Here is a list of the books that have shaped our life of learning the most! Remember that I am a Classical/Charlotte Mason homeschooler and a Wild + Free Mama so that blend is quite obvious in my choices below. While I do not agree with every single concept in every single book, I have found the books below to be extremely helpful in my life as a mother, student, educator and writer. Enjoy!
Books with an asterisk (**) are books that I frequently reread.
Getting Started:
Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson **
Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie **
Margin by Richard Swenson
Laying Down the Rails for Yourself by Sonya Schafer
Rethinking School: How to Take Charge of Your Child’s Education by Susan Wise Bauer
Casting Vision:
The Holy Bible (I love the ESV translation)
10 Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen **
For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schafer Macaulay
L’abri by Edith Schafer
The Life Giving Home by Sally and Sarah Clarkson **
The Life Giving Table by Sally and Clay Clarkson
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Nurtured by Love by Shin’ichi Suzuki
Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex Harris
Death by Living ND Wilson **
The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers
Total Truth by Nancy Pearcy
How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schafer
The Abolition of Man by CS Lewis
For the Heart:
Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins
Practicing Affirmation by Sam Crabtree
Humility by Andrew Murray
Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic
The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson
Reading People by Anne Bogel
For Kids that Break the Mold:
Different by Sally Clarkson
Living with Intensity by Susan Daniels
Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson
The Dyslexic Advantage by Brock L Eide and Fernette F Eide
Good and Angry by Scott Truancy
The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo
Simply Classical: A Beautiful Education for any Child by Cheryl Swope
Classical Education:
The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy L Sayers **
The Core by Leigh Bortins **
The Question by Leigh Bortins **
The Conversation by Leigh Bortins
Beauty in the Word: Rethinking the Foundations of Education by Stratford Caldecott
Beauty for Truth’s Sake: The Re-enchantment of Education by Stratford Caldecott
The Liberal Arts Tradition by Kevin Clark and Ravi Jain
The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph
Norms and Nobility by David Hicks (Yes, its ridiculously expensive and will stay that way till someone else acquires publishing rights. Its an incredibly difficult book but I have loved studying it)
The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
Climbing Parnassus by Tracy Lee Simmons
Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcy
Charlotte Mason:
Charlotte Mason’s Original Writings (I’d start with either Book 1 or Book 6) **
The Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
When Children Love to Learn by Elaine Cooper
The Living Page by Laurie Bestvater
Know and Tell: The Art of Narration by Karen Glass
Blending CM and CC:
Consider This by Karen Glass **
Mind to Mind by Karen Glass and Charlotte Mason
All of Charlotte Mason’s books because she WAS a Classical Educator 🙂
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The majority of these are affiliate links.
farmhouseschoolhouse.com 
What an amazing list! I’m going to save it and use it when I need to figure out what to read next 🙂 I just read Margin and Teaching from Rest this month and loved both books. Another great one in the same vein is Gifts from the Sea by Anne Lindburgh. I think it’s reference in Margin. I loved it!
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I’m interested to see The Dyslexic Advantage on your list. My boys were just diagnosed last year and I plan to read a book this summer to help me gain more understanding on how to help them. This has been on my list. I’ve found the website “Homeschooling with Dyslexia” very helpful.
I’ve long wanted to read A Charlotte Mason Companion.
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Such a great list, thank you!! I have read and enjoyed so many of these (Classical/CM momma here, too) i’m excited to work my way through the others!
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Hi there!
So, I’m on the verge of falling in love with the idea of classical education. Of the books you’ve listed regarding this topic, is there one or two that you would you recommend to a newbie who is intrigued but already has a huge reading list to get through 😊?
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The Leigh Bortin books!
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Any chance you have a quarter 4 booklist? I am smitten with your site!!!
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It is so fun to read another book lover/mama/homeschooler list the same books I recommend to others!! In fact, I just got done re-reading a section of ‘educating the wholehearted child’ and just messaged a new instagram friend all the books on your ‘getting started’ list!!
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Hi! We are patiently waiting for the Quarter 4 booklist. When might you be sharing it? You have brought life to my homeschooling!
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Its up!!!! I am so glad its been helpful to you!
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