gets you jazzed to do, in homeschool, what you wanted to do in the first place. If you hsppen to be me. I recommend the dictation one all the time.

I downloaded the dictation one as well. It looked really good.

[Mrs. A]

When I read the OP I thought 8filltheheart's Homeschooling at the Helm would be the first thing mentioned, but since it hasn't been, I get to suggest taking a look at it. :) It lays out a great method for building a year around a book of your choice and explains how to go about digging out those potential rabbit trails and how to incorporate them.

 

Here's the link: http://www.treasuredconversations.com/homeschooling-at-the-helm-pdf-download-available-only-within-the-usa/

[TX Pilgrim]

The Center for Lit might provide some helpful ideas for developing questions and delving into the books that you like. http://www.centerforlit.com/teaching-the-classics. They don't do as much unit studies or integration but it might help you find connections.

[birchbark]

Have you read/used this? The title is intriguing and I just downloaded it to my Kindle app (Thanks KIndle Unlimited!). 

 

Just curious if you had any reviews of it before I dive in.

 

I wrote up some quick summaries on Bonnie's booklets here.

[pitterpatter]

I long for a curriculum like CLE's Reading series, but with traditional literature.

 

There's Total Language Plus, but it's not for littles.

[pitterpatter]

You may or may not find these resources of interest:

 

https://www.themailbox.com/marketplace/book/ebook-reading-writing-with-picture-books-tec30074

 

https://www.themailbox.com/marketplace/book/perfect-for-spring-picture-book-activities-tec36066

 

https://www.themailbox.com/marketplace/book/chrysanthemum-tec36188

 

They offer other levels, themes, and books. I just posted a sampling. Scholastic also offers similar products.

 

There are these too. - https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/teachers/series/great-works-185/

 

I realize they aren't all-encompassing, but I've not seen the particular unicorn you're looking for about.

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

What about Teacher Created Resources Literature Guides?  

[ssexton]

This site has unit studies and lapbooks that correlate to books. There is also a searchable title index:

 

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

[Jennay]

This site has unit studies and lapbooks that correlate to books. There is also a searchable title index:

 

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

This is what I was going to suggest. It seems to be exactly what the OP is looking for,