Subjects for the 1st yr of CM…

This was a very helpful post when I was starting out:

https://simplycharlottemason.com/how-to-get-started/transition/

I did too much science, using Apologia for ages 4 and 6.  If I could go back to do it again, I would just do nature study and library books/living books for science based on their interests.  Once they are reading, we use the Christian Liberty Nature Reader for science, too.  We really enjoyed Outdoor Secrets and companion guide/books one year.

And I would not worry too much about history with a spine.  Just enjoy good picture books in chronological order.  And we enjoyed some American history picture books around the holidays they related to.

I encourage you to add in picture study and composer music study when you are comfortable with it.  They are fun and don’t add too much time.  I agree that you can skip the four you mentioned above for this year.  I would add Scripture Memory next though.  And we do Shakespeare for only part of the year, every other year.

I started with just a few subjects, then added more as we felt comfortable.  By the end of the first year we had quite a few subjects.  I probably added a new subject every few weeks.  There are still subjects we haven’t added…For the coming year, I’ll be adding Shakespeare and some math elements (paper sloyd, practical gemetry, and oral problems).   Foreign language is one we’ve done, but haven’t done consistently (as of yet).

We also improve upon our subjects as we go…Last spring, I made a big effort to get to our nature studies more often and researched a bit of how CM taught nature study/science.  I’ve made some changes to our coming year after what I’d researched.  My current “project” is math.  I’m going through the SCM Mathematics book and DVD as well as reading through some public domain math books.  I see this as a “life-long” journey…I imagine I’ll still be researching and tweaking our schedule/curriculum until my youngest graduates from high school!

The subjects that have gone over the best for those ages (K & 3rd) have been poetry, scripture memory, copywork, Bible stories, habits, nature study/science, literature, and picture study.  My DC also love art and handicrafts at all ages!  Also, keep in mind, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t have each subject covered each week.  My goals for picture study are 6 picture per term.  I’m happy if we get 6 or more nature walks per term.  That comes out to every other week.

The amount of subject CM covered can get very overwhelming.  However, when you gradually add them in, it’s not as overwhelming.  Also, keep the amount of time you spend on each subject in mind.  Many subjects are only covered for 5-10 minutes.  That makes starting a new subject much less intimidating for me!