Hello! I am so glad you found your way to this page and that you are about to explore this Charlotte Mason-style, whole-family curriculum.
About the Reading Plans
The GLC reading plans are:
Christ-Centered
Start your day with Bible reading, hymns and apologetics. Memorize Scripture together using Claritas Publishing memory work. You and your children will be able to see how God’s Word applies to every other subject throughout the school day.
Charlotte Mason-Style
These reading plans include living-books, lots of read-aloud time, opportunity for recitation and memory work and nature study. These are just some of the key components of a Charlotte Mason-style curriculum.
Full of great literature
Members of STAR Homeschool Community read one chapter book at a time aloud to their children and then discuss it in class each week when we meet. You can feel free to join us and read beautiful stories to your children.
Created for Whole-Family Learning
One of the most beautiful things about homeschooling is the opportunity to gather the whole family together around the table, on a rug, or on comfy couches and study a subject together. It’s a different picture from public school, where every grade is studying a different period of history, a different science subject and different authors altogether. So many homeschool programs tend to mimic public school in this way, and the family’s learning is disjointed. It takes more time for a homeschooling mom to keep up on what each child is doing, and there is no discussion amongst siblings about the topics they are learning together.
While it may not be possible to study math and language arts all together (unless your children are very close in age), there are still several subjects that can be taught in this way. These reading plans are designed so that the following subjects can be learned together as a family:
Bible
Hymns
Apologetics*
Literature*
History*
Geography*
Nature Study
Science*
Composer
Artist
Poet
Character
Life Skills
Handicrafts
*Middle and High School students have additional reading with bigger concepts than their younger siblings might be able to grasp, of course, in the subjects with the asterisks beside them. We call our Middle and High School students our Form 4 and Form 5 students at STAR.
Gentle
Reading aloud is one of the most gentle, precious and connection-creating ways of teaching children. Singing hymns together and memorizing God’s Word and other fun and useful facts together is also a gentle and beautiful way to teach. To top it all off, make sure to head outside every day to explore God’s creation!
Thorough
The reading plans include every subject you can think of! There is no expectation that your family will get through every single subject in every year. Grab bits and pieces of this feast and add it to your plate, however big it is, and enjoy.
Customizable & Flexible
Choose the subjects that you would like to study and how much of each subject you would like to accomplish through the school year. You might read one history book at a time, or five, depending on your preference and time. If the curriculum isn’t working for you part-way through the year, no problem–change it to fit your family’s needs.
A Four-Cycle Program
The reading plans take students from the beginning of time (Cycle 1) through current day (Cycle 4). If you begin using STAR in pre-school or kindergarten, your student will cycle through all four cycles three times before they graduate from high school. This is a beautiful way to absorb and reinforce information!
Four Days Per Week, 28 Weeks
Whether you are attending STAR Homeschool Community one day per week or doing something else with your time, four days per week is a doable schedule for most families. This is flexible, too. If you want to get all of your assignments done in two or three days per week, or read ahead for an upcoming vacation, feel free!
STAR Homeschool Community meets for 28 weeks through the school year, and therefore the reading plans are also set up as a 28-week program. Feel free to stretch this out longer if you’d like, or to get through it at a faster pace. Twenty-eight weeks allows for ample holiday breaks and does not take away from the summer months.