Build Your Library: Secular, literature-based homeschooling
For a secular, literature-based, Charlotte Mason inspired homeschooling curriculum, we recommend Build Your Library's complete lesson plans for Levels 0-12. A homeschool mother of four, Emily Cook spent years searching for a curriculum that fit her needs. Tired of tweaking programs to make it work for her family, she decided to write her own program instead. . Build Your Library is a great choice for families that aren't a particular faith and are seeking a secular homeschool curriculum to educate their children. This curriculum is Charlotte Mason inspired with a 21st century twist that includes modern children's literature, history, art, and even science.. Build Your Library provides a daily and weekly schedule for parents to follow. Each lesson plan contains a book list of all schedule reading materials, activities and projects tied to the literature readings, and 30+ pages of activity pages (including maps) and research projects. Each level focuses on different subjects interweaved with literature, such as art, economics, photography, and more., Parents love that the curriculum is easy to understand and a good balance of structure and flexibility. Build Your Library is a fantastic homeschool curriculum to ensure parents and their children are engaged and reading the literature together. The reading list is also filled with interesting and fun books to keep the kids excited. , Build Your Library does use Story of the World, which has some chapters that are religious in nature. However, those chapters are not scheduled into the BYL lesson plans. In addition, Cook explains that Story of the World is still one of the best comprehensive history texts for the age level., .
Grades: Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th
Cost: Each level lesson plan varies in cost, ranging from $30-$60. However, all the books on the book list can be borrowed from the library
OTHER DETAILS
Key features
Type of Tool: Kit
Time required: Each lesson plan contains a daily and weekly schedule for 30-36 weeks of study, which can be completed in a year. There are sample week curriculums for each grade level on the website here: https://buildyourlibrary.com/overview/
Special Needs:
Literacy Requirement (does a child need to know how to read): One of the biggest components of Build Your Library curriculum is literature, and reading aloud to your children is one of the most important things emphasized by Emily Cook. However, when a reader is a book that is meant for children to read to themselves. Cook recommends having your child read aloud to you for the first few years of reading so they can work on fluency, articulation, and pronunciation.
Screens
Screens: No, no screens are required
Online requirement: No, it can be used offline
Time
Parent/Caregiver Involvement: Parent/teacher/caregiver involvement is necessary to use this tool.
Prep Time: Significant prep time
Other characteristics
Modality: Audiovisual, Hands-on/kinesthetic
Adaptive: No, it is the same for every student
Educational Philosophy: Charlotte Mason
Other characteristics: Interdisciplinary
Accountability
Assessment:
State Standards:
Teacher Accounts: No
Read Reviews: https://www.facebook.com/BuildYourLibrary/reviews/?ref=page_internal
Purchase: https://buildyourlibrary.com/overview/
