Our Charlotte Mason Preschool Plans: What We’re Using This Year

I did not grow up knowing anything about Charlotte Mason. I wasn’t looking for a homeschool method. I was just listening to a podcast one day, totally unrelated to homeschooling, and someone mentioned keeping a commonplace notebook. That one little phrase sent me down a YouTube rabbit hole, and I landed on Autumn Kern’s channel. She was talking about keeping a commonplace notebook in her Charlotte Mason homeschool, and that was it. That was the beginning of everything.

One deep dive later, I immediately knew this was what our family needed, without even knowing we were looking for it. The living books. The narration. The nature. God’s truth, goodness, and beauty as the center of everything. No worksheets. Learning to love learning. It felt like how I already wanted to parent, and Charlotte Mason just gave it a name and a framework.

This year, it’s officially time. Our Charlotte Mason preschool is starting, and I am SO ready. We have two girls who have been watching their big brother Aiden head off to school every morning and asking when it’s their turn. Well, girls, your turn is HERE.

My oldest will be turning 5 right around when we kick things off, and my youngest is 3.5. Different ages, different places developmentally, but they are going to be learning side by side at the beautiful dining room table that my dad and Brandon built together by hand. That table is going to be our school, our gathering place, our little one-room schoolhouse. It’s an heirloom piece, and knowing that we’re going to spend the next however many years homeschooling around it, all the memories that will be made there, is just so sweet to me. Our baby boy will be right there too, crawling around, pulling up on everything, very much in the mix whether we like it or not!

I’ll be totally honest: I’ve been waiting so long to start this, while also not wanting to rush their childhood at all. That tension is real! I feel a lot of peace about it, like this is exactly what God has for our family in this season. A little intimidated by the reading piece, not gonna lie. But I know it’s going to be fine.

Here’s everything we’re using and how we’re planning to make it work in our real, beautiful, messy everyday life. Come along!

This post is all about our Charlotte Mason preschool plans, the curriculum we chose, and how it’s actually going to work in our everyday life on the farm.

What Charlotte Mason Preschool Actually Looks Like in Our Home

Before I get into what we’re using, I want to paint a picture of what our charlotte mason preschool daily schedule is actually going to look like, because it is probably not what you’re imagining.

There is no rigid block schedule. There are no worksheets waiting in a folder. There’s no sitting at a desk for an hour doing drills. What there IS is a lot of reading together, some intentional moments for phonics and math built into our morning, baking something in the afternoon, reading a story before bed, and Bible over breakfast because starting the day in the Word is something I personally need, and we’re making it a family thing.

Our total school time probably won’t exceed an hour, but so much of what counts as school is just going to be part of life. The baking IS school. The story before bed IS school. The tea party on Fridays where we add our Treehouse Story School character pieces to our notebook and narrate together IS school. Charlotte Mason would approve, I think.

We’re also going to be part of a co-op on Friday mornings. And I have this vision for Friday afternoons (or maybe Thursdays if Fridays feel like too much) where we do a proper tea party, tablecloth, candles, dresses, and make it a whole event. The girls are going to LOVE it.

Want to see how this compares to other options? I’m also putting together a full Charlotte Mason Preschool Curriculum comparison post where I walk through all the CM-inspired preschool curriculums out there. Coming soon!

Homeschool Preschool with Two Kids at Different Ages

One thing I want to address right away: doing homeschool preschool with two kids at different ages is both completely doable and a little bit of an art form. My oldest is my main focus for letter sounds and early phonics. She’s turning 5, and I want her really solid on letter sounds and recognition this year.

Both girls are excited, and my oldest a little more so, which makes sense at her age. My youngest has always looked to her big sister for her reaction on a lot of things, so a big part of her excitement is literally just feeding off of her sister’s excitement, which is the most her thing ever and I love it so much. But all in all, they are both SO ready, and honestly that makes everything easier.

The beauty of a Charlotte Mason approach with multiple ages is that the younger one just soaks it in without any pressure. My 3.5-year-old is going to absorb alllll of it simply by being there. If she starts recognizing letters too, amazing. If she wants to play with the playdough while we do letter work, that’s perfect too.

Most of what we’re doing is family-style. The Treehouse Story School read-alouds, morning basket time, tea party narrations, free readings at night, Bible at breakfast. Some things I’ll do more intentionally one-on-one with my oldest, like the Discover Reading phonics work and sandpaper letter activities. My youngest is welcome to participate, but my almost-5-year-old is the focus for those specific skills right now.

It feels like the most natural way to do it. And I have a feeling my youngest is going to surprise me.

Our Main Charlotte Mason Preschool Curriculum: Treehouse Story SchoolAfter a lot of research and comparing options, I landed on Treehouse Story School: Preschool as our main framework, and I am so at peace with this decision.

Treehouse Story School is a gentle, literature-based preschool curriculum from Treehouse Schoolhouse. Each week centers on a classic picture book, and everything flows from that story: music and movement, play-based narration, alphabet and number play, motor skills, practical life development, crafts, and baking together. It’s Charlotte Mason inspired to the core, and it covers toddlers through upper preschool (ages 2.5-5), so both of my girls can do it together at their own level.

What sold me was the Friday Read-Aloud Tea Party element. Each week includes a recipe to make together, and Fridays are a dedicated flex day for gathering, reading, and enjoying what you made. I’m planning to make this our special tea party tradition with a tablecloth, candles, and the Storytelling Pieces from the week’s book. The girls will act out and narrate the story together, and we’ll add those pieces into our notebook to keep. I’m already picturing it and it feels so good.

The books chosen for the 32-week curriculum are gorgeous too. Blueberries for Sal, Frog and Toad All Year, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Make Way for Ducklings, The Grouchy Ladybug, Tops and Bottoms. These are the books kids beg to read over and over, which is exactly the CM philosophy in action.

Nature themes are woven in through the stories too. Several weeks are built around nature-connected books: pollination and bees (Arnold’s Apple Tree), birds and nests (The Best Nest), frogs and toads (Frog and Toad All Year), insects (The Grouchy Ladybug), gardening and vegetables (The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Tops and Bottoms). Each week also includes an optional field trip suggestion tied to the story themes, which naturally pulls us outside.

How We’re Teaching Letter Sounds: Discover Reading + Montessori

Letter sounds and recognition are my number one academic goal for my oldest this year, and this is honestly the part I felt the most intimidated by going in. Teaching a child to read feels like a big deal! But the combination of approaches I’m using has me feeling really good about it.
ing really good about it.

Discover Reading by Amy Tuttle

Discover Reading is a Charlotte Mason-based phonics and reading approach by Amy Tuttle of Fisher Academy. It’s built on the idea that learning to read should be delightful, that the child should discover connections between sounds and letters rather than being drilled on them. I read through the whole guide and it is SO beautifully written and completely aligned with how I want to approach early literacy.

The method is gentle and game-based, working through letter recognition, blending, and word-making in a way that feels like play rather than school. For a child who is curious and ready like my oldest, I think it’s going to be a joy.

See also: Discover Reading by Amy Tuttle: An Honest Review — coming soon!

Montessori Sandpaper Letters and Language Objects

Alongside Discover Reading, we’re using Montessori phonics tools, because I have a deep love for the Montessori approach to early literacy and I think it pairs with Charlotte Mason beautifully. (See my post on Charlotte Mason vs. Montessori if you want to dig into how I blend these two methods!)

We have sandpaper letters, the classic Montessori material for teaching letter sounds. The child traces the letter with their fingers while saying the sound, and the tactile experience is so powerful for little ones. We also have a collection of language objects, small figures that represent the sound of each letter, and we play matching and sorting games to reinforce sounds in a completely hands-on way.

We’ll also practice letter formation in a sand tray and with playdough, so worksheet use will be basically zero. The learning is happening through their hands and senses, which is exactly right for this age.

If you’re curious about how we use these materials, check out my post on Montessori activities for 3 year olds.

Preschool Math: Preschool Math at Home by Kate Snow

For math, we’re using Preschool Math at Home by Kate Snow from Well-Trained Mind Press. The Montessori math philosophy is rooted in making math tangible and concrete before abstract, and this book operates on the exact same principle.

Each activity takes about five minutes and uses simple household items. You’re working on counting, subitizing, recognizing written numerals, comparing numbers, and beginning addition and subtraction, but it’s all through games and movement. It genuinely looks like play. My oldest is going to think we’re just playing math games, which is exactly the point.

We’ll also use our sandpaper numbers for tactile number recognition, which bridges the Montessori and Kate Snow approaches in a really natural way.

Habit Training: Laying Down the Rails

Charlotte Mason believed that one of the primary jobs of education in the early years is laying down the habits that will carry a child through life. Habits of attention. Habits of obedience. Habits of thoroughness. The resource I’m using to guide us in this is Laying Down the Rails from Simply Charlotte Mason.

This book walks through the specific habits Charlotte Mason wrote about and gives you real, gentle, everyday ways to cultivate them. For preschool age, this looks like very simple things. Finishing a task. Putting things back where they belong. Listening the first time. Coming when called. These little habits, consistently tended, are going to matter so much more in the long run than any academic content we cover right now.

LAYING DOWN THE RAILS SIMPLY CHARLOTTE MASON

Our Free Readings: Mother Goose, Brambly Hedge, and Beatrix Potter

Charlotte Mason was big on free readings, books that aren’t assigned or narrated, just read aloud for the pure pleasure and richness of them. For the preschool years especially, this is where so much of the real nourishment happens. Our lineup includes classics I absolutely love:

• Mother Goose nursery rhymes — Read aloud, memorized, recited, sung. Rhythm and rhyme in the early years are foundational for language development and just genuinely delightful.
• Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem — So cozy and beautiful. Perfect farm-life, nature-connected reading that fits our whole world here.
• Beatrix Potter — Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Jeremy Fisher. Classics for a reason, and the illustrations alone are art education. (We also get a whole Treehouse Story School week built around The Tale of Peter Rabbit, so these are going to feel like old friends!)

We’ll read these before bed, during quiet moments, snuggled on the couch with the baby in my lap. That’s school too!

Our Morning Basket: How We’re Gathering to Start Each Day

One of the things I’m most excited about is our morning basket time. If you want a deep dive on what a morning basket is and how to build one, I’ve got a whole post coming soon! The short version is that it’s an intentional gathering at the start of your school day where you do the things that feed everyone together before splitting off into individual work.

Our morning basket is going to be simple and sweet. Here’s what we’re planning to include:

• Bible reading from our Storybook Bible — Starting the day in the Word, short and sweet, sets the tone for everything that follows.
• Grace and Truth Memory Book — This little book contains a historic Baptist catechism called A Catechism for Boys and Girls, along with suggested Scripture memory passages and hymns. It’s such a simple, beautiful way to teach kiddos about Christ from the very earliest years. Both girls can do this fully together, which I love.
• Weather — Look outside, talk about what we see, decide what to wear.
• Days of the week and months of the year — Songs and simple calendar time. Treehouse Story School introduces days of the week in week 5 and months of the year in week 7, so our morning basket reinforces exactly what the curriculum is building.
• Habit of the week — Whatever habit we’re working on from Laying Down the Rails, we’ll talk about it briefly so it’s front of mind for the rest of the day.

Bible, Catechism, and Faith First

I touched on this in the morning basket section, but I want to chat about it more fully here. One of the things that drew me so deeply to Charlotte Mason was that God’s truth, goodness, and beauty are the complete center of the whole philosophy. Everything else stems from that. That’s not an add-on to our school day. That IS our school day.

We’ll be reading from our Storybook Bible over breakfast every morning, which tells the whole story of Scripture in a way even the littlest listeners can genuinely connect with. We’re also using the Grace and Truth Memory Book for catechism. Simple questions and simple answers. Big theology in small words that little minds can hold on to and grow into.

Nature Study: Learning the Land Together

Charlotte Mason was serious about nature, and so am I. She believed that children in the early years belong outside as much as possible, that the natural world is one of the richest classrooms there is. Living on 27 acres in Northwest Ohio means we have a whole lot of classroom to work with.

Treehouse Story School naturally pulls us outside too through its optional field trip suggestions and nature-connected story themes. Several weeks are built around books with nature at the center, and that outdoor connection runs through the whole 32 weeks.

But beyond the curriculum, I want to go deeper into the land we actually live on. One of my personal goals this year is learning to identify the plants on our property, especially the medicinal herbs. I want to know what’s growing here, what it’s used for, and how to use it. And I want to bring the girls along for the whole journey, not as students being taught by an expert, but as fellow discoverers learning right alongside me.

There is something so Charlotte Mason about that, honestly. She didn’t want children to receive packaged, pre-digested information. She wanted them to encounter the real thing and form their own relationship with it. Learning to identify plantain or yarrow or elderberry together on our own land? That’s a living education if I’ve ever heard one.

Our nature plans for the year:

• Daily outdoor time, non-negotiable — Outside will be part of our school day. This will be hard for me in the winter months but we will give it our best effort!
• Plant walks on our property — Slowing down to look at what’s actually growing here. Learning names, noticing details, asking questions we don’t always know the answers to yet.
• Medicinal herb identification — Something I’m actively learning myself. The girls are coming along for the ride, and I love the idea of building this knowledge together over the years.
• Garden involvement — Planting, tending, harvesting, learning where food actually comes from.
• Farm animal observation — Our dairy cows, egg-laying and meat chickens, pigs, and steer. Daily farm chores and animal care are nature study happening in real time.
• Magnifying glasses and bug catching — Treehouse Story School even lists a bug-catching net and magnifying glass in its general materials list. We will absolutely be using both because HOW FUN.

Nature study doesn’t need a curriculum. It needs a mama who is willing to go outside and look at things with her kids. That I can absolutely do.

Our Charlotte Mason Preschool Schedule (Loosely!)

I want to be really honest: I don’t have a tight charlotte mason preschool schedule mapped out to the minute, and I don’t think that’s what this season calls for. What I have is a sense of the rhythm we’re aiming for, and a lot of room to adjust as we get going.

Here’s the general feel of our days:

• Breakfast + morning basket — Bible, catechism and Scripture memory, weather, days of the week, months of the year, habit of the week. About 10-15 minutes, all together.
• Morning table time — A Discover Reading phonics activity, sandpaper letter or language object play, or a Preschool Math at Home game. Maybe 15-20 minutes.
• Treehouse Story School activities — Reading the week’s book, music and movement, a craft, practical life activity, or baking project. Woven into the morning or early afternoon.
• Outdoor time and nature — Plant walks, farm chores, bug catching, garden time, free outdoor play.
• Bedtime reading — I’m hoping to bring my husband in on these reads! We love letting each of our kiddos pick a book of their choice for us to read. Such a sweet way to wind down for the night.
• Fridays: Tea Party! — Co-op in the morning, then a proper tea party in the afternoon or Thursday if we need to move it. Tablecloth, candles, dresses, Treehouse Story School cut-out pieces. I can’t wait for this! Each of the girls will have a narration notebook and they will glue in their characters from that weeks story. Then, I’ll have them tell me about the story and I’ll write their narration in the notebook as well.

Total school time across the day will probably land under an hour, but a lot of it won’t feel like school at all. That’s the whole idea.

Our Charlotte Mason Preschool Plans Are a Starting Point, Not a Script

I would like to say, this is the PLAN! But I 100% expect things to change. I’m sure we’ll shift things around as we figure out what works for our specific girls in our specific home with our specific baby-who-is-into-everything. That’s the beauty of homeschooling, right!?

What I know for sure is that we’re going to read a LOT of beautiful books. We’re going to spend time outside and learn the names of things growing on our own land. We’re going to start our days with the Word and end them with good stories. We’re going to learn through our hands and through play. And two little girls who have been watching their big brother leave for school every morning, finally getting their turn, are going to absolutely thrive.

I’ll be sharing updates as we go, the wins and the beautiful chaotic mess of it. Come along!

This post was all about our Charlotte Mason preschool plans, the curriculum we chose, and how we’re weaving it into real daily life on the farm.

OTHER POSTS YOU MAY LIKE

• Charlotte Mason vs. Montessori
• Charlotte Mason Copywork: What It Is and How to Start}

Frequently Asked Questions

What age should you start Charlotte Mason preschool?

Most Charlotte Mason educators suggest keeping formal learning very light before age 6, with ages 3-5 focused primarily on outdoor time, free play, read-alouds, and gentle habit training. Treehouse Story School is designed for ages 2.5-5 and follows this philosophy beautifully, keeping things playful and pressure-free.

Do you need a formal curriculum for Charlotte Mason preschool?

Nope! A Charlotte Mason preschool can be as simple as lots of outdoor time, reading great books aloud every day, and simple habit training. A curriculum like Treehouse Story School is a helpful framework if you want structure and ideas, but it’s not required. The heart of CM in the early years is living books, nature, and real life.

Can you do Charlotte Mason with two kids at different ages?

Yes, and it’s actually one of the strengths of the Charlotte Mason approach. Multi-age learning is natural within this method. Younger children absorb so much simply by being present for read-alouds, songs, and activities without any pressure to perform. Treehouse Story School specifically is designed for toddlers through upper preschool together.