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.

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.

Poetry

Get to know Emily Dickinson 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)

Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

Middle Students (Grades 5–8)

Laddie: A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton-Porter
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Older Students (Grades 9–12)

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Through Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliot
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Beowulf by Anonymous (A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Shakespeare

For grades 6–12, enjoy Shakespeare’s classic The Taming of the Shrew. 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.

Psalm 1
Matthew 5:1–12
Matthew 16:16
Mark 10:42–45
Luke 19:10
John 3:3
John 3:16–18

John 5:24
John 10:7–16
John 14:6
John 15:13
Acts 4:12
Acts 16:31
Romans 3:23

Romans 4:5
Romans 5:6
Romans 6:23
Romans 10:9, 10
Romans 10:13

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.

And Can It Be?
O Worship the King
Now Thank We All Our God
Once for All
O for a Thousand Tongues
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

Handicrafts & Art

Our Handicrafts Made Simple video series is a good resource to help your children (and you) learn a new-to-you handicraft. Creating a Masterpiece teaches several different media (pastel, pencil drawing, ink, sculpture, watercolor, acrylic painting) on several levels.

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.

Self-Control
Imagining
Regularity in Devotions
Neatness
Courtesy
Outdoor Life

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.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Scripture Memory (10 minutes)	Scripture Memory (10 minutes)	Scripture Memory (10 minutes)	Scripture Memory (10 minutes)	Scripture Memory (10 minutes)
Good Habits (10 minutes)	Hymn Study (5 minutes)	Good Habits (10 minutes)	Hymn Study (5 minutes)	Nature Study (15+ minutes)
Picture Study (10 minutes)	Poetry (5 minutes)	Music Study (10 minutes)	Foreign Language (15 minutes)	Repetition: Poem (5 minutes)
Literature (20 minutes)	Foreign Language (15 minutes)	Literature (20 minutes)	Handicrafts or Art (20 minutes)	Literature (20 minutes)
	Literature (20 minutes)		Literature (20 minutes)

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.

Guided Lesson Plans

If you would like guided lesson plans that walk you through all of these wonderful subjects, check out Enrichment Studies, Volume 3. 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.