How to Choose a Charlotte Mason Curriculum: What I Learned from A Delectable Education

When I first started learning about Charlotte Mason’s method, I felt completely overwhelmed. I’d fallen in love with the philosophy — the living books, the short lessons, the idea of education as a feast rather than a checklist — but the how of it all felt just out of reach. I’d open one curriculum guide, close it ten minutes later, open another, and feel no closer to an answer than when I started.

If you’re standing in that same spot right now, staring at a dozen browser tabs trying to figure out how to choose a Charlotte Mason curriculum, I want you to know two things: you’re not behind, and you don’t have to figure this out alone. This is the story of how I found my footing — and what I now know about choosing curriculum that actually fits your family.

Before we go further: if you want a head start on the “now what do I do with these books” question, grab my free Plan Your Year starter guide here — it walks you through the same 4-step framework I use with every client to map out their year with clarity.

What Makes a Charlotte Mason Curriculum Different

Before you can choose a Charlotte Mason curriculum, it helps to know what you’re actually choosing between. Charlotte Mason’s method isn’t a boxed set you buy and open — it’s a philosophy of education, and the curriculum is simply the set of tools and books you use to live it out. That’s exactly why it feels harder to choose than a traditional program. There’s no single “right” box to check.

Living Books vs. Textbooks in a Charlotte Mason Curriculum

At the center of any Charlotte Mason curriculum are living books — books written by a single author with a real voice and narrative, rather than dry textbooks written by committee. Living books are what make narration possible, because a child can only narrate back what actually captured their attention in the first place. When you’re evaluating any Charlotte Mason curriculum, the first question to ask is simple: are these living books, or are they textbooks wearing a living-book label?

Why Charlotte Mason Books Matter More Than a Boxed Set

This is the piece that took me the longest to understand: the goal was never to find the perfect box. It was to choose good Charlotte Mason books, subject by subject, and know why you chose them. That’s a completely different skill than shopping — and it’s the skill I didn’t have when I started.

Why I Turned to A Delectable Education

I looked at curriculum after curriculum, trying to find my footing, and nothing quite clicked. So I did what most of us do when we’re stuck: I asked my friends. More than one of them said the same thing — talk to Liz at A Delectable Education.

My First Consult with A Delectable Education

I scheduled a consult, and Liz and I spent two hours together going subject by subject through Charlotte Mason’s method — what to use, when to do it, how often. She was warm and encouraging in a way that made the whole thing feel possible instead of overwhelming. By the time we hung up, I had a plan for every subject and knew exactly what I was going to use with my own children.

What A Delectable Education Walks You Through Subject by Subject

That’s really the heart of what A Delectable Education offers: someone sitting with you, subject by subject, helping you choose Charlotte Mason books. If you’ve never had that kind of subject-by-subject walkthrough before, it’s hard to overstate how much clarity it gives you.

A Delectable Education Consult vs. Curriculum Cohort

A Delectable Education still offers those one-on-one consults, and I can’t recommend the experience enough for a mom who needs someone to sit with her and hand her clarity. But this year, I switched over to their curriculum cohort instead — and the shift taught me something I didn’t expect.

What I Missed About the A Delectable Education Consult

I’ll be honest — I miss the consult. There was something so encouraging about talking it through with Liz directly, having someone else hold the “what should I use” question for me while I just listened and took notes.

What’s Included in the A Delectable Education Cohort

The cohort itself is far more than a stack of pre-recorded lessons. It’s built around modules that walk you through each subject one at a time, so you’re never guessing what comes next. On top of that, you get monthly live coaching calls where you can submit your own questions and get direct feedback — so it’s not purely self-guided, you still have real people in your corner. There’s also an online community hub where members swap resources, answer each other’s questions, and troubleshoot in real time. And Emily and Liz themselves are still remarkably responsive throughout, which surprised me for a program at this scale.

You also get a full 18 months of access, which matters more than it might sound like at first. It gives you room to go back and listen to a module a second or third time once you’re actually living it out with your kids, not just theoretically planning it. Between the modules, the coaching calls, the community, and that length of access, the value in the cohort is well beyond what you pay for it. If you’re willing to put in the work of building your own Charlotte Mason curriculum rather than having it handed to you, it’s an investment that pays for itself many times over.

What the Cohort Taught Me Instead

The cohort gave me something different, and in some ways more lasting: it handed me the tools to build each of my children’s Charlotte Mason curriculum myself. Detailed how-to videos for every subject, living book lists, the whole framework laid out for me to work through at my own pace. It took longer — I had to listen through each lesson and build the plan on my own instead of having it handed to me at the end of a phone call — but that extra time is exactly what deepened my understanding. I don’t just have a plan now. I have the confidence to build one, term after term, without needing to start from scratch.

How to Know If A Delectable Education Is Right for You

Not every mom is in the same season, and that’s okay. Here’s how I’d think through it.

Signs You Need Charlotte Mason Curriculum Guidance

If you’re brand new to the method, feeling overwhelmed by options, or simply don’t have the bandwidth this season to research every subject from scratch, a guided consult — like the one A Delectable Education offers — is worth every bit of the investment. You need someone to hand you clarity, not one more list to sort through alone.

Signs You’re Ready to Build Your Charlotte Mason Curriculum Yourself

If you already understand the basics of the method and want to deepen your own skill — so you’re not dependent on someone else’s recommendations every single year — a cohort-style or self-paced resource will serve you better. It costs you more time up front and pays you back in confidence for every year that follows.

What Comes After You Choose Your Charlotte Mason Books

Here’s the piece nobody tells you about this method: choosing your Charlotte Mason curriculum is only step one. The goal was never just to get a book list. It was to become the kind of mom who can turn that list into an actual week.

Turning Charlotte Mason Books into a Daily Plan

Once you have your books in hand, you still have to answer the practical questions: When do we do this subject? How many days a week? In what order, and for how long? How do we take these books and this method and use it to fit our specific children — their ages, their interests, our family’s rhythm. That gap — between having the books and living the term — is exactly where my own Living Year Framework was born, out of the same shift I went through moving from consult to cohort.

Planning Session or Plan Your Year — Which Fits You

If you want that done alongside you, one-on-one, a Planning Session walks you through mapping your year, building your timetable, weekly plan, and creating your daily checklist for your specific family needs— together, with a follow-up call two weeks later to see how it’s actually holding up. If you’d rather build that skill yourself, at your own pace, Plan Your Year walks you through the same four steps so you finish with a plan and the ability to build the next one without me.

You Don’t Have to Choose Your Charlotte Mason Curriculum Alone

Wherever you are in this process — still choosing your books, or holding them and wondering what comes next — you don’t have to figure it out by yourself. A Delectable Education can help you choose what to use. And when you’re ready to turn it into an actual, livable week, grab my free Plan Your Year starter guide to get started, or reach out about a Planning Session or Plan Your Year when you’re ready for the next step.

Come slowly. Come faithfully. The feast is laid.