After abdandoing my plans to do AO (good riddance...this was a good move for me/us), I am planning out the year for my 1st and 3rd grader. We will be using SOTW as our history spine, and I have the activity books to refer to as well, for maps and such. We are also going to be using Brave Writer for each child (The Wand and The Arrow). With AO, everything was laid out and scheduled for me, down to page numbers, so I knew what to plan for a week, a month, etc. Now that I'm on my own, I'm freaking out a little bit! I have us down to do about a chapter (sometimes 2) from SOTW for each child. Yes,they will be in different cycles of history...I really want my 3rd grader to be "caught up" in regards to the cycle going forward, and she's a strong independent reader, so I can hand it off to her. Does this amount per week seem reasonable? I know it's not wise to try to get supplemental history books for each topic, but I have planned out at least one most weeks, titles I can get from the library or that we own. Should I do that, or make it simpler and just let SOTW stand on its own? How much supplemental reading do you do? Spelling/writing/grammar will be through Brave Writer, but I'd like to assign some other literature to my 3rd grader as well, in addition to the monthly BW book. The trouble is, I have no idea how quickly we'll move through them, and I don't know how to account for that on the schedule. Meaning, as I go though and map out each week, do I note down the book I want her to be reading? If she's not done with it , or already flew through it, then the subsequent weeks of schedules will be "off." I'm sure I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be, but now that I'm not following AO's pre-made schedule, I'm a bit of a loss. I won't be handing her a book and saying "read pages 20-25 and stop to narrate," and then dropping the book for another week. Its all much more fluid, and I don't know how to plan for that! Or is everything other than the BW book a "strongly suggested free read" for her to get to when she has reading time each day? More thoughts: we are doing RS for math. That's all fine. I am planning poetry/Shakespeare/art study/songs as part of morning time all together. That seems doable. That leaves me with science. I'd rather not make nature study the main part of our science...I just...don't love it, and it turns into play outside time, not categorize trees time. Lol. I have BFSU, but I find it baffling and so confusing. I don't have it in me to plan those lessons. Thoughts on another science approach? Kids would be combined on this one. I'd really appreciate some feedback and advice. We're starting in 2.5 weeks, and I just undid all my plans this weekend, so I'm scrambling and nervous to be going "on my own." Grateful for the help!

I couldn't bump this thread, so I'm copying and pasting this post and linking to it. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/172250-aowtm-schedule/?p=1659079 Ambleside Selections in a 4 Year Rotation Year 1: Ancients, BC 5000 – 400 AD Trial & Triumph by Richard Hannula - Polycarp - Blandina - Constantine - Athanasius - Ambrose Book of your choice for Creation to Abraham (ideas: Egermeier’s Bible Story Book, Adam and His Kin) On The Shores of the Great Sea by M.B. Synge - Entire Book The Discovery of New Worlds by M.B. Synge - Chapters 1 – 11 Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin - The Blind Men and the Elephant - Horatius at the Bridge - The Brave Three Hundred - The Story of Cincinnatus - The Sword of Damocles - Damon and Pythias - A Laconic Answer - The Ungrateful Guest - Alexander and Bucephalus - Diogenes the Wise Man - Socrates and His House - The Story of Regulus - Cornelia’s Jewels - Androclus and the Lion Literature - The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter - Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling - Parables From Nature by Margaret Gatty - The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang Year 2: Medieval/Early Renaissance, 400 - 1600 Trial & Triumph by Richard Hannula - Monica and Augustine - Patrick - Pope Gregory I - Boniface - Charlemagne - Alfred the Great - Anselm - Bernard of Clairvaux - Peter Waldo and the Waldensians - Francis of Assisi - Elizabeth of Hungary - John Wyclif - John Huss - Martin Luther - William Tyndale - John Calvin - Anne Askew - Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer - John Knox - Jeanne d’Albret - Renee Discovery of New Worlds by M.B. Synge - Chapters 12 – 50 The Awakening of Europe by M.B. Synge - Chapters 1 – 30 Our Island Story by H.E. Marshall - Chapters 1 – 94 This Country of Ours by H.E. Marshall - Chapters 1 – 28 Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin - King Alfred and the Cakes - King Alfred and the Beggar - King Canute on the Seashore - The Sons of William the Conqueror - The White Ship - The King and His Hawk - A Story of Robin Hood - King John and the Abbot - Three Men of Gotham - Other Wise Men of Gotham - Bruce and the Spider - The Black Douglas - The Story of William Tell - The Inchcape Rock - Whittington and his Cat - Arnold Winkelried - Sir Humphrey Gilbert - Sir Walter Raleigh - Sir Philip Sidney - The Miller of the Dee - The Ungrateful Soldier Viking Tales by Jennie Hall - Chapters 1 – 11 Literature - Tales From Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb - Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan - Robin Hood by Howard Pyle - The Heroes by Charles Kingsley - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - The Children of the New Forest by F Marryat - The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling Historical Tales/Biography - The Little Duke by Charlotte Yonge - Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley - Bard of Avon by Diane Stanley - Landing of the Pilgrims by James Daugherty Year 3: Late Renaissance/ Early Modern, 1600 – 1850 Trial & Triumph by Richard Hannula - Gustavus Adolphus - Richard Cameron - The Two Margarets - John Bunyan - Jonathon Edwards - George Whitefield - John Wesley - John Newton - David Brainerd - William Carey The Awakening of Europe by M.B. Synge - Chapters 31 – 53 The Struggle for Sea Power by M.B. Synge - Chapters 1 – 47 The Growth of the British Empire - Chapters 1 – 12 Our Island Story - Chapters 95 – 98 (George III) This Country of Ours - Chapters 29 – 91 George Washington’s World by Genevieve Foster Abraham Lincoln’s World by Genevieve Foster Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin - Pocahontas - The Kingdoms - George Washington and His Hatchet - Doctor Goldsmith - Antonio Canova - Casabianca - Mignon - How Napoleon Crossed the Alps - Picciola - Maximilian and the Goose Boy - Grace Darling Literature - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dufoe - Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson - The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford - The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle History Tales/Biography - Poor Richard by James Daugherty - Of Courage Undaunted by James Daugherty Year 4: Modern Times, 1850 - Present Trial & Triumph by Richard Hannula - David Lingstone - John Paton - Hudson Taylor - Amy Carmichael - Charles Spurgeon - Chinese Christians - Abraham Kuyper - J. Gresham Machen - C. S. Lewis - Richard Wurmbrand The Growth of the British Empire by M.B. Synge - Chapters 13 – 43 Our Island Story by H.E. Marshall - Chapters 99-110 This Country of Ours by H.E. Marshall - Chapters 92 – 99 The Story of the World Volume 4 by Susan Wise Bauer Literature - Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens - Kim by Rudyard Kipling - The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - Animal Farm by George Orwell History Tales/Biography - Carry a Big Stick by George Grant - Never Give In by Stephen Mansfield

Okay, I found this blog showing a year 1 timeline. I think I can do this. http://joyouslessons.blogspot.com/2012/10/first-grade-in-our-home-timelines.html I think I'm just going to use regular lined notebook paper and fold it in half. The students can use the borders to decorate or leave them blank. So I'll have about 50% more pages than the example at the link, if I have 2 columns instead of 3 on each page. I think that'll be okay. What should I use for headings, though, if I'm using this for AO? I think I saw some "official" CM headings somewhere. Not that I really care what CM did; I just want things to mesh so nothing bites me in the butt later when I'm least expecting it. If everything gels together nicely, that is all I want. Please help me keep this SIMPLE. No printing or measuring or art projects. I know some of you love your timelines, but I'm just NOT in the mood to play right now with timelines or to spend any money.