A Living Books Library

Living Books are a core feature of a Charlotte Mason Education and teaching with living books means we need to find living books on many subjects. This collection of book lists began with Mary Collis and her magazine A Living Education which is now out of print. She kindly allowed me to add to Homeschooling Downunder. Over the years I’ve added to the list of books. It can be used to teach subjects using well written books. Some living books are out of print (OOP) and need to be hunted down but many are still in print.

At My Homeschool we have incorporated many of these books into our curriculum as they tie into the Australian Curriculum. See our courses here.

When you begin homeschooling your library often grows and using these living books book lists are a way to make make sure that grows intentionally.

“Never be without a good book on hand.” Charlotte Mason

Finding living books takes time and research.  I hope you can find some treasured books here to add to your homeschool library.

General Homeschooling Book Lists

Enrichment Book List

Australian Literature Living Books

Australian history is studied in the Australian Curriculum from Year 4 to Year 6. It is then studied as an elective in Year 8 and Year 9. However all curriculum grades encourage using Australian Literature. At My Homeschool we have incorporated many of these books into our curriculum.

Science and Nature Books

If you want to teach science without a textbook then you will find a very tempting selection of books here. It can sometimes be hard to know exactly how to teach science in a sequential manner but we have some tips on the Australian Curriculum Science and Charlotte Mason here. We also have incorporated living books literature into our My Homeschool science curriculum for K to Year 8.

World History Living Book List

No world history (except Australian history) is covered in the Australian Curriculum in the primary years. However that doesn’t mean homeschoolers can’t cover it. Here are some ideas for teaching history. Use the primary years to give your children a good overview of history, before they are required to do in-depth studies in the high school years. The books listed here will help you with that.

At My Homeschool we have gathered together a range of history books and historical living books and made them fit easily into a four term schedule with a few scheduled readings per week . We also encourage notebooking and narrations and give you suggestions of when to use them. For Year 7 and Year 8 we have compiled specific living books that cover the Australian curriculum with the added bonus of a chronological coverage of world history.

Geography Living Books For Kids

Finding out about countries is never really taught  in the Australian Geography curriculum. (There is one depth study of a neighbouring country of choice in Year 4). I think this is a wasted opportunity. Here are some ideas for teaching geography.