By Created by Amanda Faus·Literature · History · Nature Study · Language Arts · Classical Christian Education
5 video reviews: 3 positive · 1 mixed · 1 critical
The Children's Tradition is a very new curriculum — one reviewer notes this is its first full year after a beta — and the reviews here split into two clear stories. One family is fully bought in: they love the morning "benediction table" of poems, fables, and scripture, the rich novels and "living and humanizing" historical fiction, the relaxed language arts with no worksheets or grammar drills, the outdoor and gymnastics emphasis, and above all the poetic-over-analytical philosophy — enjoying books rather than tearing them apart. For them it "feels like a lifestyle and less like a school day," and they plan to stay for years.
The other family used it for a year, modified it heavily, praised it warmly — and still left. Their reasons are specific: the sheer volume of resources per year felt overwhelming, the reading level runs high (the year four selections were too advanced for their fourth grader to read alone), juggling multiple children in different years was unmanageable, and the history is intentionally not chronological — historical picture books "from all over the place" rather than a time-period stream, which both reviewers who raised it found harder to organize than a timeline. Smaller gripes: the recommended Latin program is expensive, and the Parent's Assistant moral tales are dated and hard to read aloud. The pattern both households agree on: this is a beautiful, book-rich curriculum that works best with strong readers or one student at a time, and demands a parent who embraces its no-subjects, whole-book philosophy rather than fighting it.
Synthesized from 5 independent video reviews — every claim sourced from what real homeschool parents said on camera.
Classical or Charlotte Mason-leaning families — especially with one student or a strong independent reader — who want a book-rich, poetic, lifestyle-style education with scripture, poems, and fables woven through the day.
Parents juggling several children in different years, families with slower-to-launch readers, or anyone who wants chronological history, defined subjects, and a contained checklist of a school day.
The Children’s Tradition // Honest Review - Classical Charlotte Mason Curriculum Thanks for watching! Please leave me a comment down below with any questions you may have or any thoughts as you watch ❤️❤️❤️
Considering Curriculum for Next Year + Using The Children's Tradition Again? | Charlotte Mason Will we be using The Children's Tradition again? Today, I'm sharing different Charlotte Mason curriculum options that I'm considering using for the 2026-2027 homeschool year, including Simply Charlotte Mason, Ambleside Online, The Alveary, and The Children's Tradition. I'm sharing how I'm weighing these different options for my rising fifth grader, third grader, and second grader. #charlottemasonhomeschool #charlottemason #homeschool #homeschoolmom #homeschoolcurriculum
What A Homeschool Day Looks Like | Charlotte Mason + Classical Homeschool It can be difficult to picture what a homeschool day actually looks like before you've started your own homeschool journey, or maybe as you picture adding more students to your homeschool as the years go by. So today, I'm sharing what we did in our Classical, Charlotte Mason Homeschool. I'm sharing all of the resources we used, including Memoria Press Prima Latina, some Ambleside Online resources, Veritas Press/Canon Press, Living Books Press, The Good and the Beautiful Second Grade Language Arts, Reading Reflex or Phonographix, and The Children's Tradition. I'm sharing practical homeschooling tips, how I implement these resources, when I require narrations, and how I schedule it all to fit during our homeschool day. Referral Links: TTRS (typing & spelling program): https://readandspell.cello.so/GuPykY0DrN8 THANK YOU for using my links! It helps my channel and my family! Living Books Press: https://www.livingbookpress.com/?lbp=6246 Amazon Shop: https://amzn.to/4oiIrJH
Charlotte Mason Year One Homeschool DITL | + Reading Reflex Advanced Code! I'm sharing a peek into a day in our Charlotte Mason Homeschool, particularly for my Year One/first grade student. I've been homeschooling for five years, and this is my third time doing a Charlotte Mason Year One homeschool. It is such a fun, sweet, and simple year that I've treasured with each of my children. I will be sharing about our experience using - Reading Reflex and the Advanced Code at 21:30 - The Children's Tradition - The Alveary - Math-U-See - Charlotte Mason Copywork - Narration #charlottemasonhomeschool #charlottemason #classicalhomeschool #readingreflex #homeschool #homeschoolditl #homeschooling #homeschoolmom #firstgradehomeschool
My Charlotte Mason Curriculum Pick for '26-'27 | Classical + Charlotte Mason Homeschool | AO + SCM In this video, I'm excited to be sharing my family's homeschool curriculum choice for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year for our Charlotte Mason and Classical homeschool! I've weighed a lot of options in my previous videos, like The Children's Tradition, The Alveary, Simply Charlotte Mason, and Ambleside Online, and I share what I've landed on in today's video. Tune in to see if I pick @SimplyCharlotteMason or @amblesideonline7932 , or a mix of both! I'm very excited about my plan for my rising 5th grade, 3rd grade, and 2nd grade children! Tell me, what are you using next year for curriculum, and what made you choose that? Weighing My Options (Why I'm Not Using The Children's Tradition): https://youtu.be/2LIl1Xm269s?si=pySqoNeP_f5Om5MK #charlottemason #charlottemasonhomeschool #homeschool #homeschoolmom #homeschooling #amblesideonline #simplycharlottemason #classicalhomeschool
“I just really love how the curriculum feels like a lifestyle and less like a school day. I think that's the biggest reason why we're going to do this curriculum for years to come.”
“we are not trying to analyze books. We're not trying to tear stories apart. We're not trying to memorize facts.”
“my primary reasons for not using the Children's Tradition again is that honestly I feel overwhelmed by the amount of resources that are chosen for each year”
“if you have a an advanced reader, a reader who can really handle meaty, weighty texts by themselves, or if, you know, you just have one student and you can go along with them and read all those things, then I think that this is a great curriculum option”
“we have been following TCT's historical stream, which is not quite a stream, uh which is just kind of like historical picture books, which is good and fine”
“the children's tradition suggests starting teaching by teaching your child cursive and not print and that they'll pick up on print. And it has been great teaching my kids cursive”
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Reviewers describe a classical, Charlotte Mason-adjacent curriculum built around good books rather than formal subjects: a morning 'benediction table' of scripture, poems, and fables, novels and historical picture books, art and music appreciation, and an emphasis on being outdoors and moving. One reviewer notes it deliberately pursues poetic knowledge over analytical knowledge — no worksheets, no fact drilling, no tearing stories apart.
Yes. One reviewer using it for second grade said it was in its first full year as a curriculum, after a beta version the year before. Reviewers speak respectfully of the creator, who also explains her philosophy in videos and on Substack.
No. Its year one historical stream is a set of historical picture books rather than a time-period sequence, and the curriculum intentionally steers away from a specific historical era. Two reviewers from the same family said they preferred a chronological timeline approach — their kids kept asking which events came first — and this contributed to their decision to switch to other Charlotte Mason curricula.
This was the breaking point for one mom of three: balancing year one and year four readings was 'way too much,' and the year four selections were too advanced for her son to read on his own. She concluded it suits families with one student or an advanced independent reader. Another reviewer makes it work by cycling novels — saving unfinished second-grade books for when her younger kids reach that year.
Very gently in the early years. One second-grade reviewer does no worksheets or grammar rules — her daughter simply reads good books aloud and engages with language naturally — and the curriculum suggests teaching cursive before print, which another family enjoyed. One reviewer paired it with a separate phonics program for her six-year-old.
Faith is woven in: mornings include scripture reading, prayer, hymns, and psalms. One Protestant reviewer noted that many families drawn to the curriculum, and many of its inspirations, are Catholic and Orthodox, but found it resonated wholeheartedly with her low-church family anyway.
The recommended Latin program was too expensive for one family; the Parent's Assistant moral tales, while good stories, are written in dated language that's hard to read aloud — a complaint that reviewer says she has heard from other moms too. Elements like stargazing and drawing instruction also proved easy to let slide.