Cathy Duffy Called It “Phenomenal.” I’m Still Pinching Myself.
I have a confession: I had to stare at the email a few beats before opening it.
It came in on a normal Wednesday, which immediately became Not Normal. The subject line was professional and calm, the way important things sometimes are when they are trying not to make a scene. I clicked it, read the first line, and then read it again.
Cathy Duffy had reviewed Journeying Through the Classics.
If you are new to the homeschool space: Cathy Duffy is the most trusted name in homeschool curriculum reviews.
She has been doing this work for decades. Families plan entire academic years around her recommendations. Getting a Cathy Duffy review is the kind of thing homeschool curriculum creators dream about quietly, in the car, when no one is listening.
I feel like I won a Homeschool Oscar!!!
What Cathy Duffy’s Review Actually Says:
“Journeying Through the Classics would be phenomenal if it were a program for purchase, but it’s free! This program really scores high in every area: great content, ease of use, academic excellence, flexibility, and affordability.”
She went on to call the discussion questions “outstanding,” noting they “delve into character at a deep and universal level.”
She praised the watercolor art integration, the flexibility for different learning styles, and the fact that most of the books on the reading list are freely available online or at any library. (I have every single unit linked with multiple ways of getting each book free and one recommended unabridged copy for sale.)
She also confirmed — because apparently people keep asking — that yes, it really is free.
Read the full review here: Cathy Duffy Reviews — Journeying Through the Classics
Why This One Hit Me Like a Ton of Bricks
I want to tell you what Journeying Through the Classics actually is, for anyone who is finding Homeschool with Joy for the first time through this post.
It is a complete, Charlotte Mason-inspired high school literature curriculum. Four years. 34 units. 700+ pages. Covering works from Homer to Tolkien to Austen to C.S. Lewis to Mark Helprin.
Each unit includes vocabulary, grammar instruction, comprehension questions, discussion questions, essay writing, a unit test, answer keys, and optional art integration.
A Scope and Sequence, Teacher’s Guide, Essay Writing Guide, and Student Progress Checklists are all included.
For good measure, I also made decorative sheets for students to make notes on! With fairy tale characters, book characters, Victorian swirls… Why make notes on boring paper when you can make elegant notes on beautiful paper?
And it is completely, entirely, no-catch free.
I built it over years of hatching the idea through actually doing it, glued to my computer then leaping off and making dinner for everyone when the time flew by too fast. Some of those times were quiet and discouraging in the way creative work sometimes is — you are making something you believe in, but the world has not found it yet, and you are never quite sure it will. I kept going because I kept meeting homeschool families who were panicking about high school English and could not afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a curriculum. Or shouldn’t have to spend that kind of money on it! I wanted to give them something real. I wanted families to love reading again and students to learn to love learning.
Having Cathy Duffy find it and call it “phenomenal” is not something I had planned for. I may have paced a lap (or 10) around the kitchen.
After working for large homeschool nonprofits for years, I’ve been trying to now cultivate something with integrity and something that mirrors my own values. Having Cathy Duffy validate that is just the biggest thing I can think of happening to Homeschool with Joy right now.
What This Means for Your Homeschool
If you have a middle or high schooler and you are trying to figure out how to do English without spending a fortune or losing your mind, Journeying Through the Classics was made for you.
Here is what families love about it:
It works for independent learners. Students can work through units on their own. You do not need to read every book alongside them — though the discussion questions will make you want to.
It is genuinely flexible. Use the suggested 4-year sequence or dip in wherever you are. It adapts to your family’s approach.
It takes great literature seriously. This is not a worksheet curriculum dressed up with fancy covers. The writing is substantive, the discussion questions go deep, and the essay assignments grow out of the books themselves.
It is beautiful. Watercolor notebook dividers, a Visual Character Guide with watercolor portraits of literary heroes, and a design that makes students actually want to open it. (Cathy Duffy noticed the art. That made me happy.)
A Small, Genuine Ask
If Journeying Through the Classics has been part of your homeschool — or if you know a family that needs it — would you share Cathy Duffy’s review on social media?
Not because I need just the numbers (though I will not pretend the numbers don’t matter for a small, one-person platform trying to reach more families… Ok, I need the numbers!). But because there is a homeschool mom somewhere right now who is quietly convinced she cannot do high school English well, and she just needs to find out this resource exists.
And, it comes with a complete answer keys for each unit! Hurrah! You don’t have to remember what character Bob did in a book you haven’t thought about since high school!
A share from someone who means it travels a long way.
Download Journeying Through the Classics — Free
Ready to take a look? The full curriculum — all 700+ pages — is available to download right now, completely free.
➤ Download Journeying Through the Classics here
➤ Read Cathy Duffy’s full review here
And, if you want more Charlotte Mason-inspired homeschool resources, book lists, curriculum ideas, and the occasional kitchen-lap-running story, join the Homeschool with Joy list! I am so glad you are here!
