Reading Roundup [Personal + Homeschool Books]

Hey fellow book-loving friends!

I know, I know. This post is embarrassingly overdue. Between moving across the state of Florida and our epic trips back up to the Pacific Northwest (including spending ample time with my sister and 1-year-old niece while my husband and son went fishing in Alaska!), and spending time in Georgia, summer flew by in a blur of boxes, cross-country trips, and absolutely zero routine.

But now that we're finally settling into those cozy autumn rhythms that make our hearts happy (even if the Florida weather hasn't gotten the memo about "fall" yet!), I'm feeling that familiar pull to reconnect over books.

You know how it is, I only post these when inspiration strikes rather than forcing it, because honestly, homeschooling (and parenting in general) and Simple Studies keeps me busy enough without adding pressure to my reading life.

But there's something about this time of year that makes me want to curl up with a good book and share what I've been reading with people who actually get excited about book recommendations.

So here's what's been filling my reading time:

books I read over the summer:

The Messy Lives of Book People ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Pearl by John Steinbeck ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Midnight Bookshop (Read for free on Kindle Unlimited) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Dance of Lies (Pleased to find out this Illumicrate featured book’s author is Christian) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Broken Country (Listened to the Audible version) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (content warnings) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession and Shipwreck ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Convenience Store Woman ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Breath of a Dragon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unwind (YA sci-fi) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Violent Bear It Away (Recommended by The Literary Life Podcast) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Ice Queen ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Blues in Stereo: The Early Works of Langston Hughes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anne of Green Gables ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Lantern of Lost Memories ⭐️⭐️⭐️

And just for fun, I’ve been enjoying Carnivore in the Kitchen and The New Essentials Cookbook.

books I'm reading right now:

📙 The Iliad (with my daughter)

📙 The Hobbit (Our current morning circle read aloud) 

📙 The Hidden Peace: Finding True Security, Strength and Confidence Through Humility

📙 Lady Tan’s Circle of Women (I’m attending my first local, in-person book club this weekend as we read this book and can’t wait to discuss this historical fiction book. It’s SO good!)

📙 The Scarlet Letter

📙 Robert Frost: Selected Poems

📙 Strong: Devotions to Live a Powerful and Passionate Life 

📙 The Inheritance Games (YA read that’s sat on my TBR for years)

📙 When We Were Animals (Coming of age story - content warnings)

📙 The Raven Scholar (Chunky book I received as a gift and so really enjoying it!)

📙 Story of the Romans (Ancient history pre-read for my daughter)

📙 The Story of the Thirteen Colonies by H.A. Guerber (American history with my daughter)

📙 Our Island Story (Our European/world history spine this term)

📙 Grimms Fairy Tales (sporadic read-alouds when we have some down time)

📙 Marvels of the Occident (Second-time read this time with our youngest)

📙 Marie Curie and the Discovery of Radium (science biography with daughter)

I’d also like to thank Julie Rothman for sending us her brand new Insect Anatomy book and Nature Anatomy Posters (which you can pre-order today)! We LOVE LOVE LOVE her Nature Anatomy series and our daughter loves to keep them all handy for her nature journaling expeditions.

What Will We Read Next?

I'm very much a mood reader, so who knows what I'll pick up next. That's half the fun, right? But I’ll be sure to update you later this fall.

Regarding our homeschool reads, we’re only halfway through Term 1 so I’ll be planning Term 2 books soon and hopefully sharing that with you as well.

I hope you're all finding your groove with the new school year and carving out some time for the books that are calling to you!

2025/26 Homeschool Books & Curriculum Choices

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).

What a whirlwind as we settle into Florida life—and yes, we're moving again, this time from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast! With travel plans filling most of our summer, I'm squeezing in time to share our homeschool direction for the coming year.

Our high schooler will continue at his sports academy while adding several "Scholé" classes alongside trusted tutors, including a year-long journey through C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. For our Year 5/6 daughter, however, we're making some exciting changes.

Over our 11-year homeschool journey, we've been blessed by incredible communities like CMEC, The Alveary, and Ambleside Online, along with resources from Logos Press, Memoria Press, The Scholé Academy, and House of Humane Letters. These have all shaped our path beautifully.

But this coming year, I’m continuing my focus on timeless literature with trusted sources. Thanks to mentors and trusted voices I’ve leaned on for years, I'm increasingly convinced that we needn't dissect literature to death. We simply need to enjoy, narrate, and discuss good books. This is how we learn to tell our own stories and communicate with uniqueness and grace.

I'm thrilled to share that we're returning to the Ambleside Online community next year. We've witnessed the beautiful fruit that a Charlotte Mason education has borne in our older child, and we want nothing less for our daughter.

While we've always emphasized outdoor time and habit formation in the early years, I know that as children enter their middle school years (Years 6-8), especially our girls, they need something more: a strong foundation in what it means to be moral, kind, virtuous, empathetic, curious, and formidable characters in today's world.

In addition, I feel our daughter needs to be able to rely on her mother daily to learn what it looks like to be a humble housewife, homemaker and invest and maximize our family’s finances in order to bless others.

The stories we choose to fill their minds with and the lives with live alongside our children during these formative years, with the Holy Spirit’s assistance, will help shape who they become. I can't think of a better gift to give our children than the very best literature and life at home and in our community we can offer.

Feel free to watch my video update for an in-depth look below.

Or you can simply CLICK HERE to see my Amazon list of books we’ve chosen – keeping in mind we are leaning on AO for their recommended “riches” this year including music, handcrafts, picture/composer studies and Plutarch. We joined a little AO Shakespeare discussion group and she will be involved in a 4-H club as well.

I hope this is helpful to those of you looking for encouragement as a Charlotte Mason / Classical / Eclectic homeschooler!

Term 3 Homeschool Books & Curriculum Updates: Grade 5

Hello friends!

I plan to make a video on what we’re using for our Form 3/2A (Grade 5) daughter this term but I often wait until we’ve been successfully using our new books and curriculum for a few weeks. So thanks for bearing with me…

*Our oldest child, turning 15 soon, is currently enjoying a local sports school academy but we may eventually bring him back into the homeschooling fold in his upper high school years… we’ll see what God has planned!

While moving to Florida has opened us up to many new incredible outdoor opportunities, and we’re enjoying most of what we’re diving into this last term of the year, not everything is as peachy as it looks. Math continues to be a struggle, so we switched things up (see below) and we employ a sweet lady tutor from Grade Potential who comes once/week to help so my daughter and I can enjoy our relationship more in the areas I’m more comfortable teaching (reading, writing, science — basically anything BUT math).

Our daughter is also attending multiple, in-person marine biology & micro-science lab classes in our local area that appeals to her interests around science and animals, including special homeschool gatherings at our local aquariums and nature preserves.

Finally, she is enjoying a little homeschool community here where she’s learning Italian and life skills. (Hence the Italian copywork book we decided to get last-minute which she adores using)!

Here’s our weekly loop subjects and books:

We’re reading through a simple and sweet girls devotional each week.
Our daily read-aloud is The Dragon and the Stone in The Dreamkeepers Saga - not sure what we’ll choose next!
Artist study: Homer by Simply Charlotte Mason - this is our second time studying this artist who spent time in our area and has several paintings in Florida we can see in person.
Folk Songs: Ambleside Online YouTube Folk Song lists
Poetry: The Book of Animal Poetry and The Earth Under Sky Bear’s Feet
Geography: Simple map drills using blank maps
Math: We paused Saxon - it was a lot of daily strife for us both so we’re praying about our other options. A tutor comes to our home 1x/week. Business Math by SCM - this is one thing we’ve changed up this month. A friend of hers is also completing this guide so they get to discuss it in person, which we used for our oldest as well.
History:
America: Continuing reading through America: Our Stories
Ancient: The Story of Civilization, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths - a few gods each week
World: The Age of Chivalry (audio version), King Arthur and His Knights (can be listened to in a day - read by Jim Weiss)
Handwriting/Copywork/Narration:
Narration after each read aloud - draw a picture and write a few sentences (or tell back orally)
Italian Handwriting (because she’s passionate about it!)
Writing and Rhetoric Book 3 (and looping in Easy Grammar)
Keyboarding daily - we no longer use lessons but she types frequently and we work on hand placement and posture, along with increasing type speed.
Citizenship:
Plutarch: We put this aside for spring and will pick it back up in fall.
Current Events: WORLDWatch (use code CRYSTAL3 to get your first 3 months free).
Shakespeare: Archangel Audiobooks
Handcrafts: Life skills in person at co-op
Foreign Language: Italian in-person immersion classes at co-op
Science: We put down the science books for Term 3 after finishing Beetle Busters lessons from Alveary in lieu of her attending in-person marine biology/oceanography and nature preserve gatherings.
Literature: Independent reading and audiobooks. She enjoyed A Wolf Called Wander so she’s now onto A Wolf Called Fire, along with several other independent chapter books of her choosing from the book store.
Audiobooks: Recently: The Giver, The Mysterious Benedicts Society Book 4, A House with a Clock in its Walls, The Chocolate Touch, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them… and more depending on what she’s currently interested in.

I hope this is helpful for those of you with students her age. Let me know if you have any questions!

2025: Setting Peaceful Priorities

As a homeschool parent for over 10 years, I’ve seen the New Year’s resolution hype play out year after year. Big promises, sweeping changes, and ambitious goals that often fizzle out by February.

This year, I’m choosing something different: Peaceful Priorities.

What are Peaceful Priorities?

They’re the opposite of resolutions that demand “more” and “faster.” Instead, they focus on finding peace, leaning into where we thrive, and simplifying our days. For us, this means trusting God and embracing what truly works for our unique family dynamic.

Keep scrolling to see how that looks IRL for us as we settle into our new life in Florida:

For Our Son

Our son’s passion for baseball has shaped a big part of our decisions this year.

He’s now attending a sports academy near our new home, which combines his love for baseball with academic classes.

He trains each morning, bikes home for lunch, and then heads back to campus for his afternoon classes.

The best part? We’ve reclaimed our evenings. 👏🏻 Back in Idaho, we were constantly shuttling him to evening practices which made it difficult to sit down to dinner each night as a family.

Now, evenings are family time again. This shift is a gift—less hustle, more heart.

For Our Daughter

For our daughter, Peaceful Priorities mean stepping away from activities I think she should be doing and leaning more into opportunities that align with her natural gifts and goals.

Here are some of her new ventures:

• Entrepreneurial Community: Hands-on learning in activities such as auto mechanics, holistic gardening, carpentry, crafting and more.

• Animal Care: Monthly in-person opportunities to explore her love for animals here at the local marina.

• Exploring Together: Visiting local gardens, nature preserves, and animal sanctuaries for enrichment and connection. We buy yearly passes so we can visit anytime.

• Back to the Basics: Learning how to make homemade meals, doing household chores together and the art of homemaking.

Instead of overwhelming her schedule, we’re focusing on experiences that inspire her creativity and growth from a young girl into a young lady.

For Me

Peaceful Priorities extend to my personal life, too. Here’s what I’m focusing on this year:

• Non-Numerical Book Challenges: No pressure to hit a number—just reading for pleasure and growth. This includes exploring more Greek classics and memoirs: After loving Meditations, The Wide Wide Sea and The Art of Living last year, I’m diving deeper.

• Creativity & Rest: Prioritizing nourishment for body and soul. Not feeling guilty when I work on new projects because it is part of who I am and what brings me joy as an entrepreneur!

• Not Complaining: A tough but transformative challenge, especially after a cross-country move.

• Daily Planning: Writing my hourly schedule the night before to combat decision fatigue each and stay on track.

These small, intentional choices are helping me find peace.

---

A Little Extra Help

One of the most freeing decisions I made for this upcoming year is hiring a math tutor for our daughter.

Through Grade Potential, we are paired with someone who truly enjoys the subject, with the goal of helping bring joy back to this subject for our daughter.

We still use Saxon Math because I believe it’s a fantastic option especially for those older grades, but having a tutor to guide her once a week will help alleviate any strain in our relationship.

Speaking over the phone with Grade Potential was seamless, (they are super kind!!) and their flexibility allows us to meet at home, the library, or even a coffee shop.

Sometimes, letting go of doing it ALL ourselves is the best choice we can make for ourselves and our relationships.

Our family always takes life one season at a time.

Homeschooling, home life, and personal goals all ebb and flow, and we’re learning to adapt as needed.

Instead of chasing what society tells us we need to do, we’re focusing on what brings peace, joy, and growth to our family.

As we step into this new year, I’m reminded again that thriving isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters most.

How are you approaching the new year?

Are you setting traditional resolutions or leaning into your own version of Peaceful Priorities?

I’d love to hear from you!

Teaching Citizenship with Purpose to All Ages

I received this email recently from a homeschooler: ”Hello!!! I would LOVE and even pay for a beginners guide to teaching citizenship and Plutarch. It feels so overwhelming to me for some reason I don’t even know where to begin, and I saw you mention in one of your videos it’s one of your favorite subjects to teach.” Warm wishes! - KM

I DO love teaching citizenship! But sometimes it sounds intimidating and I can understand why. Public school approaches these topics through subjects like “social studies” and “civics” and when homeschoolers talk about things like Rome and Plutarch and your child is 5 years old… it can feel confusing and overwhelming.

My initial response is to suggest checking out Heroes & Hope and Exploring Political Ideologies for older students, but these are launching pads to dive even deeper and appreciate this subject area.

That’s why today, I’m diving into how we can teach citizenship with purpose to all ages.

Reading through our Heroes & Hope book with my kids in April 2020!

Charlotte Mason viewed citizenship as an essential part of education, helping individuals understand their role and responsibility within society. Her approach was rooted in character formation, moral integrity, and a deep understanding of history, government, and social order.

We also don’t structure our homeschool like a traditional school, with social studies workbooks and tests.

Still, I firmly believe that citizenship encompasses the whole person—their values, beliefs, internal moral compass, and leadership development.

One key aspect I should mention is that I approach citizenship differently with my son and daughter, based on their God-given strengths, skills, and interests. In other words, our son is wired differently than his little sister. Nevertheless, they both deserve exposure to Plutarch, for example. While they may not both be naturally inclined to pursue studies in battle leadership, they are both inclined toward character development and ethics.

Here’s a brief overview of how we’ve approached teaching citizenship over the past 10 years:

1. Starting in Form 2B (Grade 4): We begin by gradually reading Stories from the History of Rome by Ms. Beesly. The children give an oral or a drawing narration.

2. Moving to Citizenship Primers: After completing Stories from the History of Rome, we introduce a citizenship primer like The Young Citizen Reader by Paul Reinsch. Alongside this, we start reading through a Plutarch Primer to familiarize the children with the lives and teachings of Plutarch, the Greek historian and biographer. Plutarch's Lives (or Parallel Lives)—biographies of notable Greeks and Romans—are considered foundational in classical education, including in Charlotte Mason's method.

3. Incorporating Other Stories, Current Events and Guides: While working through the primers, we also explore other historical stories and biographies, using resources like Heroes & Hope, Courage and Exploring Political Ideologies to discuss the ideas and values tied to citizenship. We enjoy poetry like Lyra Heroica, and books like Ourselves and the Socratic Dialogues. There are a plethora of great books depending on what you think your child might enjoy reading and discussing! I offer more ideas in my form guides which you can find here and here.
   
   We also incorporate daily Current Events (as Charlotte Mason recommends). We’ve been using WORLDWATCH for a couple years and the kids BEG to watch it daily.
   
   Click Here and use code “CRYSTAL4” for FOUR FREE MONTHS of WORLDWatch for your family.** The deal starts with a free 7 day trial, after this you will be charged $0 for the next 4 months.
   

4. Diving Deeper into Plutarch: As we progress, we read Plutarch’s Lives together and discuss the various lives. Initially, my son and I read together, using guides from communities like The CMEC, The Alveary, and Ambleside Online. However, as our schedule became busier and I was reading aloud for most of the day, my son transitioned to online Plutarch classes with a community of students. For the past two years, his favorite has been classes with Thomas Banks from House of Humane Letters.

5. Engaging in In-Person Discussions on GREAT books: Finally, our kids participate in in-person groups where they get to discuss good books and citizenship values with their peers, focusing on the good, the true, and the beautiful. These can include things like sci-fi or fantasy fiction novels, historical fiction and more.

The key is to not box yourself in! Sure, we can enjoy a path with what others have studied for history AND we can include exciting books and dialogue with others based on modern society and the world we live in and the ideas and challenges we battle today.

In the end, as homeschool parents, our role isn’t to teach everything. It's about exposing our children to a rich feast of ideas and allowing them to explore these topics at their own pace.

I hope this is helpful!

Successful Homeschool Parents Don’t Keep Secrets 🥤

Hi friends! I’m really excited to share some exciting things shaping up this season. Until then, like most of you, we’re aiming to keep our homeschool healthy. Because without our health, we’re limited in our joy and our achievements.

To help boost our immune systems each fall, we consume things like bone broth, raw milk, and a slue of homeopathic, natural remedies.

One of my favorite immunity brands I’ve used for years is FeelGoods. “Like most kids, we'd run to our moms when we had a cold, tummy ache, or just felt crummy. And they always had some remedy for us—an herbal potion whipped up out of nowhere. After years of testing and tasting endless botanicals, meeting with homeopathic experts, and staying true to mama's healing touch, we crafted our first mix. And Feel Goods was born.”

If you love natural remedies like us, use code CRYSTAL87233 for $10 off of any purchase. 🥤

A few more things we’re focused on this year is LESS is MORE. IYKYK

Morning Circle Changes:

The past several years, I’ve packed so many beautiful subjects into our morning circle time together. But when it came down to it, our kids were less likely to enjoy their independent lessons the longer our morning circle time went on. Our oldest, in particular, became grumpy knowing he still had a lot on his plate AFTER we spent an hour together.

So this year, I’ve backed off a tad. We only tackle about 3-4 things each morning circle - and on busy days, we might only tackle two subjects that take us 20-25 minutes max.

Our NEW current morning circle loop schedule:

Monday: No morning circle b/c we have community.
Tuesday: Bible, Artist/Picture Study, Read Aloud 1-2 chapters
Wednesday: Bible, Poetry, American History Mysteries, Read Aloud 1-2 chapters
Thursday: Ancient History, Recitation, Read Aloud 1-2 chapters
Friday: Bible, Poetry or Recitation, Geography, Read Aloud 1-2 chapters

That’s it! We’ll switch to Composer Study in winter in leu of our Artist Study. Subjects like Shakespeare, tales and Folk Songs are done at different intervals each week, depending on our workload and extracurricular classes and activities.

I hope this encourages YOU to take your health and happiness into account as the temps cool down.

Stay tuned for some exciting fall updates I can’t WAIT to share with you soon!

Planning is Personal ✍🏻 4 Homeschool Fall Planning Tips + Ideas

As homeschool parents, we wear SO many hats—teacher, planner, chauffeur, chef and more. And if you also run a small business or are a creator/entrepreneur (like yours truly 🙋🏼‍♀️), it’s A LOT to manage, especially when each child is at a different stage in their learning journey. 

So I’ve put together a few tools and tips below👇🏻 to help you simplify your homeschool planning and stay organized throughout the year based on how my homeschool planning and record-keeping has evolved over the past 10 years. 

Before we dive in, I want to share a little disclaimer: 

I love spontaneity!

When things get too rigid or over-planned, I can start feeling boxed in and tempted to scrap everything. So, while I’m sharing our plans, remember that planning is personal!

Please don’t feel like you need to replicate what you see here—these are tailored to our family's unique rhythm, and no two days ever look exactly the same!

1) Plan at the End of Each Week 
(Instead of the night before):

Each Friday after lessons, I take 10-20 minutes to plan and prep for the upcoming week. This simple habit allows me to head into the weekend with confidence, knowing things are set for Monday—especially with weekends full of activities and sports (just like yours, I’m sure)!

This year, I’ve been using this teacher planner because of all the blank spaces and logbook all in one (In past years, I used this Moleskin and draw out each week myself).

2) Post-Plan, a Birds-Eye View Logbook

My Logbook is my birds-eye view of how we’re doing each term. I break it down into 6 week chunks (12 weeks = 1 term). 

It takes me 2 minutes to fill this portion out for the day while my kids are immersed in their independent lessons, filling in last-minute things we might have covered (but didn’t plan to) the day before.

As you can see, we do try to cover multiple subjects and topics each day and term. But we don’t try to cover them ALL.

Instead, we generally heavily focus on something specific such as specific science or history lessons or curriculum and then switch to something like a new foreign language or music the second term. 

No way we could fit everything in each week!

*Bonus Tip: Even if you didn’t cover a specific topic in your lessons but maybe your kids watched a video, listened to an audiobook in the car or did something creative like writing or painting in their free time, these are are equally important and valuable - so yes, mark it down!

3) Hourly Goals: At-a-Glance Notebook

I’m not super consistent with this yet, but I do find writing down hourly rhythms the night before allows me to wake up, stay focused and be more efficient with my time. 

Since I own a small curriculum business, I have to allot time to work on it or things don’t progress.

But at the end of the day, time with God, our family and my children’s education are my main priority and all else gets shoved aside.

I use this Moleskin Daily/Hourly Breakdown Notebook.

Bonus Tip #1- Just because you have an hourly breakdown in front of you doesn’t mean you should fill in each hour! Stay spontaneous!

Bonus Tip #2: These are “general” hourly breakdown allotments, oftentimes our oldest will have a class or homework during the time I have my “work” scheduled - so again - they’re guides, not absolutes!

4) Let your kids plan WITH you!

Why should mom be doing all the planning? Get your kids involved! Let them sit next to you as you discuss what your (and their) goals are and upcoming activities and weekly plans.

As they get into their middle and high school years, if you’re comfortable with this, let them decide how to spend their time and when/how they complete their lessons.

This helps kids learn time management skills and how to plan their own lives (because they won’t be under our roof forever). 

Our oldest uses this Student Planner to keep track of his daily lessons, homework and activities.

Whether you're a meticulous planner or prefer a more flexible approach, our Simple Studies Curriculum Guides are designed to adapt to your teaching style, are super flexible (simply open and do the next lesson) and give you confidence in your homeschool structure.

I’m here to help you enjoy this homeschool season while making it as smooth and stress-free as possible. Let me know if you have any questions or need some encouragement!