We are currently in our sixth year of homeschooling with an educational philosophy that is heavily inspired by Charlotte Mason's principles and practices.
A Delectable Education (ADE) Curriculum Consultation
Each year, I've chosen to do a personalized consultation with A Delectable Education (ADE) for our homeschool curriculum. ADE is a podcast that dives deep into Charlotte Mason's philosophy, principles, and practices. They also have homeschool resources for planning, for implementing lessons, and for additional teacher education.
The consultation includes a phone conversation with Liz where we walk through each subject and discuss how to implement it. Afterward, Emily creates a custom curriculum that is specific to my family, including resource and book recommendations.
This has been a great fit for us and I've been very satisfied with our personalized curriculum from ADE. I've already had my consultation for the 2025-2026 school year and received my custom plan for our family.
Additional Options: Alvery and The CMEC
Every year, I have also considered both Alveary and The Charlotte Mason Educational Center (The CMEC). These are both membership-based options that include a Charlotte Mason curriculum for all ages, additional teacher training, and additional resources. Because I'm on the same history rotation as both Alveary and The CMEC, I've considered joining one of these memberships to support our homeschool.
Both Alveary and The CMEC are excellent options for a Charlotte Mason education, and I hold each of them in high regard.
I appreciate that ADE, Alveary, and The CMEC all have very similar approaches to their curriculum. They are trying to honor Charlotte Mason's principles and follow many of her practices in a way that is life-giving and rich.
All three (ADE, Alveary, CMEC) follow a four-year history cycle beginning in one's own country. All students will be on the same history cycle, and other lessons may correspond to that history cycle. (Note: for some curriculum options, a Form IB student beginning their first year of formal lessons will start with the first history rotation.)
One important difference is that Alveary provides not only a resource and book list, but the specific lesson plans as well. The CMEC encourages mother-teachers to forecast their own lessons from the book list provided. Both are excellent approaches and have benefits and potential downsides.
Why I Chose Alveary
Because I already have the core of my curriculum, my greatest need was to have resources and lesson plans to supplement where needed. Because Alveary provides detailed lesson plans, this fulfills a large need in my homeschool.
Instead of purchasing individual resources from different companies to fill in my curriculum, I chose to purchase an Alveary membership. In the past, I have purchased individual resources from a variety of companies, such as Spanish, Form I geography, Form II geography, Shakespeare, handicraft resources, art instruction, and more. Purchasing these resources individually adds up quickly, especially since I have three students in formal lessons.
By purchasing Alveary's membership, I have access to all lesson plans for all ages and forms. While I will still need to purchase the necessary books and supplies, the membership is a cost-effective option for my homeschool.
Benefits of Alveary:
Alveary membership includes access to the curriculum for the 2025-2026 school year for grades 1-12. (Members have access until June 30, 2026.) It includes detailed book lists and supply lists for each subject and lesson. There is also a "Before Age Six" guide for children in the early years.
There are also detailed lesson plans for each subject, as well as information for exams. (Note: while the book and supply lists are available now, the detailed lesson plans will be available on June 1st, 2025.)
Membership also includes additional training and community support for members.
From a personal perspective, I appreciate that the book lists offer both classical and more modern choices, seeking to provide living books from a variety of perspectives. I also appreciate that they follow the four-year history cycle, beginning with American history.
Based on everything that is included in the membership, I think the cost is very reasonable, especially since members will receive detailed lesson plans for every included lesson and grade.
One of my personal hesitations with the membership is that I actually prefer to do my own lesson planning: I prefer to pre-read and forecast the lessons myself. I still plan to do this for some subjects (such as history and literature), but I will use Alveary's resources for additional support where needed.
Learn More
If you're interested in learning more about Alveary and their curriculum, I recommend exploring their website, reading through the FAQ section, and reviewing their curriculum samples. (Note: if you choose to pursue a membership, you can use NICKLAUS for $25 off the membership fee.)
Alveary FAQ:
Why did you choose Alveary over other curriculum options such as The CMEC (Charlotte Mason Educational Center), Ambleside Online (AO), Simply Charlotte Mason (SCM), etc?
We are blessed to live in a time where we have access to so many helpful resources to pursue a Charlotte Mason education! I chose the Alveary because it best fits what I needed this year: lesson plans by subject.
I think very highly of other Charlotte Mason curriculum companies and I will continue to support them and recommend them.
What were you using previously?
For all six years of our homeschooling journey, we have done a curriculum consultation with A Delectable Education (ADE). The women of ADE are incredibly thorough and knowledgeable- I highly recommend their podcast for anyone interested in Charlotte Mason's philsophy, principles, and practices.
I did an ADE consultation for the 25-26 school year, and chose an Alveary membership for the subjects where I need additional resources and support. (For me, that's specifically areas like geography, nature study, Spanish, Latin, art, and handicrafts.)
Is Alveary enough? Why did you also do an ADE consultation?
An Alveary membership is absolutely enough for the school year. It has almost everything you need to do orchestrate lessons for children in grades 1-12, though you will need to purchase books, supplies, and other additional resources if needed (math is not included).
You can also make adjustments and changes where needed to best fit your family and your school year.
I already had my ADE consultation and curriculum before purchasing an Alveary membership. In many ways, ADE is my "core" curriculum and I'm using Alveary resources to supplement where needed. This is what works best for my personal family and homeschool.
Alveary is designed to have everything you need for the school year.
Do you make edits to the curriculum?
Absolutely! No matter what curriculum or resource I am using, I always adjust it to work for our family and my individual children.
For example, if a child has already read an assigned book, I will swap it for something different. If we are already covering a Shakespeare play at co-op, I will select a different play to do at home.
Another example is scheduling. A curriculum may suggest doing a subject three times per week, but it makes more sense in our timetable to only schedule it twice. Another specific example is Spanish: Alveary's Spanish is scheduled three times per week, but we actually do it four times. I can fill in with additional resources as needed.
Which history cycle is Alveary on next year?
For the 2025-2026 school year, Alveary is on Rotation 2: 1650 - 1800 AD.
Form IIB and up will also study 550-100 BC for their second history stream. See the FAQ on their website for details about each history cycle.
What all is included in an Alveary membership?
Membership includes book lists, supply lists, and detailed lesson plans for each lesson for grades 1-12. It also includes access to the community, The Hive.
My best suggestion to see what all is included is to look at their samples and read through their FAQ. This will give you a great idea of what lessons look like and what is included in the membership.
Do you have to print everything yourself?
I am a fan of printing at home, so I plan to print things myself. However, from what I understand, you can order printed copies of lessons for an additional cost. That said, it's always an option to send materials to a printing company.
Additional FAQs
Do you have any math curriculum recommendations?
We use Beauty and Truth math guides. I think they are excellent and truly show how math is a living language. They are filled with high-quality instruction and living ideas.
In the past, we have used books from the Simply Charlotte Mason Arithmetic series. These were great as well, but Beauty and Truth are a better fit for our family.
I will also note that I do math one-on-one with each student as the Beauty and Truth Math guides are teacher-intensive. Note: some of the guides use the Strayer Upton arithmetic books.
Alveary recommends RightStart Math, but we will continue with Beauty and Truth Math.
Where should I start with my preschooler?
This is such a fun and delightful time! I recommend focusing on building good habits, exploring outdoors, learning letters and sounds when your child is ready, reading good books, reading the Bible together (or a storybook Bible), and teaching age-appropriate life skills.
For mothers, I highly recommend using this time to read Mason's volumes, study educational philosophy, and connect with other moms. Join a book club (or start one!) and get together with a mom who is already doing school to learn from her or even shadow a school day.
Most of all- enjoy this time!
Note: Alveary has a "Before Age Six" guide that can be purchased individually if that would be helpful. I do not recommend the membership if you are still in the early years, as it's truly designed for families in formal lessons.
You can see my list of Charlotte Mason homeschool books here. I also have a guide to help you learn more about Charlotte Mason and her method. You can find it here.
