Links
General Charlotte Mason Info
Ambleside Online
This curriculum and general CM information (including free versions of CM’s volumes) was put together by 6 different moms from around the world who connected at the beginning of the internet and wanted to implement CM’s philosophy of education in their own homes. They also wanted to make this curriculum available for free for anyone and everyone around the world. This website contains curriculum guides, folk song/hymn rotations, artist/composer suggestions, articles from the Parent’s Review, and so much more. It can be a little overwhelming at first, but we promise it is easier than it seems!
Simply Charlotte Mason
This group is one of the older CM curricula put together by Sonya Shafer and others. It has many free materials including a podcast, articles, videos, conferences, books, etc. to help educate families about CM’s philosophy of education and how to implement it. Additionally, this curriculum has been a great jumping off point for a lot of new CM mamas when trying to pull all the different CM pieces together.
Charlotte Mason’s Home Education series
Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
Modern Miss Mason by Leah Boden
In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass
The New Mason Jar Podcast with Cindy Rollins
A podcast that works through a variety of Charlotte Mason topics.
Charlotte Mason Poetry
A free website and podcast that republishes Parent’s Review articles, Miss Mason’s Savior of the World Poetry, and original articles by more recent CM educators. The website covers the whole scope of a CM education with articles on all sorts of topics.
A Delectable Education
A Delectable Education is a CM homeschool mom podcast that gives the why and how behind many different Charlotte Mason Topics. They have a variety of teacher planning, forecasting, and lesson helps. Their podcast is free to listen to and extremely helpful. This group hosts a virtual conference every year in February (which our local group does a watch-group for).
The Commonplace Podcast
The CM podcast for the newbie or the veteran in CM. This podcast is hosted by Autumn Kern, and she gives extremely helpful overviews of Mason’s philosophy as well as practical tips.
Living Book Press
This small, homeschooler-owned business operates out of Australia, and they have worked to bring back into print or updated images in a variety of books. The books are generally very high quality, and Anthony, the owner, provides incredible customer service. This company’s editions of the Home Education series in both print and audiobook are fantastic.
Heritage Mom
Website that includes blog posts and a shop with lesson guides and other resources to include diverse and multicultural voices in a Charlotte Mason homeschool
Charlotte Mason Plenary
Group that provides video lessons, online courses, and digital and physical resources for certain CM subjects. It also provides consultations for families, including those children with special needs.
Curricula
Mother Culture
Artist
A Humble Place
This website has been a tremendous blessing to many CM homeschoolers. Ran by an AO mama, she provides free, high-quality images for printing for AO families, but she also has her own artist guides/prints as well as a CM inspired kindergarten year.
Simply Charlotte Mason Picture Study Portfolios
These portfolios provide a living-book style narrative and information about the artist and include paintings, as well as high quality prints.
CM Plenary Picture Study Resources
Heritage Mom Picture Study Resources
African American Picture Study Resources
Composer
A Touch of the Infinite by Megan Elizabeth Hoyt
This book provides a wonderful overview of CM’s philosophy of education, specifically about music appreciation, solfa, drill/dancing, folk songs, hymns, etc.
Ambleside Online Composer Rotation
AO has a rotation of a variety of composers and genres of music. They have some other recommended resources as well.
Simply Charlotte Mason Music Study with the Masters
Includes living-book style stories of the composer's life along with CDs for listening to the pieces.
Composer Study Companion
Website and book which provide downloads and print materials for a variety of composers.
Tillberry Table
PDF resource of composer study for a variety of composers.
Foreign Language
Miss Mason’s Living Languages
This website provides a wonderful overview of CM’s methods of learning languages as well as a variety of resources available (folk songs, grammar, stories, etc.) for 6 or 7 different languages.
Charlotte Mason Simple Languages
Started by a couple CM mamas, this company provides easy to use foreign language lessons in Spanish, French, German, and Russian. QR codes with pronunciation are provided. The curriculum includes scripture memory, poetry, Gouin series, foreign language songs, and formal lessons to work through a couple books.
Talkbox.Mom
A language curriculum for Spanish, German, French, Russian, Hebrew, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, and many more. This language program focuses on learning the language audibly and orally first, working through a series of boxes, a phrasebook, and a couple other materials covering topics from food, clothes, weather, small talk, bathroom, action words, and so much more. It tends to be a little more costly program, but the materials they send you are great quality and helpful to use. There is also a companion app for non-native speakers that is super easy to use during language lessons.
The ULAT
This language curriculum follows the natural language acquisition process and is very popular in the CM community. It is available in French and Spanish.
Speaking Spanish/French/German/Italian with Miss Mason and François
If you desire a program that follows CM’s language program more traditionally, Cherrydale Press has their Speaking Spanish with Miss Mason curricula for several different languages. It follows the traditional Gouin series suggested by CM, and the book also provides exercises, recitation, and grammar lessons as well. This is a non-fluffy language curriculum. There are audio files available for purchase for anyone who struggles with pronunciation.
Handicrafts
Charlotte Mason Beehive
SLOYD Resources
Provides reformatted and updated lessons for paper sloyd, including color photographs, diagrams, clear instructions, and material supply packs as well.
Alveary Sloyd Lessons
Digital lesson plans that provide a year’s worth of sloyd projects for various levels.
Lily & Thistle
Guided video watercolor lessons on a variety of topics.
Alveary Handicrafts Bundles
Handicraft lessons for lettering, clay modeling, stone carving, paper modeling, leather working, etc. are available to purchase from the website.
Cozy Crafter Crates
Monthly subscription kit that is geared toward children 7-13 years old. Preschool and adult options are also available. Detailed written instructions with pictures and an additional video provided via QR code. All materials for one person to complete that month’s handicraft are included.
Craftsman Crate
Monthly subscription or buy just one box (past crates). Geared toward boys, but girls enjoy this too!! Provides all you need (instructions and supplies) for unique handicrafts. Apprentice crates are for 6-12 year olds. Regular Crates are for 13 and up. Areas include: Wire sculpture, Wood working, Soap carving, Rope coiling, Resin, Candle making, Paper making, Glass etching, Loom beading, Scrimshaw, Kintsugi (Japanese art that redeems broken vessels), Wood burning
Simply Charlotte Mason: Handicrafts Made Simple
Offers handicrafts videos in series called Handicrafts Made Simple. Video demonstrations and complete project instructions walk you and your children through interesting and useful projects. (Grades 1–12). Handicraft options include: Crochet, Brush drawing, Hand sewing, Cardboard and Paper, Knitting, Woodworking.
Ambleside Online Handicraft Recommendations
Charlotte Mason, Home Education, Vol I, pp 315-316
The points to be borne in mind in children's handicrafts are: (a) that they should not be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like; (b) that they should be taught slowly and carefully what they are to do; (c) that slipshod work should not be allowed; (d) and that, therefore, the children's work should be kept well within their compass.
Music Education
Nature Study / Science
John Muir Laws
Jack is a wonderful naturalist and nature-notebooker that loves to share his knowledge of the world and how to nature notebook. He discusses the importance of nature study, how to implement it, and ways to help yourself or others engage in nature study more. Jack provides a plethora of material on the website for educators, so go check it out!
Ambleside Online's Nature Study Rotation
Ambling Together Blog
An AO mom has put together free resources for nature study following AO’s nature study rotation
Sabbath Mood Homeschool
Nicole Williams, one of the ADE ladies, loves science, physical geography, and nature, and she’s written a variety of science curricula for Forms 2+ as well as plenty of other free information available for nature study, physical geography, and much more on her website.
Handbook of Nature Study
If you ask any CM homeschooler what the number one suggested nature study material is, they would probably say Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study. If nothing else, read through her introduction. It really is insightful to homeschoolers on how to approach nature study with your children. This book provides wonderful material on a wide variety of nature subjects to prepare the parent to discuss with his or her students as well as object lessons. The object lessons give great examples of how to guide students in questions of observation of whatever they study.
Florida Adventure Club
A Charlotte Mason inspired nature study curriculum that offers resources specific to Florida. They have numerous resources on their site to assist with implementing nature study in your homeschool.
Plutarch
Why Read Plutarch?
An article by Cindy Rollins at the Circe Institute on the reasons why we read Plutarch.
Anne White's Guides
This wonderful lady (one of the AO advisory members) has gone through a good chunk of Plutarch’s Lives, omitted more unseemly passages, created scaffolding and narration suggestions for each lesson, and provided these materials for free on the Ambleside Online website or in print on Amazon. Read aloud as a family starting around 4th grade.
The Children’s Plutarch by F J Gould
Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls by W H Weston
Simply Charlotte Mason Plutarch Resources
Conversations on Character Plutarch Courses. Guided courses for Plutarch’s Lives. Each course includes one complete Plutarch biography, discussion questions, and lesson videos. The companion videos with author Larry Hunt are what make this Plutarch course such a delight. Your students can follow along with a complete reading of each section from the Plutarch biography. And you’ll be sure to enjoy Larry’s deep insights and sense of humor as he offers his thoughts on the discussion questions.
Recitation
Charlotte Mason, Home Education, Vol I, pp 223-226
Parents Review Article: Recitation: The Children's Art by Arthur Burrell
Clear Speaking Good Reading by Arthur Burrell
ADE Teacher Help Recitation Planning Tool
Simply Charlotte Mason: Recitation
Shakespeare
Librovox
Begin with Lamb or E. Nesbit Shakespeare retellings. These retellings, as well as the original plays, are free online and on Librivox. Older elementary and up can read the play out loud together as a family, each having their own copy of the play. You can buy anthologies or individual books. Consider joining with other families and putting on your own abbreviated play.
Simply Charlotte Mason
Shakespeare in Three Steps volumes for a variety of Shakespeare plays
Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare by Isaac Asimov
This is a free book from archive.org, but you can also purchase it on Amazon or Thriftbooks but it may be expensive.
Brightest Heaven of Invention by Peter Leithart
A Christian introduction to Shakespeare for High School students.
Shakespeare Set Free Series by Folger Shakespeare Library
The Meaning of Shakespeare by Harold Goddard
In two magnificent and authoritative volumes, Harold C. Goddard takes readers on a tour through the works of William Shakespeare, celebrating his incomparable plays and unsurpassed literary genius.
Lazy Bee Scripts
Abridged versions to rehearse and present.
The 30-Minute Shakespeare
Very abridged versions to present
Solfege (Solfa)
A Touch of the Infinite by Megan Elizabeth Hoyt
This book provides a wonderful overview of CM’s philosophy of education, specifically about music appreciation, solfa, drill/dancing, folk songs, hymns, etc.
Miss Mason’s Music
This website provides an overview of CM music education; lessons in singing (solfege), drill and dance, music appreciation, and instrumental music; and links to other helpful websites for those and similar topics. If you pay for the lifetime membership, you have access to some of Mason’s original resources.
Sing Solfa
A great resource for the beginner wanting to implement solfa at home. Focuses on tuneful singing, solfege, rhythm, folk songs, and more. Very easy to implement and geared toward elementary students. Free to use.
Solfa Sofa
Another free solfa resource for beginners.