AmblesideOnline
AmblesideOnline is a free Charlotte Mason curriculum run by a volunteer group, with a booklist and weekly schedule for each year from Year 0 (kindergarten) to Year 12. A year is 36 weeks in three terms of living books for history, literature, poetry, geography and nature study, with narration after each reading, copywork, and picture and composer study. You gather the books, many of them free online texts, and pick your own math, phonics and foreign language programs.
- Subjects
- All subjects: language arts, science and history and geography
- Grades
- Year 0 (kindergarten) to Year 12 source ↗
- Method
- Charlotte Mason source ↗
- Format
- Books and workbooks source ↗
- Faith label
- Faith-based
- Works alone from
- The plan aims for children to read most of their own schoolbooks by Year 4 or 5; in Years 1 and 2 the books are usually read aloud to them. source ↗
- Cost a year
- Free. Free to use: there is no charge for the schedules, booklists or other material. You buy or borrow the books (many are free online texts) and choose your own math, phonics and foreign language programs. Read on October 29, 2026; prices change. source ↗
- Placement
- Guide to choosing a year ↗
What it does well
- The schedules and booklists are free, and many of the books can be read online at no cost.
- Lessons are kept short, about 10 to 20 minutes for younger children, and a Year 1 day can often be done in a couple of hours.
- One plan runs from kindergarten to 12th grade, with a weekly schedule for a 36-week year.
- Reading, narration, copywork and later dictation carry language arts, so no separate language arts program is needed in the early years.
Watch for
- Math, phonics and foreign language are not included, so you choose and buy your own programs.
- There are no teacher guides or scripted lessons, and parents are urged to read Charlotte Mason's own books to use the plan well.
- In Years 1 and 2 the parent reads the books aloud, which takes a good share of the parent's day.
- The later years use demanding books, and children new to heavy reading may need to start a year or two below their grade.
It fits
A family that wants a free, book-centered Charlotte Mason plan, with a parent who enjoys reading aloud and is happy to choose a math program.
It doesn’t fit
A parent who wants teacher guides, day-by-day lesson plans or a boxed set where every subject arrives ready to use.
Compare AmblesideOnline
- AmblesideOnline vs Build Your Library side by side
Other programs for the same subject and grades:
- Abeka Pre-K (K4) to 12th grade
- Beyond the Page Age levels 4-5 to 12-14 (about pre-K to 8th grade), plus High School 1 for 9th or 10th grade
- BJU Press Homeschool K3 (preschool) to 12th grade
- BookShark Levels Pre-K to J plus high school levels, ages 4 to 18 (about pre-K to 12th grade)
- Build Your Library Level 0 (kindergarten) to Level 12 (12th grade)
- Classical Conversations Ages 4 to 18, about pre-K to 12th grade
- Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool Preschool to 8th grade, with high school on the sister site All-in-One High School
- Heart of Dakota Preschool to 12th grade
Lists it is on
- Homeschool all-in-one curricula 22
- Faith-based homeschool curricula 22
- Charlotte Mason homeschool curricula 9
- Homeschool curricula for pre-K and kindergarten 48
- Homeschool curricula for middle school 51
- Homeschool curricula for high school 38
- Print homeschool curricula 44
- Free homeschool curricula 3
- Faith-based homeschool all-in-one curricula 14
- Faith-based Charlotte Mason homeschool curricula 7
- Faith-based homeschool curricula for pre-K and kindergarten 19
- Faith-based homeschool curricula for high school 21
What we read, and how we label
Every fact on a card was read on the publisher's own website on the date shown, and the page it came from is linked. A fact we could not confirm there is left out. Costs are for one child and one year of the main package, as the publisher's page showed them that day; prices and sales change. Method and format are the publisher's own description where it gives one. The only thing we say about religion is one label, secular or faith-based, given by the rule above; where the publisher's pages don't settle it, the card has no label.
The publisher’s pages we read on October 29, 2026:
- amblesideonline.org/
- amblesideonline.org/about
- amblesideonline.org/faq
- amblesideonline.org/getting-started
- amblesideonline.org/ao-y3-bks
Something wrong or out of date? Publishers and parents can send a correction and we will fix it. Publishers can send corrections, never money. All programs compared · Find your homeschool style