What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. The share it. – C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
As the Plumfield Moms, we are sisters in Christ who became friends over a shared love of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, found especially in the good and great books. Our primary vocation is that of marriage and motherhood, but we feel a secondary call, as educators and homeschool moms, to walk with families who are seeking to help form souls who are capable of responding to the vocation God has called them to.
Our objective is to form our children and grandchildren to the best of our ability, and in so doing share what has been meaningful to us with others that it may encourage them and lighten their burden. As homeschoolers, classical educators and Christians, we have a passion for the ancient Greek paideia and the loving education of Louisa May Alcott‘s Plumfield (from her novel Little Men).
For ten years we have worked in this space to help families, librarians, and schools cultivate their own libraries of true, good, and beautiful books. Along the way, we have become librarians and opened Plumfield Press to help get the best books in the hands of as many readers as possible.
Welcome! We’re so glad you’re here!
Whether you found us through The Epoch Times, Institute For Catholic Liberal Education, Homeschool Loftcast 2.0, or another source, we appreciate you taking the time to visit. No matter how you arrived, we’re excited to share our passion for excellent living books with you.
One of the most common questions we receive is: How do I find excellent books for my children and grandchildren—books like those from the 1940s and 1950s?
This is a fantastic question, but it’s really several questions in one! Let’s break it down, read more here:
You can find us on:
Who We Are
Diane Pendergraft
I’m so happy you stopped by! It seems like dropping in for a visit has gone out of style.
I have been a Jesus believer all my life. I have been a wife since 1981, a mother since 1983, and a grandmother since 2008. I have three children, ten grandchildren, and more than the usual complement of parents and siblings. I was a homeschool mom, and a teacher at a classical Christian school. Currently, I am a language arts tutor and a homeschool mentor.
Books have always been important to me. I have read many thousands of books in my lifetime, and sometimes, for a minute or two, I can feel overwhelmed by the thought that, with millions of books published each year, it would be impossible for me to read all the books. But then I remember, most of them aren’t worthy of my time. One of our goals at Plumfield and Paideia is to help you sort the literary gems from the publishing slash pile.
Further Up and Further In is my literature unit study for homeschooling.
Sara Masarik
Hello! I am Sara, and I have been a lover of good and great books since my earliest years, largely because of the incredible example my grandfather set for me. As a bookworm introvert, my love for the classics was augmented by my study of Philosophy, Religion, and English at Hillsdale College and the University of Oxford. As a revert to the Catholic Church, I have found G. K. Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, Edith Stein, and Flannery O’Connor to be some of the great influences on my intellectual and religious formation.
I have the privilege of being the wife of Greg and the mama of Michael, Margaret (Greta), and John Patrick (Jack). Our little homeschool family lives in the woods of Northeast Wisconsin in a home dedicated to hospitality and fellowship. We have four hobbit-sized dogs, Rosie, Cedar, Lizzie, and Ginny. Oh yeah, and we have a cat named Mowgli, plus all kinds of fish that somehow have survived the cat…. And, yes, all of the fish have literary names as well. Our home is affectionately called The Prancing Pony by our friends.
In addition to my work here, I operate Plumfield Living Books Library in Northeast Wisconsin and I work as a library consultant and speaker with homeschool groups and private schools. You can find out more about that work, here. Our library was featured in The Epoch Times, you can read about that here.