It’s here! The complete book list for Journeying Through the Classics – our free 700+ page Charlotte Mason high school literature curriculum.
700+ pages(?!?!) you might be asking?
Is that a typo? Nope.
Are you actually nuts, you might venture? No, I don’t think so…
And, this is a free, no-credit-card needed, 100% free? Yes, absolutely!
Why in the world is this free? I’m passionate about helping your homeschool be joy-filled and this is a giant project I’ve been doing to help make that possible, using my educational and professional background to serve the homeschool community the best way I know how.
If you downloaded the Scope & Sequence last week, you’ve already seen the learning outcomes for each unit. Now you get to see exactly which books your student will read over four years.
Spoiler alert: Every single one of these books is available FREE at your local library. (Or should be if your library is worth its salt. Interlibrary Loan is also your friend!)
No expensive book sets required.
Why These 34 Books?
When I set out to create this curriculum, I had three non-negotiables:
- They had to be living books.
Charlotte Mason believed in feeding students’ minds with ideas, not dry facts. These aren’t textbooks. They’re stories that have captivated readers for generations – some for thousands of years.
- They had to build actual skills.
Each book is paired with specific writing instruction. Your student will learn research papers, literary analysis, creative writing, comparative essays, and persuasive writing – all using MLA format. By the time they finish, they’ll have been given the full toolbox to write at a college level.
- They had to be freely available.
I’m a homeschool mom. I know what curriculum costs! Every book on this list can be borrowed from your library, downloaded free on Project Gutenberg, or purchased used for a few dollars.
No $1,500 literature program required.
Comparable 4-year high school literature programs can be over $1,000:
- Sonlight Literature 100-400, ($425 per year): $1,600
- Memoria Press Literature & Humanities ($165 per year): $1,000
- BookShark (compared to Level J): $625
- AOP ($75 per year): $300
- Classical Conversations Challenge: $2,000
- Individual curriculum guides ($40-60 each): $1,360-2,040
It was also important to me to choose books that students would love reading and not be forced into trudging through. These books and essays all have a spark of joy about them that make them worthwhile reading.
I wanted each selection to be compatible with my mission of creating an environment of joy and optimism in the home.
Thus, Lord of the Flies is out! No Scarlet Letter, either. Sorry, Hawthorne and Golding! (Actually, not sorry! I read them. Didn’t want to. Never want to again. Wouldn’t wish them on anybody.)
Plus, when you buy a boxed set type of curriculum, you have to purchase all the books in that whole set – you generally cannot pick and choose. Inevitably, you end up with books you don’t want and aren’t going to read.
With Journeying Through the Classics, you are presented with a feast of options and you can decide what you want your children to enjoy reading and what you don’t want to cover.
A Peek Inside: What’s on the List?
I can’t give away all 34 books here (you’ll want to download the beautiful PDF for that!), but here’s a taste of what your high schooler will experience:
Ancient Adventures. Your journey begins with Homer. Two epic poems that have shaped Western literature for thousands of years. Think gods, heroes, war, and homecoming.
Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits. Three of the Bard’s most powerful plays – tragedy, comedy, and his masterpiece that asks “To be or not to be?”
The Heroines Who Changed Literature. Elizabeth Bennet. Jane Eyre. Anne Shirley. Jo March. Scout Finch. Your daughter will meet the literary women who shaped how we think about courage, independence, and standing up for what’s right.
Adventure & Mystery Pirates. Detectives. Deserted islands. Revenge plots spanning decades. Your student won’t be able to put these down.
The Fantasy Epics Tolkien. C.S. Lewis. Madeleine L’Engle. T.H. White. The books that created entire genres and still inspire movies today.
The Books That Make You Think. Thoreau on reading. C.S. Lewis on education. Mark Helprin on art. E.B. White on time and place. Essays that will shape how your student sees the world.
And that’s just scratching the surface.
What’s Included in Each Unit?
Every single unit (all 34 of them) includes:
- Author Biography – Who wrote this and why does it matter?
- Historical & Cultural Context – When and where does this fit in history?
- Weekly Reading Schedule – Manageable readings with no overwhelm
- Vocabulary Lists – 45 words per unit with phonetic pronunciations
- Spelling Practice – Extended lines for writing practice
- 10 Sentence Examples – See vocabulary in context
- Reading Comprehension Questions – Check understanding as you read
- Discussion Questions – Go deeper, think critically
- Art Integration – Links to suggested supplemental watercolor & chalk pastel lessons
- Grammar & Editing Focus – Different skills in each unit
- Essay Assignment – Detailed instructions with MLA formatting
- Unit Test – Assess learning
- Student Progress Checklist – Track completion independently
- Parents Answer Key – Complete answers for comprehension AND discussion questions
Coming February 20: The full 700+ page curriculum with all 34 complete units! Subscribe to stay apprised of the release!
Not a subscriber yet? Subscribe here to get instant access to your Resource Library with the Scope & Sequence, the gorgeous book list PDF, and the full curriculum when it releases on February 20.
All 100% free. Forever.
Your high schooler is about to fall in love with reading again.
See you February 20 for the full curriculum release!
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Homeschool With Joy 