Ages of Grace

Ages of Grace is a small Orthodox Christian homeschool curriculum organized around the chronological history of the world as the history of salvation, with literature, geography, art, and music woven into each historical period.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Charlotte Mason-inflected / classical / chronological unit studies / family-style
Worldview	Orthodox Christian (Byzantine and Orthodox Church history are integral to the content)
Grades	K-8, designed for multi-age family-style use
Formats	Print and digital (PDF) teacher materials
Cost tier	Budget
Parent intensity	5
ESA-common	Varies; ESA programs that permit religious curriculum typically include Ages of Grace; states that restrict religious materials may not
Accredited	No
Website	agesofgrace.com, as archived in January 2012; the domain no longer serves the curriculum site, and a September 2013 capture already shows a "site not found" page

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	3	Rigor comes through the quality of the primary texts the curriculum assigns; the framework itself is a guide rather than a standalone text
Ease of teaching	2	Family-style, teacher-intensive; requires the parent to lead read-alouds and discussions
Content quality	4	Integrates Orthodox Church history with general world history
Flexibility	4	Designed for multi-age family-style use; adaptable across grade ranges
Value for money	5	Budget pricing
Worldview scope	2	Built for Orthodox Christian families; Orthodox liturgical and theological content is integral, not bracketed
Visual/design	3	Functional document and guide design; not a visually ambitious published product
Support resources	3	Active homeschool group on Facebook; curriculum author engagement; no formal customer support infrastructure

Who the publisher is

The first published cycle, Age of Triumph, covers the Middle Ages and the Byzantine era, narrating history from the fall of the Western Empire to the fall of Constantinople with particular attention to the Byzantine Christian world, the monastic tradition, and the lives of saints across this period. Subsequent planned cycles, Age of Captivity, Age of Monasticism, and Age of Mission, extend the chronological arc through the sixteenth through twentieth centuries.

The core pedagogy

Ages of Grace is a family-style, multi-age curriculum in the tradition of Charlotte Mason-inflected chronological history programs such as My Father's World, Tapestry of Grace, and Heart of Dakota. The parent teaches all age-appropriate children together from the same historical period, using age-differentiated reading lists, activities, and writing assignments.

The distinguishing feature is the Orthodox theological and ecclesiastical content integrated into the history framework. Where a secular or Protestant chronological program treats the rise of the Byzantine Empire as one historical topic among many, Ages of Grace treats the history of the Church, the ecumenical councils, the lives of the saints, the development of liturgy, the iconographic tradition, as central to the historical narrative. This is not a supplement bolted onto a generic history program; it is the frame within which the rest of the content sits.

Signature mechanics: (1) Cycle structure. Each cycle covers a period of world history as a coherent year-long study (Age of Triumph for the Middle Ages / Byzantine era; subsequent cycles for later periods). (2) Family-style lesson plans. The parent teaches all ages together from a single set of plans with age-differentiated assignments. (3) Integrated subjects. History, geography, literature, art, music, and Orthodox Church history are taught together rather than as separate subjects. (4) Primary-source reading lists. The curriculum is a teacher guide; the parent sources the actual books (many available used or through Orthodox publishers) from annotated book lists.

What they do exceptionally well

Orthodox Christian integration at depth. This is the curriculum's central contribution. For Orthodox Christian homeschool families, finding a curriculum that treats the ecumenical councils, the development of Orthodox liturgy, the lives of the saints, and the Byzantine cultural inheritance as central rather than marginal to world history is, in our assessment, difficult. Ages of Grace does this work and does it with theological and historical seriousness.

Multi-age family-style design. The curriculum is built from the ground up for a family teaching across a wide grade range together. A family with four children across K-8 can teach them together in a single time block, with age-differentiated outputs.

Budget pricing. At $25 for the weekly lesson plans or $50 for the family curriculum package for Age of Triumph as of the publisher's January 2012 archived page, Ages of Grace was a low-priced full-year history-and-humanities curriculum.

What they do poorly

High parent-teaching load. Ages of Grace is a teacher guide, not a self-teaching product. The parent reads aloud, leads discussions, sources supplemental books from book lists, and coordinates across ages. Parents without time to prepare and teach will struggle. This is inherent to the family-style Charlotte Mason approach and not a flaw specific to Ages of Grace, but it should be named.

Small-publisher production values. The materials are functional and serviceable; they are not the visually polished, full-color productions of a Veritas Press or a Sonlight. Families who value the aesthetic quality of their materials alongside the content quality should expect a different visual experience.

Scope is humanities and history. Ages of Grace does not teach math, phonics, formal grammar, science, or foreign language (outside the liturgical Greek and Slavonic that may appear in supplementary materials). Families need a separate math, phonics, and science strategy; Ages of Grace is one part of a fuller homeschool plan.

Documentation and ongoing publication cadence. Families planning a multi-cycle arc should verify which cycles are currently available and which are forthcoming before beginning, rather than assuming the full planned sequence is in print.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Ages of Grace if: you are an Orthodox Christian family seeking a curriculum that integrates Orthodox Church history and theology with general world history; you want a family-style multi-age framework; you have time and energy for teacher-intensive read-alouds and discussions; you are comfortable sourcing primary texts from annotated book lists; you value a budget price and are content with a small-publisher production.

• Skip Ages of Grace if: you are not Orthodox Christian and do not want Orthodox theological and liturgical content integrated throughout the curriculum; you need a self-directed student curriculum; you want polished full-color published materials; you need a math, phonics, or science program (Ages of Grace does not provide these); your family structure does not lend itself to family-style multi-age teaching.

Cost honest assessment

Ages of Grace pricing is modest. A single cycle (such as Age of Triumph) was priced at $25 for the weekly lesson plans and $50 for the family curriculum package on the publisher's January 2012 archived page, with additional costs for the primary-source books the curriculum references (many of which can be sourced used for $3-$15 per title or through Orthodox publishers at reasonable prices). A realistic annual family budget for a full year of Ages of Grace plus the corresponding literature library runs $150-$400 depending on whether a family buys new or builds from used bookstores and library holds.

For comparison: My Father's World charges $300-$500 for a year's core package; Tapestry of Grace runs $250-$350 per year-plan plus substantial book costs; Catholic Heritage Curricula runs a roughly comparable package at a higher price point. In our assessment, Ages of Grace is cheaper than any of these commercial alternatives.

ESA eligibility notes

Ages of Grace is an explicitly Orthodox Christian curriculum, which affects ESA eligibility. State ESA programs that permit religious materials, including Arizona ESA, Florida Step Up For Students, and similar, typically reimburse purchases of Orthodox curriculum on the same footing as other Christian curriculum. States that restrict religious materials (including current and evolving policies in several state ESA programs) may not. Because Ages of Grace is a small publisher, it may not be individually listed as a vendor on every state ESA marketplace; families may need to purchase through an approved retailer or seek specific vendor approval. Families should verify with their specific state ESA program before planning purchases with ESA funds.

Alternatives

• Orthodox Christian Education Commission (OCEC), a family would choose OCEC's published materials over Ages of Grace because OCEC, an agency of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas, develops and publishes educational material for Orthodox churches in North America; OCEC is a supplement to secular homeschool, where Ages of Grace is a full humanities spine.
• Ancient Faith Publishing children's and homeschool titles, a family would choose Ancient Faith titles over Ages of Grace for specific Orthodox read-alouds and devotional materials rather than a structured curriculum.
• My Father's World, a family would choose My Father's World over Ages of Grace for a more polished commercial classical family-style curriculum in a broadly Protestant frame.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed Ages of Grace's content as archived from agesofgrace.com in January 2012, the Ages of Grace community wiki, the Orthodox Church in America news profile of the curriculum, and the Ancient Faith Ministries feature on the curriculum. Prices and program details are as of the archived publisher pages cited above.