Free Charlotte Mason Homeschool Enrichment Plan (Year 1)

Here is a free homeschool plan for including the enrichment subjects that bring variety and interest to your homeschool day. For a complete school year plan, add the history time period of your choice and grade-level math, science, and language arts for each student.

Picture Study

Spend about 12 weeks studying the work of each artist. Read a living biography and enjoy looking at eight pictures by the artist. Find out more about how to do picture study.

• Rembrandt
• Constable
• Velazquez

Music Study

Spend about 12 weeks studying the work of each composer. Read a living biography and enjoy listening to pieces by the composer. Learn more about how to do music study.

• Bach
• Chopin
• Beethoven

Poetry: Robert Louis Stevenson

Get to know Robert Louis Stevenson throughout the year by reading a living biography and enjoying a variety of his poems. Work on memorizing some of your favorites and practice reciting once a week. Here’s how to do a poet study.

Literature

These books are excellent read-alouds to enjoy with your whole family. If you would like, you can assign your older students to read some or all of the books on their own. Here’s how to teach literature.

Select one of the levels below to read aloud together as a family. The links will take you to our free CM Bookfinder to help you find a copy at your library or favorite bookstore.

Younger Students (Grades 1–4)

• The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
• The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne (contains both Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner)
• Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
• All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
• Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
• Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
• Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan
• Caleb’s Story by Patricia MacLachlan
• More Perfect Than the Moon by Patricia MacLachlan
• Grandfather’s Dance by Patricia MacLachlan
• Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater

Middle Students (Grades 5–8)

• The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
• The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
• The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
• The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
• Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Older Students (Grades 9–12)

• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Shakespeare

For grades 2–12, enjoy Shakespeare’s classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Follow a simple three-step approach to teaching Shakespeare by reading a story version, reading the play, and then watching the play.

Scripture Memory

Here is a list of memory verses that can be learned and recited together as a family. Hiding God’s Word in your heart is a wonderful practice. Here’s an effective way to memorize Scripture.

Hymn SInging

Take one hymn at a time throughout the school year. For each hymn, sing together until everyone has learned each stanza. Here’s more about how to do hymn singing.

• I Sing the Mighty Power of God
• Great Is Thy Faithfulness
• To God Be the Glory
• Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
• Crown Him with Many Crowns
• O Come, All Ye Faithful

Handicrafts & Art

Learning to work with your hands and create art gives your children the joy of making something. Try a new craft or art media each 12-week term to provide plenty of opportunities for your children to discover what they enjoy. Here’s how to teach handicrafts and art.

• Hand Sewing
• Pastels
• Crochet

Good Habits

Laying a foundation of good habits not only makes your days run smoothly, it also builds life-long character qualities in your children that will serve them in their adult lives. Take each habit one at a time and spend 6–8 weeks working together on growing in your specific area of focus for that habit. Here’s how to work on good habits.

• Attention
• Cleanliness
• Obedience
• Manners
• Best Effort
• Personal Initiative

Foreign Language

Spend time learning to speak in the language of your choice, growing in your ability to communicate with our neighbors from other countries. Choose a language that will be useful to your family. In the USA, Spanish is a good choice to help form connections with our neighbors who primarily speak that language. Here’s how to teach foreign language the Charlotte Mason way.

Nature Study

Spend at least 15 minutes outside each week to observe God’s Creation. Here are some nature study ideas.

Sample Schedule

Here is one way that you could spread these subjects throughout the week, providing variety and a change of pace from your other school subjects.

Helpful Resources

You can source the materials for these subjects yourself, but if you would like some help putting it all together, we have many helpful resources that will save you time and make things simpler.

• Picture Study Portfolios
• Music Study with the Masters
• Enjoy the Poems
• Scripture Memory Verse Cards
• Singing the Great Hymns
• Shakespeare in Three Steps
• Handicrafts Made Simple
• Creating a Masterpiece
• Journaling a Year in Nature
• Laying Down the Rails
• Cherrydale Foreign Language series

Guided Lesson Plans

If you would like guided lesson plans that walk you through all of these wonderful subjects, check out Enrichment Studies, Volume 1. We also have a bundle that includes almost everything you need to enjoy a school year full of beauty and truth through the enrichment subjects.