A Literary Education

This book contains a bunch of lists of different books that are "living" and is a great resource for anyone using the Charlotte Mason Method of teaching.

I was a bit disappointed with this book. Only because the books recommended were for kids older than mine (age 6 and 4). I was expecting there to be a broader range, like for PreK thru 12. Seems these start around 3-4th grade and up.Amazon was really cool, because I wanted to return it and as I went through the process to do so, they told me to just keep it and refunded me the money! VERY IMPRESSED, Amazon!I'm excited to have it in my library for when they are older!

Another great book which provides information about the benefits of allowing children to explore and be creative. This book was a wonderful book to review from time to time to remind us about how home education is not all about book work.

Upon discovering the Charlotte Mason Method of Homeschooling, and becoming a great admirer of what she stands for, I discovered Catherine Levison.I bought each of her books and enjoyed them immensely. At the Orlando homeschooling conference I was lucky enough to meet her and purchase her third book, "A Literary Education." At first I read it cover to cover, as I usually do, but what I was so happy to find is that it is a book that keeps giving. It is the Pandora�s Box to the Charlotte Mason method of teaching. I refer to it almost daily. It is not just a "booklist". I will read one passage which piques my curiosity and I find myself researching books from the same author or checking to see what other books are closely related to those Catherine mentions. It is a book I can read forever and find something new each time. I highly recommend this book to add to any homeschooling collection, regardless of what method you may be using. The literature it highlights is guaranteed to be useful. It is a not to be read cover to cover and then put on your bookshelf. What an investment!

I have read a couple of other books by Catherine Levison and loved them, so when I found this one I picked it up (used) without knowing anything about it.The Good:**The introduction is well done and gives you a good sense of purpose for this book.**It's a booklist, with a small blurb on each one describing the book. They are sometimes factual, sometimes more personal in feel. The books also have an "independent reading level" listed, so I have an idea roughly when they can be read aloud vs. hand them over to the kid to read himself.**There is a nicely done "scope & sequence" in the appendix to give a general idea what children should/could be working on in each grade.**Print quality is good. Fonts and spacing make it a comfortable read. I would consider this a very nice paperback.The BadSimply put, this book is a list of books. There's 2-3 on each page, and while they are excellent choices and detailed in their information I don't find the list to truly be worth a book of it's own. Many of these choices are suggested on multiple CM type curriculums, and not really a "new" suggestion. My personal opinion is this information would have been better suited as an excellent addition to one or both of her earlier books.Overall: I find Ms. Levison's knowledge to be useful, and a worthy addition to my library, especially for anyone interested in a Charlotte Mason Education. With an unlimited budge I would certainly not mind, purchasing it new. However, I am quite glad that I bought a used copy for my own budget.

After gleaning so much from Catherine's first and second books, I was curious about her third book, "A Literary Education." I found myself reading it from cover-to-cover and I truly enjoyed it!She shares how she came up with the list in the introduction and then she shares her collected resources for Literature, History, Science & Nature, Poetry, etc. For each book, she includes the ISBN#, a summary of the book and the IRL (Independent Reading Level). She also includes a general educational Scope & Sequence of the US in the Appendix.This is great summary of great books Catherine has used and I found myself highlighting books I plan to get for my personal library. I have many bibliographies, but I find it challenging when visiting a book store to find a book from such resources. This one I can actually use when I visit a book store. Catherine's books are great for implementation of the CM method both for methods and choosing great books!