The school year is right around the corner and I cannot wait! I love beginning a new school year. I love the planning and book gathering. Sometimes there’s anxiety in picking out the right curriculum but the joy of homeschooling is that if it doesn’t work you can change it or tweak it to fit your life, education philosophy, and child. Even in times when money is tight, as the saying goes, “where there’s a will, there’s a way!” God always provides the way when it’s His will and mama’s are willing.

If you’ve ever asked me about our favorite homeschool curriculum, you know it’s Heart of Dakota. We started with HoD when Luke was in kindergarten and have used it since. By the way, this year begins our 15th year of homeschooling! In the elementary years, I didn’t veer too much from any of HoD’s suggestions. As the boys got older, I veered from some of their suggestions to take into account learning styles, interests and even my own capacity to plan, etc. One thing I never steered away from was their history, which is the backbone of the curriculum. When I was beginning to plan Luke’s junior year in 2022, I realized I needed to look at some less expensive options. After asking for curriculum suggestions in a Facebook group, a sweet homeschool mom offered me her MasterBooks American History as a gift. What a blessing! MasterBooks American History is more of a classical curriculum which is not my top education style. My desire for our homeschool has always been to magnify learning with a plethora of living books. Because of her gift, I was able to purchase some living books to go along with our history study. Luke didn’t read as many history living books because his other subjects required more reading that year. So, the past few days I’ve been working on Eli’s American History book list which will be more extensive than what Luke read for history. I thought I’d share that book list and also have it available for when I need it for Jude and Susanna.

Before I go on, you might ask, “what is a living book?” That’s a loaded question, but in short, it’s a book that is full of living ideas, beautiful storytelling and rich language rather than dry facts and information. The opposite of a living book is a dry-as-dust textbook, if that helps! Charlotte Mason would say that living books are the opposite of “cram books” as she called them. Cram books just cram in all of the facts. Living books make the subject come alive!

Here is the American history living book list I’ve chosen for Eli’s junior year. I’d love to know if you’ve read any on our list or have any “must reads” that aren’t on the list! I’m always up for more suggestions! Out beside the titles, I have included the year in history and/or the event that the book is about, unless it is obvious in the title.

1. Dark Enough to see the Stars in a Jamestown Sky by Connie Lapallo. 1609

2. Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars, 1690-1760 by Albert Marrin

3. Ben Franklin’s Almanac by Candace Fleming. 1706-1790

4. Give Me Liberty by L.M. Elliot. American Revolution, 1775

5. The Journeyman by Elisabeth Yates. Early 1800s

6. 13 Days to Glory by Lon Tinkle. The Siege of the Alamo, 1836

7. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Civil War, 1861-1865

8. Nine Years Among the Indiana 1870-1879 by Herman Lehmann

9. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. WWI, 1914-1918

10. Miles to Go for Freedom: Segregation and Civil Rights in the Jim Crowe Years by Linda Barrett Osborne. Covers 1890s-1954

It was SO hard for me to narrow the list down to ONLY 10 books. Next year we will still be focusing on American History but more specifically government and civics, so some of the books I have mulled over will fit there. If we get through these books quicker than expected, here are a few more I would add on to the end of his school year.

Eric Liddell: Something Greater Than Gold by Janet Benge. 1902-1945

Escape from Saigon: How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boy by Andrea Warren

The Good Fight by Stephen Ambrose. WWII (I plan to buy this one just to own and I have a feeling Eli will read it whether I assign it or not. Those are the best kinds of books.

Elijah has always loved history, and I hope these books spark even more interest and a better understanding of our American History.