Looking back over the school year, I wondered...do the children still love it as much as they did last fall? So I asked them for their favorite things about the school year, and here's what they said...
Mimi loved doing her nature journal.
Natty's favorites were narration, copywork, and shorter lessons.
Asher liked artist study, family lessons (doing some subjects as a family), and his nature journal the best.
Aaron liked poetry, family lessons, and copywork the most.
Ian's favorites were artist study, family lessons, and shorter lessons.
All in all, we had a great year. The children actually loved doing their lessons! Complaints from the children about school lessons were few and far between, and I was one happy mama. :)
Looking ahead to the fall, we are beginning the Ambleside Online Curriculum. I must confess that I was completely overwhelmed by this curriculum at first glance..and second glance..and third..well, you get the idea. ;) The booklists are very intimidating, and I wasn't sure if we could handle it.
However, after much personal cheerleading and question-answering from experienced Ambleside moms (not to mention lots of prayer on my part), I am taking the plunge!
And we so excited about the upcoming new year. We're looking forward to a new curriculum with tried and true methods. Is it August yet? ;)
How about you, homeschooling friends? Are you trying a new method or curriculum next next year? I'd love to hear from you!
Happy homeschooling!
linking up with The Modest Mom
Deep Roots at Home
My homeschooling days are over, but I will say that I used Charlotte's methods quite a lot in our homeschool, and my children loved it. Nature walks and journals, and lots of reading of great books was loved by all. Narration and writing was a big plus too. I didn't do everything from Ambleside but I did refer to their booklists and use what I thought were excellent books. We didn't use every book for each level ~ I thought it was a little much. It worked very well for us because 5 of my kids have graduated college, one will be a senior next year and the last will be a sophmore. They all love the Lord and are contributors to society, able to do and reach their goals in life. Our homeschooling prepared them well. :-)
ReplyDeleteI remember well the excitement of August and getting started again! I still take nature walks on my own and love to find and learn about new things I come across. :-)
Blessings on the new school year!
Anne♥
Hi Anne,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by and sharing your homeschool experience. So true: homeschool does prepare them well. And I, too, will still be talking nature walks...even after my children have left the nest. I have found a new-found love of nature..thanks to Miss Mason. :)
Many blessings to you!
Sounds really great! I can't wait to hear from you once you start it. That is an awesome aspect to blogging.... getting exposed to so many curriculum's and methods.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping in, Tesha. I'm sure the new curriculum will make for an interesting year. ;) I'll keep you posted.
DeleteHave a wonderful week!
Many blessings!
I am not teaching my own children. They go to a Protestant school with 400 children. But I want to support you with my encouragement! God bless you and give you strength to continue with fresh courage. It is ineteressant to read. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving your encouragement, Jedidja. Have a wonderful week!
DeleteI love how you have interviewed the children to find out their opinions ;o)
ReplyDeleteWe are also a Charlotte Mason homeschool and I must say that I have been tempted to jump in and use the Ambleside Online curriculum, but have also been daunted and feel intimidated by the book-lists! Although I think i could probably deal with it if I could just decided what year to start in!!! Are you using the same year for all the children or having each child in a different year?
Blessings
Shirley
I love how you have interviewed the children to find out their opinions ;o)
ReplyDeleteWe are also a Charlotte Mason homeschool and I must say that I have been tempted to jump in and use the Ambleside Online curriculum, but have also been daunted and feel intimidated by the book-lists! Although I think i could probably deal with it if I could just decided what year to start in!!! Are you using the same year for all the children or having each child in a different year?
Blessings
Shirley
Hi Shirley Ann,
DeletePlacement for my children was a huge hurdle for me, so I asked for the expert opinions of the moms on the AO yahoo group. I would have been completely clueless without their help. The children will all be on different levels: one child in yr7, 2 children in yr4, one child in yr3, and my youngest child in yr0. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're having a wonderful week.
Many blessings!
It's fun hearing your children's thoughts on their curriculum. I'm not very familiar with Ambleside, I've heard of it, and just looked it up -- it will be fun hearing about your schooling adventures coming up this fall.
ReplyDeleteWe started using the CM Spelling Wisdom books last year and that went well. This year will be a little different for us since I only have 1 student left to teach. Amber will be joining us for Bible and whenever she feels like popping in, otherwise it will be totally geared toward's Anna's (10th gr.) interests, but yes, she too is so excited about this next school year, she can hardly wait. I'm very excited to be using the Notgrass "Exploring World History" books this year as they are dripping with tons of Bible, just the way I like it. Anna is also excited about Marine Biology (my animal lover) and doing the 4-H Photography books...oh, and our just-for-fun lapbook on Chocolate!
It's such a blessing to know our children are excited about their studies...not like many gov. schooled children that either hate school or can't wait to go to school just so they can get out of the house and be with their peers.
It is a blessing to know that our children want to learn, Jane. :) I'm just so thankful for the privilege of homeschooling our children! I pray that we continue to enjoy the freedom to do so. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and sharing your home school experience. :)
And btw, my children would LOVE the chocolate lap book idea. :)
DeleteI LOVE the picture!!
ReplyDeleteI implemented Charlotte Mason in homeschooling my children when they were younger, not entirely but laced it throughout. I miss those days. We ended up using textbooks as they got older. My youngest has one more year or less.