When I shared our 5th grade plans, so many of you said you wanted to see our plans for a 1st grade Charlotte Mason curriculum as well.
This will be my third time teaching first grade and honestly, I'm a little sad to say goodbye to so many of the books we've used for years.
It will be special to see my last child go through them though, and I'm excited to see what she gains from it!
1st Grade Charlotte Mason Homeschool
Our curriculum spine is coming from Ambleside Online Year 1 and I'm only adapting or adding some parts to better match our family needs.
You can find their full schedule on their website amblesideonline.org
Bible
We always do our own thing for Bible (and not what is scheduled with AO) so that we can do it altogether as a family.
We are involved in Bible study programming on Sundays and Wednesdays at our church but we also do Bible study as part of our homeschool.
Bible: This year we will be using Habits and Hymns Level 2 (which is in the works to be launched this summer!) and Who is Jesus? by Kate Hox.
We've dabbled with this resource in the past and I've found it incredibly meaningful. It goes through forty images used in the Bible to describe Jesus with a little reading and reflection questions.
I'm also so excited to tell you more about Habits & Hymns Level 2 as it gets closer to launching! 
Seasonal Bible Resources: We'll be using the Signs of the Savior studies again this year at Christmas and Easter!
Beauty Subjects
Artist Study: We do this subject as a family too. A few months ago I found these lovely Picture Study Portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason when I was out thrifitng.
I got three portfolios for $3.99, so we will be using those to study Van Gogh, Mary Cassatt and Rembrandt as a family.
I will be supplementing these portfolios with a few sections from Rembrandt is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey because I enjoyed his perspective on art so much. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it!
Hymn Study: Our co-op does hymn study before meetings and we will be studying hymns with the Habits & Hymns Level 2 resource this year!
Folk Song: We are following the AO rotation for 2025-2026. Usually someone in the Ambleside Online Facebook group posts a document with the folk songs so I just print a copy for each of my kids to use.
We also love @folksandhymns on YouTube who usually posts the AO folk song each month as well as the AO hymns.
Composer Study: We are also using the AO retation for 2025-2026 for composer study. It's really handy that they have all of the songs listed and linked on their website.
Handicrafts & Art: We will be continuing to work our way through this Living Art Lessons book from Master Books on the seven elements of art.
This has a few artist biographies and projects we will be reading and trying as a family. My kids also take art at co-op.
Each of my kids choose a handicraft to work on weekly and my 1st grader chose baking. We will be checking out kids baking cookbooks from the library and once a week intentionally make something together.
She loves helping in the kitchen and is really excited to do more baking. We will be working up to her being about to make something almost 100% on her own and gaining safety skills in the kitchen.
Extras: Each of my kids are taking physical education at co-op as well.
My first grader will be working through basic piano lessons through Hoffman Academy as well as basics of reading music and music theory and rhythm with me.
Nature Study & Science
One of the greatest blessings in our homeschool community is our nature club. We meet every week to study a new topic, nature journal and hike.
We will be doing this again in 2025-2026 and the kids will also be studying astronomy and weather in their science class at co-op
She will also be following the AO schedule with books like the Burgess Bird Book and James Herriot Treasury for Children. 
Geography
My 1st grader will be reading Paddle to the Sea as scheduled with AO and I'll be using the big map from Beautiful Feet Books too. My kids have all loved this in first grade even though it's not technically part of AO.
Periodically I've schedule in to teach the geography concepts laid out by AO for Year 1 and I'm just using the links on the website from Charlotte Mason Geography and Long's Home Geography for that.
Math
Since all my kids have used Math U See and it's worked out great, we will be using Alpha for my 1st grader.
She is already at an Alpha level in her work, so I may squeeze in some Beta lesson near the end of the year if she seems ready for that!
History
We will also be following the AO schedule for history. For First Grade this includes 50 Famous Stories Retold, Our Island Story, and Viking Tales.
When I've gone through Viking Tales before we've also read some Norse Myths and enjoyed those a bunch!
History also seems to be a subject that we naturally expand on with various picture books, documentaries and audiobooks we find throughout the year. 
Literature
He will be reading most of the AO books assigned, including The Aesops for Children, The Blue Fairy Book, Just So Stories and Parables from Nature.
I know my Y1 student has overheard many of these stories as I've read them to her siblings, so it will be interesting to see what she thinks of them now that she's officially in Year 1 and has to narrate them.
I will be curious to see which ones she remembers since she is a really good listener!
As a family we will read some of the Year 1 free reads I've skipped in the past, like King of the Golden River.
She will also join my older students in some of their free reads, since we read them as a family. 
Biographies
With AO Year 1 she will be reading Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Buffalo Bill and selections from Trial and Triumph.
Some of my other children we're ready for Trial and Triumph in first grade, but she will do just fine with them.
I love that I can customize AO to the needs to each individual child! 
Shakespeare
We will be reading through the three plays assigned by AO for 2025-2026 which are Othello, Taming of the Shrew and Richard II. Usually we read a synopsis first, like the Nebit stories, and then read the play.
We might also try and find a cartoon version on YouTube or read an Usborne retelling too.
Since she is younger, I will probably only have her narrate the synopsis portion and allow her to join in on the rest as she desires.
She's already joined in on Shakespeare with us for the last three years, so I don't feel that I need to separate out her selections.
Foreign Language
This is the only subject I have not scheduled yet! I am waiting to see what resources I can find during some of the homeschool spring used book sales in my area.
But I know I want to teach Spanish this year with my younger two girls. We dabbled in French last year and that was a blast, but I personally know a lot more Spanish so it won't be as challenging for me to teach.
We will be starting with basic vobaulary, phrases, songs and stories. I may not even need a resource to teach these things, so we will see…
Language Arts
For first grade I'll be continuing phonics and reading lessons with her.
We've been using Dash into Reading ( my code LITTLEHOUSE15 get's you 15% off their site) and Living Lessons in Reading.
You can read more about our pathway to reading here! She's been making a lot of strides and it's wild to me to step back and see that I've taught all three of my kids to read!
I really was scared of this when I started homeschooling but it gets a lot easier each time. 
She will be orally narrating for the first time this year too! For handwriting/copywork, I just printed off the copywork selections someone compiled in the AO Facebook group files.
We will also be reading poetry from When We Were Very Young and A Child's Garden of Verses. 
Ambleside Online Year 1
I honestly can't believe this is my last time going through Year 1 officially with one of my children. It makes me cherish it more as these books have started to feel like friends.
I am much less intimidated by these titles that I was the first time I went through, and as I've grown into AO I feel like my perspective has shifted.
The first time I really wanted to do it "right" and focused much more on the books and how to teach each subject.
The beauty of getting to do it over and over again is that now it feels much more relational to me. I think a lot more about my child and how she is going to enjoy these books and how her experience will vary from that of her siblings.
It's a really sweet and special thing to be alongside each of my children in their educational journey! 
Curious about what I do next to take this book list and make it into a school year? Check out these blog posts for more info!
Planning a Year with Ambleside Online
Getting Started with Ambleside Online
