It's that time of year again when planning for next year is well underway. I enjoy this part of homeschooling very much, but I know not everyone does. If that's you, here is a detailed plan of how I'm teaching a Charlotte Mason 5th grade, so you can get a feel for how our family homeschools.
5th Grade Charlotte Mason Homeschool
Our curriculum spine is coming from Ambleside Online Year 5 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.
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 fourty 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: 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.
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.
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 will be choosing a handicraft to work on weekly and my 5th grade son has chosen whittling. We found a great beginner whittling knife set and basswood whittling blocks set that he's be using. For now we've been checking out various books from the library and using YouTube to understand some fundamental basics.
Extras: There are always a few subjects or things I want to cover for schooling that aren't in the Ambleside Online curriculum. This year my 5th grader will be studying money management and coding. He's using some books from the library on coding with Scratch as this is a growing interest of his.
We are using this Usborne book on managing you money because it goes through a lot of basic terms and ideas. We will also be working on a money earning system in our family so our kids have more practice in handling their own cash flow. Let me know if you want to hear more about this!
Each of my kids are also taking physical education at co-op, which they really enjoy!
Music Lessons: Each of my kids are 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!
He will be following the AO schedule with their readings for Wild Animals I Have Known, Madam How and Lady Why, The Story of Inventions and Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology by Jeannie Fulbright and Brooke Ryan.
Geography
My 5th grader is using the two scheduled Book of Marvels with AO, as well as map drills. Last year he learned all of the state names, so this year he will be working on capitals with these flash cards and with geoguessr.com
Math
My 5th grader has only ever used Math U See and it's worked great for our family. He will be using Epsilon, which is primarily focused on fractions (yay!).
History
We will also be following the AO schedule for history. This includes continuing with This Country of Ours and Answering the Cry for Freedom from previous years and reading Abraham Lincoln's World and The Story of the World Volume 4.
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 (Oliver Twist, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights and The Age of Fable) but I also assign on book per term from the Free Reads list (Tom Sawyer, Across Five Aprils and The Good Master). I've found it really helpful to schedule free reads, otherwise they don't always happen. This gives him more reading practice with titles he wouldn't necessarily pick out on his own. Our regular visits to the library and lots of audiobooks will introduce my Year 5 student to many other titles too.
Biographies
With AO Year 5 he will be reading selections from Trial and Triump, Of Courage Undaunted, The Courage and Character of Theodore Roosevelt and a George Washington Carver biography, Alexander Graham Bell biography and Marie Curie biography.
I have choosen the Landmark Book on Carver and Bell because we've loved all of the Landmark Books we've read. They're harder to find (most are out of print) but they're really well written. Both of those books are longer, so I selected this one for Marie Curie.
Foreign Language
We're continuing to work through our Getting Started with Latin book! Latin has not been the easiest for me to teach as I have no prior knowledge of Latin, but this book has made it very simple! 
Plutarch
My Year 5 son will be following the Plutarch rotation from 2025-2026 and I use the Anne White study guides found on the AO website. These have been really helpful for me since they're broken into 12 week sections and have many relevant and helpful notes!
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.
Language Arts
Language Arts includes writing, which he will be doing more written narrations this year (three per week), working on typing using typing.com, as well as regular copywork (I printed off a Year 5 file found in the AO Facebook group).
He will weekly be reading through poetry selections from AO, working on his Year 5 recitations and spelling with Spectrum Spelling. Spelling isn't necessary but my oldest really likes it and finds he gains confidence through using a resource like this. I found it brand new out thrifting so we're going with it (usually he's working through one page for each unit though, as the rest feels like busy work).
Last year we introduced grammar for the first time and he loved it, so this year we're using Fix It grammar Level 1.
Ambleside Online Year 5
Well, when I type it all out it seems like a lot, but really we'll be spreading this over 36 weeks and many AO books carry throughout multiple years. The thing I always try and keep in mind is to stay true to Charlotte Mason's philosophy of short lessons. That allows us to squeeze in lots of subjects and still have much of our day free for outside play and activities.
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
