Does any of this sound familiar?

I have always been of the mindset that it was better to wait on “school things” for my son, following a better-late-than-early approach. I didn’t push him to start reading at an early age or tried to force any kind of structured preschool program on him and was quite happy with those decisions. When he turned six in August of 2016, I wanted to do something more “official” with him that fall, but I didn’t think he was quite ready for any Charlotte Mason Year 1 curricula I could find. So, I started to look around for some kind of alternative.

If anyone else reading this has tried searching for a good Charlotte Mason Kindergarten curriculum, you’ll know that it can be pretty frustrating…

What if you could…

…have a complete curriculum with a book list, tips and suggestions for subjects to include and how to include them, supply lists, term overviews, and four days per week for nine months of school all laid out for you?

Introducing

The Charlotte Mason-Inspired Kindergarten Curriculum

My original impetus for creating this curriculum was the fact that my son’s birthday falls in August and as we prepared for his sixth birthday, I didn’t think he was quite ready for first grade. However, I did feel that he was ready for something a little more structured than what we had been doing ﹣ though nothing too rigorous as is the case with most kindergarten classes these days ﹣ which is why I began to determine how to work out my own “educational principles.” And that is how this curriculum was born.

That year, we spent our days being exposed to beautiful ideas by reading books together, playing simple math games (as well as counting and coloring together), developing relationships with the natural world through observation, and making handicrafts together. All of this while also allowing plenty of time for him to spend outside every day. Nothing was rigorous or demanding for either one of us and we were able to ease ourselves gently not only into the world of “school” for him, but also into the world of homeschooling for both of us.

Here is what you get:

• a book list including both modern and classic living books as well as free read ideas.
• Morning Time tips, with information about why Morning Time can be helpful, a sample of what we did during our own Morning Time, and ideas for how to implement it.
• supply lists, including everything you’ll need for the science projects, math activities, and handicrafts over the course of the year as well as broken down each week. I included this because it is one thing that always keeps me from being more efficient in my homeschooling. I find that if I have all of the supplies I need before a term, or even before a week starts, I’m much more likely to do them rather than scrambling around at the last second to get everything together!
• term overview schedules with books and activities listed for history, geography, nature study, science, literature, poetry, math, and handicrafts.
• weekly schedules. I have gone through the term overview schedules and broken them down day-by-day for each week, so you have 36 weeks of 4-day schedules (with a nature study hike scheduled for Fridays) already laid out for you! The only thing you need to do is pre-read and you’re set!
• community. Upon purchase, you’ll have access to an exclusive community just for curriculum users. There you can ask questions, share how your year is going, and get to know other parents using the curriculum!

What does a typical Charlotte Mason Homeschool Kindergarten day look like?

A typical “school day” using this curriculum as it is written is only about 45 minutes long, including Morning Time, and generally looks like this:

• poetry and songs every day
• Math time (and I’ve laid out the entire MEP Reception Math year for you!)
• one to two readings and/or activites chosen from history, geography, literature, science, or nature study
• one handicraft per week
• time for copywork every day

The beauty of this curriculum is that you can truly make it yours. If you find a book that you’ve either read before and don’t want to read again, feel free to substitute it (and I do offer suggestions for substitutions in a few subjects in the book as well)! If there’s a part of the curriculum that you don’t want in there, leave it out! Use this as a framework from which to build your own, unique kindergarten year that fits your family’s needs.