I’m a homeschool mom and writer with a love for faith, books, beauty, and all things homeschool. I created Wisdom and Wonder because I felt something was lacking in our homeschool. I wanted our days to be rooted in Scripture alongside the richness and beauty of a classical and Charlotte Mason homeschool. When I first stumbled across Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, I was all in on using her methods. They were a breath of fresh air in our homeschool and flowed beautifully alongside a more liturgical feast of scripture and faith.

Living Books: Young and Old

However, as I researched curricula I found a disconnect. Some curricula were rooted solely in literature from a very distant past, as if “living” books cannot be written past the year 1920. Others did well to bring more recent books into a Charlotte Mason homeschool curriculum, but they strayed too far from the past. Still, many curricula claim to be Charlotte Mason-inspired—some being more inspired than others. I couldn’t help but ask myself, “What would Charlotte use if she lived in our world today?”

In her time, the problem was not deciding which living book to choose in the vast and seemingly endless sea of options. Instead, it was finding enough living books many would have access to in schools and the home. Surely, she would stick with books from the past—there’s no disputing the richness in language, similar to music, art, and architecture, of yesterday. But I also firmly believe she would tie in books that have been written in the past hundred years. That’s exactly what I hope to accomplish with Wisdom and Wonder. I wanted to create a homeschool curriculum rich in “living” books from the distant and not-so-distant past.

A Doable Feast

I also found, as we embarked on our living feast of ideas, homeschooling was taking all day. Sure, the lessons were short; but the plethora of subjects and occupations felt crammed into our school day. I wanted to give my kids a feast, but I also wanted them to have hours of free time each day to play and follow their own interested. While that does align with Charlotte’s method and ideals, it wasn’t happening in our home. My kids have trouble with transitions. Each change in subject was hard for them and took as long as the short subject itself. That’s why, in many of our guides, enrichment subjects flow through the academic subjects. Picture study, hymns, and geography flows through our history block. Poetry, composers, and artists flow through our Bible and Christian studies time. Nature study, artists, and folk songs are woven into our French lessons. My kids are getting the full feast, but in a format that feels far less overwhelming to all of us. And as a working, homeschooling mama, I needed each subject contained into an open-and-go format. That’s how our study guides were born.

Christ at the Center

I also wanted a strong Christian element. When I look around, I see a world so different from the one I knew as a child. I grew up in a town where most families would have called themselves Christian. They may not have had perfect Sunday attendance, but they believed and were affiliated some church in town. My own children don’t have that. And whether they stick with their faith as adults, it’s important to me that they leave our home knowledgable about their faith. That’s why Christ remains at the center of all that we do here at Wisdom and Wonder.

I hope these resources from Wisdom and Wonder are truly a blessing to you and your family’s homeschool. If this resonates with you, check out our completely free recommended booklists. They are divided year-by-year, subject-by-subject to help you design your own children’s feasts. Join my weekly newsletter below to stay in touch!

Blessings,

Ashley