Hi! My name is Lisa and I’m a homeschooling mom of 2 boys and I’m an incurable bibliophile. I love homeschooling not only because I get to watch my boys grow and learn to love the world around them, but also because my secret wish to be a student when I grew up has come true!
In 2026 we moved from the desert of Southern California to the D.C. area and our boys, M and Em, are now in Year 8 and Year 5. One son lives with severe anxiety, selective mutism, ASD, and dyscalculia. I have a BA in religious studies from Westmont College and a Masters of Public Administration from Virginia Tech. I spent most of my career in social services and kids came along later in life. When M was about 4 and attending preschool, I read For The Children’s Sake and we decided to homeschool using Charlotte Mason’s principles. We have been using the Ambleside Online curriculum since he started first grade. We homeschooled through a charter school until the end of the 2023-24 school year and are now embarking on a new phase of doing it all on our own!
I have found encouragement, practical helps, and solidarity in the online community associated with Ambleside Online and the more general Charlotte Mason online community. My purpose in this website is to contribute to that community by sharing the types of things I have found most helpful to me. I know I can’t do this alone, so I hope you’ll come Ambling Together with me.
Some favorite commonplace quotes from the year
The man who can make himself do what he will has the world before him, and it rests with parents to give their children this self-compelling power as a mere matter of habit.
Charlotte Mason (School Education)
Practicing the church calendar is training in how to wait amid the pain of our lives and the tragedies of history with faith, hope, and love.
TIsh Harrison Warren (Advent: The Season of Hope)
Stories get better as they get more true.
Daniel Nayeri (Everything Sad is Untrue)
An archive of previously posted commonplace quotes
What I’m reading
The books here are the ones I’m reading for my own edification and enjoyment, not my pre-reading for school. In addition, I listen to two bookish podcasts, The Literary Life Podcast and Close Reads and follow along with many of their readings. I usually have something going on audiobook to listen to on walks or while doing laundry as well as an audiobook in the car for me and the boys. When the morning is going as planned, I do my reading while the boys eat breakfast and get ready for the day. And as Cindy Rollins has recommended on the Literary Life Podcast, I just plod along reading a little of each book every morning.
June 2026
- On Audio: Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I have been meaning to read this one for decades. Once in middle school I started it, but didn’t make it far. So I’m taking advantage of the Close Reads subscriber podcast doing this one in the fall in hopes it will motivate me to actually get through it.
- On Audio in the car with the boys: The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. We’ve been listening to many shorter novels and they requested this one after talking about The Hobbit recently. We’ll have sixty or so hours to get through, but we’ve already made it through ten hours of this one and they ask for it every time we get in the car – even for a short mile drive to the grocery store! My heart is full!
- On Kindle: March by Geraldine Brooks. I have a goal to read one Pulitzer Prize book a year and this year I chose this one. Half-way through and I am captivated by the story telling. I am planning on reading Little Women with Close Reads later this year, so I thought this would be an interesting one to read with it this year.
- Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury. I am planning on reading some short stories to the boys during morning school next year, so I am re-reading my stack of Bradbury books I collected from used bookstores in high school. It’s been a while since I’ve read them and I forgot how much I love Bradbury. I am picking a few stories from several of his short story collections to read to the boys.
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. This one has been all over booklists everywhere and was specifically recommended by a friend. I was suspicious of an octopus narrator, but I’ve finally gotten around to it and am finding it unputdownable!
- Spring in Washington by Louis J. Halle. We recently moved to the DC area and a dear friend and fellow-nature lover sent this to me. It is a lovely journal of his springtime wanderings around the DC area after WWII. It is amazing to see how much has changed – and sad to see how much has been lost. I am enjoying reading a small section is the mornings.
- What Grows in Weary Lands by Tish Harrison Warren. This just came out and from her description of it, I knew it would be a timely book for how I’m feeling. I’ve just started, but am looking forward to some encouragement.
- The Complete Poetry of Maya Angelou. This is my poet of the year. With our packing and move Jan-March, I didn’t start this until late, but am slowly making my way through. I am wishing I had an annotated version or someone to help me understand it better, but even without that I have been moved by many of the poem.
An archive of previously posted readings
Stay in Touch!
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lisa@amblingtogether.com
Ambling Together 