Beautiful Feet Books offers a unique homeschooling curriculum inspired by Charlotte Mason. Founded in 1984, it focuses on using quality literature to teach history and other subjects in an engaging way.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), approximately 3.3 million students were homeschooled in the United States as of 2023, representing roughly 6% of the school-age population. Research from the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) shows that homeschooled students typically score 15 to 25 percentile points higher than public school students on standardized academic achievement tests.
What are Beautiful Feet Books?
Beautiful Feet Books has been helping homeschool families for over 40 years. Founded in 1984 by Rea Berg, a former homeschooling mom, this curriculum is inspired by Charlotte Mason. They believe education should inspire, not bore. Instead of traditional textbooks, they use 'living books'—great literature that sparks imagination and critical thinking. Their history curriculum focuses on storytelling, helping students grasp the 'why' of history, not just memorizing dates. It covers American history, world history, geography, and topics like science history and classical music.
How the curriculum works
Each Beautiful Feet course is built around engaging historical fiction and nonfiction books. High-quality Teacher Guides offer discussion questions, hands-on activities, art appreciation, historical recipes, nature journaling ideas, and field trip suggestions. Lessons are numbered, not tied to specific days. This lets families set their own pace—complete 2-3 lessons a week for a year or stretch it over two years with 1-2 lessons. While it's history-focused, the curriculum weaves in literature, geography, art, and cultural education.
Course offerings
Beautiful Feet offers 24 courses that cover everything from ancient civilizations to modern American history. For example, Early American History comes in K-3 and 4-6 versions, covering 1000 AD to the mid-1800s with 94 lessons on topics like Indigenous peoples, Vikings, and colonial America. Around the World with Picture Books uses living books to teach geography alongside recipes and cultural lessons. They also offer special topics like the History of Science, Classical Music, Character Development, and the History of the Horse. Age groups (K-3, 4-6, 7-8, high school) allow for flexibility, so advanced students and families can learn together.
The bottom line
Beautiful Feet Books gives Charlotte Mason families what they want: rich history lessons through quality literature without tons of prep. The Teacher Guides and selected books save time and provide structure for busy parents. While the curriculum is mainly Christian, about 96% of their 600+ titles are secular and easy to adapt for any family. This works best for families who enjoy reading together and like discussion-based learning. It’s not an all-in-one solution—you’ll need separate math, language arts, and science curricula. But for bringing history to life, Beautiful Feet's 40 years of experience shines through in every course.
