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I had a request last week for an article sharing the homeschool curriculum that we are using this year.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped sharing our curriculum online. When my kids were younger I loved reading about all kinds of curricula, and subsequently sharing my own choices. It was exciting to see what was out there and get ideas!
However, as the years went on, a couple things happened. First, I settled into the day-to-day of homeschooling, and there wasn’t as much to be said about curriculum from year to year. But also, I started to realize how subjective choosing curriculum really is. Just because this curriculum works for my child, doesn’t mean a different one won’t serve your child just as well. Just because I happen to align with one curriculum, doesn’t mean it’s going to be one that anyone I know likes.
I’m not even always sure I love all my own curriculum choices absolutely. There actually is no perfect curriculum out there. I’ve been around the block enough times now to know that a different curriculum does not solve every problem, and almost any decent curriculum will do the trick if it’s diligently applied.
Even though I have mostly figured out what works for us, many people are still in the getting-ideas-and-reading-reviews stage, and so this post is for them.
Just a reminder, I have five kids, spanning from 2nd grade to a freshman in high school. We are eclectic homeschoolers in our family, meaning we make use of varied curricula and resources for different subjects. I’m drawn to classical and Charlotte Mason influences, and I am familiar with both educational philosophies without being a purist of either. We don’t read Plutarch and don’t intend to, and we like a workbook now and then.
Math
What We Use Right Now: Rightstart, Apologia, Denison
All of my kids have been taught their initial math concepts with the Rightstart Math curriculum. I like Rightstart because of the emphasis on mental math, understanding why certain math tricks and formulas work, and the abundant exposure to geometry from early ages. The way Rightstart teaches math has always matched up really well with how I think about math myself, so it’s been a good fit for the elementary years.
However, late elementary is always a period of trial with this particular curriculum - some of my kids have continued on and are doing well with it, and with other kids it became really apparent that we needed to try something else. Rightstart only goes through 8th grade, so I have always known we also needed to find something else for high school. This year half my kids are continuing on with Rightstart, and the other half are trying something else.
Apologia’s Exploring Creation With Mathematics is new to us this year and its lessons are much shorter than Rightstart. But it has been covering all the grade-appropriate basics and has been a good transition to becoming more proficient at procedural math.
Denison is our choice for Algebra this year, and it has been a dream so far. While the upper levels of Rightstart had been taking up to 2 hours per lesson (perhaps they were meant to be split into two sessions), Denison has hit the sweet spot of a reasonable amount of time and the right amount of challenge. This curriculum is written specifically for homeschoolers - my husband and I sat down to research different Algebra curricula, and as soon as we watched the sample lesson and saw how well the instructor understood homeschooling, we were sold.
History & Geography
What We Use Right Now: Living Heritage, Biblioplan, Story Of The World
Last year I made the switch to a more “true” Charlotte Mason curriculum, called Living Heritage, and it has overall been a really enriching choice for our family. Living Heritage is a guide more than a curriculum - all the chapter books and other resources must be purchased separately (similar to Ambleside Online). It follows a four year history cycle, and tailors all the resources around the history “streams”.
We mostly use Living Heritage for the history, literature, and art and music book choices, with an occasional science read thrown in. We don’t follow their recommendations for math or science, and we are about half-in with grammar. I retain the right to nix any book that I just don’t find worthwhile for whatever reason. However, even using the guide only partially, it has been worth the money to me. We have read so many wonderful books together, and my kids’ “independent history reads” from the booklist are one of their favorite parts of the day. It has really brought different historical periods to life, especially ones that would otherwise feel a little dry.
We are also part of a somewhat classical co-op, and for that we are going through Biblioplan for middle and high school, and Story Of The World for younger students. Though I didn’t choose the curriculum, I am actually teaching Biblioplan for middle and high school at our co-op, and I’m still becoming familiar with it.
I will say this for it - Biblioplan is very thorough. If you try to poke around on the website you will see how overwhelming it can feel. We are still getting our feet under us, but I think it’s actually nice for my kids to have a history “spine” textbook, and then to have the Living Heritage choices at home to add the color. It ends up being alot of history work each week, especially for high school, but we are making it work.
I feel ambivalent about Story Of The World - my younger kids enjoy it at co-op, but all we do at home is read the chapter to keep up with it.
Science
What We Are Using Now: Berean Builders, Apologia, a little bit of Living Heritage
We have used Apologia Young Explorers series for my elementary kids since the beginning, and they quite enjoy it. My 2nd, 4th, and 6th grader are doing Land Animals Of The Sixth Day (1st edition) with co-op right now, and because that is the science we would have chosen with or without co-op, it’s been working out really well.
My 7th grader is using an older version of Exploring Creation With Earth Science from Apologia. This is a textbook written by Jay Wile, and I much prefer his middle and high school science texts to the more recent editions from Apologia. I could go into more detail in the comments if anyone wants more information.
Because I don’t like the current Apologia editions as well, I’m okay with my 7th grader doing an older textbook for middle school. I already had the curriculum, and even though scientific understanding is always changing, middle-school level earth science is unlikely to have changed too terribly much in only 20 years since the text was first published.
My high schooler is doing Berean Builders, Discovering Design With Biology, at home. Berean Builders is a newer curriculum company from Jay Wile, the same author of the older Apologia texts that I like so much. One of the things I love about Wile’s approach to teaching science is how he guides the students in keeping a scientific notebook in which to record experiments according the scientific process. You don’t buy a separate “student journal” that hand-holds your kids through recording observations, or worse, just gives them busywork. Instead kids learn how to keep a notebook like a real scientist would. I was once a homeschool student learning from one of Wile’s courses, and that skill of writing up experiments served me particularly well when I got to college.
My kids are also reading an occasional science living book to go along with their studies. For instance, my high schooler is reading All Creatures Great And Small to go along with biology.
Language Arts
What We Are Using Now: Living Heritage, Fireworks Press, Spelling Power, Generations, All About Reading, IEW, copywork, and a bunch of other random books
We now come to the behemoth category of homeschool curricula, “language arts” - which is somehow supposed to cover phonics, handwriting, reading comprehension, spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and maybe even literature too. Is it any wonder I have such a long, hodgepodge resource list?
My 2nd and 4th grader are making their way through All About Reading, which is the best phonics-based reading curriculum on the market, in my opinion. Well worth the slightly high price tag, especially if you have multiple budding readers who will use it. My 2nd grader also has the English 2 workbook from Generations, which has been nice for extra handwriting, spelling, and light grammar. Both my little girls are also doing their respective books in Handwriting Without Tears.
My 4th grader is going through Royal Fireworks Press’s Grammar Town with my 6th and 7th grader. It is a discussion-based approach to teaching grammar and sentence analysis. This is our first year trying this, so the jury is still out on how we feel about it - in previous years we have used Rod & Staff grammar, and that has given us a good foundation from which to try something different.
All my younger kids do weekly spelling tests using Spelling Power, and I am reminded that sometimes the most boring resource is the one that gets the job done. There are no fancy pages or cards or tiles to keep track of here - just literally a book filled with lists of words. It is the only spelling curriculum that has made a lick of difference.
My kids are reading various literature books at their individual levels from the Living Heritage curriculum lists. My youngest two narrate their books orally, and my oldest three write narrations on the books they read - one each day for my high schooler, 2 or 3 per week for my 6th and 7th grader.
We are also going through IEW’s theme-based writing books with co-op, so my big kids are writing a short paper (1-3 paragraphs) for that each week.
Bible
What We Are Using Now: Answers Bible Curriculum, the Tune My Heart catechism, devotional and theological books, and the actual Bible
We have hopped around to different Bible curricula over the years. We really like Answer Bible Curriculum, and it’s something that can be done with the whole family. We have unfortunately used it a little sporadically because we are typically using alot of other resources at the same time. But every time we pick it up the lessons are so rich.
My kids are reading various devotional and theological books as part of the Living Heritage curriculum, and I have been so pleased with the choices so far. We have covered alot of really deep theological topics that I’m not sure how we would have discussed otherwise. We also work on a catechism question (I’m partial to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, but we are trying the Tune My Heart catechism this year) and we read through the Apostle’s and Nicene creeds during our morning time, all of which are full of biblical truth.
However, my best recommendation for studying the Bible in homeschooling is to just pick up the Bible and read it together. You actually don’t need anything fancy to study the Bible with your kids. Just read it, and discuss it, and pray over it together. You will be surprised how enriching that is. This is my favorite discussion guide if you need a little guidance.
Extras
What We Are Using Now: Living Heritage recommendations, Art classes
By extras, I mean things like art, music, Shakespeare, and poetry. There are so many good books and resources for doing picture study and composer study. There are tons of online art tutorials, and books filled with collections of poetry for kids. For Shakespeare we just listen to the play with a copy of the text on the table and a highlighter in hand.
This year we are using alot of guidance from the Living Heritage resource recommendations for these areas of study, and my kids also take an excellent art class at co-op. In the past we have made good use of the Simply Charlotte Mason website, the library, and Youtube. Here are a few favorite resources:
How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare
Simply Charlotte Mason Picture Study
Simply Charlotte Mason Composer Study
Ark Angel Shakespeare Productions
Humility and Doxology Poetry Lists
Homeschool Compass Poetry Lists
As you can see, it’s never a simple answer when someone asks me what curriculum we use! I almost envy those people who can simply reply “Abeka” or something. However, piecing our curriculum together over the years has been a joy to me, and has allowed me to customize our curriculum - not only for my particular kids, but also according to our own family values and educational priorities.
That’s the wonderful thing about homeschooling isn’t it?
I’m happy to answer any questions about why I do or don’t like a curriculum, or give more thorough reviews of individual curricula in the comments!
My friend sat across from me in the coffee shop, drinking something hot from a big glass mug. I took a nibble from my pumpkin bread and choked back a few tears as I prepared to confess something.
It had been a very rough start to the year, and I knew I was in desperate need of prayers for strength. I was discouraged, at a loss for how to help in a difficult situation. I knew I need the Lord’s wisdom and prayer support through this hard time. Aside from my family, I had a handful of friends who I absolutely knew would remember me in their prayers if I asked them.
As I sat across from one such friend, I voiced the thing that had been burdening me ever since this hard season started. I had a feeling about the sort of people I could count on to pray for me, and in contrast, the people that didn’t give me the same confidence. That’s when an uncomfortable thought occurred to me.
Was I the kind of person that my own friends could count on to pray for them?
I had to admit to myself that I probably was not that kind of person for those dear to me. I was often sympathetic in the moment, might shoot up a quick prayer, but then would forget.
The healthy kind of shame came over me. I don’t want to be that way anymore. I want to be the kind that can be counted on to pray and not forget.
Thus began my 2025 mission of figuring out a prayer routine and system that will help me become a true praying woman. Not just praying in the moment, but someone who will hold my loved ones up in prayer over and over again, until their needs are answered one way or another. Someone who will “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).
I’ve been slowly working through books on prayer, and writing myself reminders to pray in my phone. I been writing out prayer requests, and trying to become fluent at praying Scripture, and falling in and out of the habit of morning prayer too many times. Striving to figure this whole thing out, alternating between success and failure.
I think learning to become a woman of prayer is probably always like that, trying, and failing, and trying again. But hopefully becoming more and more faithful along the way.
In light of my ongoing desire to become better at prayer, I wanted to share one of the prayer resources I’ve picked up recently. I am excited about trying it as another way to guide and reinforce a habit of prayer in my life.
The Pour Out Your Heart Prayer Journal is a book I’ve been eyeing for almost a year now, and when my copy arrived in the mail it was so pretty that I just stared at it for a couple months, not wanting to mess up the beautiful cloth cover and pristine pages. But then I realized that was silly. This journal was meant to be used, to be messed up, to get fingerprint smudges on the pages and coffee drips on the cover over many years of use. So I finally jumped into it.
Most prayer journals that I have explored in the past have pages with room to write praises, thanksgiving, confession, and requests. This journal does as well, but the way it is organized is more conducive to years of use, and being able to easily find previous prayer requests.
The first section is devoted to spending time pondering the gospel - with pages to write out verses and any other quotes while remembering all the Lord has done for us in prayer.
The next section is similar, with pages to remember God’s promises in Scripture. The encouragement is to focus on the character and promises of God before presenting our requests to Him. As someone who tends to rush through prayer too often, I appreciate the built-in reminders and guidance for slowing down and pondering while praying Scripture.
Then we come to what you would typically expect in a prayer journal, pages for recording prayers for specific things. There are pages for praying for unbelievers, for the Church, and for Christ’s Kingdom to advance through missionaries and ministries. Next there are pages for praying for specific loved ones, and finally, pages for praying for yourself.
The final section is for recording God’s provision in answer to prayers. This section is meant to be used as you recognize God’s answers to prayer, or at the New Year as you look back and reflect on how God has worked throughout the year.
The back of the book holds a few pages with encouragement for prayer, and lists of possible verses to use in your prayers for each section. There are also some beautiful prayers included from saints from the past.
I love that the layout of this book is built specifically around remembering what God has done. Answered prayers cannot get lost in this journal because of how it is laid out. The pages for individuals are meant to be used with sticky notes so that as needs change, you can just swap out the notes. It’s a really smart system when you take a little time to understand it.
(Notice the water stain on the front of my journal. I’m learning to be okay with letting it get beat up!)
I have been laying aside time to pray each morning using this journal, and while I am still not as faithful to daily prayer as I aim to be, having all my prayer requests in one place, along with guidance for pondering and praise, is so helpful. I like having a place to write ongoing prayer requests and a system for keeping the same book for a long period of time. I look forward to using this journal for many years to come.
If you have a prayer journal, or some other system for keeping track of prayer requests and answered prayers, I would love to hear about it! Please share in the comments - I’d love encouragement and ideas, or to commiserate if developing a consistent prayer life is something with which you have struggled as I have!
Note: I received this journal for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
In my extra week of summer, I took some time to finish up books that I have been working on for months. I am one of those people who has 10+ books going at any one time, but every now and then it gets tiresome and I put some concerted effort into reducing my “currently reading” stack.
In addition to the satisfaction of turning the last page, a few of these books were perfect for late summer, because they got me in the mood for the change of the seasons!
Men and Women In The Church by Kevin Deyoung
I read this book because it is on my son’s reading list for the school year, and I wanted to make sure I liked the approach before handing it to him. My conclusion: I think it will be a great one for helping him understand the biblical roles of men and women in a church environment.
Deyoung comes from a complementarian perspective and writes a compelling defense for this biblical position while remaining very readable for the average Christian. His respect for women and their important roles in church also shines through in a refreshing and compassionate way, but he holds fast on the parameters for men and women laid out in Scripture.
When I’m thinking about this book for my son, there is one section on the purposes and differences in men’s and women’s bodies that might be slightly graphic, so I put a sticky note on it to discuss when he reaches that section. Otherwise, I am very glad he will be reading this book. It handles these sticky topics with conviction and grace.
Content Notes: One section discussing sexual differences between men and women.
Bottom Line: Great summary of the biblical role of men and women, and uplifting to both.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
A friend recommended this book to me since she knows I read and appreciated Dracula a few years back. She said it had a very similar vibe to the classic, touching on vampire legends without all the modern indulgence of darkness. I decided to give it a try.
In this book, the main character finds a mysterious book in her father’s library with a print of a dragon holding a banner with “Dracula” written on it. She is curious and asks her father about it. He takes her on travels throughout Europe and starts telling her the story of when he first found that book, and everything that happened after.
Much of the book is epistolary, or written as a story being told in bits, with excerpts from historical documents being thrown in too. The effect of this is that the reader feels they themselves are a bit of a historian, putting the pieces together along with the characters as they research the historical basis for the Dracula legends…and as they start to wonder if there might be truth to them.
The way the book is written is masterful, and I found myself amazed at the amount of research the author must have put into actual historical events and places in order to write this! The travel writing and descriptions of various countries are particularly vivid and made me feel as if I had visited these places myself. I will include a couple things in my content notes below, but this book was so atmospheric and written so beautifully, I couldn’t help but enjoy it.
Content Notes: The characters sometimes mention the occult (in a non-sympathetic way), because Dracula is involved with it as the villain. Some gruesome descriptions of the violence that the historical Dracula committed. Some characters get a little “frisky” (not described).
Bottom Line: If you liked Dracula, this book is in that same vein. Mysterious, doesn’t wallow in the dark, good triumphs over evil.
Two Old Women by Velma Wallis
This is a retelling of an old native Alaskan legend. Two old women are left by their struggling tribe to die in the Arctic Circle. The tribe regrets leaving them, but the women are old and complaining, and they have become a burden for the tribe to support. The women are terrified and heartbroken about being left, but they eventually pick themselves up and figure out how to survive on their own, despite their frailty.
Though it’s a horrible thing that this was ever done to the elderly, I really enjoyed this story of older women learning that they can still be strong and useful if they stop viewing themselves as helpless. They learn to take action instead of complaining, and eventually the tribe comes to respect and honor them. They never leave their elderly to die again.
This was a short, quick read, and I loved it. I’d recommend it.
Content Notes: Some vague mentions of “becoming a woman”, moral implications of leaving the elderly to die.
Bottom Line: An uplifting story, written like a fleshed-out legend, atmospheric.
Portugese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith
Since I love another of Smith’s series, the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, I thought I would give this series a try. In this book, Dr. von Igelfeld, a philologist who wrote a book called Portuguese Irregular Verbs, travels around with his colleagues and encounters various silly adventures.
This series is written in a similar way as the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in that smaller storylines, which mostly wrap up in a single chapter, are woven together into a larger story. Each incident is used to paint the characters. I can’t quite decide what I think of Dr. von Igelfeld - he’s a little whiny, a little full of himself, but somehow in a lovable way. I found I was rooting for him in spite of myself.
I don’t know if I’ll pick up the next book or not, but comparing the two series from Smith, it was a different flavor of the same cuisine. I will probably give this series a chance, but No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is always going to be my favorite.
Content Note: One of the stories in this book involves a “guru” giving von Igelfeld a “prophecy”.
Bottom Line: Humorous book. Not sure about the characters, but I think if I pick up the next book I’m primed to grow to like them.
I read Men And Women In The Church in preparation for the homeschool year, The Historian gave mysterious autumn vibes, Two Old Women spanned several seasons with a special mention of fall colors, and Portuguese Irregular Verbs felt back-to-schoolish. So by the time I closed all these books, I was pretty much ready for pumpkin spice candles.
Do you have any books that are a good transition from summer to fall?
Today
I am continuing to share some of the books I read over the summer - the following books helped me get out of my reading slump!
The Love Haters by Katherine Center
A friend got me hooked on Katherine Center a couple years ago. Every book I’ve read from her is like an early 2000s rom-com movie in book form! This one is about a documentary filmmaker, who must produce a promo for the National Coast Guard. The only problem is that she can’t swim, and can’t stand to see herself in a bathing suit…but somehow still ends up thrown together with a handsome coast guard rescue swimmer.
A large theme of this book was about body positivity and learning to appreciate your body - which was a bit heavy-handed, but didn’t keep me from enjoying the story. I also liked how all the characters had a nice ending in this book - Katherine Center always gives her books a happy ending, but even the unlikable characters end up with something good in this one.
Occasionally Center’s books can have a bit of content that I don’t appreciate, but this book had less of a need for content notes than some of her others (see below). Overall, this was probably one of my favorites from her!
Content Notes: Some cursing (including a few uses of the f-word), we find out two side characters slept together, mentions of characters living together in the past, etc.
Bottom Line: Pick it up if you enjoy old-school rom-coms.
In The Company Of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
This is book six in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which is basically my before-bed, comfort-read series. In this one, Mma Makutsi starts taking dancing lessons and meets an awkward man to whom she feels obligated to be kind - but she ends up being surprised by him in the end. One of the apprentice mechanics quits the shop, and Mma Ramotswe’s former husband shows up threatening to cause trouble for her.
Smith does a wonderful job of weaving all these story elements together throughout the book. What I like most about these books is that most of the problems are serious but not life-ruining, and the characters admire and respect each other as they figure out solutions. There is a fondness among all of the characters that is just comforting to read. This book was more of what I enjoy about this series. Highly recommend for a night-time read.
Content Notes: Infidelity of some of the villains/side characters.
Bottom Line: If you need a calm-down book before going to sleep, this series might be it.
Wear It Well: Reclaim Your Closet and Rediscover the Joy of Getting Dressed by Allison Bornstein
At the beginning of the year I shared some of the reading challenges in which I’m participating, and I decided to shift one of my 5x5 categories to include books about clothes and style. I’ve been wanting to make better use of the clothes I have and learn to appreciate my closet instead of adding new things constantly, and Wear It Well has been a great inspiration book for that.
This book opens with encouragement for cleaning out your closet, and then learning to edit your closet according to three words that you must choose to describe your style. Bornstein also gives us her nine closet staples, but the way she gives recommendations leaves so much room for you to interpret those pieces in a way that fits with your own style.
I really love the idea of trying to sum up one’s style in three words, and using those words to help you narrow the choices when cleaning out your closet or shopping for new clothes. It’s something I’ve been keeping in mind as the stores roll out their fall offerings, appreciating a garment while being able to say “it’s not for me”.
Bornstein gets a little “woo woo” in certain parts of the book - for example, near the end she recommends setting up a style “altar”, which is just bizarre and New Age-y. No, thank you. However, aside from religious/philosophical differences, I found this book really helpful and encouraging for defining my own style and figuring out ways to use all my clothes in a way that is unique to me. I’d recommend it, just keep in mind you might need to gloss over a couple weird elements.
Content Notes: Weird religious elements here and there (see above).
Bottom Line: If you enjoy fashion and are trying to hone your style, this would be a good place to start.
This summer has been odd when it comes to reading. I haven’t read nearly as much as I usually do, and the books in this post might be partially why. My summer reading rhythm was thrown off by two books with endings that left me severely annoyed and maybe I just lost my confidence in what to pick next.
I’m just now getting back on track, so come back next week for better recommendations. Read on if you want to see which books irritated me so much.
Old-Fashioned On Purpose by Jill Winger
I picked this book up on a whim, and ended up finishing it on audio. It’s written by a homesteading blogger, and I enjoyed reading how she runs her farm, home life, and businesses with an old-fashioned perspective (or at least as old-fashioned as you can be when your business is largely online). I especially enjoyed her thoughts on cooking and developing in-person community, and I gained an excellent recipe for homemade all-purpose cleaner! If you would like inspiration or direction on developing old-fashioned skills, this is the book to read.
Content Notes: Nothing significant.
Bottom Line: Interesting read if you are into modern homesteading and old-timey things.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Okay, this is going to be a longer one, because I have to explain why I didn’t like this book. I have been enjoying some of Connie Willis’s books in the past year, and thought I would try this time travel series. In this book, set sometime in the future, historians don’t just study historical texts - they travel back in time and observe history first hand (intriguing, right?). Many dangerous centuries have been closed to time travel, but the 1300’s just opened, and Kivrin, a young historian, travels back to 1320…except something goes wrong. Meanwhile her friends back at home are dealing with an epidemic and other catastrophes that are preventing them from getting Kivrin back from the Middle Ages.
Alot of this plot revolves around The Black Death, and when people start dying of the plague, alot of existential questions are raised about the existence of God, suffering, etc. Kivrin doesn’t believe in God’s existence and thinks some blasphemous things about God, while some in the Middle Ages have their faith strengthened by her presence there.
As her friend (Mr. Dunworthy) is trying to get her back, he starts thinking in analogies of God sending Jesus, and the people on earth crucifying Him. In Dunworthy’s version of God, God watches helplessly and can’t do anything about it, and Jesus, who just wanted to help the people, dies for no reason. So Dunworthy reflects a “god” who is impotent, Kirvin reflects a “Jesus” who helps people by caring for them but can’t heal their suffering in any way, and the town priest who believes Kivrin is a saint that has come to ease their way to Heaven is misguided.
I was hoping for more clarification or depth in the ending, but Willis leaves these questions and distorted views of God unresolved by the end of the book. The meaning in the end seems to be since God doesn’t exist or can’t stop bad things from happening, all we can do is take care of each other in bad times.
There is one comment from a young boy in the story that attempts to give some meaning to all this tragedy. Kivrin is relating how the town priest believed she was a saint that God sent from Heaven to help them in the plague, and the boy comments that is what she did - because she was there, no one had to die alone or be left unburied. The comment feels like a bone thrown to readers of faith, but in the end the people are all still dead, aren’t they? And that seems to be the point of the book. This book was a tragedy with no real comfort or answers, and the blasphemy and distortions of God’s character made the message of this book neither good nor true. So this was not one I’d recommend.
Additional Content Notes: A character comes across a couple fornicating in the Middle Ages timeline, lots of death.
Bottom Line: Would not recommend, unless you don’t care about my problems outlined above and want an interesting way to be depressed.
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
Ah, another book I can’t recommend.
I decided to listen to this book after hearing a homeschool influencer speaking about it. The synopsis sounded intriguing, and she was saying that this book had a really realistic portrayal of marriage - particularly how two people can kind of drift apart, but also how that drift can be reversed. In her defense, she was only partway through the book when it was mentioned, and a lot of the problems I’m going to talk about happened in the last quarter of the book.
As the story opens, our main character has started to treat her unemployed husband in a patronizing way, sometimes embarrassed of him. They move to a modern, minimalist community deep in the Washington woods that relies heavily on modern technology. When a volcano erupts nearby, their technology-run community is cut off from the rest of the world, and the residents learn that Bigfoot may not actually be a myth.
I did indeed find the initial portrayal of the apathy that can develop in marriage pretty realistic. The wife clearly loved her husband but struggled with looking down on him. I was interested to see how their relationship dynamic might change as they started facing this crisis, and that’s what ultimately kept me reading.
Spoiler ahead.
There were hints of the wife seeing her husband in a new light as he takes initiative to help the other residents, but unfortunately it was never fully fleshed out. In the end (spoiler), the husband lays down his life to save his wife and another resident. The grief that such an event would bring was not explored very much, and she doesn’t ever consciously recognize that she lost a good man that was very worthy of all her respect. Instead, the wife pushes her grief aside and becomes a vicious killer who leaves the community, presumably to hunt down the remaining creatures who killed her husband. We are left with the implication that she has left some of her humanity and become her own kind of monster.
I found myself so disappointed, and very annoyed, with this ending. There could have been such a beautiful underlying message about marriage, and it would have made the book into something more than just a gratuitous Bigfoot horror story. Instead the marriage aspect of the story is lost completely and we’re left with a post-modern, evolutionary worldview dragging the ending down. I just can’t tell you how bummed I was. It could have been so good.
Additional Content Notes: Evolution assumed, homosexual couple, lots of cussing, VERY gruesome descriptions of deaths (in the last quarter of the book).
Bottom Line: Overall, would not recommend, unless you want to dwell on the brutality of nature and gruesome death.
I went back to my old standby genres after these books made me regret branching out, so I’ll share a few winners soon! Expect several book posts in the next couple weeks.
What is the best book you’ve read this summer?
My husband looked at me last week and told me he thought I should seriously consider taking another week of summer before starting our homeschool year. He said he’s never seen me this stressed out going into a school year, and he thought I should take just one more week to do nothing, except whatever would feel inspiring or restful.
Of course I had objections…but then we will have to go another week into May! What if we struggle to get into a homeschool routine before our fall trip to visit friends in a couple weeks? What if we get behind?!
But there was a part of me that knows he knows me best out of anyone. So if he sees that I am a little unhinged right now, he’s probably right. I’d be wise to take his advice.
Instead of breaking out the schedule and books this morning, I slept in, finished reading a book I’ve had in progress for a while, and sat down to write something. You can thank my husband for the existence of this post.
On The Page {Anything I’ve Read}
I’ve been struggling to finish several books this summer, so first on my relaxation to-do list this week is reading those! I just completed this book about personal style, this book on Chernobyl, and I have plans to wrap up this book in the next day or two. For blogs, I’m enjoying old-school posts, and also one with encouragement for homeschooling high school and one warning homeschoolers about vouchers - all linked below.
They Won’t Ban Homeschooling - They’ll Control It Instead
A 2025 Pioneer Woman Writes In Her Diary About July
August’s Letters From The Hearth
I have also been working on having reading time with each of my kids individually, which is no small feat when there are five of them! The consistency is never as good as I want, but it’s a habit I will work on establishing. We’re reading The Hobbit, Little Women, The Swamp Robber, Winnie The Pooh, and The Complete Brambly Hedge.
In My Armchair {Projects I’m Working On}
So many of my personal projects have fallen by the wayside, as we have been running from one activity to another and somehow keeping the house decent and the kids fed in between. However, I did make these adorable beaded fish with my kids this month. They are double-sided, and so much more satisfying to hold than they look.
In The Kitchen {Things We’ve Made}
This has been the summer of me trying to keep my kitchen stocked with fresh fruit - some of which has gone bad because we tried to save it too long, but most of which has been gobbled up almost immediately.
I haven’t done a ton of baking, but my kids have. My daughter has started making chocolate chip cookies (hers are somehow better than mine, though we are using the same recipe). My son has perfected baked oatmeal, and has been preparing breakfast for his siblings every day this week. It’s such a blessing to eat something warm from the oven that I didn’t have to make myself!
I did, however, make pumpkin muffins with fresh-milled grains, and the bags are stored and waiting to be pulled out of the freezer on a busy morning. We also had a “shark week”, and shark cupcakes were in order.
On My Person {Things I’ve Worn}
My heart is starting to turn toward fall fashion, but it’s far too hot outside still. It’s good for me to look through my photos of outfits I enjoyed this summer, since I’ll probably be wearing them for a little while yet!
Despite the temperature, I can’t help eyeing my fall fashion inspiration board. I just finished reading Wear It Well, which talks about picking three words to describe and hone your style - I am analyzing the outfits I’ve pinned and mulling over what my three words should be.
In The Accounts {Money We’ve Saved}
After a July weekend trip, our car started having electrical problems. We took it to the dealership for diagnostic tests, thinking they would have more precise equipment to find the issue. A day later, they gave us a list of fixes that would cost more than we paid for the car! After a little bit of panic, we kept our heads, and took it back to our own mechanic. He replaced one wire, and we replaced the battery, and that seemed to fix the problem. So we “saved” several thousand dollars by not taking the dealership recommendations!
Other than that, I have been saving money by just…not buying things. Instead of doing fall clothes shopping, as I’m always tempted to do in the late summer, I pinned outfits I intend to recreate with my own clothes. I also took my girls window shopping so we could see what the styles are this year, but I didn’t buy anything and thought instead about how I could get the same vibe with clothes I already own.
Out My Window {Beauty I’ve Noticed}
Late summer is such a beautiful time in the mountains. I’m sitting on the porch typing this, and birds are singing all around and hummingbirds keep whizzing past my chair. The sun is shining on the grass, making it turn gold, and puffy clouds float past in a bright blue sky.
I’m especially noticing and appreciating how healthy and full our pine trees look. I’ve noticed alot of beetle kill popping up in surrounding neighborhoods, and I’m so anxious about the health of our trees. We will be keeping a close eye for signs of those nasty pine beetles, but right now our trees look glorious and I’m praying they stay that way.
Out And About {Places We Went}
Yellowstone - We did a camping trip near Yellowstone National Park over the 4th of July! It was a wonderful place to spend the 4th and make memories as a family. There is something special about waking up in a tent.
My grandparent’s cabin - We try to visit my grandparents each summer at their cabin, and it’s always so restful. We just play cards and enjoy their company.
Lots of swimming - The pools have finally closed, but we squeezed in so many swimming days this summer, I feel we really made the most of it!
State Fair - My boys qualified for the shooting competition at the State Fair, and my girls had projects that also qualified. We didn’t go to the actual fair, but we traveled for the competition.
On My Mind {Thoughts To Share}
I sat here for a few minutes trying to decide what to say here. This year has been a difficult one for us, in ways I don’t feel comfortable sharing, and has underscored for us how important the body of Christ is. Nothing we’ve been going through has been worthy of a meal train or more serious help, but we have found encouragement from other believers, in our extended family and our church family. The past few months have also affirmed to us how we ourselves are important in encouraging our local body of believers and building them up. This verse has been a theme this year:
“…that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Colossians 2:2-3
Paul is expressing his hope for the church at Laodicea, but these verses have become a refrain for our relationships, both within our house and in our local church family. We want to be “knit together in love” with one another, as our hearts are encouraged in pursuing the wisdom and knowledge of Christ, together. That should be the theme of our attitudes and words toward others - love and encouragement to pursue the knowledge of Christ. So I’ve been mulling over how to do that better in the midst of a stressful season.
In My Heart {Things I’m Treasuring}
-Laughter coming from the playhouse, where my little girls claim they are taking a nap.
-A Joe Diffy song (think old-school country) playing on our record player while my big kids work on crafts.
-The way my flowers perk up after a little watering.
-Thunder in the distance, the promise of rain.
-Lighting a cinnamon candle my husband bought for me on a whim.
-Warm laundry straight out of the dryer.
-Trees swaying in the wind.
-The feeling of turning the last page of a satisfying book.
-My oldest quietly settling next to me on a porch chair, cup of tea and Bible in hand.
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