Charlotte Mason followers who DON'T use Ambleside Online

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

What do you use and what does a day (or week or month) in your homeschool look like? I really like AO and am 99% sure we will use it next year but I want to get all my 'what if's' out now ;)

 

 

TIA

[Snow]

:lurk5:

[serendipitous journey]

well, we're largely AO but fall back on Milestones Academy and Charlotte Mason Help when AO doesn't suit. I also use workbooks for spelling & writing; teach Zaner-Bloser handwriting; do much more math than any CM curriculum wants (but in nice CM-sized chunks); and am teaching Latin.

 

Our days: start with Math Sprints, then spelling or math; then writing or math; break to run around; math or CM reading; math or Latin; math or recorder if possible before snack around 10:30; read a picture book & a CM bit at snack; try to do remaining stuff before lunch.

 

Put on CMHelp music selection when we're inside.

 

At lunch or after, a chapter book: Narnia or Mr. Bowditch or whatever.

 

Afternoons usually have 1 or 2 math chunks, some handwriting, some reading. GEM science, which is super casual here.

 

Hours outside each day, nature "walk" -- or play in streambed -- and sketch 1x week at least.

 

Didn't like the SCM art study I purchased, so we're not up and going on picture study yet.

 

Tea-time around 4, with tea and poems.

 

4-5 days a week: read about 45 minutes before bed, a literature book -- now, Voyages of Dr. Dolittle.

 

We do this 6 days/week, Sunday's a bit more mellow, Saturday's off; and we're still incorporating all our stuff, no memory work yet this year.

[Kfamily]

We follow our own path rather than any one particular curriculum.

 

Here is what we are doing this year:

 

Older dd (High School now):

 

Algebra (Jacob's Algebra I and Geometry Labs)

Latin (Forms Latin...finish 1 and then complete 2)

English (Studied dictation using our own literature, Practical English for grammar and CW Diogenes, essays, etc. for Composition)

World Literature (English Literature for Boys and Girls and literature to match this historical timeline...for us this includes Bacon's Essays, Milton and Donne for poetry, Swift, Austen and Dumas)

Science (integrated)

 

Ancient Humanities includes:

Ancient Literature (Iliad and Odyssey with TC lectures, Theban Plays, Oresteian Trilogy, Aeneid and Metamorphoses)

Ancient History (Book of the Ancient Greeks, excerpts from Herodotus, Livy, etc. )

Philosophy (Story of Philosophy...just ancients, Last Days of Socrates)

Art History (Art History for Young People and Khan Academy Art History...just ancients)

Geography (Halliburton's The Glorious Adventure)

 

Logic (1/2) (Traditional Logic I)

 

 

Younger dd (4th grade)

 

Math (Singapore, Geometry Labs)

Latin (Latina Christiana, Our Roman Roots)

English (Grammarland, Italics handwriting, composition, dictation)

Science (astonomy, physics kit/Newton biography, Burgess Bird Book, Our American Trees)

Geography (Paddle to the Sea, Tree in the Trail)

World History (finish CHOW and Our Island Story + supplements)

Ancient History (Book of the Ancient World, Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt, Famous Men of Greece)

Ancient Literature (D'Aulaires Greek Myths, Heroes, The Trojan War, Men of Athens, Archimedes and the Door of Science)

Art History (ancients in art using Child's History of Art series)

Literature studies (Anne of Green Gables study with Evangeline, Evangeline and the Acadians and poetry + George MacDonald study+ some norse myths and Tolkien works)

 

 

Both Girls:

French (L'Art de Lire nearly finished...then L'Art d'Ecrire + BTB or French in Action)

Music (piano lessons, theory, opera study)

Nature Study (botany and using The Magic and Medicine of Plants)

 

 

Our schedule runs from Mon.-Fri. with Friday being a half day (the second half is for independent work, theory homework, piano lessons, etc.)

 

We usually cover languages, English and math in the morning to be sure the skills are covered first and then the rest we do in the afternoon.

 

Each girl has an assignment sheet with work for the week. This gives them both things to work on if I'm engaged with the other. I also tend to rotate each girl and their lessons. So as one has finished having a lesson with me in history, she can then go off to write a narration, complete a map, etc. while I then work with the other girl. My older dd has more work to do and has had her independent work increase every year so her days are longer.

Edited October 3, 2012 by Kfamily

[asmall]

We like Simply Charlotte Mason here. If you go to the website click on the free curriculum guide. It will show subjects, then just click on the subjects you want and it gives you ideas of what to use. It took me a while to navigate the website, but keep trying it is worth it. We are using their history lessons, and I find them a good fit for us. I love that they are set up for multiple grades. Also, you can download a sample of many of their books. They also have free books on getting started with CM. I tried to add the link for the website, but for some reason my phone isn't letting me. Anyway it is called Simply Charlotte Mason.

AL

[campmom]

If you are thinking about doing CM. Simply Charlotte Mason website has some excellent dvd's on how to teach each subject CM style, it really simplifies the whole process of teaching. They also have list of books that can be used for each subject. I love,love,love the dvds.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Daily outside time--including meals when possible

Striving for daily physical activity

Holding high ideals

"Wise passiveness" on the mother's part (Wordsworth's phrasing) Charlotte refers to it as Masterly Inactivity, but it is often misunderstood

Allowing time and space for connections/relations between ideas

Providing an atmosphere of education

Fostering the discipline of habit

Daily presentation of living ideas

Book of Centuries

Book of Mottoes

Books, books, books

 

I could go on and on-- a book list does not equate a CM education.

 

For most subjects I have resources I consider CM resources and those that many would think aren't. In other words, for most subjects we use both textbooks and living books. Although it IS possible for textbooks to be living books, and I would argue the ones we use are. ;)

 

I just took a quick glance at AO for year 6. My dd has already read many of the books. She will absolutely be reading as many books as listed there for this year --most likely many more. Not that more is necessarily better, my point is that we read, read, read.

 

As always, in the end it comes down to what your goals are and what draws you to CM. I have no hesitations in mentioning my absolute disagreement with CM on many points. At the same time, it saddens me to see her work reduced to a scheduled book list or curriculum or narrow path. There is a richness that is diminished, if not lost.

Edited October 3, 2012 by Hilltop Academy

[sagira]

I've read the CM books, the books written by CM (most of them anyway), and used Tanglewood Education.com as my resource in the early years. I am confident now to design my own course using CM methods.

 

Here's what we're using this year.

 

Ds9, 4th Year:

 

History Odyssey Early Modern using SOTW 3 and Usborne Encyclopedia

Our Island Story

Book of Centuries

Intermediate Language Lessons

Galore Park Jr. English Book 2

Copywork and Narration across subjects

Spelling alternating between Dictation and Spelling City (lists culled from Natural Speller and across curriculum)

Rosetta Stone Spanish Homeschool Edition, Spanish for Children A

Math Mammoth 3

BFSU Elementary Science Education 3-5

Inquiry in Action ACS free science curriculum

Getty Dubay Italic Book D

Literature using whole books and Critical Conditioning

Logic using Mindbenders

Geography using Science Smart (with HO as well)

Poetry memorization and recitation

 

Dd5 K:

 

GDI Book A

Miquon Math Orange Book

Peak with Books (tweaked)

Tanglewood's Really Reading program (free)

BFSU K-2

Geography From A-Z

 

Together:

 

Health and Safety using Tanglewood's discussion topics

The Easy Spanish Jr K-3

Muzzy Spanish

Artistic Pursuits K-3

Composer Study using various living books and audio recordings

Nature Study using sketchbooks, magnifying glass, binoculars, collecting samples, all on a weekly walk

 

Living books sprinkled throughout. In Natural Science, at least one living book running at all times.

 

As far as technology, we use

 

Usborne Quiklinks (love these!)

NeoK12

Beakman

Bill Nye The Science Guy

Netflix documentaries

[sagira]

Daily outside time--including meals when possible

Striving for daily physical activity

Holding high ideals

"Wise passiveness" on the mother's part (Wordsworth's phrasing) Charlotte refers to it as Masterly Inactivity, but it is often misunderstood

Allowing time and space for connections/relations between ideas

Providing an atmosphere of education

Fostering the discipline of habit

Daily presentation of living ideas

Book of Centuries

Book of Mottoes

Books, books, books

 

I could go on and on-- a book list does not equate a CM education.

 

For most subjects I have resources I consider CM resources and those that many would think aren't. In other words, for most subjects we use both textbooks and living books. Although it IS possible for textbooks to be living books, and I would argue the ones we use are. ;)

 

I just took a quick glance at AO for year 6. My dd has already read many of the books. She will absolutely be reading as many books as listed there for this year --most likely many more. Not that more is necessarily better, my point is that we read, read, read.

 

As always, in the end it comes down to what your goals are and what draws you to CM. I have no hesitations in mentioning my absolute disagreement with CM on many points. At the same time, it saddens me to see her work reduced to a scheduled book list or curriculum or narrow path. There is a richness that is diminished, if not lost.

 

:iagree:

[Amie]

Daily outside time--including meals when possible

Striving for daily physical activity

Holding high ideals

"Wise passiveness" on the mother's part (Wordsworth's phrasing) Charlotte refers to it as Masterly Inactivity, but it is often misunderstood

Allowing time and space for connections/relations between ideas

Providing an atmosphere of education

Fostering the discipline of habit

Daily presentation of living ideas

Book of Centuries

Book of Mottoes

Books, books, books

 

I could go on and on-- a book list does not equate a CM education.

 

For most subjects I have resources I consider CM resources and those that many would think aren't. In other words, for most subjects we use both textbooks and living books. Although it IS possible for textbooks to be living books, and I would argue the ones we use are. ;)

 

I just took a quick glance at AO for year 6. My dd has already read many of the books. She will absolutely be reading as many books as listed there for this year --most likely many more. Not that more is necessarily better, my point is that we read, read, read.

 

As always, in the end it comes down to what your goals are and what draws you to CM. I have no hesitations in mentioning my absolute disagreement with CM on many points. At the same time, it saddens me to see her work reduced to a scheduled book list or curriculum or narrow path. There is a richness that is diminished, if not lost.

:iagree:

Well said. I began reading C. M.'s original works right after my oldest was born. Now that ds is official "school age" I'm finding our own path which does include C. M.'s influence...her ideas and ideals as the root...not simply a book/program that is marketed/labeled as "C. M.". (Not that there is anything wrong with those! Its just that there is more to it.)

[Bluegoat]

We are using a mix for my dd in grade 2.

 

I am using some of AO's recommendations. We are using them for world history, sometimes we use their literature, at this point we are using their recommendations around copywork and a lot of the poetry they recommend. We also have used a lot of their geography and science suggestions.

 

For copywork we use things from our reading to get material.

 

For literature we are using narration with our own choices which have been informed by a lot of resources. AO did give me the courage to try some texts that I might have thought too hard otherwise. So far the main books we've read are The Wizard of Oz, The Princess and the Goblin, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nyhm. and right now The Children's Homer. We've read some lighter things as well like When the Dolls Woke and Dr Proctors Amazing Fart Poweder (which her grandmother gave her. Definitely Twaddle!)

 

For Canadian history and art we are using our own things (based on the journals of Champlain for history and what the library has for art.

 

For music we do piano lessons and choir and are looking at the orchestra using library resources.

 

For religion we are reading the Golden Bible, listening to the KJV on CD, and we read about saints. We are also learning the Latin parts of the Eucharist service for our Latin study this year.

 

I've also taken a lot of inspiration from The Latin Centered Curriculum. THat is, I try to KISS. Our daily core schedule is piano, math, copywork (which means LA as well) and Latin, as well as daily literature reading. Every day we do one other subject as well like geography or religion or art.

 

In general, I get inspiration from a lot of different CM resources, her books, Simply Charlotte Mason, Tanglewood, and others. I also found the book When Children Love To Learn really useful.

 

We use SM for math.

 

We try and have lots of outside time, and morning is for serious school work most days. The afternoon we do other things or reading.

Edited October 3, 2012 by Bluegoat

[Caribbean Queen]

We use a hymnal, Bible, some art books and McGuffey's readers (among other things)

 

We use a hymnal to learn hymns by heart

 

Now I am reading a chapter of Genesis a day. One child does an oral narration daily. Friday they dictate oral narrations to me and I type it and I read them all aloud. The five year old's are a hoot. The older ones are doing well.

 

The World's Greatest Artists series books are nice for for Picture Study. I read the book aloud and then we study a picture from the book almost every Friday.

 

The World’s Greatest Composers series for composer study. My kids like these books very much. We listen to the composer’s music on the internet and on CDs

 

I use McGuffey’s readers for studied dictation. Selecting passages from classic literature proved difficult because the words were very hard to spell and the sentences were long and complicated. The second reader is divided into numbered verses and it has a controlled vocabulary, so it is very easy to use.

 

Handicrafts are usually sewing repairs on clothes.

 

We have sketchbooks for drawing lessons and nature study pictures. I got a How-to-Draw book from a bookstore to help me teach my kids how to draw.

[Chava_Raizel]

I hesitate to call myself a Charlotte Mason homeschooler. I get a lot of inspiration from her theory, but I also add in a lot of other ideas along the way. I consider what we do more literature based than strictly Charlotte Mason.

 

The things I do take:

 

• We read lots of books and my children narrate them.
  
• We do copywork in the elementary years and dictation weekly starting around 5th grade.
  
• I fill my children's minds with ideas, heroes, mythology and fairy tales...I give them things to think about and pretend.
  
• We do artist study - usually as it ties to whatever history we're studying, and we also do many art projects in the style of the artist studied, as well as historically. So, when studying the Byzantine empire, we might create a mosaic, or when studying the Renaissance, we might lay under a table and paint over our heads like Michaelangelo.
  
• I try to play classical music throughout the day, but we don't necessarily focus on any particular composer. I've always meant to, but it never works out that way.
  

[Mandy in TN]

What do you use and what does a day (or week or month) in your homeschool look like? I really like AO and am 99% sure we will use it next year but I want to get all my 'what if's' out now ;)

 

 

TIA

 

I agree that CM is so much more than a booklist. If you search for the old PNEU time tables, they can give you an idea of what was studied and how long was spent on a subject. Booklists and time tables are good, but you could still take those and come up with something that is far from CM in practice. These tell you nothing of philosophy, approach, or what is done away from the school room. You can also use many things with a CM approach that you would never find on a CM booklist.

 

FWIW, I try to stagger our subjects. I don't do a block of LA, but instead scatter the individual topics throughout the day/ week. I separate math drill, math practice and math exploration and scatter them throughout the day/ week. I don't include reading literature in our scheduled instruction time, but i do take our dictation from what we are reading. However, as has been said, you can do this without incorporating any CM into your day.

 

We have been largely unsuccessful with unstructured nature studies, so this year I have given ds something to focus on. First quarter the focus was insects. This quarter the focus is trees.

 

As a side note, I don't like trimesters, because the middle trimester is then cut in two by winter break. This year I broke composers, artists, poets, nature study focus, habit training focus, etc into quarters.

 

Anyway, I guess the point is don't sweat the particular booklist and don't get bogged down trying to create the perfect schedule. Sometimes, when I need help finding my way, I put the summary of CM's 20 principles from the Ambleside website on my frig.

 

HTH-

Mandy

Edited October 4, 2012 by Mandy in TN