Liberty, Leadership, and Classics Class for Homeschool Teens

Here's inspiration for a classics-focused class for high school homeschoolers.

Over the last year and a half, I've worked out the kinks and built a successful classics-focused program for local teens called Liberty Scholars. My goal with this program is to help kids be prepared for adulthood, civic duty, and leadership, with a solid foundation in US constitutional principles and classics.

Overall, this is what the program looks like:

• Reading two classic books per month (generally one non-fiction and one novel)

• Participating in online discussions about our readings in a private email discussion forum

• Attending in-person book clubs twice a month

• Team-building enrichment activities such as shared meals, hikes, field trips, and movies

• A monthly book club for the moms of the teens, wherein we discuss the same books the teens are reading

It's amazing how homeschooling allows the flexibility to innovate new ways to educate. I'm excited to share details about Liberty Scholars with you, as inspiration in developing your own high school homeschooling programs.

Why Classics?

The central focus of Liberty Scholars is reading and discussing a wide variety of classics. My working definition of a "classic" is a work that you can return to over and over again, gaining more meaning each time. Classics don't have to be old, but they do have to impart valuable lessons and have enough depth to continue doing so with repeated readings.

I have purposely built our reading list to include:

• Original source documents for deeper understanding of USA history and government

• Inspiring stories, both fiction and non-fiction

• Deep classics such as Shakespeare and Jane Austen

• Financial literacy and economics books

We can all learn much more through discussing books than through just reading books on our own. It has been amazing to see the insights the teens in my class develop as they get into deep discussion of our readings.

Don't stress! If you're thinking, "I don't know how to lead group discussions," or "I haven't read very many classics," you are not alone. I highly recommend the Mentoring in the Classics program from Thomas Jefferson Education as a way to build the skills for mentoring your own kids and others.

Classics Reading List

Below is a rundown of the books my Liberty Scholars class has read over the last 3 semesters.

1st Semester:

• Turn the Page: How to Read Like a Top Leader by Chris Brady

• Carry On Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

• Whatever Happened to Penny Candy by Richard Maybury

• Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens by Oliver DeMille and Shannon Brooks

• Twelfth Night by Shakespeare

• 1913 by Oliver DeMille

• Animal Farm by George Orwell

• The Present Crisis (Poem) by James Russell Lowell 

• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

2nd Semester:

• Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare

• Whatever Happened to Justice by Richard Maybury

• Common Sense by Thomas Paine

• Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs Johnson (original source text that Calico Captive book is based on)

• Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille

• All’s Well That Ends Well by Shakespeare

• Declaration of Rights (1765) and Declaration of Independence (1776) 

• Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3rd Semester:

• Bendigo Shafter by Louis L’Amour

• The Real Thomas Jefferson by Andrew Allison (first 350 pages only)

• USA Constitution 

• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

• The Tempest by Shakespeare

• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

• Freedom Factor by Gerald Lund

• George Washington’s Rules of Civility / Letters of George Washington (+ Full Letter to Martha) / George Washington’s First Inaugural Address / George Washington’s Farewell Address

• The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason

• Emma by Jane Austen

Classic Book Discussions

My class meets in-person twice per month on Friday afternoons to discuss our readings. In preparation for leading the book discussions, I take time to sit and ponder on what lessons will be most valuable for the teens from our current reading. I also like to listen to Mentoring in the Classics audio content in preparation for leading some of the book discussions.

I have resisted the easiness of using AI-generated discussion questions, instead choosing to write my own questions for the group. This helps everyone get more out of the discussions since I can purposely dig into specific topics that will best suit the members of the class.

In between our in-person meetings, we have a private email discussion group where everyone can share quotes and talk about what we're reading. The email discussion group is one area where I'm still trying to figure out how to make it work the best for my class.

Monthly Book Club for Moms

Alongside the teens class, I organize a book club for their moms to discuss the same readings. In this way, the moms are engaged in what the teens are reading and can have informal discussions within their families as well.

To accommodate everyone's busy schedules, the Moms book club meets just once per month and discusses two readings at a time. I encourage each mom to lead the book club discussion for one book per semester. This allows the moms to build their own leadership and mentoring skills, as well.

Building Community With Enrichment Activities

I originally started Liberty Scholars with only book discussions. However, I noticed during the first semester that some of the students didn't feel very comfortable talking amongst the group during our discussions. So, in order to foster team-building and strengthen friendships within the group, I added enrichment activities for the 2nd and 3rd semesters.

Enrichment activities have become one of the most important aspects of the class. It's been sweet to watch this class become closer and build their own little community who is learning and adventuring together. Below is a list of the activities we have had over the last year.

• Hikes and nature explorations:

  • Achenbach Canyon

  • Geronimo's Cave

  • Pine Tree Trail

  • Osha Trail in Cloudcroft

  • City of Rocks

  • Ice Canyon

  • Fillmore Canyon

  • Slot Canyon

  • 2-day screen-free camping trip

• Movies:

  • 1776 musical

  • A More Perfect Union (Constitution)

  • The Tempest (recording of on-stage play)

  • Mr Smith Goes to Washington

  • Emma

• Monthly healthy dinners followed by social time (after book discussions)

• Judicial courthouse field trips including observing real family law cases, criminal cases, and jury cases, along with discussions with judges, attorneys, and court staff

• Presentation Day, wherein each student presented an essay, speech, powerpoint presentation, story, or poem to the group

• The Tempest script reading

• Ancestral Nutrition seminar

• Build My Future hands-on trades expo

• Fire building practice and weenie roasts

• Laser tag and pinball

• Cherry picking

Looking Ahead

My current Liberty Scholars class is full with 11 teens aged 14-19. This program will continue in Fall 2026 and beyond. A few students who were high school seniors last year will be continuing in the program (including my daughter Alina).  I feel so blessed to be able to help these teens have a strong foundation for their futures.

Several parents have requested that I start another class for upcoming high schoolers. As such, Alina and I have started a once-a-month book club for ages ~12-15. This is basically a warm-up class, with the potential for starting another Liberty Scholars cohort later on. It is sweet to have Alina co-lead this group with me, so she can learn how to mentor youths, too.

I hope this post helps you find what works best for your own homeschool and community!