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Prelude is a gentle introduction to a Charlotte Mason education and the quiet first movement of a child’s learning journey.
Designed for ages five to six, this year-long kindergarten guide invites young learners into a beautiful feast of stories, poetry, music, art, nature, and living ideas. Through carefully chosen readings, recitation, observation, and the formation of good habits, children begin to grow in attention, curiosity, and delight.
Throughout the year, children encounter small echoes—of words, beauty, truth, wonder, story, and character. These include gentle introduction to phonics, music to listen to, poems to speak, pictures to observe, and stories to remember. These experiences return again and again, allowing familiarity and affection to grow naturally. The goal is not early mastery, but the cultivation of wonder and the quiet beginnings of a life of learning.
Prelude prepares both the child and the parent for the years to come. When the time arrives, families step naturally into Overture, the first volume of The Symphony of History, where the great story of the ancient world begins and the full harmony of Epoch and Echoes unfolds. Or or the family is already studying history in a later epoch the younger child can seamless join and be prepared to encounter the echoes with delight.
Recommended book list:
- your choice of phonics (suggestions are included)
- your choice of math (suggestions are included)
- art books: four from Gladys Blizzard (if not accessible, art is also included in Prelude Picture Study Gallery)
- music: Can You Hear It? by William Lach from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- poetry: A Child’s Garden of Verses by Gyo Fujikawa OR The Random House Book of Poetry by Jack
Prelutsky AND Around the Year by Elsa Beskow
- truth: The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook: Old Testament and New Testament from Lithos Kids AND The Parables of Jesus from Lithos Kids
- story:
- Fifty Famous People by Baldwin (find at LivingBookPress)
- Abel's Island by Steig
- Charlotte's Web by White
- The Children of Noisy Village by Lindgren
- Fairy Tales and Fables by Fujikawa
- Aesop for Children by Winter
- The Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit by Chandler
- wonder:
- Seed Babies and The Insect Folk by Morley (find at LivingBookPress)
- Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling
- Me on the Map by Sweeney
- and various assigned and optional picture books
Your purchase also includes: The Quiet Work Companion (child's notebook), The Quiet Work Printables, and Prelude Picture Study Gallery
*the guide includes QR Codes for easy links, if you choose to print the document.
For printing, we recommend our print partner Humble Heart Press.
Due to the digital nature of this product, we are unable to accept returns.
