I don't understand how to use Ambleside Online??

[LuvingLife]

This year I want to use Ambleside Online to go along with Bible, History, and English, but I have no clue what I am supposed to do. I am in the 11th grade and I am a little confused with the intructions on how I am supposed to use it.

 

Could someone explain how I am supposed to use this?:bigear:

[justamouse]

It's SO overwhelming at first that for years I stayed away. I just looked at the whole and screamed inside my head.

 

Go to the year you're looking at (and the previous years because AO is pretty advanced-in the way that unless you start at the beginning, some of the reading will be hard on your kids) and then look at the booklists and schedules. Break it down.

 

Then, I copy and pasted the term schedule onto a word doc, deleted what I wasn't using and printed it out.

[LuvingLife]

It's SO overwhelming at first that for years I stayed away. I just looked at the whole and screamed inside my head.

 

Go to the year you're looking at (and the previous years because AO is pretty advanced-in the way that unless you start at the beginning, some of the reading will be hard on your kids) and then look at the booklists and schedules. Break it down.

 

Then, I copy and pasted the term schedule onto a word doc, deleted what I wasn't using and printed it out.

 

I agree it is really overwhelming, this is why I asked because it was just too confusing for me to figure out on my own. But here is the thing, what am I supposed to do with all the reading? Do I write essays, reports, or do I read to the end and write a book report. Or is it just reading to gain knowledge?:confused:

[KS_]

I agree it is really overwhelming, this is why I asked because it was just too confusing for me to figure out on my own. But here is the thing, what am I supposed to do with all the reading? Do I write essays, reports, or do I read to the end and write a book report. Or is it just reading to gain knowledge?:confused:

 

We're only on Year 5, so I haven't looked at the upper years, but in the lower years, the reading is paired with narration (either oral or written). The books are broken down into smaller sections for reading and then narration, and are meant to be spread out over the year so the student spends more time with the book, as opposed to reading it all at once. I'm not sure how you'd handle the narration part if you're doing it on your own - maybe just do a written narration for each reading?

 

If you join the AO yahoo group, you could also either ask there or search the archives for more help:

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

[Snoopytwo]

You might want to check out the site http://charlottemasonhelp.com The owner of the site uses Ambleside for high school. Click on the high school link. She provides schedules which describe what she requires for each book.

[Jolene]

The Ambleside group made their own group for info and support on using the upper years(7-12) of the program: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/house-of-education .

You will find lots of help by posting a message there as well as good info in the files of the group regarding schedules.

 

We used a lot of Ambleside during the high school years and really enjoyed it.

[Spock]

I agree it is really overwhelming, this is why I asked because it was just too confusing for me to figure out on my own. But here is the thing, what am I supposed to do with all the reading? Do I write essays, reports, or do I read to the end and write a book report. Or is it just reading to gain knowledge?:confused:

 

My older two boys used AO for high school. A typical day's reading would be:

 

 

• 5-15 pages from one history book

• 10-15 pages from either a biography, a geography book, a government or economics book, or another history book

• 10-20 pages from a literature book

• a section from the science textbook (not really part of AO, I guess)

• 8-15 pages from a science supplement book (a living book related to the science they were studying that year, or perhaps a nature study book)

• a chapter from the Bible

• 8-15 pages from a devotional, missionary biography, Bible study book, etc

• sometimes additional literature (essay, short story, free reading, literature analysis, logic, etc)

• poetry

 

They would do one written narration each day, rotating between the subjects so that each book had a written narration at least once or twice per term.

 

I asked for an oral narration for all the other readings. Sometimes the oral narration was just a quick summary of the topic. Sometimes it became a discussion of various ideas brought up by the reading. Sometimes it was in between. Normally I didn't require narrations on poetry.

 

The written narrations ranged from simple one paragraph summaries to 2 page essays. (This depended on two factors--how interested they were in the book, and whether I insisted that they write more than they had been.) They also periodically wrote longer papers as part of grammar/writing, though I did not require this as often as I wish I had.

[SkateLeft]

There's a FAQ on the AO website, if you haven't already seen it. It's really the best place to start, along with the "scope and sequence" pages for each subject, though they can be hard to find unless you look at the site map.

[LuvingLife]

My older two boys used AO for high school. A typical day's reading would be:

 

 

• 5-15 pages from one history book

• 10-15 pages from either a biography, a geography book, a government or economics book, or another history book

• 10-20 pages from a literature book

• a section from the science textbook (not really part of AO, I guess)

• 8-15 pages from a science supplement book (a living book related to the science they were studying that year, or perhaps a nature study book)

• a chapter from the Bible

• 8-15 pages from a devotional, missionary biography, Bible study book, etc

• sometimes additional literature (essay, short story, free reading, literature analysis, logic, etc)

• poetry

They would do one written narration each day, rotating between the subjects so that each book had a written narration at least once or twice per term.

 

I asked for an oral narration for all the other readings. Sometimes the oral narration was just a quick summary of the topic. Sometimes it became a discussion of various ideas brought up by the reading. Sometimes it was in between. Normally I didn't require narrations on poetry.

 

The written narrations ranged from simple one paragraph summaries to 2 page essays. (This depended on two factors--how interested they were in the book, and whether I insisted that they write more than they had been.) They also periodically wrote longer papers as part of grammar/writing, though I did not require this as often as I wish I had.

 

Thank you so much! This is very well written and now I know what I need to be doing, (I also had help from a friend as well).

 

Thanks to everyone else too!!:)

[Tullia]

:lurk5: ...because there are some wonderful links in this thread...

[emubird]

If you haven't used Ambleside before, I'd suggest not using the level that corresponds, number-wise, with your grade. There are lots of really good books in the lower levels that high school students would want to read. (And the upper level ones are generally really hard reads that most people do in college -- not to say you couldn't do them, but if they strike you as overwhelming, that might be why.)

 

I've actually never used a real level. I've just used it as a reading list. If you just started at the beginning and picked out all the books that looked interesting and at a high enough level for a high schooler (which is a LOT of them in the early grades), you'd have a pretty full plate in literature.

 

Maybe you could pick out the history readings from the higher levels. The primary documents have always struck me as the most interesting from those lists.

 

I've used them for history and literature selections. We always did something else for science. The Ambleside science selections tend to be more history of science than the actual science you'd want to put on a high school transcript for college applications.

[LuvingLife]

If you haven't used Ambleside before, I'd suggest not using the level that corresponds, number-wise, with your grade. There are lots of really good books in the lower levels that high school students would want to read. (And the upper level ones are generally really hard reads that most people do in college -- not to say you couldn't do them, but if they strike you as overwhelming, that might be why.)

 

I've actually never used a real level. I've just used it as a reading list. If you just started at the beginning and picked out all the books that looked interesting and at a high enough level for a high schooler (which is a LOT of them in the early grades), you'd have a pretty full plate in literature.

 

Maybe you could pick out the history readings from the higher levels. The primary documents have always struck me as the most interesting from those lists.

 

I've used them for history and literature selections. We always did something else for science. The Ambleside science selections tend to be more history of science than the actual science you'd want to put on a high school transcript for college applications.

 

Yes I am going to be using both 11th and 10th grade level books to read, and do the same thing in my senior year of high school. I actually want to read more college level books to help prepare myself better for college, and I have a high reading level, so those books don't seem like much of a challenge to me. I will be using their History, Literature, and Bible selections, and thank you for giving me some extra tips!:)