Can any of you compare/contrast Sonlight, Ambleside and MFW?

[Angel in FL]

I seem to be drawn to aspects of each but am not sold completely on any of them. I do like some hands-on but not too much, YKWIM?

[michelle l]

I'm not finding Sonlight to be very hands-on at all, meaning they don't have many activities. Lots and lots and lots of reading. I'm planning to suplement with some crafty type things.

 

I just use their main Core (core 3). I do not use their science, and though I ordered their language arts I don't like it. At this point, I do like their Read Alouds, Readers, and the other history books. I also didn't order their electives -- not crazy about the phonics they offered or the grammar, so ordered different things. So yeah, I use Sonlight, but not only or all of it.

 

I haven't used the others.

[FairProspects]

I can't speak to MFW, but Sonlight and Ambleside have no hands-on. If you are looking for some hands-on activities, I would try SOTW with the AG, WinterPromise, or Homeschool in the Woods history packets (grade 3 and up). It would probably be helpful to know what age you are researching for, and then we can suggest more resources. :)

[LoveBaby]

I haven't used Sonlight, but from what I've heard there is very little to zero in the hands-on department.

 

Ambleside booklists are great, really really amazing, but you have to have a very solid understanding of the Charlotte Mason method to make it work, make it make sense. Otherwise it's just a booklist. I've used Yr. 1 and part of yr. 3, but it's gotten to be too difficult to keep up with the children's different reading schedule and I want them on the same page in the history cycle. I've kept up with reading poems, Shakespear, picture study, composer study etc. and I never would have thought of that without the guidance of Ambleside. It's given me a great resource for assigned reading for my oldest daughter!

 

I've used MFW K, 1st and Adventures. I'm not using it this year, but will probably go back for the next history rotation. It has everything scheduled for you, which can be both a blessing and a curse, if you aren't on the "schedule" then you are flipping back and forth between weeks to keep up with things. It has a nice mix of hands-on activities, most of which use household items, so they are easier to do. Not too many though, so it doesn't always feel like you are making boats out of tinfoil. Really great booklists that the author has pre-read, so you know a bit about them before you hand them to your children.

 

If/when I go back to MFW next year I will disregard the grid and work through the history on our schedule. I won't worry as much about making sure we are on the same week in every subject like the TM says, KWIM? I'll probably list out assignments on a quarterly basis by subject and just go down the line on *our* history days, science days, etc.

 

Another side note, if I understand it correctly, with Sonlight you are moving through books at a much quicker pace than with either Ambleside or MFW. I think you have more of a chance to "chew" on them with MFW/Ambleside and are gulping them down with Sonlight.

[Angel in FL]

I can't speak to MFW, but Sonlight and Ambleside have no hands-on. If you are looking for some hands-on activities, I would try SOTW with the AG, WinterPromise, or Homeschool in the Woods history packets (grade 3 and up). It would probably be helpful to know what age you are researching for, and then we can suggest more resources. :)

 

Oh sorry! I'm looking for something for K right now. I know Ambleside doesn't suggest you start until age 6 though. I have used a couple of older SL levels for my sons but never anything below grade 5, which I added a lot of hands on for them. I really am not sure I want to do that at the lower levels right now. We also used SOTW 1 & 2. I like those but my dd isn't ready for that yet.

[TxMama]

I seem to be drawn to aspects of each but am not sold completely on any of them. I do like some hands-on but not too much, YKWIM?

 

 

Sonlight- I used SL with my olders in particular SL1-SL5 from '96-'01 or so. I was completely drawn to the literature. I loved the book choices. My oldest dd loved it. It totally killed my oldest ds desire to read.

 

Pros-literature based, great for a child who loves reading. Loved the science.

 

cons- Micro managed your day. too many books scheduled each day. I love reading but it was just way.too.much. At the end of many days my throat would hurt from reading aloud. No hands on stuff scheduled in. The LA aspect was a disaster ( think they changed this). Day was so full of SL that we couldn't schedule anything else into the day without totally stressing us all out.

 

Ambleside. I have limited experience with Ambleside but really thought this is the direction I would use with my youngers. I have a good understanding of the CM method but trying to "do" Ambleside just wasn't working for me. I really wanted to like this and make this work.

 

pros- Book choices were interesting (to me).

 

cons-My child had a hard time understanding and following the book choices. Quite a bit of planning for me to pull it together and it was just not getting done for us.

 

MFW. Started using MFW 1 with ds last year. I will probably stick with MFW for the youngers.

 

pros- Literature based. Just the right amount of schedule and reading for us. Our day is not micro managed with each and every book/worksheet scheduled for each day. Hands on stuff scheduled in. Hands on stuff easy enough for this non-crafty mom to actually do.

 

cons- haven't found any yet.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either of these choices. It really does depend on your family.

 

SL is interesting but for us required quite a bit of tweaking to pull it off. There was too much schedule in each day. For us it was too hard.

 

Ambleside is interesting but you will need to do your micro planning.....ex. how often are you going to do copywork and then find your copywork to do. Not enough schedule in each day. For us it was too soft.

 

MFW uses the literature that I really liked from SL and schedules in all the CM aspects that originally drew me to Ambleside. FOr us it is just right.

 

HTH

[momto2blessings]

and am currently using Ambleside. Agree with other posters. SL has you using LOTS of books, Ambleside has you savoring more. I like that aspect of Ambleside. SL has a detailed IG which is a plus and minus. It's easy to 'feel behind' if you don't check all your boxes. SL books are easier to read. Ambleside books are pretty deep/older language. It's more work to put Ambleside together, but worth it. If you love Charlotte Mason, using Ambleside is great---I was trying to add more CM to SL and it was difficult. I think Ambleside is a deeper/richer education, but I am currently struggling a bit with some of the reading----some things are challenging even for me to follow along---my daughter would be more independent if the reading were easier. Hopefully this is just an adjustment year:) I haven't used MFW. I also like that Ambleside has you simply asking for narrations rather than lots of comprehension qu.---easier for me to manage, but requires more thinking on my children's part and development of their composition skills. They really have to know it to narrate it---answering qu. is much easier. And, of course, Ambleside is cheaper! Blessings:) Gina

[melmichigan]

I use SL cores only, and secularly for the most part. I add in all my hands on activites. I love the books in SL and the schedule is a blessing for me with so many kiddos to keep track of, but I don't let the schedule rule me. I hear that to be a problem for many.;) I have 2 of the LA's and don't use much of it in the long run. I basically use it to schedule my additonal books, my readers, and my other LA programs. The other programs wouldn't work for our family, although I have been looking at TOG for upper grades.

[michelle l]

Could someone tell me what MFW is? Thanks. :)

[Angel in FL]

Could someone tell me what MFW is? Thanks. :)

 

My Father's World

http://www.mfwbooks.com/

[TKDmom]

Another side note, if I understand it correctly, with Sonlight you are moving through books at a much quicker pace than with either Ambleside or MFW. I think you have more of a chance to "chew" on them with MFW/Ambleside and are gulping them down with Sonlight.

 

Oh! And here at our house I get so many complaints about how slowly we are moving through the books with SL. "Don't stop, Mom! You've only read one chapter!" Or sometimes only half a chapter. I don't think a slower pace would go over well with my kids... Of course we generally have 3 books going at once for each core. Maybe that's the difference? I haven't used either AO or MFW.

 

If you end up using SL for science, there is some hands on for that. I've only used it at level 2 so far, though.

[Angel in FL]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

 

I'm going to be taking care of my parents in a few months. They're moving to Florida and we will live in the main house with them in the guest house. I will be doing cooking, cleaning as well as taking them to see the doctor, shopping, etc. My time will be limited in being able to plan but don't want to cheat my daughter out of the neat hands on things like I did with my sons. Of course I don't want to overload on activities either.

 

Thanks again!

[Cynful]

Based on how busy your life may be, unless you really like to sit down and plan - I'd skip Ambleside for now. They do, however, have a year for K - not sure if its an "official" Ambleside year or not though. I'd go for Sonlight or MFW. I've done both SL and Ambleside. I'm back to SL though I do love Ambleside and will continue to use alot of it (both books and CM philosophy). For this age, my absolute favorite curriculum is Five in a Row.

 

Good luck,

[coffeefreak]

I wouldn't do Ambleside if you need something planned for you. We did it for a semester and it was less planning than some curriculum, but I had to hunt for hands on activities. Have you thought about Heart of Dakota or Winter's Promise? If you like Sonlight, but want more hands on, these two programs would be worth looking at. Both are scheduled and require no planning.

 

HTH (and doesn't confuse!)

Blessings!

Dorinda

[TxMama]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

 

I'm going to be taking care of my parents in a few months. They're moving to Florida and we will live in the main house with them in the guest house. I will be doing cooking, cleaning as well as taking them to see the doctor, shopping, etc. My time will be limited in being able to plan but don't want to cheat my daughter out of the neat hands on things like I did with my sons. Of course I don't want to overload on activities either.

 

Thanks again!

 

I did an Ambleside year for K...or at least 1/2 of K. :lol: It took some planning and we had a fun year. If you click my blog you can get an idea of what we did. Doing Ambleside does take some planning on your part. It is not open and go at all even the K year especially if you want to add in handwriting/math/etc. You will need to make library trips and try to figure out how you are going to meet the list of attainment for a 6 yo.

 

If you decide MFW K. You will be making library trips and gathering supplies. I print off the list of needed supplies from the mfw board every 9 weeks ( 1 quarter) and put it all in a crate. Essentially create the equilvelant to the SL science kit(since you are familiar with SL)....so all my stuff is together. I can renew library books for a total of 9 weeks so I can get all the books I need as well at one time if I want. MFW K is relatively inexpensive .....especially when compared to SL.

 

If you decide SL K. You will have all the books you need but there is little to none hands on scheduled in. Cost is much higher.

[woolybear]

Well, I just wanted to chime in and say, if you are interested in Ambleside, but need help with the planning, scheduling, copywork, etc. there are quite a few Ambleside Yahoo groups and there is a TON of information there. It is one of the reasons I switched to AO this year. I have been doing CM for a couple of years, but found in the fall that I really needed something all planned out for me. I have found with all the information available that it is very open and go for me. I think it would be quite easy to add in some hands on activities. As someone else suggested there is the SOTW activity guide, but there are also many other resources available for ideas. And I find, with art projects, handicrafts, a timeline, and notebooking that a little bit of the hands on goes a long way.

 

Hth, Wooly

[mom2koh]

We did MFW K and loved it. I cannot say enough about how dd enjoyed the curriculum. I loved it because it was all planned out.

 

At the beginning of the year I took the worksheets for each week and put them in a hanging file folder in a box. I had 26 file folders hanging in the box. One folder for each of the units.

 

Every month I would fill the folders with any art supplies I needed. Most of the reccommended books we already had here and I could always find an appropriate substitution if we had to. The book would go into the folder too if it could fit!

 

This way I would pull out the folder as we were ready for the unit and everything was already ready.

 

The only supplementing I did was for math as dd is ahead in that area.

 

We miss MFW this year and will be returning next.

[Mama2Three]

My DD and I are doing MFW K this year and really loving it. To be honest, I can't imagine a better curriculum for K. We use the TM for math (calendar, hundreds chart) and the daily activities. We don't do the phonics work because DD is ahead in LA -- instead we use ETC. I love the Sonlight and AO books, too, so we use those as help for our reading list. But MFW K has so many fun activities, it really makes for a great school year.

[Angel in FL]

We did MFW K and loved it. I cannot say enough about how dd enjoyed the curriculum. I loved it because it was all planned out.

 

At the beginning of the year I took the worksheets for each week and put them in a hanging file folder in a box. I had 26 file folders hanging in the box. One folder for each of the units.

 

Every month I would fill the folders with any art supplies I needed. Most of the reccommended books we already had here and I could always find an appropriate substitution if we had to. The book would go into the folder too if it could fit!

 

This way I would pull out the folder as we were ready for the unit and everything was already ready.

 

The only supplementing I did was for math as dd is ahead in that area.

 

We miss MFW this year and will be returning next.

 

Those are some great organizational ideas! Thanks so much.

[Jenileigh]

Another vote for My Father's World K, it is a gentle approach, fun and full of life and learning. It's a wonderful program, it truly is!

[mystika1]

:001_smile:Simply Charlotte Mason. http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/

I purchased the ebook "Planning your Charlotte Mason Education" and in a few days planned out my entire school year! I have never been this organized. The curriculum guide http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/scmguide/ in my opinion had much better age appropriate literature than AO. My daughter was asking for more today!

 

It is worth looking at if you would like CM education for your child. The forum is great to.

 

HTH,

 

Penny

[momee]

We also did MFW K. I am also very familiar with AO.

I would do MFW K and add in the wonderful stories as I could from AO's reading list.

 

My youngest still remembers activities we did with MFW and it was a breeeeeeeeeeeze to teach.

 

You can have the best of both worlds. All three really if you use the book list from Sonlight and the library. There are tons of audios for the AO readings and with an MP3 player your little one will be soo blessed to listen to them while you do what you need to.

What fun! I long for those times back with my oldest who's now 15!!!!!!!!!!