ktgrok Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I like Mater Amabilis, but don't want to use This Country of Ours. So, I'm thinking of doing a similar year, but using American Pioneers and Patriots, a chapter a week probably, give or take. Some extra books on various topics that go along with the history would be added in, and crafts, etc. I'd use some Sonlight choices for literature, as read alouds, along with the Fables and Tall Tales listed in the Mater Amabilis syllabus. The preK kid could listen in on whatever interested him, and would get some fairy tales, classic children's picture books, etc (stuff on the MODG list and stuff from Sonlight P 3/4). I like having a schedule, but this wouldn't be hard to schedule out on my own, using Mater Amabilis as a rough guide. I've done my own thing before, so I feel confident doing it. I'm realizing I'm mainly drawn to Bookshark/Sonlight for the big box of books, but that's not a legit reason. I can use some of their materials and still do my own thing. Oh, and we'd use AAR and AAS and A Reason for Handwriting for Language arts, and various library books and documentaries on nature topics for science. Plus our own rabbit trails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Make a list of the categories. Nature stories, biographies, history stories, literature (fairy tales, folk tales, a novel per term), poetry, Shakespeare (lamb's or Nesbit), composers, artists, Bible. Plug in what you already have. Then fill in any holes. Choose the books and then schedule them on a calendar. It is really that simple. No need to buy a huge package or over-complicate things. I don't even schedule things much of the time. I simply use a sticky note for a book mark and pick up where we left off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beka87 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 What 4blessingmom said....I build my own CM curriculum, too. List of subjects, list of books in the order I want us to read them, split books into manageable time chunks or page numbers (whatever seems to make sense), post it book marks and off we go. I do schedule out what subjects I want to hit ech day/how many times a week we should read each book we're using, but that's it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 (edited) Thanks! I'm feeling kind of excited. I think I can give hubby a list of what I want to do when and he can make me a pretty spreadsheet to print out or something. Then I can fill it in as well go, or ahead of time, whatever. I'm thinking : American Pioneers and Patriots, having her narrate back to me, and doing some of the crafts and map work. (not sure how to schedule this) Various picture book biographies from the D'Aulaires, (the ones used in the Beautiful Feet Early American package) (not sure how to schedule) American Tall Tales/Fairy Tales/Fables /poetry- probably one of each each week, so 4x a week total Pointing out locations from our reading on a map/globe (saints, history readings, etc) and watching Rick Steves and other travel shows Bible Stories from either the Golden Children's Bible or The Catholic Picture Bible - New Testament Readings (my preference for this age) (twice a week) Once Upon a Saint Stories (got it today, love it already!) and the sequel (twice a week) Faith and Life - read and discuss one lesson a week (maybe..might just leave this up to her religious ed class) Bedtime reading from a chapter book, using various mom favorites and Sonlight and Mother of Divine Grace lists Extra crafts, drawing heavily on Mother of Divine Grace stuff, maybe some plastic canvas stitching, painting, etc Picture Study using MP's new poster sized art cards. We will put them in a prominent place and discuss organically. Various music CD's, alternating between American Folk Songs, Bible stuff, and classical music. (in the car) AAR 4-5 times a week AAS (not sure...not ready for it yet, will add in the second part of the year) A Reason for Handwriting 4 x per week CLE Math 4 times per week Science will be loose, but we do a LOT of science here. And we have weekly playdates with another family that rotate between the zoo, science center, and a park. I'm also hoping to talk DH into another baby, so God wiling we'll have plenty to talk about as far as child development, etc :) I think this might be good. And then the following year either doing A Child's History of the World and alternating World and American history years, or another more in depth American Year before moving into a 4 yr cycle. Not sure yet. But I'm staring to learn not to worry about planning more than a year at a time, because anything can and will change :) Edited April 12, 2016 by ktgrok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 oh my...just found the artist portfolio packages from Simply charlotte Mason. I want them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 And Outdoor Secrets, also from Simply Charlotte Mason. They have a booth at my local conference this year...I'm going to be spending some money there I think :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriciaT Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I did a similar thing with Ambleside for a couple of years! (I wanted to use story of the world as a spine) It was really lovely. We read so many great books and my dd is a book lover, so it really suited both of us. I still sort of do that, but I am following a 4 yr cycle now, so AO is definitely just a resource now instead of the base to start from. Have an excellent year! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 What about instead of Baldwin's 50 Famous Stories (which is on many CM primary schedules) using Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans? Memoria Press has a nice updated publication of this title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PagesandFields Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 We just started 1st in March... I ended up printing off the AO schedule... I am not using all their books, but just the way they schedule them helped me... The one thing that has become important to us is to have a LIGHT SCHEDULE... And heavy free reading/read aloud list... Basically a very consise list of things to get "done", and a long list of books to enjoy as we like it... It takes away the stress and keeps our schedule flexible for these early years... I also have a 1st and PreK kid... But we school March to Feb... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 What about instead of Baldwin's 50 Famous Stories (which is on many CM primary schedules) using Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans? Memoria Press has a nice updated publication of this title. I did look at that one, but didn't find it particularly interesting if it is the one I'm thinking of. i could be wrong though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 I think I really like American Pioneers and Patriots for 1st, then later maybe using the Masetro books on early America? They look really great, and go slower, more CM style. And are more modern, actually covering things like the land bridge, people that lived in the Americas before the Europeans came, etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 Hmm...reading on old threads here that the D'Aulaire books are a bit...well racist. Thinking we may skip those or at least pre-read them. I'm sure I can find other biographies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwdiaz Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 This thread is a year old and I know the OP is super pregnant with a baby to be born any second, but if you are on here, could you let us know how it went doing your own thing like this. I have an older daughter going into third and a younger going into first. I've been doing things pretty seriously CM with my academically oriented older daughter but I really think a loosey-goosey year based on Mater Amabilis plus our own history would work better for her than the heavy AO (plus other stuff) influenced years I did for the older one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 I strongly encourage you to read When Children Love to Learn, and choose your own books. Then make a rough daily/weekly schedule. Ex. History on m/w at 10am. Then at the given time, do a reading and narration. Place a sticky note where you leave off, and pick it up there when you come back. You do not need to schedule down to page numbers. Letting that go allows you to take the CM philosophy in its entirety, including choosing the best books for your children. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Planning Your CM Education is not a waste of money at $11.95 https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/planning-your-charlotte-mason-education/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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