So, we have all been there. Spent the good portion of a week or two combing the curriculum sales, decided the next school year’s curriculum. Plotting and planning on paper what we will do, emptying the bank account because we NEED that science book…. We are so pleased with ourselves that we have created an awesome school year. Your kids will be thrilled, you will get parent of the year award.

Curriculum arrives, you set it up and start the school year and within a week, you realize you hate it. Your kids hate it. It isn’t working. This sucks. But you paid for it, you planned the year for it, you are using it. You will push through.

I cannot emphasize this enough. I have been there. I did that. We usually use Time4Learning as our core curriculum. I decided one year to create my own. I am not a stupid person. I followed many groups and boards. I had a long list of great curriculums that would work for us from years of notes. I broke out the credit card and ordered it ALL. I bought a planner. I bought special colored pens. The laminator worked overtime. School year starts at our house in August and by end of Septemeber, I knew. UGH I had made a horrible mistake. The boys hated it. I hated it. But I had spent a lot of time, energy and brain cells creating this. We were NOT giving up. We pushed through. We made it to Thanksgiving before I admitted this was dumb. It was a daily fight. They would not do their work. There were tears and a lot of them were mine. I admit it. What do I do now? I tossed it all. We stopped doing it. We took a LONG break until after the holidays. I knew we needed it. It was basically a mini version of deschooling.

Did I buy new curriculum? Nope. We went back to Time4Learning. I am great at the fun supplements my boys want, but NOT planning a whole curriculum and enforcing it. I boxed up what we had and gave it away to other homeschoolers. Use what you want, pass along the rest. Pay it forward. I could have sold it. I could have listed it on a homeschool SWAP site. I just wanted it gone and knew we had several families within our homeschool group that were on strict budgets.

So, what am I saying… I am saying that if you buy or inherit curriculum and you hate it, the kids hate it, it is a daily fight… DON’T USE IT. Homeschooling is meant to be fun, educational and the ability to change as we see fit. It isn’t worth ruining an entire school year because you bought curriculum you really don’t like.

Welcome to Secular Homeschool's first Book Review! Hoping to be able to do this off and on with more books that would appeal to Secular Homeschooler's as a stand alone read OR use in a homeschool setting!


I was given the opportunity to read this book and write a review of it for Secular Homeschool. Not only that, I was lucky enough to host the author at the Homeschool Connect Booth in June at the convention. He is extremely passionate about his books. This is book 1 in a series of 5 and while we have to wait until Fall 2020 for Book 2, I saw the potential cover art and learned a bit about Book 2. SO EXCITING!

Like any other Mom out there, my personal book reading time is limited and I must admit I did not get to this until I was headed to the airport for the convention. I usually have a spare 5-10 minutes before bed to read a page or 2 and books now take me forever to finish. While I would love to read more, I also need sleep!LOL

I have to say, this book is AWESOME! I was able to read it quickly because not only did I have the time on the airplane but it GRABBED me. I had to get to the next page, the next chapter and so on. C.R. Stewart’s use of history is impeccable. As a history buff myself, I expected some of it to be fabricated. It was not!

Without giving away the entire story, orphans Tom and Sarah go on an epic adventure across England. Battling villans, solving crimes and pulling us in with their tales! They visit historic sites such as Oxford University and Windsor Castle in great detail. So much so, you feel like you are there with them.

This book is 100% secular. They do stop in at Canterbury Cathedral but it is as a historic site vs. a religious one. It isn’t worth dismissing a great story, because of this. The also have an upcoming Academy and Explorer’s Club, which you can find out more about on their site.
You can read this as a family and then take it to a whole other level in your homeschool with this study guide and teacher resources, be aware there are both secular and christian versions: Britfield Institute.

I personally cannot wait for Book 2 and am sad that I have to wait over a year. I get it, but still the waiting will drive me bonkers! My son is now reading this book as he is an avid reader AND a big history buff like his Mom. Looking for a fun Summer read for the family or a new book to add to the homeschool lessons this year? This is it!