Charlotte Mason Shakespeare Resources for Homeschoolers (+ free character cards!)

Before we started homeschooling, Shakespeare was someone of whom I had a cursory knowledge. I remember (awkwardly) reading the part of the nurse in Romeo and Juliet during my freshman year of high school in an English class. Then later in my high school career, memorizing Hamlet’s famous soliloquy. I also vaguely remember reading through A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well, but prior to a few years ago, couldn’t tell you much about it other than that there was a man with a donkey head. Obviously my Shakespeare knowledge was lacking.

Fast forward 19 years after I graduated high school, and Charlotte Mason gave me a second chance with the Bard. We began with Lambs or Nesbit when my kids were younger, and then graduated to “real” Shakespeare when they hit fourth grade (or Form II). We’ve been reading three plays together every year since.

In our modern society, it may seem daunting to expose children this young to early modern English, but I have found them very up to the task, and not only do they understand it, they enjoy it as well! In this post, I’m offering an overview of how we’ve done Shakespeare in the past, how it has evolved, and sharing the resources that have helped us along the way.

Charlotte Mason Shakespeare Overview

We probably read Shakespeare in the first place for his stories, afterwards for his characters, the multitude of delightful persons with whom he makes us so intimate that afterwards, in fiction or in fact, we say, ‘She is another Jessica,’ and ‘That dear girl is a Miranda’; ‘She is a Cordelia to her father,’ and, such a figure in history, ‘a base Iago.’ To become intimate with Shakespeare in this way is a great enrichment of mind and instruction of conscience. Then, by degrees, as we go on reading this world-teacher, lines of insight and beauty take possession of us, and unconsciously mould our judgments of men and things and of the great issues of life.

Charlotte Mason (Ourselves)

For my Form I students, as I mentioned above, we began our Shakespeare journey by reading either the Lambs or Nesbit versions of any of the plays (though the list of plays that were read in Form II in the article “A Programme for Shakespeare” is a good place to start).

Generally, Nesbit’s versions are shorter than the Lambs’ versions; however, if you have the time, I recommend Lambs first. According to the article above by Nancy Kelly, Lambs was specifically mentioned in Parents’ Review articles as an option for Form 1b students. She did not mention Nesbit as being suggested, so use your discretion here. I have read both versions in our home and Lambs specifically in our co-op. I have found them both to work well for my students.

Bruce Coville has also made a series of illustrated versions of Shakespeare’s plays, and I did use one of these at the very beginning of Year 1. They are (for the most part) beautifully illustrated, but I find the language from Lambs and Nesbit to be so much better.

For my Form 2 students, we started by reading the plays together, but then per the recommendation of Karen Canon, we began listening to the Arkangel recordings while reading along with the text, and that has made our Shakespeare time so enjoyable!

After listening to and reading the scene, we have a very brief narration where the kids summarize what happened. This is not in-depth and really is only to ascertain that they’re caught up on what is going on in the story. If I need to clarify on a point, I will do so after their summarization. Sometimes, especially in the historic plays, they make a connection with another subject like history or Plutarch, so we may have further discussion about that. However, that only happens when they bring it up. The “A Delectable Education Episode 135: Shakespeare Immersion Lesson” link above is very helpful for

I also have two different book series listed above. The first is the Folger Shakespeare Library which was recommended during a talk I attended by Sarah Lancaster at the Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat in 2017. I started collecting these right after that retreat and have found them mostly through used book sales or even at our free library and now have a nice little collection. These are very helpful as every other page includes definitions, explanations, and even pictures of some of the more obscure (and even not-so-obscure) references in the play text. I get these for myself, but I do not recommend giving them to your students as many things really do not need to be explained to them, especially if they are younger. For the students, our co-op always used the Wordsworth Classics books that contain little-to-no commentary and just the text of the play. At home, we use either those, or I print out the text via the Folger website as shared here.

For keeping track of characters, I have done everything from drawing out the story on a whiteboard as we read through it, to a poster with all of the characters written out, as well as printing out character cards. I think of the three, the last one is my favorite. Folger has an extensive digital collection on their website where you can search for costume designs for a specific play. I print these out, four to a sheet, then cut out the cards and write the names of the characters on them (if needed). You can download our Cymbeline cards in the form below!

Free Shakespeare Character Cards!