Ambleside Online Users?

[MommyInTraining]

Could you share with me why you like AO?

 

Could you recommend how to get started in it?

 

Could you share what has helped you in your planning for multiple children?

 

Would you mind sharing why you prefer AO over other CM influenced curriculums such as My Father's World and Heart of Dakota (HOD)?

 

I would especially like to hear about that last point if there are any of you out there who have used MFW or HOD (or considered it) and then decided to go with AO instead.

 

Thanks so much for your time!

 

Terri

[Peela]

I am not going to be of much help, but I use Ambleside because its free and I can tweak it as much as I like, or use just parts of it, mix and match with TWTM, LCC, whatever. I haven't seen the other programs you mention because I think you have to pay for them?

I am using the AO/HEO year 7 this year because I have always wanted to try AO and this year lined up with our medieval history year, and everyone says year 7 is a good year. We are loving some of teh books, and others we dropped. I tweak everything. I dont use all the AO methodology because I have teens, although I have used plenty of it over the years- copywork, dictation and narrations galore. I tried the schedule and I didnt like it much so I made my own.

As you can see, buying a program just wouldnt work for me :)

[Ummto4]

We just start out with AO Year 1 with my first grade boy, and we're doing it slowly.

 

We love AO because:

- We like the stories. My son loves the literature selection, historical tales and natural stories . We don't do the Christian part though.

-AO stories instills the love of learning and I can see the effects of what we read in my son's mind and characters, for instance: the bird stories give him a tender feeling and love towards birds. I attribute this to the effect of using living books as the school book. We do peruse encyclopedia or fact-filled books but they are for supplement only.

- Narration improves my son's comprehension and language ability a lot (he's a language-delayed boy). We narrate 2x/day.

- It's easy to do. We're not crafty. So, reading scheduled books is the easiest thing we can do. The amount of book read is also doable.

-It's cheap.

- School is short, yet we cover a lot and my son retains much of what we read which I think is due to narration and reading slowly.

 

 

I don't use HOD and MFW because we're not Christian. I've seen those curricula though out of curiosity. Since I never use them, I won't comment on HOD/MFW vs AO, but I think I still would prefer AO to them.

[farmnwife]

We use AO because after I discovered CM it was the first I found with a schedule and is free. We have been using it for 4 yrs. It is extremely easy for me to write up the lesson plans for the week. The book selection is great. I have not seen the other two you mention. Since AO has worked so well for us I quit looking at other curric.

 

For multiple dc, just put some in the same AO year. I have my 11yo & 12 yo in the same yr. At the AO site, they answer most any question you have or the yahoo group will.

 

To get started, just go slowly. Start with AO history only. Do the readings and have them narrate or do written summaries. Then add other parts of the AO as you become comfortable with it. It is not hard at all or I wouldn't be doing it. There's just a lot of pieces to the whole puzzle. But once you get used to the process, it becomes very natural.

 

For us the schedule is everything. It keeps us on track. We know what is done or needs to be. I can send you a copy if you would like.

email me farmnwife at yahoo.com

[Chloe]

:lurk5:

[Testimony]

Probably because it is free. I mean where else can you get an entire curriculum done for you for nothing. You can practically do the whole program online with the exception of math. Even that there are online stuff that you can do.

 

I have to admit too that I met one of the moderators (creators) of Ambleside. Her children are now on a frisbee team with my son. I just love her diligence. She is a true homeschooler. She reads every book to her children. She has them narrate a lot of things. I have gleaned some nice stuff from this beautiful woman.

 

What do I love about it? I love the rich literature based recommendations. They do not recommend the water down version of a book. You must read the original. It is interesting because a lot of these books are Disney movies, but they are the real version i.e. the 450 page book. AAA!

 

How do I do it?

I do Hymns and Poetry on Monday: We listen to hymns at Cyberhymnal.

Composer and Artists on Tuesday: Artist Study is picture study during table time. We play a guessing game where you have them look at the picture. Point out all the things they see in the picture. Turn the picture around and then guess what was in the picture. We do that for a month on the same artist.

Folk Songs on Wednesday: We go to the Youtube and look up the recommended song. Then we listen.

 

That is what I do first thing in the morning. We do regular math and language arts. Then we read Plutarch and Shakespeare for my older son. When he was younger, we only did two paragraphs at a time. He would draw pictures about the story and tell me the story based upon the pictures.

 

We have also acted out the Shakespeare stories. I used Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, but now it will be different since he is older.

 

My children play piano and violin. So that is there fine arts.

 

Hey, on the Ambleside Online board, I discovered the Home Depot does these kids workshops on the first Saturday of every month. My children made a wheelbarrel. They actually worked with a hammer and nails. It was exciting to see my sons were getting woodshop classes at Home Depot. So, that is my craft.

 

I hope that helps!

 

Blessings in your homeschooling journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Honey Bee]

I have been looking at AO for a long time, since I will have a 1, k, and pre-ker next year. I love the literature selections, especially about nature and animals. I also found another CM website that used most of the AO selections. I like the way she has set up the schedule and booklist also. I really prefer this website, especially for 1st grade (we will be using this next year). Hope you enjoy!

 

http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/2006/01/our-curriculum.html

[LoveBaby]

Could you share with me why you like AO? I *adore* the book selections and so do my children. I like that it's free, that it is easy to adapt to our families needs.

 

Could you recommend how to get started in it? Just jump in...:)

 

Seriously though...there is a wealth of information on the AO site as well as through their yahoo groups. Everyone has been very kind in answering any ??'s I've still had, even though I'm sure they here the same thing all the time.

 

Could you share what has helped you in your planning for multiple children? I'm still working on that. I recently read "Latin Centered Curriculum" and his format makes sense to me and I am incorporating that into our AO studies.

 

Would you mind sharing why you prefer AO over other CM influenced curriculums such as My Father's World and Heart of Dakota (HOD)?

 

This is tough for me, as I've used MFW for the last 3 years and feel fiercely loyal to it, but it just wasn't fitting our families needs any longer. A little background...Ambleside was my first love when I started homeschooling. I read all of the CM books and knew I wanted to teach my chlildren this way....then I went to my 1st Hs'ing convention (and didn't see/meet/hear about any CM'ers) and didn't I didn't trust myself enough to deliver that kind of education. I felt my confidence waver and then I was expecting our 4th baby, so a pick-up and go just made sense at the time.

 

Now...I'm much more confident in my homeschooling. I don't particularly like scripted lesson plans. I don't like feeling confined by a grid telling me what to do when. I *know* I don't have to do exactly what the grid says, but I always feel like I'm breaking the rules or something if I don't, KWIM?

 

I've enjoyed just reading with my children, not running to the library and feeling like we are missing something if we don't do every activity, every song etc. I like that I'm making the rules now...

[MicheleinMN]

Could you share with me why you like AO?

 

I really like most of the book choices for history and literature

 

Could you recommend how to get started in it?

 

I found Carol H's website and used her schedule for Year 4 with my then 6th/7th grade children. http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cheps/schedules.html

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cheps/pdf.html

Could you share what has helped you in your planning for multiple children?

 

I like http://www.simplycharlottemason.com for keeping all the younger children in the same historical time period.

Would you mind sharing why you prefer AO over other CM influenced curriculums such as My Father's World and Heart of Dakota (HOD)?

 

I don't like MFW book choices as well as Ambleside's, and I can NOT follow anyone else's day by day schedule.

I would especially like to hear about that last point if there are any of you out there who have used MFW or HOD (or considered it) and then decided to go with AO instead.

 

I looked at MFW again for Rome to Reformation, but after printing off the sample schedule, I know I would not be happy trying to follow it.

 

HTH

Edited May 13, 2009 by MicheleinMN

[MommyInTraining]

not...feeling like we are missing something if we don't do every activity, every song etc. I like that I'm making the rules now...

 

I like that quote.

 

For others of you who plan your own lessons, would you say that is a motivating factor for you?

[Jami]

Terri,

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you the poster that prefers to avoid books with talking animals in them? Ambleside has many selections that will not fit your literature criteria. Off the top of my head there are numerous fairy tales with magical creatures, Aesop's fables, Charlotte's Web and other E.B. White books, Dr. Dolittle, Wind in the Willows, Water Babies, etc. Many of them are in the free reading, but some are the primary literature selections for various years.

 

Jami

[MommyInTraining]

Terri,

 

are you the poster that prefers to avoid books with talking animals in them? Jami

 

 

That would be me :001_smile:. But, I figure I can just substitute something else, just like I would have to do with other programs like MFW.

 

Do you see that being a problem?

 

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

[MommyInTraining]

So, for those of you with lots of children, is it hard to do AO with different levels of learners? Are you able to combine them or do you have to keep each child pretty much in their own grade level?

 

Thanks!

[Mandy in TN]

So, for those of you with lots of children, is it hard to do AO with different levels of learners? Are you able to combine them or do you have to keep each child pretty much in their own grade level?

 

AO discusses this in their FAQ section.

http://www.amblesideonline.org/FAQ.shtml

 

"How do I do this with more than one child?

 

Members vary in how they manage with multiple children. Many combine history/literature readings so they can read aloud to all the students at the same time. Their children do math and language arts at their own appropriate levels. Since many of the books are advanced and not 'dumbed down,' this can work well as most of the books in the earliest Years will not be below the level of older students. On the other hand, many parents have found that it works out easier to keep children in their own levels, especially when students do most of their school reading on their own.

Whether you combine children in the same Year or keep children in their own Year, you can combine art appreciation, music, nature study, Shakespeare and other topics that aren't specifically grade-relevant. It can be useful for even the youngest child to listen in on the older child's Plutarch lesson; even if nothing is required of him, the exposure to the language may help prepare him for future books in later Years."

 

Other questions answered include-

Can I schedule two of my children in the same Year, or do they need to be doing their own Year?

What do I do with my toddler while I'm doing school?

 

Although I adore the CM method and very much enjoy the AO website, I have never been able to jump into AO. Perhaps for me it is the lack of grids and schedules that pushes me toward purchasing a program that I can tweak instead of design. Due to this, I cannot answer your questions about AO directly.

 

I also do not have a large family, but I do have a large age spread! I have a 6yo and a 15yo who will be studying the middle ages together next year. I bought WP QMA. (It is on its way here now!)

 

Together they will do the QMA Bible readings, Trial an Triumph (this is actually scheduled in AO), MOH2, and the WP QMA cultural and art selections. The 15yo will do the rest of the QMA history and the QMA JrHigh/SrHigh schedule independently. Then, for the 6yo I scheduled in poetry and literature from AO1. For the 15yo I scheduled in books from AO7 and the geography from AO9 lite. As another poster mentioned, I too found http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/ to be very helpful.

 

 

So, as in the AO FAQ suggestion, I am combining them for some Bible, history, art, and of course nature study. I am not combining for Shakespeare as I will read retellings to the 6yo and the 15yo will read Shakespeare's plays, but perhaps we will do the same plays and try to watch a movie version together. All of the rest of their subjects will need to be completed separately at the appropriate levels.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[MicheleinMN]

So, for those of you with lots of children, is it hard to do AO with different levels of learners? Are you able to combine them or do you have to keep each child pretty much in their own grade level?

 

Thanks!

 

I combine my children until they are able to read well on their own, and even then I often keep children close in age in the same time period. (They either share books, or I use different books but with the same feel/theme. Sometimes I just buy 2 copies of a book because that's the easiest way to handle it.)

 

My older two children did Ambleside Years 1-5 together. (Years 1-3 I read aloud to them. Years 4 & 5 they did the reading on their own except for Shakespeare and Plutarch.)

 

Next two ds's are doing an Ambleside/SL combination for literature and history. (Finishing Ancients heading into Middle Ages, where ds (12) will do a combination of HO Level 2/Ambleside Year 7/SL, and ds (10) will do a more modified plan because I have more books from Yesterday's Classics and Galore Park to add into the mix.)

 

Dd (9) will read from the Ambleside Year 2 list, and ds (7) is still struggling to learn to read well, so he will have readers and listen to read-alouds with his older siblings.

 

Poetry, Shakespeare, Picturesque Tale of Progress (World History), and an American History book (A History for Peter) are read-aloud (one each day) in the afternoon following lunch.

 

My older two are doing a modified Year 9/WEM/Great Books plan.

 

I think it would have been simpler to give each child his/her own Ambleside Year, but as we do read-alouds together giving one child a particular year with the younger ones having the same history period has worked well for us.

 

HTH

[Jennefer@SSA]

How do I do it?

I do Hymns and Poetry on Monday: We listen to hymns at Cyberhymnal.

Composer and Artists on Tuesday: Artist Study is picture study during table time. We play a guessing game where you have them look at the picture. Point out all the things they see in the picture. Turn the picture around and then guess what was in the picture. We do that for a month on the same artist.

Folk Songs on Wednesday: We go to the Youtube and look up the recommended song. Then we listen.

 

That is what I do first thing in the morning. We do regular math and language arts. Then we read Plutarch and Shakespeare for my older son. When he was younger, we only did two paragraphs at a time. He would draw pictures about the story and tell me the story based upon the pictures.

 

We have also acted out the Shakespeare stories. I used Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, but now it will be different since he is older.

 

 

I am enjoying this thread and hope to see more post their thoughts as we are jumping in to a CM inspired school next year. Karen, I found your above ideas especially helpful! Thanks so very much!

[East Coast Sue]

Do you print out the reading or do your children read at the computer?

 

I've used AO but I haven't figured out if I should print it all out. My kids are ok at reading at the computer but maybe its better to print out a copy....

 

Susan

[mama25angels]

Do you print out the reading or do your children read at the computer?

 

I've used AO but I haven't figured out if I should print it all out. My kids are ok at reading at the computer but maybe its better to print out a copy....

 

Susan

 

 

I would print the majority out and then allow them to read some at the computer if they are ok with it.

[mama25angels]

I am enjoying this thread and hope to see more post their thoughts as we are jumping in to a CM inspired school next year. Karen, I found your above ideas especially helpful! Thanks so very much!

 

 

 

I agree, i'm gleaning much from this thread.

[Punks in Ontario]

Could you share with me why you like AO?

 

I've used it for a few years as a reading list. The boys liked the books it used. This year I've used AO7 for my older boys and AO1 for my younger two.

 

 

Could you recommend how to get started in it?

 

The first thing I did was preview the books to know if they were likely to "fit" well for our family. Many did, but a few such as the fairy stories did not.

 

I put the weekly schedules into an excel spreadsheet for the whole year. The older boys are responsible for making sure they do the readings etc that are for that week. Some of the more difficult reads, we do aloud. I check narrations.

 

I keep track of the younger ones' schedule. With the spreadsheet, I know exactly what should be done without getting off track. (Well, we're actually behind right now!)

 

Could you share what has helped you in your planning for multiple children?

 

As you can see, I've combined children who are close in age. They still do individual work in math and science.

 

Sorry, I can't help with the last question. I've never used the others. Something I love about AO is that the selections are not dumbed down at all and I can tweak all I like. I'm changing AO 8 more than I did year 7.

 

Punks

4 boys (12, 11, 6, 5)

[MicheleinMN]

Do you print out the reading or do your children read at the computer?

 

I've used AO but I haven't figured out if I should print it all out. My kids are ok at reading at the computer but maybe its better to print out a copy....

 

Susan

 

 

I buy the books either from Amazon or from out-of-print/used book sellers.

 

HTH

[KS_]

I buy the books either from Amazon or from out-of-print/used book sellers.

 

HTH

 

I buy our books, too - I don't like reading off of the computer - there's something about having an actual book :)

 

There are Yahoo groups, though, that have formatted books if you want to print them:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aoyear1books/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aoyear2books/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aoyear3books/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aoyear4books

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AO_Year03_PDF/

[laylamcb]

Could you share with me why you like AO?

AO has the richest and most wonderful reading list--and a LOT of the selections are in the public domain. Having said that, I've purchased nearly all of the AO books we've used just because it's so much more comfy to cuddle up and read together. (FWIW, you can search the AO site for a complete booklist by author last name, print it out and stick it in your purse, and be ready to pick up most AO selections used wherever you may happen across a used bookstore. Ask me how I know. ;))

 

The AO selections have really challenged my daughter, which can be tough because although she can't read, she is a very advanced "listener."

 

It's also a very changeable curriculum, so for example in Year 2, I've cut a couple of selections, pulled in a couple from Year 3, and added in some SOTW2-related readings to keep our history and lit more or less in the Middle Ages.

 

Could you recommend how to get started in it?

Er...we started in Year 1, so I guess a lot would depend on what year you are starting with. I just took their Year 1 schedule, copied it into a Word doc, and added little ___s in front of each reading to check off when we'd completed it. Then I added the rest of the week's work (for example, 5 ___s for phonics, 6 ___s for math, 4 ___s for copywork, etc.), stuck in a page break, and VOILA! I have a ready-made weekly schedule.

 

For AO music and art appreciation, we do:

 

Music Monday: I wake dd with a cup of tea and a muffin in her room, and she listens to one of The Story of (fill in the name of the composer of the month) CDs. You can get these through Amazon for $3 apiece.

 

Wordless Wednesday: I wake dd with a cup of tea and a muffin in her room, and she listens to a CD of music of the composer of the month while she looks at an art book (either a high-quality anthology of paintings or a collection of paintings by the particular artist of the month).

 

Is it strictly AO? Um, no. ;)

Edited May 14, 2009 by laylamcb

[LeslieP]

Great info! Thanks!

[Jayne J]

That would be me :001_smile:. But, I figure I can just substitute something else, just like I would have to do with other programs like MFW.

 

Do you see that being a problem?

 

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

 

 

This may be a bit of a problem for the Nature Study/science part of the AO schedule. CM seemed very fond of science books which personified nature and used talking animals frequently (Thorton Burgess's Bird and Animal books are used in year 1 and subsequent, and Kipling's Just-So-Stories as well. The theme continues throughout the elementary years) You may need to replace most of the science books outside of the Handbook of Nature Study spine. That said, if you have practice doing this, it shouldn't be too difficult.

 

We are starting our first year of AO and looking forward eagerly! (Well. I am anyway:D)

[Testimony]

That would be me :001_smile:. But, I figure I can just substitute something else, just like I would have to do with other programs like MFW.

 

Do you see that being a problem?

 

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

 

I do not see a problem at all with this. I wanted to share that I spoke to one of the moms, Donna-Jean Breckenridge, who sits on the Advisory of Ambleside Online. Ms. Breckenridge was not opposed to substituting for other things at all. I think that the idea is to follow the Charlotte Mason approach. The key is to follow the idea of copywork, narration, and dictation.

 

A recent complaint that I saw is that AO does not give enough recommendations for Language Arts and Math. I know the phonics, you have to choose your own curriculum. Once your child can read, you really need to have them narrate back the story. By first grade, you have them copy one sentence from some of the books they are reading, only one sentence. People do not realize how much language arts is being done in copywork. There is penmanship, spelling, grammar, etc. Keep going at that pace and add on more sentences each year. By fourth grade, they should be able to copy a paragraph. AO's relies heavily on narration. It is an important skill.

 

Blessing on your homeschooling journey.

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[dsacco]

Hi! I am new to posting around here :) I'm reading the WTM to see how it fits honestly WITH Ambleside. I had heard so much.

 

Last year my kids both did combo years... 1 & 2 for my 9 year old and 3 & 4 for my 11 year old.

 

This year (we just started our new year since we school year round) my daughter is doing year 3 and my son year 5.

 

Personally I buy most of the books - but I also have most all of them on my computer. But I love to "have" books. I'll buy used if I can but I use Amazon most of the time. (I get in too much trouble when I head out to the used book store....and I can't always count on the library to have stuff - but they do have a lot of it) We will also use audiobooks downloaded from Librivox.... my daughter LOVES Our Island Story done that way.

 

For tracking I use homeschool tracker and plan out the week. I try and break everything down for them - especially my daughter because sometimes 1 chapter is daunting for her so I tell her the pages.

 

I don't do much substitution except with Trial and Triumph we use Our Island Saints.

 

I do add Catholic Bible study along with it. I use the free Bible study at Calvery Chapel with our Catholic Bible and my son will do a more in-depth study.

 

We use it because of the literature selection and the fact the lay-out actually has a lot of playing room but it's still laid out for me.

 

Dana

[pie]

Farmnwife I would love to see your schedule, too...I emailed you...tia!!!