When I had three kids, four and under, I learned about Charlotte Mason and her principle of spreading a wide feast of ideas. Practically, this looks like 20 different subjects in a Charlotte Mason classroom that get covered during the week. 

Before we were in the formal school years, I got into the habit of discovering where all the different sections of books were at the library so I could just walk the shelves and grab some that covered a wide range of ideas without any preplanning. For years, we have had this system in place that has provided an educational cushion through all the ups and downs in our lives and given our kids a lot of learning in a very natural way.

For years, we have had this system in place that has provided an educational cushion through all the ups and downs in our lives and given our kids a lot of learning in a very natural way. I also supplement by putting books on hold at the library that deep-dive into what my kids want to learn more about so that I’m not hunting for specific books once we get there.

In this week’s episode, I’m sharing practical tips for not losing the library books and keeping free books free, bringing some great books into your home, and some of our recent favorites.

How we avoid fines and the library to keep our books free:

• We moved all our personal books upstairs to a home library and have a separate bookshelf downstairs for the library books to create separation.

• We have ONE library card, so we don’t lose track of the books we have checked out, what’s on hold, and what we have to return.

• We try to get to the library on the same day every week so that we don’t have many different due dates to keep track of.

• I try and go to our library account after we get home from the library to renew any books that we might have missed returning.

• We have a library book bag that holds between 20-30 books, which creates some margin.

Recent Library Book Favorites That Were So Good We Would By Them

1. Professor Wooford McPaw’s History of Astronomy

2. Papa is A Poet A Story about Robert Frost

3. The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happened to Pluto

4. Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain

5. Hawk Rising

6. Send a Girl!: The True Story of How Women Joined the FDNY

7. Find Me! Adventures in the Forest

8. The Apartment: A Century of Russian History

9. Under Your Feet... Soil, Sand and Everything Underground

10. Charles Dickens (Little People, Big Dreams)

11. A Walk in London

12. Cooking Class Global Feast!: 44 Recipes That Celebrate the World’s Cultures