Living Weaver

January 17, 2009 by gracefrombrazil.

I must admit I have the malady from which most home educators suffer, an inordinate passion for books. One of the attractions that drew me to Weaver, years ago, was that it chose real books over textbooks and encouraged me to bring in to our lessons exceptional books of all kinds. Those were often “living books,” written by an author who is an expert in the field or by someone simply devoted to the subject. Such books never failed to breathe life and interest into our learning. We have experienced excellent writing throughout the years and I desire to encounter even more. I remember the time my three children and I were intently involved in a continent study. We picked up Around the World in Eighty Days and traveled across the world by balloon, ship, elephant, train and wind mobile. Now that I think of it, it would be a great read for a unit on transportation as well. Or the time we studied mountains and later read Heidi where we accompanied Peter, Heidi, and the goats up the steep crags and “felt” the topic in a fresh way.

There are still unfound books that I long to match up with fitting themes. So that is my quest, to uncover these and to share what we are discovering by our reading together. I know that I will uncover new treasures but since this is our second time through the volumes we will re-read some old gems that captivated us and made time disappear.

In the next couple of weeks I will be planning unit 3, Volume 1 and will be on the lookout for some living literature as well as a good dose of poetry for our added enjoyment.

Posted in Living Books | Print | No Comments »