I have to confess my heart missed a beat, when I saw my own book is in your signature :)

This made me laugh out loud! So very true.

What a fabulous signature! (Though I confess to feeling exhausted, just by reading it.)

Thank you Hilary! Exploring Nature With Children should be a great fit with Ambleside. I would love to hear your feedback.

We each have our own binder, and practice most days. We have a section for new material that is practiced each day, the a section for every day of the week. Stuff we have learned pretty well goes in there. Once we know it solidly, it get moved to a 'review' section that we practice when I remember. :huh:

Thanks Sorror My book, Exploring Nature With Children is 48 weeks worth of open & go nature study, that references the Handbook Of Nature Study.

I am sure you can squeeze in a little nature study, Susan :laugh: The age range is broad; I have tried to make it as user friendly as possible for all families. It gives you the necessary scientific info for each week's nature theme, then the parent can present that info as they see fit to each individual child. The extension activities included vary; venn diagrams, writing poetry, making models. I think that a child that is old enough to keep a nature journal would get the most out of it, but honestly, I wrote this book because I have been looking to buy something like this since my 12 yo was a toddler. I would have jumped at this book, even with a tiny, because it would equip me as a mum to talk with my child about nature, without having to go through a pile of different books first! Here is a link to my blog. If you click on any of the blue links, it takes you to the page where you can buy the book. On that page is a preview page. Click on the preview & you can see the table of contents, plus a whole week's activities. It should give you a good idea of whether it would be a good fit for your family. Thank you for your interest and question. Please do let me know if I can be of any more help. https://raisinglittleshoots.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/exploring-nature-with-children-a-complete-year-long-curriculum/

Wow...I am reeling :lol: Thank you so very much for such a thoughtful & comprehensive review, Sorror. I wrote this book because I needed something open & go, that would really make nature study, picture study, and poetry happen regularly for us, so I thought I couldn't be the only one who needed this book! I am really looking forward to hearing how you get on using Exploring Nature With Children.

Thank you

yes, indeed

So many wonderful points in here, thank you!

Thank you so much for sharing that article. I really appreciate those words. They will be good to go back & read when my dear friend is reminding me how her 10 yo learned to read from using FB.

Working on attitude is one of the goals I have written down for this year - for both my daughter & myself :huh: I have ordered SCM 'laying down the rails' to help me focus. Any other advice is greatly received.

Lol! I was devastated a year or two back when my (now 9 yo) said she hated school. When I actually sat down & take with her & went through it subject by subject, she was all 'hmm, that's ok, no, I like that one" etc etc. She just hates having to write anything, and honestly, I have her actually write very little. So it turns out that she just prefers to play with toys, be in the garden, or watch TV than do her school work...

Glad it's not just me :huh: I have been a lot happier as a parent since I realised school does not have to be fun.

I think in some circles, the attitude is that it must be fun. It is only about three/four years ago that I was finally able to shake that idea from my head. My kids do not find their learning fun (for the most part) & it made me feel quite the failure.

Absolutely!

Hello all I have just seen a thread in a local FB group (mainly autonomous home educators) that has me thinking... The main idea of the post is that learning should always be fun for the child. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this. My own perspective is that learning is not always fun...but there is an immense satisfaction from pushing through & learning something that required effort & commitment. I would also consider the difference between fun & interesting / absorbing. TIA!

ahh - it has just loaded as part of your post

I couldn't see the schedule - but I did have a look at your blog. I love it!

Thanks for taking the time to share - it is really odd, but for some reason I am unable to like your post - which I like to do to show I have read it & it was helpful. I have no idea why???

Ditto! My 12 yo is a very motivated child & works hard. This year we are hoping for her to study for her IGCSE in biology, so I have been looking at her workload. Everyone's posts are quite reassuring. Thank you again everyone for taking the time to share.

Would anyone care to show me how your child tends to work these hours, or is it just a case of starting at, say 9am, & working straight through with a break for lunch?

Thank you very much to everyone for taking the time to reply - your answers are most helpful.

Hello all Would anyone care to share their timetable / amount of time you allow for lessons for your 7th grader? TIA