Step back in time and bring history to life with our Victorian Era morning time session. Your family will love this beautiful Charlotte Mason study!
Step Back in Time with “Victorian Era” – A Charlotte Mason Curriculum for Homeschoolers
Are you ready to transport your homeschool to the elegance and innovation of the Victorian Era? With our Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum, Victorian Era, you and your children can dive into a world of rich history, timeless literature, and fascinating cultural developments that defined this iconic period.
This curriculum is designed to immerse your family in the spirit of the 19th century through living books, art studies, and hands-on activities. Explore the works of Lewis Carrol and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, study the poetry of Elizabeth Barret Browning, and marvel at the art and architecture of the time. Your children will learn about Queen Victoria’s reign, the Industrial Revolution, and the social changes that shaped the modern world.
Through carefully curated literature and poetry selections, your children will engage with beloved authors and poets from the Victorian period. Art and music studies introduce them to the era’s masterpieces, while history lessons bring key events and figures to life in an engaging and accessible way. To deepen the experience, the curriculum includes recipes, handicrafts, and activities inspired by Victorian traditions, allowing your children to connect with the past in meaningful and creative ways.
Whether you’re new to Charlotte Mason or a seasoned homeschooler, this curriculum provides everything you need to create a learning experience your family will cherish. Let Victorian Era inspire your homeschool journey as you uncover the beauty, complexity, and creativity of the 19th century. Your Victorian adventure awaits!
A Victorian Tea Time Spread
One of our favorite activities we include in this curriculum is a Tea Time Recipe section chock-full of foods that would have been created and eaten in the Victorian Era. Afternoon tea time was an important part of the Victorian Era, with everyone from nobles and aristocrats to the factory workers of the Industrial Revolution pausing to take tea during the day to recharge for the hours ahead. Create a tea time recipe each week and serve with tea, using the time to read through our reading selection we have paired with each recipe to create an engaging and lovely learning experience!
- Victorian Sponge Cake
- English Crumpets
- Rice Pudding
- Lemon Tart
- Charlotte Russe
- Trifle
Above, we have included a sneak peak of just a few of the delicious recipes we have included in this curriculum! Bake them with your family and immerse yourselves in the flavors of the Victorian Era!
Add a Victorian Poem to Your Tea Time:
We have included several poetry selections within this curriculum from our selected poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, that evoke the beauties and sensibilities of the Victorian Era, as well as a biography of our chosen poet. Additionally, we created copywork sheets from four of the poems for ages that range from primary through high school!
Patience Taught by Nature
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“O Dreary life!” we cry, “O dreary life!”
And still the generations of the birds
Sing through our sighing, and the flocks and herds
Serenely live while we are keeping strife
With Heaven’s true purpose in us, as a knife
Against which we may struggle. Ocean girds
Unslackened the dry land: savannah-swards
Unweary sweep: hills watch, unworn; and rife
Meek leaves drop yearly from the forest-trees,
To show, above, the unwasted stars that pass
In their old glory. O thou God of old!
Grant me some smaller grace than comes to these;—
But so much patience, as a blade of grass
Grows by contented through the heat and cold.
Delight in the Victorian Era with the 180+ page “Victorian Era Morning Time Session”!
Get ready for an adventure through time with our beautifully crafted “Victorian Era Morning Time Session!” This 180+ page guide has everything you need to immerse your family in the period of the Victorian Era through creative, hands-on learning activities.
Inside, you’ll find:
- 6-week Calendar with each subject scheduled on it
- Prayer and scripture memorization
- Copywork selections from In Your Arms I Am Safe, 1 Peter 1:3, Sonnet No. 44, The Lady’s Yes, Patience Taught By Nature, and Cheerfulness Taught By Reason in primary, elementary, cursive, and a notebook sheet for high school students (and moms)
- Memory Work: Prayer, scripture memory, and poetry memorization
- Living Books recommended reading list
- Artist & Picture Study: William Frith with six printable art pieces
- Composer Study: Felix Mendelssohn with six classical pieces (+ listening links)
- Poet Study: Elizabeth Barrett Browning with six poetry selections
- Hymn Study: Fairest Lord Jesus, with sheet music and listening links
- Folk Song Study: Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two), with sheet music and listening links
- 6 Victorian Teatime Recipes: Victorian Sponge Cake, English Crumpets, Rice Pudding, Lemon Tart, Charlotte Russe, and Trifle
- 5 Stories for Teatime Reading and 1 Theater Teatime: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter VII: “The Mad Tea Party” by Lewis Carroll, The Adventure of the Norwood Builder by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Importance of Being Earnest play, The Yellow Fairy Book, “Thumbelina” by Andrew Lang, “The Milkmaid and Her Pail” by Aesop
- Handicraft: Victorian Shellwork Trinket Box
- Art Lesson: William Morris-Inspired Art Lesson
- Nature study: Victorian Nature Study with Mini Writer Biographies!
- History & Geography: Excerpts from Our Island Story by H.E. Marshall, a timeline of the Victorian era, links to a documentary about the life of Queen Victoria, a map of the British Empire during Queen Victoria’s reign as well as an optional map drill, an overview of the history and geography of the Victorian era, and more!
- Shakespeare play: Cymbeline with links to a live-recorded performance
- And more!
Ready to explore the Victorian Era? Get your guide today and let the fun begin!
Have a Victorian Paint Party!
Included in this lesson is an art lesson inspired by a beautiful wallpaper design by William Morris. Morris is best known as a Victorian Era designer and a leader of the Arts & Crafts Movement. With his company, Morris & Co., he advocated for “handmade production” that went against the grain of the era’s industrial progress. His company created furniture, wallpapers, carpets, embroiders, tapestries, tiles, book designs, and more.
Morris famously said, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
During this art lesson, we discuss pattern design, motifs, and negative space using his wallpaper, Peacock & Dragon, as our inspiration piece. So grab a cup of tea and a biscuit and start creating!
Peacock & Dragon by William Morris.
Enjoying your paint party too much to stop? Grab these Victorian literature-inspired lessons from the Masterpiece Society to keep the fun going!
Living Books for Exploring the Victorian Era
Do you have these books in your library? Engage your children in a Victorian adventure with these immersive and educational titles!
Elementary & Middle Grades
The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad (Landmark Books, 9)
Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-GlassDavid Copperfield (Baker Street Readers)The Princess and the Goblin (Puffin Classics)Five Children and It (Mint Editions (The Children’s Library))Who Was Queen Victoria?Who Was Beatrix Potter? (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)Poetry for Young People: William WordsworthI Never Knew That About the Lake DistrictSwallows and Amazons by Arthur RANSOME (1958-08-01)Treasure IslandKidnapped
Upper Grades
Great Expectations-Treasury of Illustrated Classics Storybook CollectionJane Eyre by Charlotte BronteWuthering Heights (Macmillan Collector’s Library)The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Volume IWives and Daughters (Wordsworth Classics)Cranford: The Original 1853 Literary ClassicSilas MarnerMiddlemarch (Macmillan Collector’s Library)Far from the Madding Crowd (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas HardyThe Woman in WhiteVanity Fair: Introduction by Catherine Peters (Everyman’s Library Classics Series)Nothing Like it in the World: The Men That Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 New Edition by Ambrose, Stephen E. published by Simon & Schuster Ltd (2002)What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England
We hope you enjoy your Victorian adventure!
Bring the beauty and inspiration of the Victorian Era into your homeschool with this Charlotte Mason curriculum. With its rich blend of art, and literature, music, and history, Victorian Era promises to create unforgettable learning moments for your family. Start your journey today and discover the magic of this timeless period! And remember:
“It may be that the souls of all children are waiting for the call of knowledge to awaken them to delightful living.”
-Charlotte Mason
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