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Master Books offers curriculum and homeschooling resources from a young earth Christian perspective. Their curriculum is based on "a Charlotte Mason inspired approach to learning with living lessons, captivating pictures, engaging stories and assignments." Master Books is now the publisher of Knowledge Quest geography resources and the resources are included in the Master Books curriculum packages.
Website: Master Books
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(7 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: People expecting school at home may not like the gentle approach (gentle does not mean easy)
Grades Used: 1-9
We have come to really love Masterbooks! We love that the schedule is provided. My boys can easily look at it and get started on their work for the day, Great for families with multiple kids in different ages. Allows the students to work independently and use mom/teacher as a help or guide when they don't understand. We have used Masterbooks for almost 5 years now and couldn't be happier! We use Language Lessons for a Living education, Math through Algebra 1, all of the Gods design science courses many of the history courses, Bible/apologetics and electives. Masterbooks is the core of our studies. It's so flexible!
Cons: The teacher guide may be a little too much for the younger levels, Volume 3 is a little dry
Grades Used: 2-8
I have thoroughly enjoyed using America's Story 1-3 with my children. Master Books uses a Charlotte Mason inspired approach and so many individuals are highlighted with interesting tidbits about their lives as the story of the founding of the United States of America unfolds throughout the three volumes. A teacher guide is provided for each level with additional activities for each book as well as a suggested schedule. Our family enjoyed just using the student guide, reading the weekly lessons, looking at the engaging pictures, and comparing with both the Big Books of History and American History timeline books. Audio versions of the student book are available for learning on the go. We have used this history curriculum family style to read and discuss together the forming of our nation, as well as to act as a bridge to learn about other individuals that peak our curiosity. We supplement by listening to biographies written by Janet and Geoff Benge. I have learned more from this curriculum than I did in public school. Volume 3 has been the most tedious for us as the chapters covering World War 2. A good overview of the war is presented but sometimes it seems like the topic is over the kids' heads. This was my favorite time period to learn about as a young adult so we have definitely pulled from other resources to make this time period more engaging and highlight the heroic feats and difficult decisions by many during this horrible time.
Cons: For those wanting a more aggressive approach to writing, supplementation may be desired. But MB offers several writing curriculum, I have just not used any of them at this point.
Grades Used: 2-8
Language Lessons for a Living Education by Master Books has offered such a refreshing reproach to reading, writing, and grammar, especially for boys, based on God's Word. Each day of the week has a predictable pattern that is repeated weekly providing stability and consistency. Writing is gently introduced with an emphasis on story telling - my boys are great story tellers! Sometimes they just need help getting their stories from head to paper. Copy work aids in handwriting. (Supplementing with Catch on to Cursive was a wonderful way to teach my kids cursive, with the added bonus of fun activities to strengthen manual dexterity.) Weekly spelling lists and supplemental games are included as well as continual grammar instruction and practice. The overall icing on the cake is the curriculum's inclusion of Bible reading and apologetics at age appropriate levels along the way. In the earliest levels the children read through Bible story books to become familiar with the general content of the Bible, with a verse to copy and memorize, as well as space to draw something from the illustration in the Bible story book. At the middle and high school levels, students read through the Bible itself, summarizing what they read in paragraph form. They also engage with ideas such as why the Bible is God's Word and its sufficiency Level 8 engages the students in reading a Statement of Faith and then creating one of their own. Grading rubrics for the older levels are included to help parents in grading papers and several types of essays and book reports are introduced and produced throughout the year. A great product to teach language arts and the Bible while discipling your children throughout the time of their home education.
Cons: Level 6 is a big transition between level 5 and Principles of Math 1. For a younger student ready to start level 6 or a student with learning challenges, modifications of the lessons may be helpful.
Grades Used: 3-8
Master Books' math series, Math Lessons for a Living Education, was the initial curriculum that convinced me to make the full switch over to Master Books. In various seasons my children struggled through the never ending problems of Abeka, got lost and off track with the online games put together by Easy Peasy, and in general hated math. My sister-in-law had used MLFALE so I decided to check it out. The first thing I noticed was the appealing colored graphics. The textbook was attractive - no boring black and white pages with tiny font. Secondly, the new material was presented in bite sized, manageable, less intimidating chunks followed by review of concepts already learned. Thirdly, the curriculum was open and go with each days' work clearly marked for both student and teacher to easily follow, no prep needed. My kids went from, "I hate math!" and many tears over it to, "Math is my favorite subject!" I went from, "What am I going to do about math?" to, "Let's see what other curriculum that MB has that is this teacher/child friendly."
Cons: Stops at level 4
Grades Used: K-4
Let's Talk Science series is my absolute favorite course to teach I love the experiments, biome projecs, along with building up all the way to doing lab reports in the last level and preparing for higher level science.
Cons: None
Grades Used: 1-3
Language Lessons for a Living Education was a game changer for us. After using several other curriculums that left me with a struggling reader, Language Lessons was truly a game-changing win for us.
Cons: Nothing
Grades Used: K-3
Math Lessons for a Living Education over used all the way through level 3 and live this series! The stories not only teach the math concepts learned that week, but it does display Godly character and help to enforce Godly character within my children. I also love the mastery approach where you will work on something all week and then the spiral approach that will continue to give review every day.