Black Friday Sale 2023 (+ holiday gift ideas!)

I mention every year that I’m not a big Black Friday shopper. I’ve never stood in any lines overnight or herded through the doors of some retail establishment in the wee hours of the morning, hoping to score a television. The closest we’ve come is my husband wandering around a Target the night before Thanksgiving, trying to find a roasting pan while they set up barricades for all the expected shoppers. Even that was too close for me.

As such, I am very thankful for online shopping. The discounts may not be as deep as doorbuster sales (though sometimes they are!), but being able to shop from the comfort of my own home is a luxury I wouldn’t trade for any kind of discount (except free…maybe free…). I also appreciate that many micro-businesses like mine can only be shopped online, so I feel good knowing I’m supporting a family when I buy from one of these online businesses.

In the past, I’ve offered several ideas for Charlotte Mason-inspired Christmas gifts. Today I’m sharing a few general gift ideas. I also have links to some small shops that caught my eye this year and offer items that I think would make wonderful gifts. And, of course, many online shops are offering Black Friday sales of their own (including mine!), which you can read more about below!

But first! I wanted to let you know that I’m offering my own Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale! From today through Monday, November 27th, you can get 30% off all of my Picture Study Aid PDFs, and many quote print designs are just $0.99!

See the sale here!

Gift Ideas

For Kids (8-13 years old)

We keep gift-giving very simple in our family, and each kid gets four gifts: something they want, something they need, something they can wear, and something they can read. Here are a few we’ve gotten for the kids recently or will be under the tree for them this year. For more ideas for kids, check out my Christmas Gift Ideas for the Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Family post!

1. The Psalms in Color and Color & Frame – Country Gardens Coloring Books
2. ThinkFun Cat Crimes Brain Game and Fairy Tale Fluxx
3. Mushroom Wall Lamp
4. Love, Mom And Me: A Guided Journal For Mother And Daughter and Between Mom and Me: A Guided Journal for Mother and Son
5. Hiking Backpack (plus Survivor Kid, headlamp, first aid kit, fire starter, and multi-tool)
6. Engines: The Inner Workings of Machines That Move the World
7. Rubik’s Cube
8. Adventure Kit: 30 Days Lost in Space for Exploratory Skills
9. 3D Wooden Mechanical Pendulum Clock Puzzle
10. Nature Friend Magazine

Gifts for Mom (or Mom friends!)

These are things I’ve come across during the last year or so that I want to gift to friends! (Or have added to my wishlist. :))

1. Embroidery Kits (I also love this idea for Advent!)
2. Ricochet Rabbit Original Artwork
3. Kettle Care Lip Balm
4. Tom’s Lola Slippers
5. Dry Gloss Manicure Kit
6. Rifle Paper Co. Recipe Binder (or this or this or this!)
7. Jane Austen’s Table (or a Jane Austen Tea Gift Box!)
8. Cavallini Papers & Co. Wildflowers Vintage Pouch
9. Personalized Blind Date with a Book Box (or pick your own book for them and add in a commonplace book, some socks, a candle, a mug, and cocoa!)
10. Chocolate!

Charities

Another great gift idea is to donate to a worthy charity. These are a few of my favorites with their gift catalogs:

Love146 – This amazing organization fights child sex trafficking around the world. I love their emphasis on the hope of healing and giving these children a future. You can see their gift catalog here.

Compassion – We sponsor three kids through this organization that aims to end child poverty around the world. They also have a gift catalog!

Heifer – This organization has been around for 75 years and is the first one I think of when empowering people in developing nations comes up. Gifting an animal to a family allows them to support themselves while also helping their own communities thrive. Here is their gift catalog. (Beatrice’s Goat is a beautiful book to share this concept with your kids!)

And here are a few more Black Friday sales from family-run Charlotte Mason shops!

A Delectable Education – podcast has been spreading the feast of the Charlotte Mason method for eight years, and now, you can also find many Teacher Helps on their website, such as video Demonstration Lessons and Workshops, as well as Planning and Forecasting Tools, and Lessons for several subjects. From 11/24 to 11/27 everything in the ADE store will be 20% off when you use the code “Thanks20”.

Afterthoughts Blog – Brandy Vencel’s shop has study guides, audio downloads, Swedish Drill books, event downloads and beginning Phonics lessons.  Everything in this shop is 20%! (We have used the Swedish Drill books in both our homeschool and our coop and have learned so much!)

Beauty & Truth Math – Math guides using Charlotte Mason’s method provide parents and students support alongside mathematically rich textbooks. Visit our website to learn more and see our Black Friday deals.

Charlotte Mason Simple Languages – These foreign language programs help families learn modern languages together through children’s folk songs, poems, conversational family phrases, Gouin series, and more. Save 50% off site-wide (for a limited time).

Composer Study Companion – Each study includes an easy to read biography of the composer’s life and 6 listening examples with activities and extension ideas. 50% off all products in my Gumroad store! Be sure to also check out the free Christmas Around the World unit study for free! Use coupon code “CM2023” to get the discounts! 

Jeannie Fulbright Press – Curriculum and tools to enrich your Charlotte Mason education. Offering peaceful, purposeful, and prestigious products to transform your homeschool: from the Charlotte Mason Heirloom Planner and Language Arts in Poetry to Culture & Craft Enrichment curriculum and our hardcover, visual Book of Centuries Timeline. BOGO for one day only: 11/24 Black Friday. And to get an exclusive 20% discount on all products from 11/24 to 11/27, use the discount code: THANKFUL

Nature Study Hacking – Combining Nature Study lessons with Nature Journal prompts these books to help beginners learn how to use a nature journal AND study nature regularly through first hand observation. Save 25% off site-wide from Thanksgiving Monday-Cyber Monday. Use the code: THANKFUL (We have used Joy’s nature study guides in the past and they are so helpful!)

Sabbath Mood Homeschool – Offers a Charlotte Mason-style science curriculum from elementary through high school, as well as Special Study help, living science and nature study book lists, and a series of articles sharing how to do science Charlotte Mason’s way. Use the coupon code “20in2023” to get a 20% discount from 11/24 to 11/27. (We have been using Nicole’s science guides since Year 4 and we really enjoy them!)

Tillberry Table – Sweet and simple Charlotte Mason-based guides designed for a full term’s worth of Composer Study. Each of the 17 grab-and-go guides contains a short bio, song info, links, and QR codes to all the music. All guides are 25% off from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. (We have been using Heather’s composer study guides for a few years now and I appreciate them so much as I am not particularly muscally inclined!)

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