Little House Learning Co. — Planning

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...

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...

It's spring, and for me that means planning for a new school year!  This coming school year, 2025-2026, I will have a 5th grader, 3rd grader and 1st grader, so I wanted to detail how I plan a homeschool year with Ambleside Online. (And let me forewarn you that this is going to be a very detailed post!) We have used AO now for 5 years and every year I use it, it gets easier to plan. I feel sad at times that the disorganization of their website and the poor SEO of their forum discourage people from using the...

What is Ambleside Online?  From their website, amblesideonline.org "AmblesideOnline is a free homeschool curriculum that uses Charlotte Mason's classically-based principles to prepare children for a life of rich relationships with everything around them: God, humanity, and the natural world." Ambleside Online is essentially a free book list and schedule for each year of formal education, starting at age 6, for history, literature, poetry, geography, and science. They also include information about artist study, composer study, folk songs, and hymn study. You have to pick a separate curriculum for math and foreign language.  The tricky thing about AO is that you...

Here's something you should know about me--I love planning! I also consider homeschooling to be my job of sorts, so I spend a lot of time thinking about, prepping for and planning our homeschool, especially in the summer months when we're off.  Whether you're planning your first year, are already a planner like me or just you wish that you were, here is a step-by-step look at how I plan our homeschool year. Homeschool Planning 1. Decide on a Curriculum: First I assess what grades I'll be teaching and decide on what curriculum we will be using for the year. I call...