Rigamaroo Starter Guides
Charlotte Mason
The Starter Guide
Charlotte Mason believed children are born persons: whole, curious, and capable of digesting real ideas. Her method feeds them living books instead of textbooks, asks them to narrate instead of fill in blanks, keeps lessons short so attention stays honest, and treats habits, nature, and beauty as core curriculum rather than extras.
Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.
The Principles
Living books
Choose real literature written by someone who loves the subject, not committee-written textbooks.
Narration
After a reading, the child tells it back in their own words. This is the work. No quizzes are needed.
Short lessons
Keep lessons to 10 or 20 minutes for young children. Full attention for a short time beats drift for an hour.
Habit training
Attention, obedience, and truthfulness come first. Small, consistent habits carry the whole method.
Nature study
Spend unhurried time outdoors every week, with a nature journal growing slowly over the years.
Your First Book List
For the Children’s Sake
by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
The warmest introduction. Read this first, in a weekend.
A Charlotte Mason Companion
by Karen Andreola
Practical, encouraging chapters you can read out of order.
Home Education (Volume 1)
by Charlotte Mason
The source itself, free online and more readable than you expect.
Mere Motherhood
by Cindy Rollins
What thirty years of morning time and narration actually look like.
The Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton Burgess
For the kids’ shelf: the classic living-science starter.
Curriculum Picks, Budget First
AmblesideOnline
A complete, decades-refined CM curriculum with full book lists by year. Start here before buying anything.
Simply Charlotte Mason
Planning guides and open-and-go studies when you want more hand-holding than AO.
Math with Confidence
Gentle, conversational math that fits the short-lesson rhythm.
Your Library Card
The real CM budget secret. Reserve next term’s books early.
A Sample Week
Monday
Morning Time (20–30 min)
Poetry + hymn + read-aloud
Math (15–20 min)
Lesson
Copywork (10 min)
Passage
Readings + narration
History
Afternoons
Free play + handicraft
Tuesday
Morning Time (20–30 min)
Poetry + folk song + read-aloud
Math (15–20 min)
Lesson
Copywork (10 min)
Passage
Readings + narration
Natural science
Afternoons
Nature walk + journal
Wednesday
Morning Time (20–30 min)
Poetry + hymn + read-aloud
Math (15–20 min)
Lesson
Copywork (10 min)
Passage
Readings + narration
History
Afternoons
Free play
Thursday
Morning Time (20–30 min)
Poetry + composer study
Math (15–20 min)
Lesson
Copywork (10 min)
Passage
Readings + narration
Biography
Afternoons
Handicraft
Friday
Morning Time (20–30 min)
Poetry + picture study
Math (15–20 min)
Review game
Copywork (10 min)
Free choice
Readings + narration
Literature
Afternoons
Long nature outing
Mornings hold the lessons; afternoons stay free. Total seat time for a young child: about two hours.
Five Mistakes to Skip
Expecting polished narrations on day one
Early narrations are short and messy. The skill builds over months, so accept whatever comes and keep reading.
Letting lessons run long
A dawdling 45-minute math lesson trains dawdling. Stop at 20 minutes; consistency does the rest.
Treating nature study as a bonus
It is science, attention training, and rest in one. Put it on the schedule like math.
Buying everything in year one
AmblesideOnline plus a library card covers most of it. Add purchases as gaps appear, not before.
Skipping your own reading
CM called it Mother Culture. A parent who is still learning is the atmosphere the method runs on.
Your First 30 Days
Read and observe
Read For the Children’s Sake. Start one family read-aloud, and try one narration: “Tell me everything you remember.”
Build the morning rhythm
Add short math and ten minutes of copywork after the read-aloud. Keep everything under 20 minutes each.
Go outside
Pick a weekly nature-walk day. Start simple journals: one drawing, one label, one date. No pressure on quality.
Choose your booklist
Match each child to an AmblesideOnline year, reserve the first term’s books, and sketch next term on the calendar.
However You Homeschool, Rigamaroo Plans It Your Way
Lessons, attendance, records, and day sheets for every kid, in one calm hub.
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