Vintage Books We are Loving Now (All Free to Read)

In our book-centered homeschool I am always looking for the best books to spread a rich feast of ideas. And I'm always finding new-to-us books that we love whether 5, 10, 30, or even 100 years old or more. Every year I am discovering new authors and books with the helps of booklists from Sabbath Mood Homeschool, Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories, and even from my own Best Free Nature Lore Books List. 

I adore finding vintage fiction and nonfiction books--science, history, folklore--to read with my kids as part of their homeschooling. I love discovering them at used books sales, but thanks to the internet, I can find so, so, so many books that are vintage or out-of-print that I would never find in a life-time of searching but we can still enjoy them on a tablet. 

Here are some of the titles we have been enjoying this school year. 

Life is Busy Homeschooling Teens/Preteens/Little Kids but HRT Helps

I've been absent for so long. But I love it when my followed blogs of old post something so I am doing the same. 

Health 

I wouldn't exactly call 2020-2024 my years of thriving. The best thing to happen was George's birth in 2020 and I've made so many wonderful memories with the children. Unfortunately, undiagnosed hypothyroidism sidelined me for 1 year plus some. But after making lifestyle changes that helped and then starting synthetic thyroid hormone, I began feeling better. 

Then I feel like I had a midlife crisis. Just a small one to make me feel very restless in my life. Maybe it was also about not having a little baby anymore. And starting perimenopause symptoms. But in 2024 I took the kids on an amazing 18-day trip to visit the Great Lakes and tour Michigan's Upper Peninsula--tent camping in national, state, and municipal parks. And I did some more therapy, which seems not to help too much but I'm sure it helped some to figure out how I feel about some things.

And then I started to feel more settled again. Yay, midlife crisis over! And I planned a once in a lifetime solo trip to Denmark and Sweden. Yay again and a big deal for me who had never really traveled alone and who hadn't been in Europe for 25 years. 

9th Grade Homeschool Recap, 2024-2025

I have a high schooler! I'm not going to lie, it made me a little anxious this year. Peter has to earn credits. We can't just say, oh well, we are going to drop that and switch to something new. I mean, we can if we really have to, but he does need to earn a certain amount of credits. 

After I did a ton of research, we had a working lunch date in May of last year where I presented his options, answered his questions, and hammered out his first year of high school plans. And, although we did have to make some changes to our plans, everything has worked out very well.

Probably, the hardest part was that he had more hours of work per day than he was used to, but he adjusted to it and has grown up quite a bit this year. Here is a run down of his 9th grade coursework and credits.

7th Grade Homeschool Recap, 2024-2025

Homeschooling John is a lot of fun! Despite his love of sleeping in, he has become a very dedicated worker and handles all his school responsibilities with a great attitude. It is a joy to see his interests and aptitudes continue to develop. 

John went deeper into a lot of subjects and interests this year from battle bots to Magic the Gathering to programming to math. He is always open to try to new things and loves to be helpful, especially to his younger siblings and to his Grandma who lives down the street.

Here is what John worked on for his 7th grade year. 

4th Grade Homeschool Recap, 2024-2025

Sylvia is my only daughter and sometimes it feels like homeschooling her is unlike homeschooling my other children. Her talents and personality differ enough that I have had to be more flexible and take a slower path toward my educational vision. 

Like every year, this year Sylvia showed amazing growth both in her areas of greatest interest and her areas of greater challenge. She was able to read several of her own school books this year and be a lot more independent which works well for her. But she also seemed to enjoy our work time together more.

Here is what Sylvia accomplished for her fourth grade year.  

1st Grade Homeschool Recap, 2024-2025

Every year brings new excitement as we try new things and revisit some family favorites. But this year was extra exciting because it felt like homeschooling round two. My oldest son began 1st grade in 2016 and I added a child to our homeschool every two years as my three oldest children eased their way into our school routines. I learned on the fly while very busy with babies and toddlers. 

With Harry I got to do first grade again with the benefit of a little hindsight. But I also was managing three older homeschooling students and spending time with a preschooler. So it was both new and old.

Here is what we did this year for Harry's first grade year. 

2024 Reading List

It wouldn't feel like a new year without a fresh new list of books to read. Most of the books on my list this year have been recommended to me by a friend, a blogger, an article, or one of my own children. 

Fifteen of my choices are sequels or additional books written by authors who I have already enjoyed. Too often I have "saved" these books for some future date when I have time to be frivolous. But it isn't frivolous to enjoy what you enjoy. Maybe it is even necessary and healthy!

On to the list . . . 

2023 in Reading: Did not finish!

2023 was my fourth year of creating a reading list for myself. It was my second year of writing my own list without any reference to a reading challenge.

Before I tell you how I did, let's review:

• In 2022, I completed my reading challenge
• In 2021, I completed my reading challenge
• In 2020, I completed my reading challenge
• In 2019, I read 36 books without any reading goals

6th Grade Homeschool Plans, 2023-2024

After last year's strengths-based approach, John is ready to take on a few more challenges, especially in terms of reading, spelling, and language mechanics. We've been easing into our new schedule and so far so good.

Here is what I've planned for John this year.

8th Grade Homeschool Plans, 2023-2024

Long gone are the days when I would have all my homeschool planning done at the beginning of summer and write these posts out way in advance. Haha! As the kids get older, our lives are so much fuller of activities and plans and travel and just talking to each other. 

I don't mind, really. It is good for me to embrace letting go of doing things perfectly. Or even doing things imperfectly but on my ideal schedule. 

But I thought I'd see just how quickly I could sketch out our homeschool plans for this year. First up, plans for Peter who is in 8th grade.