One thing I enjoy about the beginning of each month is filling out a fresh Personal Scholarship tracker. I list out the books I am working on each month. Most are “slow reads” that I am chipping away at, little by little, each month. A couple are fiction novels I will devour in a week or so. And I always have one audiobook in my schedule – I rarely listen to audiobooks at home, but always have one audiobook for when I am driving.

As you can see from my Current Reads bookshelf – I have quite a varied taste in books. I try to have books from a variety of subjects going at once.

Health and Neurodiversity are two areas that I like to focus on, and I have several books on my shelf in queue for when I finish my current titles. I also like to read books on educational philosophy, and so this month I am finishing up a book on the Charlotte Mason philosophy that much of our homeschooling approach aligns with. I’m also interested in history (including alternative history) so I’ve got a couple titles that I am working on in this area. I also like to include practical learning so I usually have a title in the area of gardening, permaculture or (as you can see) preparedness. Rounding out my interest areas are Science, Religion and General Knowledge/Current Events.

I’ve got two tools I will be sharing more on soon that I consult when planning out my reading for the year – and there is a bit of an overlap in the two. But briefly, I have a Compass I think of when I plan what my goals are for the year – this is a reflection on what my personal strengths are, and areas I want to focus on over the next six months or year. Then, as I plan my reading goals for the upcoming year, I make sure to find book titles that will contribute to this learning goal. As I develop my reading list, I then include titles in my standing areas of learning that I plan for each year. I do have reading plans posted for 2019 and 2017 – so you can see how my planning process looks.

As you can see, it’s been a while since I posted a reading plan for the year. These are usually quite ambitious and I don’t often succeed in reading all that I have planned – but I do end up with an impressive backlog on my TBT shelf.

As my interests change, my areas of interests change as well. This is reflected in my Compass and my reading plans. So I will be posting a Compass update and my 2024 reading plan later this year.

I have found that planning a reading list, setting reading goals, tracking my progress and taking notes along the way helps me retain what I am reading.

Passive reading is great for entertainment but not for lifelong learning – for this we need an active, intentional approach – so it is vital that we practice both.

And I have to remember that as a parent I am always modeling behavior, so if I want my children to enjoy reading for lifelong learning and not just for fun or because it has been assigned for school work, I have to let them observe me doing this, and being intentional in my reading.

As Karen Andreola observes in her book A Charlotte Mason Companion,

” … it is best to have a philosophy and method that backs up how we live out the educational life. In our rising up, our sitting down, and in any other wayside moments of the day, children pick up knowledge from our lips, our attitudes, our example – not just during those few sacred scheduled hours.”

Karen Andreola, A Charlotte Mason Companion (p. 70)

Happy reading!!

Current Reads

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