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Create Your Own Charlotte Mason Homeschool Plan
Are you the DIY type? Do you love to create your own homeschool plan? On this page you will find ideas and help for putting together a Charlotte Mason homeschool plan of your own.
Note: It’s important that you review any homeschooling laws that apply where you live and make sure that your plan complies with those laws. The Home School Legal Defense Association is an excellent free resource that will help you understand the laws where you live.
Table of Contents
How to Plan Your Charlotte Mason Education
This free 25-minute workshop will walk you through the process of planning a Charlotte Mason home school, from the big picture overview all the way down to what you will do today. (You can also read an article that covers the same material.)
Free Printable Homeschool Planning Forms
These free planning forms will help you get started putting together your custom plan.
School Year Overview Form
This printable school year form will guide you through deciding what resources to use for each subject in your coming school year. Fill in your picks for each subject to create your own school year overview.
Weekly Schedule Form
Use this printable weekly schedule form to plan your school week and spread a wonderful Charlotte Mason feast of learning.
Subject Cards
These printable cards help you visually lay out your school day and week to make sure you are following Charlotte Mason principles of using different parts of the brain and body throughout the day.
Book Lists
There are thousands of living books to choose from as you put together your Charlotte Mason homeschool plan. And for subjects like picture study and music study, there are hundreds of fascinating artists to meet. We’ve curated the best of the bunch to help you sift through and find the gems. Use these links to see a list of books or topics for each subject.
- Bible
- Foreign Language
- Geography
- Habits & Personal Development
- Handicrafts & Art
- History
- Hymn Study
- Language Arts
- Literature
- Math
- Music Study
- Nature Study
- Picture Study
- Plutarch
- Poetry
- Science
- Scripture Memory
- Shakespeare
Another place to find books is the free CM Bookfinder. Search by topic, time period, and grade level and discover great books.
Sample Enrichment Plans
The enrichment subjects breathe life into your homeschool day: picture study, poetry, music study, good habits, and more. With the Charlotte Mason Method, these subject don’t take much time to do, but they add so much benefit to your schedule. Here are four sample plans for a year of enrichments:
Stay Inspired
You need to stay encouraged and inspired as a Charlotte Mason homeschool parent. Sign up for our Charlotte Mason training emails to receive new ideas every week that will guide you as you homeschool your children.
Scheduling
Scheduling Your Year
Most states require that you provide at least 180 days of instruction per school year. But how you fit those days in is up to you. We have some tips for four different ways to schedule a school year; choose the approach that works best for your family and embrace the freedom of homeschooling!
Scheduling Your Week
Putting together your Charlotte Mason homeschool week is all about keeping things fresh by using different parts of the brain and body in sequence. Here’s one way that you could lay out your homeschool week:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Scripture Memory (5 min.) History (20–30 min.) Picture Study (10 min.) Foreign Language (15 min.) Literature (20–30 min.) Math / Science / Language Arts per student | Scripture Memory (5 min.) History (20–30 min.) Music Study (10–15 min.) Habits (10 min.) Literature (20–30 min.) Math / Science / Language Arts per student | Scripture Memory (5 min.) Poetry (5 min.) Geography (10 min.) Handicraft or Art (20–30 min.) Literature (20–30 min.) Math / Science / Language Arts per student | Scripture Memory (5 min.) Bible (20 min.) Hymn Study (5 min.) Shakespeare (20 min.) Foreign Language (15–20 min.) Literature (20–30 min.) Math / Science / Language Arts per student | Scripture Memory (5 min.) Bible (20 min.) Nature Study (30 min.) Habits (10 min.) Literature (20–30 min.) Math / Science / Language Arts per student |
Scheduling Your Day
You’ll also want to think about how to fit everything into your day. We have some ideas for two different ways to approach a daily schedule; choose the one that makes sense for how your family’s life works in this season.
Keeping Track
You can keep track of your school year on paper, recording your progress as you go. Another way to track your year is with the CM Organizer, an online record-keeping app that automatically adjusts your daily schedule based on what you actually accomplished, and securely stores all of your records so you can create the reports that you need.
High School Credit
If you have a high school student, you will want to track high school credits for graduation. Graduation requirements will vary by state (check HSLDA for your local laws), but there are some general guidelines you can follow. Read our article on high school courses, credits, and transcripts for guidance.
Here’s a sample weekly schedule for a Charlotte Mason high school student, based on the Simply Charlotte Mason lesson plans. You’ll see credits that will be earned over four years in the columns on the right. (You can also download this chart.)
