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In this post, I’m sharing our plans for year 1 curriculum as a Traditional Catholic + Classical Charlotte Mason Homeschool.
We have been following a classical Charlotte Mason curriculum since the beginning of our homeschool. We’ve used Ambleside, The CMEC, Simply Charlotte Mason, and The Children’s Tradition.
And while we have found great things from each of them, none of them are a perfect fit for all of our needs as a family. But, as John Senior has said, there is no perfect booklist.
So, I’m going to begin a new blog series on how we spread the feast for each grade, years 1-12. And how we create a homeschool that is rich in the Catholic tradition.
I will also continue with our yearly common subject posts going forward.
Religion + Catechism
We pray, read the Bible, and devotionals together as a family as a part of our morning time. These are the books that I read to my year 1 students are a part of their catechism lessons.
My Father and Mother on Earth and in Heaven
St. Joseph’s First Communion Catechism — we use this as a review and to prep for testing with our Parish Priest for First Holy Communion.
Angel Food series — a great vintage supplemental reading for morals and the Sacraments.
Math
We’ve tried so many different math programs over the years and have found that we enjoy combining a few things for my children to really master and also love math.
In year 1, we have either used Lepanto math or Rod & Staff. I’ve also used Simply Charlotte Mason math, but we have fallen back to Rod & Staff for the bulk of our math work.
That being said, as a Classical Charlotte Mason homeschool, I still keep the math lessons short (20 minutes for form 1 and 30-40 minutes for forms 2 and up). So, I break the lessons down and don’t fatigue the children with all of the extra practice sheets, complete workload of a suggested lesson, and speed drills, etc.
But, for extra practice, on Fridays, and during the summer months, the children have been enjoying Life of Fred.
History + Geography
For history and geography, we combine a few different things throughout the year. In year 1, we begin reading the D’ Aulaires books and will continue some of them in year 2.
I usually begin with Leif the Lucky and move to Columbus, then we read through some of the others like Pocahontas, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, etc. depending on timing of each term.
Geography in the early years is fairly gentle. We read through Charlotte Mason’s Elementary Geography, Little Folks of Many Lands, and Geography from A-Z. Geography work is mostly through landforms in the sand tray, viewing maps and the globe based off of various readings.
In addition, we read through a selection of Holling C. Holling books spread over the year.
Literature
These are the tried and true literature and read-aloud books that we have enjoyed for year 1 students throughout the years!
Winnie the Pooh Treasury: Includes Winnie-The-Pooh, The House At Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young, Now We Are Six
Doctor Dolittle series — I found a really nice vintage edition, but am linking a set on Amazon as a reference. There are also a few available on Yoto public domain if the children like to enjoy these in leisure time.
The Wind in the Willows — this book usually provides a few laughs for all of us!
James Herriot’s Treasury for Children — so many delightful stories.
Poetry
Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book by Christina Rossetti
Poems by A.A. Milne — in the linked above Pooh Bear collection.
Myths + Legends
American Tall Tales — this has always been a fun and enjoyable read for each of my children.
D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths — a good read-aloud that gives a good start on Greek myths before moving on to the Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales in years 2 and 3.
Fairy Tales + Fables
We alternate days with readings from Household Stories by Brothers Grimm and Blue Fairy Book in year 1.
Aesop Fables — we cycle through this throughout the year and re-read it again when finished. We do move on to a different version in the upper years. Side note, TCT recommends this version by Roger L’Estrange in year 3. My children were not ready for it then and I moved it to year 7.
Reading Lessons
I’ve written a bit about how we begin reading lessons in Kinderleben and also how to teach reading poetically.
That being said, this does not work perfectly for all children. And so, I also pair this with The Little Angel Reader program in first two years.
For extra practice, we also combine our readings with The American Cardinal Readers.
Language Arts
The basis of a language arts in a classical Charlotte Mason education is through narration, copywork, and dictation. Dictation and grammar are introduced in form 2 (year 4).
Year 1 language arts:
- Oral or drawn narration
- Copywork
We also begin cursive in year 1 with these groove boards.
Related: The Foundations of Language Arts in a Classical Charlotte Mason Education
Natural History / Nature Study
We have usually followed along with the special studies as recommended by The CMEC. We’ve enjoyed these special studies and overall recommendations for natural history.
However, since we are not continuing on with their curriculum, here’s what we are doing instead.
- Handbook of Nature Study
- Eyes + No Eyes series
- Burgess Animal Book
- Nature Journals
- Star Lore — a variety of books and resources + star gazing
- Seasonal nature books
Common Subjects
I have written up separately about what we will study together as a family. Bible, devotionals, Shakespeare, artist study, etc are included in these posts. They are usually listed by the year’s curriculum picks.
Here are a few more related posts for common subjects:
