So, friend, let's sit down and have a coffee chat, shall we? (Oh, how I wish we really could!)
So, you have a 5-turning-6 year old, and maybe a couple of littler ones running around. You've decided to take the plunge and homeschool. Maybe you even did a little bit of gentle preschool or kindergarten work this past year. You know you don't want to follow a standard textbook curriculum, and are intrigued by the idea of doing something more literature-based. Maybe you Googled, or maybe you talked to a friend or two, and the name Charlotte Mason popped up in the conversation. And your search for a Charlotte Mason style curriculum led you across Ambleside Online's website – and you are one part intrigued and one part part completely overwhelmed.
Is this you? If so, I hope that the musings that I share in this space over the next few weeks might be of help to you. I hope that I might be able to help you feel confident enough to take the plunge and dive in. Ambleside Online has been a rich blessing in our family, and perhaps I can share a little from our experience so that it can be a blessing to yours.
I have been through Ambleside Online's Year One with two of my children, and am fixing to start it with the third (my last – sniff) later this spring. I started out overconfident and frankly, pretty prideful. I figured since I had classroom teaching experience, I knew what I was doing. Turns out I didn't really…but that has been a blessing in disguise. Pursuing a Charlotte Mason education with my children has been an education for me as well. There is a lot I still don't know, but the wonder of it all is that it is never too late to learn and grow as you go along. That's my goal here. Not to speak to you as someone who has it all figured out, but to walk along the path towards a living education with you.
This is the basic plan that I have outlined for this series….but please let me hear from you too! If there is a topic or question that you don't see addressed here or that comes up as we go along, let me know in the comments and I will make an effort to address it.
Getting Started with Ambleside Online Year One Series Index:
Introduction (That's this post J)
Let's learn and grow together, shall we?
I'm so glad you're writing this series! I look forward to sharing your posts with my CM newbie friends.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're writing this series! I look forward to sharing your posts with my CM newbie friends.
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read something like this as I prepare to start Year 1 in the fall.
ReplyDeleteHope that you find it helpful. :) Glad you are here.
DeleteSilly question.... How do I follow this blog?
ReplyDeleteSilly question.... How do I follow this blog?
ReplyDeleteSame question here: how can I follow this series?
DeleteYou can subscribe by email over at the bottom of the sidebar. Or, I personally use Feedly to follow various blogs - I know you can search for Snowfall Academy there.
DeleteI am also very glad that you are doing a series on AO year 1! I do have a particular questions if you wouldn't mind addressing and providing your input. We started AO year 1 this past January with my 6 year old daughter with 2 smaller children as well and we are loving it. My daughter is now reading pretty well so I have put "phonics" instruction on hold for the time being and I am just having her read to me multiple times per day. Is this something you would suggest or should I be doing more in the phonics department? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty much what I did - as my kids outgrew the need for phonics, they have just transitioned to reading aloud to me from easy readers and gradually harder books. I might still 'spot-teach' some phonics here and there if you find any problem areas as you go along.
DeleteI am so excited about your series already. I have just started year 1 with my oldest. It is mostly difficult that we arent teaching in English so we have to find every book.
ReplyDeleteWelcome! Hope you find it helpful!
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ReplyDeleteInterested in following too. Doing Y3 currently with my oldest, but am nervous about Y0... Go figure!
ReplyDeleteI used to teach older kids in a school setting before I had children, so the little years made me super nervous too. You can do it!
DeleteI am so grateful you are writing this as I am going to start year 1 too. I am also starting at Y2 and Y3. Can you combine some? Overwhelmed!☺️
ReplyDeleteYou can combine quite a few things, although I would urge you to keep history and much of the literature separate. This is a good post about combining students at those levels: http://afterthoughtsblog.net/2015/05/virginia-lees-post.html
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DeleteI am so excited to learn more about the Charlotte Mason method. Plan on using this with my would be first and second grader if in public but will start both of them under year one in July.
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