I’ve read poetry to my children their entire lives. In the early years we use Mother Goose, A Children’s Garden of Verses, and my personal all-time favorite for the early years- A. A. Milne.
When my children are 6 years old they begin Ambleside Online where a variety of poets are scheduled each year. They love listening to poetry. It doesn’t matter how Morning Time is going, as soon as I start reading poetry aloud everybody stills. It has a calming effect. They listen. It’s always amazing to me how much they grasp. Truth be told, my 9 year old has more than once brought clarity to a poem’s meaning that I wasn’t able to offer. Tennyson is scheduled for her this term. Today we read The Lady of Shallot. They were all mesmerized by the sad story and had so many questions. Why was she trapped in the tower? Who took care of her? Where did the mirror come from? Who cursed her? How did she die? Did Lancelot love her? My 7 year old had the idea of making clay models of the Lady of Shallot floating down the river in her boat. I don’t add crafts like this because I don’t typically think they add much value (and I think Charlotte Mason would agree) but if they come up with the idea themselves and we have the time I try to say yes. We also found the poem on YouTube beautifully put to song.
So how do I get it all in? Here’s the answer! This simple schedule keeps me sane. You’ll notice that there isn’t a Thursday on the schedule due to co-op. This is our first year attending a co-op and I already miss having that day at home. Hopefully it will be worth the sacrifice.
Everything that’s on the schedule we do all together except for Table Work and Read Alouds. We work through the schedule all together until we get to the block labeled Table Work and then I work with my kids one at a time starting with my youngest student (kindergartener) while the others do their independent table work and scheduled reading or play with Matthew (3 years old) and the baby. The block labeled Read Alouds is when we get to each of their literature assignments. I also work through those one child at a time. Although my 4th grader reads most of her selections on her own, I do read Plutarch, Shakespeare, and Age of Fable (Greek mythology) aloud with her. Any table work that doesn’t get completed before lunch is tackled after the read alouds while the littles are napping. Any read alouds we don’t get through during our school day I save for bedtime and our normal bedtime books get a back seat for the night.
A side note on my 3 year old– Following breakfast I take him aside and read a few good picture books to him. We have alphabet flash cards that he enjoys. I like to teach letter sounds before letter names, so we work on those for a little bit (less than 5 minutes). We also have a preschool math game Farmland Math that we play for 5 minutes or so. Once the school day starts, I don’t have time to stop so this 15-20 minutes in the morning one on one with him is an important part of my day. I also read him a picture book at nap time.
It’s a busy day but it’s manageable!
I also have each child’s individual work scheduled. I have my preschooler, kindergartener, and 1st grader on the same sheet of paper simply because they fit. My 4th grader has her own. Ambleside Online schedules all of the literature for the year so that I don’t have to. As far as the rest of their assignments go, I typically fill these out day by day. We always work through what we intend to in a year without having it all painstakingly plotted out. Instead of going to all of that trouble, we just do the next thing. If we need to hang out longer somewhere, we do it. If we fly through a section, we do it. I just take it day by day and tailor it to our specific needs.
Claire playing with Isabelle while I work with Sophia.
Table time with my Kindergartener.
Sophia listening to an audio story while I work with her sisters.
This year we are using a drawing curriculum and an art curriculum. We neglected both last year (new baby) and I am determined to make up for it this year! I found The New Augsburg’s Drawing First Year Book free online and scheduled it in once/week following our Morning Time. I also chose the Waldorfish foundational art class and purchased all of the supplies ahead of time to ensure we would follow through. So far, so good!
This year Anna is in 4th! She completed Ambleside Online Year 3 last year and will be continuing on to AO Year 4 this year. We absolutely love Ambleside Online and the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education. The more I understand and implement her ways, the more our homeschool flourishes.
Ambleside Online Year 4
…Includes lots and lots of the best of books – Bible, History, Geography, Natural History, Literature, Poetry, Shakespeare, Plutarch, and Free Reads. Pictured below are all of the books she will be reading during the first 12 weeks (Term 1) of our school year including a few additional free reads. A vital aspect of a Charlotte Mason education is that all scheduled readings (except poetry and free reads) are orally narrated, with the addition of one written narration/week.
Year 4, Term 1 Books
In addition to all of these lovely books, Ambleside Online schedules Daily Work (Math, Handwriting/Copywork, Foreign Language) and Weekly Work (Nature Study, Timeline, Recitation, Dictation, Geography, Art: Picture Study, Drawing, Handicrafts, Music: Composer, Folksong, Hymn).
This is what we use for Daily and Weekly Work:
Math – Singapore US Standards, Life of Fred
Handwriting/Copywork – You can simply copy a passage from one of the scheduled readings for the day (which is probably the best way) but for ease of use we use the pre-selected passages from Simply Charlotte Mason’s Spelling Wisdom and throw in Using Language Well for gentle grammar practice. We also use a free online typing program.
Foreign Language – Song School Spanish 1, Latin for Children A
Nature Study – AO has a Nature Study schedule that we will use in the future. For ease of use (5 kids, ahem) we use Exploring Nature for Children.
Timeline – History Through the Ages
Recitation – Poetry
Dictation – One paragraph from one of her scheduled books/week.
Geography – Elementary Geography, Charlotte Mason and Home Geography, C.C. Long, Seterra for map drills
Art: Picture Study – We printed off a calendar that features this year’s scheduled artists that a generous AO mom put together.
Drawing – The New Augsburg’s Drawing First Year Book, Waldorfish Art Foundations
Handicrafts – Perler beads, Rubber band bracelets, Sewing
Music: Composer – AO scheduled Composer
Folksong – AO scheduled Folksong
Hymn – AO scheduled Hymn
As you can see, Ambleside Online is a rich, thorough curriculum. We enjoy it immensely! If you have any questions about anything we’re using, please feel free to message me.
In addition to Ambleside Online, our 4th grader is still progressing withVeritas Press’ self-paced history and Bible. It does make the load a little heavy for her but because we are still considering moving to Veritas Press’ Omnibus curriculum in 7th grade, we have continued using the self-paced classes so that she will be ready for it. That was always the plan, however the longer we use Ambleside Online and Charlotte Mason’s methods, the less inclined I am to follow through with that plan. Ambleside Online does go through year 12 and I am not entirely sure I will want to stop at year 6. We will be using AO at least through year 6, then we’ll prayerfully decide what we’ll do beyond that (if it doesn’t become clear before then).
It’s fall and change is in the air. It really is though, isn’t it? The air feels different. It smells different. I made all of my children stop on our walk this morning and just breathe in that crisp fall air. The cooler temperatures, the decreasing population of biting insects, and the beauty of the changing leaveshave drawn us outdoors for hours on end. I love this time of year.
Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online
Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.
Charlotte Mason
I’m excited to share the new things we’ve been up to! When it comes to making curriculum decisions, I read, ponder, and plan for months(just ask my husband). Even so, I usually end up making some changes a few weeks into the new school year. Am I the only one? For me, it takes implementing things to see what will really work and what just looks good on paper. There is, of course, a time to persevere, but I can usually catch these helpful changes early on.
Last year, I read our literature in no particular order (other than our scheduled historical literature), and we made our way through about 30 wonderful chapter books and countless picture books. We are a book loving crew! I intended to handle literature the same way this year, but when the school year started, I wasn’t satisfied. With the demands and distractions of a new baby, I decided that following a written schedule might be simpler. (Simpler, because it would be less for me to think about, worry about, obsess about… you know, those questions we homeschool moms always plague ourselves with- “Are we reading enough?” “Do we have enough variety?” “Am I missing something?” “Could I be doing this better?” …and on and on. I tend to over analyze everything.) When considering this, I decided to take a closer look at Ambleside Online. Although Ambleside Online is a complete Charlotte Mason curriculum, I have only used it as an excellent booklist, and have only followed a part of the schedule (the artist, composer, hymn and folk songs), but not in the intended fashion. One of the first things you’ll read on the Ambleside Online website, is that in order to properly and successfully use the curriculum, it is absolutely necessary to have a basic understanding of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education.
My sweet little one who came along and helped us into using Ambleside Online.
I have been drawn to a Charlotte Mason philosophy from the beginning. I, admittedly, have only the most basic understanding of her principles, but one must start somewhere! There is so much that can be learned from her, and what I’ve learned thus far deeply resonates with me. Thankfully, Ambleside Online makes it very easy to learn more! On their website, you can find Charlotte Mason’s 6 Volume Homeschool Series, including concise summaries of each. I have been reading every spare second and it has been invigorating! Is that okay to admit? I mean, educating my 5 children is sort of a big deal to me, so finding a resource like this to aid me on my way is like discovering a treasure chest. I am more refreshed and excited about what the years ahead could look like than I have been in a long while.
So here we are! We’re 7 weeks into the Ambleside Online schedule, and really enjoying it so far. I’m so happy to have unintentionally fallen into it this year! It wasn’t what I had planned, but isn’t that how it goes? We already owned most of the required literature, because as I had mentioned, I already used Ambleside Online as an incredible booklist, and I was able to easily gather up what we still needed (thank you Amazon). So with some minor adjustments to what I already had for this year, I’ve been able to make the rest of our curriculum work for us with our move to Ambleside Online. This addition is more of a change in how we are using our books, than a change in what we are actually using. Charlotte Mason changes everything… and for the better! Here’s what it looks like for us.
The schedule includes Bible, History, Biography, Geography, Natural History, Literature/Tales (including Shakespeare), Poetry, as well as a wonderful list of free reads. It’s just so good. It makes me giddy to expose my children to such rich literature. Sincerely, giddy. Yes, we would have read many of these anyway, but having it all scheduled out for me is a huge, HUGE, help. All readings, except poetry and free reads, must be narrated. Narration is an essential aspect of a Charlotte Mason education. The girls’ narration skills have been improving weekly! Know and Tell by Karen Glass has been such a help and encouragement on the topic of narration.
Ambleside Online’s schedule also includes skill work, which includes math, copywork, phonics and foreign language daily, and nature study, timeline, recitation, geography, drawing, handicrafts, artist picture study, composer study, folksongs and hymns weekly. We are able to use what we already have and enjoy for math, copywork, phonics, and foreign language. The rest of the list we pretty much followed anyway.
I love the flow of our Charlotte Mason schooldays.
We do veer slightly from Ambleside Online. First, my Year 3 daughter is studying grammar this year, which is basically a year early. We had already started and it’s going well so we’re going to keep going. I will hold off until Year 4 with my subsequent children. Here you can read more about how Charlotte Mason handles language arts.It just makes so much sense to me! Basically, in Years 1-3, language arts consists of learning to read, copywork, and oral narration. Nearly everything read is narrated. This is absolutely essential. Years 4-6 include copywork and oral narration and add in dictation and grammar. At age 10, they begin written narration, while continuing with copywork, dictation, and grammar.
Second, for geography and cultures enrichment we are continuing with Beautiful Feet Book’s Around the World with Picture Books twice each week for all of my children, and using it in as Charlotte Mason a fashion as possible. We are greatly enjoying it. It’s been really fun to do as a group and an effective way of learning about other places and cultures. It is accomplishing exactly what I wanted- they are becoming familiar with the basic geography and landmarks of the countries we are reading about as well as getting to know some basic history and understanding of the culture, including things like celebrations, food, attire, lifestyles, etc. This is happening primarily by reading the excellent picture book selections of tales, biographies, and history from each particular country. We also study the countries using the amazing Maps book and then utilize YouTube and Google to find out more. If you can’t tell, I am really enjoying going through this curriculum with my kids!
And third, I still have my 3rd grader using Veritas Press’ self paced Bible and History (yes, in addition to the Ambleside Online history… Is there such a thing as too much history?) She loves it and it was always my dream to use it. It’s going to take a little more convincing for me to let go of it. I’m not sure I will. I do actually loathe that it is online, however there is another version (called You-Teach) that isn’t. I can see how being on the computer changes my daughter’s physical energy levels, her demeanor, her attention span, and it seems like such a passive way to learn. I don’t like that aspect at all, but I do absolutely love the content. The solution may be to drop it entirely or to change up how I’m using it. It’s all up in the air for now.
Interested in learning more?
I already mentioned that Ambleside Online makes that very easy to do! A few other books that have been helpful are For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, A Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Leviton, and Know and Tell by Karen Glass. I am also devouring Awakening Wonder by Sally Clarkson, and although this isn’t specifically about Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, it has risen to being my all-time favorite book on parenting and education and is definitely Charlotte Mason friendly. Wow- there is so much wisdom in this book! Another good starting point is the Ambleside Online forum. The forum has a category called Patio Chats and this is a fantastic place for those just starting out. It simply and concisely breaks down what a Charlotte Mason education is.
Ambleside Online has been such a wonderful addition to our school year! It has led me to seek out a better understanding of Charlotte Mason’s principles and this has breathed such life into our little school. I am so excited to continue to learn and grow!
Every morning we gather around the table (or couch, or floor) for a time of Bible, memory work, recitation, poetry, and enrichment. We accomplish a great deal in a relatively short amount of time. Everyone participates… and most days, everyone enjoys it! It’s a good way to come together before the hustle and bustle of the day begins, and it cuts down on our table time later in the day.
Here is a more in-depth look at all of the elements of our Morning Time. Is this what yours “should” look like? No, it can look very different from family to family. There are no rules and you can add what you like. This is just a look at how we do ours. A good place to learn more about Morning Time is this blogpost by Pam Barnhill and this podcast with Pam Barnhill and Cindy Rollins.They are the real experts on the topic!
Bible & Theology Studies
We start our morning with prayer… the only reasonable way to start! We thank God for a new day, and ask for His help to love Him and one another. We need His help and we know He loves to give it. The kids take turns starting the prayer and I close it. We include prayer for the country we are studying.
Next, we study the Bible. For this, we alternate between usingThe Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski and God’s Providence by Sally Michaels. God’s Providence has been so helpful in light of the current events. We are learning that nothing is a surprise to God, that He has a plan, that He is working even when we can’t see it and don’t understand it, that He knows what He is doing, and that it is all for His glory and the good of His children. They have expressed to me what comfort this brings them. It’s amazing how children can so easily grasp deep theological concepts. They understand far more than we’d expect! The Holy Spirit takes our little efforts to teach them Biblical truth, and is so generous in His grace to produce beautiful fruit in their lives. It is one of those things that constantly amazes me.
The children usually color during this time. They often do a much better job at listening when their hands are occupied. (We don’t narrate these readings as they are being used for devotional purposes and not for school. We do narrate all other readings.)
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6: 5-7
Memory Work
Next we recite our catechism and memory verse, and then sing our hymn. We add to our catechism every week. Even my 2 year old is learning to answer some of the simpler questions. We have taken this very slowly, and although we have only learned 23 questions so far, they are pretty solid on all 23. Catechism is a theology lesson all on its own! The concepts are definitely taking root and often pop into their conversations throughout the day. Earlier this week my 4 year old was speaking of my husband’s grandmother. She mentioned that she is alive in heaven and that she’s excited to see her again someday, because God has given us souls that can never die. I love that!
For Scripture memory, we commit one new verse to our memories every week, and also recite a few previously learned verses to keep them fresh. It’s a small beginning, but I have dreams of committing entire books of the Bible to memory in the upcoming years.
We love hymns! I never tire of the rich, beautiful, and Biblically sound language. They are packed full of rich theological truths. We are learning one hymn at a time, adding a new verse every week or so. The most delightful part about having children learn these, is hearing them sing them throughout the day as they play. All of my children do this, even the 2 year old. It’s so sweet to my ears!
Recitation
This is where we transition from the devotional part of our Morning Time to the scholastic part. Recitation is a recent addition to our daily routine. The point of recitation is not memorization, but memorization does tend to happen naturally and with little effort. We recite the same selections for the duration of a 12-week term. Our current recitations are Psalm 1, the Apostles’ Creed, and The Arrow and the Song by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
We also go through our Grammar & Latin chants. (We use Classical Academic Press for Latin, Grammar, and Writing.) Knocking these things out during our Morning Time has nice benefits- one is that we don’t have to do these things later in the day, but get them in while their minds are fresh. Second, we all get to hear the chants. I only require my 3rd grader to actually do her Latin and grammar chants, but all of the kids join in with her. They are memorizing them because they hear them every morning! The same thing is happening with my 1st grader’s Latin songs. It’s so funny to hear my 2 year old singing, “Vale, vale, time to go.”
Poetry
We love poetry! There are always requests for more at the end of the day’s selections. I have been reading aloud poetry since they were wee little. Poetry moves the heart and imagination in a unique way. We are using a few collections- Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson, A Child’s Book of Poems, and A Treasury of Mother Goose. A few others that we have read through and enjoyed (and will circle back to) areWhen We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six, both by A. A. Milne, and A Children’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Riches Rotation
I schedule each of the following “riches” once or twice a week. For our purposes, enrichment includes: Shakespeare, geography/social studies, nature study (science), artist study, composer study, folksongs, and art lessons.
We’re reading through one Shakespeare play each month using Nesbit’s and Lamb’s paraphrases. Having never really read Shakespeare before, I am really enjoying these versions. We’ll get to the originals in a few years as we build familiarity and confidence.
Yes, we include Geography/Social Studies in our enrichment! We are using the literature basedBeautiful Feet Book’s Around the World With Picture Books as our geography this year. (It uses so many good books!) The guide is visually appealing and fun to use. It takes you through the geography, topography, landmarks, nature, and culture (art, folktales, stories, celebrations, cuisine) of the countries it covers. We have been in China for a few weeks now and have read numerous picture books, and I added a few chapter books for my 3rd grader. The highlight has been the Maps book. You could do a year (or more) of social studies using this book alone! Why should geography be dry and boring, especially for elementary aged kids? It is much more memorable when you have peoples and places to form relationships with in the places you are learning about. Suddenly the Yangtze River isn’t just a little squiggle to remember on a map, but a place where a little duck got lost and nearly eaten for supper! Stories bring geography to life and make map work much more interesting.
For nature lore we are reading and journaling through Outdoor Secrets by Margaret P. Boyle. Nature stories are the absolute favorite read-aloud literature around here. We are nearing the end of Outdoor Secrets (which we started late spring) and we’ll start the Burgess Bird Book when done. On Fridays, we observe and draw nature in our yard. Nature study is how we incorporate science in the elementary years.
We follow the Ambleside Online schedules for Artist, Composer, and Folksong. Artist study entails looking at the piece of art, then looking away and describing it. It’s a fun exercise and it amazes me how much detail they can recall. For Composer studies, I usually read a little about the composer and then listen to the composer during the week. I almost always have classical music playing (it’s my preference) so if I enjoy the composer we are studying, I pretty much play his compilations nonstop.
For art lessons we are using Living Art Lessons by Masterbooks. These quick and simple lessons are enjoyed by all of my kids.
See Why We Love Morning Time?
So you can see why Morning Time is such an important part of our day! It takes about an hour and we accomplish so much. The first part of the day is when my kids have the best energy, focus, and enthusiasm to learn. By the time we are done with Morning Time, we basically only have history, Years 1 & 3 Ambleside Online read-aloud books, and skill work (math and language arts) left to complete. There are many ways to do a Morning Time. It’s recommended to start small and slowly add things. We’ve had a Morning Time since my oldest was in pre-K. This is our 5th year! We haven’t always held it in the morning either. There have been seasons when it worked best to do it later in the day. I hope seeing ours inspires you to start a Morning Time in your own homeschool!
Wow! The last 3 weeks have been a whirlwind! Home educating with 5 children, 2 of whom are 2 years old and under, is a fun, busy, and at times challenging undertaking, but one worth every ounce of effort. I am thankful to be able to spend these years pouring my energies out for the good of these precious people. What a blessing it is to spend my days with them.
“No task is too trivial, no assignment too small. Educating our children is an offering of love we make to the God who is so gracious to bestow them upon us in the first place. Every moment of the daily grind in raising and teaching and loving on them is hallowed, because we do it for Him and because there would be no point of doing it without Him.”
Teaching from Rest, Sarah Mackenzie
Our first few weeks have flown by! We have enjoyed getting back into the routine of our school days. We’ve needed to adjust our schedule here and there. Life certainly isn’t stagnant, is it? For me, a schedule is a good starting point, but that’s pretty much it. Like training wheels, it gets me moving until I settle into a smooth and flexible routine. Once we find our rhythm, the training wheels come off.
I realized that I needed to plan meaningful connection time with my 2 and 4 year olds before the school day begins. They do join us for Morning Time, but are allowed to run off and play afterwards, and tend to be busy running in and out playing the rest of the morning. To be sure to connect before the flurry of activity begins, I’ve started reading to them a few picture books first thing in the morning. It seems to help their moods and behavior as well.
The littles looking at books under the table
Creating a salt dough map of China
Morning walks before the school day begins
Perler beads and popsicles while I read aloud
Our curriculum is working well for us, although we did have a pretty major change early on. When the winds of inspiration blow, I have learned to put up the sails. Wind is a gift to get you moving. Rest assured, there will be times ahead when the hard work of rowing will be required. I have learned to take advantage of the wind!
What is this change? As I’ve mentioned before, we love books! We pull from a variety of booklists and have enjoyed Ambleside Online’s book lists from the beginning, however Ambleside Online is much more than a list of books. It is a free Charlotte Mason inspired homeschool curriculum. This year I had fully intended to let the girls choose their own literature from the pre-selected books on our school shelves, knowing we’d read through plenty of good books this year in that fashion, but I had a last minute change of mind.
I decided instead to use the well crafted Ambleside Online literature schedule. We have the books, so why not? We jumped right into week 1 of the Year 1 and Year 3 Ambleside Online schedules for literature with my 1st and 3rd graders narrating each of these readings. (Narration is key to a Charlotte Mason education.)
I’ve been drawn to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education from the beginning of our homeschool journey. I’ve learned little tidbits here and there over the years through books, blogs and podcasts, but the length (and depth) of her volumes intimidated me. Recently this changed. I came to the realization that without understanding the heart of her philosophy, I would never truly understand how to implement her methods, and my expression of a Charlotte Mason homeschool would be reduced to practices detached from profound principles, and would basically be just another form of checking off the boxes. But suddenly this school yearI found myself unsatisfied with that and I decided to begin the hard work of understanding the heart of a Charlotte Mason education. The winds blew, my sails went up, and paper and pen in hand, I have been giving myself to my own education on this rich and beautiful philosophy of education.
Our curriculum choices often flow from one year into the next, so while much of this is new for this school year, some of it is just an extension of our previous year.
I never attempt to squeeze things into a 36-week schedule because it would require way too much editing as the year progresses! Instead, I schedule out our year week-by-week and go for quality vs. quantity. Our schedule depends on how quickly they grasp concepts. There’s no rush and if it takes longer than the curriculum plans for, that’s fine! I have pushed pause to ensure they understand a concept before moving on and I’ve sped things up as well.
Sometimes we finish something up before the year ends and carry on with something new right away. Other times we don’t finish something and carry it into the next year. Either way is fine, as long as we are learning and progressing at a pace that works for us, it doesn’t matter how much time it takes to get through something. Our curriculum serves us (not the other way around).
Here is what our typical school day looks like. You can read more about how we schedule our school days here. This is one of many ways to schedule a school week. There is no one right way. Different seasons will call for different schedules. Flexibility is key. We aren’t a slave to our schedule but it does help keep us on track. It helps me relax because it’s one less thing I have to figure out on the fly. With five kids, that’s a good thing!
Our School Day Schedule
Below is a quick rundown of the curriculum we’ll be using this year. I’ll go into more detail on how we plan to use our curriculum in later posts.If there is something specific you’d like to know more about, please let me know!
I have to add here that these are just a few ideas! There are many simply outstanding options available. I certainly don’t think we have chosen the absolute best out there. What I do know, is I’ve chosen what works really well for me and my children, but every family is different. Children’s needs are different. Parent’s personalities are different. Our homeschools will reflect the uniqueness of our families and that’s a beautiful thing! I hope you will enjoy seeing what we have chosen to use. For those still needing ideas, this should point you to some great options.
So without further ado, here are my curriculum choices for the 2020/2021 school year!
Morning Time
Devotions
We start our mornings together around the table with prayer and the Bible. In addition to what I have pictured, we also learn and sing a hymn every month and memorize Scripture and our catechism. This is without question the most important part of our school day and ourMorning Time. If the day goes south, as long as we have accomplished this, I am satisfied.
Enrichment encompasses quite a bit for us and is another part of our school day that we all do together around the table. It includes artist study, composer study, poetry, Shakespeare, science, nature study, social studies, geography, cultures and art. Some of this we do daily and some once/week. I’ll go into more detail on each aspect in future posts.
Artist, Composer, Folksong – We follow the Ambleside Online Artist Schedule and the Ambleside Online Composer Schedule. We view the artwork online and listen to the composer for long durations each day using Amazon Music because it’s what I enjoy listening to. We utilize YouTube if we are interested in learning more about our artist/composer of the month. We also follow the Ambleside Online Folksong Schedule and listen to those during lunch. It’s one of our favorite things!
Reading literature aloud is a defining aspect of our homeschool. We love books! Even my most energetic, fidgety, active children focus their full attention and fall into a subdued trance when I read aloud (and I often use that to my advantage). Allowing them to color, sew, Perler bead (the Biggie Beads work great for the smallest hands) or use play dough while I read keeps their hands busy. We read a large stack of books each year for the pure enjoyment of it, knowing that the benefits are numerous(I’ll share more about the benefits we’ve observed firsthand in a future post).
I fill our shelves with the books I’ve carefully selected to read aloud but I allow them to choose the order in which we read them. We also get many, many books from the library. I choose quality, unabridged books using several book lists including Classical Academic Press’ Classical Reader, Read Aloud Revival, Ambleside Online, and I also check out Sonlight, Veritas Press, Memoria Press for ideas. For the younger ones, I try to read through all of theFive in a Row suggestions each year. There are so many wonderful books and we want to read them all!
3rd Grader’s Shelf1st Grader’s ShelfPre-K and 2 Year Old’s Shelf
Individual Studies
3rd Grade
For literature she’ll have a stack of books to read through on her own. We utilize the library to save money and purchase anything we’d like for her to read that we’re unable to find there. I don’t have her do book reports but use oral narration to evaluate her comprehension.
Veritas Press Self-Paced History and Bible Courses – These series run from 2nd-6th grade, taking them from Ancient to Modern times and from Genesis to Revelation, and are followed by their Omnibus program. (If you want to drool over a curriculum you should check it out!)
Self-Paced is an online course that she’s able to do independently. We got through the first half of the teacher intensive You Teach version but with the addition of our 5th baby last spring, I promptly took advantage of the Self-Paced online courses. They are excellent and include ample literature to bring it to life.
I don’t have the time to participate with her in viewing the courses but I do like to stay on top of what she is learning. I love history too! I’ve found that by reading aloud the timeline flash cards at the beginning of each week as well as reading aloud the reference books, historical fiction and Bible texts with her, I am able to do just that.
We are finishing up Genesis to Joshua (Bible) and Old Testament and Ancient Egypt (history) currently and will move on to Judges to Kings (Bible) and New Testament, Greece and Rome (history) by October.
1st Grade
For 1st grade we’ll be using the next levels of all the same curriculum we used for Kindergarten with the only addition being Latin. My #1 goal for her this year is to give her a solid foundation in phonics and to help her progress in reading. She’s already off to a great start!
My 4 year old wants to be just like her older siblings and asks, pleads, begs to do school just like them. I personally don’t think it’s necessary to start formal schooling at this age; however, I’m not opposed to doing a little if the desire is there- and it is! For preschool and pre-K I prefer to let them play to their heart’s content, read to them plenty of quality literature and then read some more, teach them good habits, and as far as skill work goes I keep it brief, light and child led. We are very flexible with it. If she isn’t in the mood on any particular day we skip it, but we do a little (10-15 minutes/ day at most) if she asks.
So there you have it! If you’re just starting out, this probably looks like a lot. You might wonder, “How does she fit it all in?” First, we don’t do every subject every day. Second, we are on our 5th year (counting from my oldest child’s pre-K year). We have grown into this over the years. Remember, your school is just that – It’s YOURS! This is only one small example of what a homeschool can look like. I hope it helps and encourages you and gives you some ideas to consider. Trust me, if we can do this, anyone can.
I will be explaining how we plan to use our curriculum choices in future posts. If there is something mentioned here that you’d like to know more about, please let me know. I hope this has been helpful to you as you set out to make your own choices.
If you know other families who would benefit from this information, please share! With so many new people starting out on their homeschool journeys, my hope is to help ease the overwhelm and provide useful information. I’d be grateful to see this get into the hands of those who might be blessed by it!
We have 3 school aged children, a 2 year old, and a baby. The first two categories, Morning Time and Read-Aloud Time, we do all together (one room schoolhouse style).This allows us to have fun discussions on the topics we’re pursuing. I can’t wait for all of the conversations we’ll have together in the years ahead. Each child brings their unique perspective to the table. It’s so much fun to learn together as a family!
Morning Time
Our Morning Time begins with our Devotions (Bible, theology, catechism, hymns), followed by a delightful hour of Enrichment (artists, composers, poetry, Shakespeare, nature, science, geography, cultures, and art) and includes plenty of literature. My children absolutely love Morning Time. Although it has looked different in different seasons of life, we have had one from the very beginning and I expect we always will. What is Morning Time? Basically it’s when we all gather together around the table (or couch) to enjoy learning beautiful things together. I include quite a bit in our Morning Time because, well, it’s our favorite part of the day! I don’t think my children even realize that this segment of our school day is really even school. (Shhh!) But if our day falls apart (which happens sometimes, especially when you have morning sickness, babies and toddlers in the mix), as long as we’ve had our Morning Time, I feel much better about calling it a day.
Pam Barnhill is a great resource for information on Morning Time. This blog post on Morning Time is a great place to start. I’ve enjoyed her podcast for years. I highly recommend listening to the episode titled What is Morning Time?
Read-Aloud Time
Read-Aloud Time is another activity that we all engage in together. I begin the hour reading quality picture books. My 1st and 3rd grader also each get to choose a chapter book to go into the rotation from my preselected stash, and we read a chapter or so from each. Sometimes we pile onto the couch to read, sometimes they prefer to stay around the table and do a quiet activity while I read, and when the weather is nice we often head outside to enjoy the beautiful weather while listening to stories.I will do a future post on why I so highly value reading aloud ample literature to my children and also some of our all-time favorite read-alouds, but until then I’ve linked a few great booklists that I use all of the time.
Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row BooklistsScroll down to see the booklists. (This wonderful curriculum is enjoyed by many and is worth taking a look at! We personally don’t use the curriculum however we do use the booklists and try to read through them every year. It is a wonderful selection!)
Individual StudiesTime is when each child works on their skill work (think the 3 R’s) at their respective levels. My 3rd Grader is able to complete some of it independently but my younger students require my full attention for the duration. As you will see, we keep lessons brief, especially for the younger ages. I will share our curriculum choices for this upcoming year soon! For now, I’ll link some of my personal favorites for skill work. These are a few of the selections that we have used and will continue to use because they’ve worked so well for us.
Here is what our typical school day looks like with a 3rd grader, 1st grader, pre-kindergartener, 2 year old, and baby. We keep lessons brief (less is almost always more). My 1st grader is finished by noon and my 3rd grader by 3:30 pm at the latest. It really doesn’t take much time to get everything in when you are in a homeschool setting. We try to get most of it completed in a 4 day week however starting this year I think my 3rd grader may have a little to do on Fridays. We’ll see.
Our School Week Schedule
More to Come!
I’ll go into the specifics of what we use for each category on my next post Our 2020/2021 Homeschool Curriculum Choices. I’ll also soon be sharing how I occupy my 2 year old, why we stick our chore time into the middle of our school morning, what we do for quiet time, and more!
If this would help someone you know, especially those just starting out, please don’t hesitate to share. Feel free to contact me with questions or if you’d like to know more about something mentioned in the post.
One of the first things I learned when starting out homeschooling, is that there are many homeschool styles. Brief summaries of some of the most common styles can be found atSimply Charlotte Mason. You may not fit perfectly into one category. We are a good mix of Classic and Charlotte Mason. Your preferred style will impact the type of curriculum you’ll want to purchase. You will likely gravitate toward one of these styles, and that’s a good place to start, but you don’t have to have it all figured out before you begin. Five years in, I am still learning, growing and forming my views.
You are also going to need to know your state’s homeschool laws and requirements. You can find these at HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association).
Want to Learn More?
To learn more about the Classic and Charlotte Mason styles, I found the following books helpful:
If you want to see a large selection of curriculum available to choose from, Cathy Duffy Reviews is a good place to look. I have used her lists of curriculum and her reviews frequently over the years.
Once you begin to consider using a particular curriculum, a Facebook group can be a great place to ask questions. There are groups for just about every kind of curriculum out there. I have found these groups to be of immense help and encouragement.
If you like to listen to podcasts, there are many wonderful, informative podcasts geared toward homeschooling families. I enjoy listening to these while I cook dinner. Some of my favorites include:
If you are just starting out and you feel overwhelmed, choosing a company that offers full curriculum packages can be a great place to start. These packages will typically include every subject you need for a complete curriculum. I started out using a curriculum package but have grown into more of an eclectic homeschool style. I really enjoy choosing from many sources, but if you don’t, that’s ok! Here are just a few of the companies that either I have personally had a good experience with or know a close acquaintance who has:
I hope this is helpful to you as you start out on your homeschooling journey. Remember, you don’t have to have it all perfectly figured out before you begin. Just jump in! So much of it will sort itself out after you get your feet wet and you see for yourself what works for you and your children. One bit of advice I have, is to choose something that really appeals to you. It is much, much easier and more enjoyable to teach a curriculum that you believe in and feel excited about, and your attitudes toward the curriculum will have a huge impact on your children’s attitudes. If you have any questions, or if there is something you’d like for me to discuss in more detail, please let me know!
I’ll be sharing Our 2020\2021 Curriculum Choices in my next post!
Our Lovely Ordinary 