Well, it's about that time again; another school year is just around the corner - as in Monday...for us, anyway.
Some of you may remember some of my posts from last year about how we switched to the Charlotte Mason method (s) of home education. It was a wonderful year. But that's not to say we didn't have any bad days. Because we did. But the bad days were few and far between. My children seem to now have a real desire to learn. And they don't want to memorize information, they want to acquire knowledge. And there's a big difference between the two.
So the year rolled along quite well. The children learned and loved learning. And I loved watching them learn.
Then, in February, imagine how thrilled I was to discover a Charlotte Mason-based curriculum! It's called Ambleside Online. Not only is it CM based, but it's also free! That's right - free!! As in.....if you have Internet service, most of the books can be read online. (I have had to buy a total of 10 books for my children, but most of them could probably be found at the local library.) They even have weekly schedules for each level so you can print them out.
It seemed too good to be true. As I looked around on the site, the booklists for each seemed overwhelming, and that's an understatement. But I have some CM blogging friends who helped me sort it all out. And I am pleased to announce that, after taking some time over the summer to prepare, we are ready to officially become an "AO family" beginning on Monday.
I am still a bit intimidated about starting a brand new curriculum (you know the saying about teaching an old dog new tricks - lol), but this is something we have prayed about and feel that this is the Lord's will for us. Plus, there is a new forum for AO curriculum users, and it's already been a tremendous help to me.
So Monday is the big day. We eagerly look forward continuing our homeschool journey.....just in a new way and with a new curriculum, and hopefully, we have a lifetime of learning ahead of us. :)
How about you, readers? Are you changing your curriculum this year? Or are you using the same one as last year? I'd love to hear what your plans are for the new year. :)
Hope you're having a wonderful week!
"Come, you children, listen to me; and I will teach you the fear of the Lord."
~ Psalm 34:11
"And they don't want to memorize information, they want to acquire knowledge."
ReplyDeleteYou said it perfectly above!
Our curriculum is always changing because we do unit studies and sprinkle in little gems in between that catch my attention. We do use many of the Charlotte Mason principles in our units and they have been a big blessing. May you have a wonderful school year :) ~ JES
Hi JES,
DeleteI have heard wonderful things about unit studies, but have never used them. Thanks so much for stopping and sharing.
Hope you have a blessed school year, as well.
Blessings in Christ,
Lisa
Love charlotte mason! We change it up a bit every year especially when i see a real need for it! Keeps things exciting! :) hope you have a great year!
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the wonderful things about homeschooling: you can "change it up" as you say to fir the needs of your children. :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by and taking time to leave a comment.
I hope you have wonderful school year!
Many blessings,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of this website, but I am going to check it out. We did SonLight for a few years but I am changing this year to ACE Paces. I let my son help me decide. He is doing the test to see where he will begin.
Blessings,
Amy Jo
Hi Amy Jo,
DeleteI have friends who use Sonlight and they speak very highly of it.
I know very little of ACE Paces. But one of the wonderful things about homeschool is that there are so many curricula to choose from! And as mothers, we are the only ones who know which ones are best for our children. :)
Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
Hope you have an awesome school year!
Blessings,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the big switch. It sounds like you're set up to enjoy a wonderful year! I look forward to reading any of you CM insights as you go along ...
Blessings,
Glory
Thanks for stopping by, Glory. I'll be posting on our school year as it progresses. :)
DeleteHope you have a wonderful week-end!
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteOh boy, Monday is the big day!!! I wish you all the best with your new AO year. I loved your statement, "And they don't want to memorize information, they want to acquire knowledge." How true.
Well, you probably know what we are doing as I have a whole page on my blog that gives everyone a run down of what we are up to. We won't start until after Labor day, but Anna sure is excited. That will be my big difference, just one student (sob, sob). A couple of days ago Amber was going to clear out her school desk and then I was going to just put it downstairs for the time being, but I said it was kinda sad, and she & I started to tear up and then she just had to walk away. It was more than she could take for now, so the desk just sits here as it did her last day of school in May. It's a bittersweet time around here and change is hard.
Enjoy your first week of school my friend!
Oh, Jane...I know how you feel. It was so hard when my older 2 graduated from homeschool! I grieved. Then there was short break from school til our younger 5 children got old enough.
DeleteSoak up every moment with your youngest daughter. And leave the desk as a reminder of all your sweet memories with your oldest. :')
May you and your daughter have school year filled with blessings.
Much love to you!
We are using Sonlight for the first time in our homeschool adventures! I've always loved browsing their catalogs for *good book choices* .. and finally I 'surrendered' and bought their curriculum to use for my daughter this year. I had a lot of the books already, so that probably made it easier for me buy from them.
ReplyDeleteI have heard a lot of good about AO as well!!!!! About their book choices to be excellent too!!! I hope to read some posts as you go along through out the year using AO, I've been pondering what I will use already for my daughter next year -9th grade:) ... and from what I understand, AO is a 4year cycle with the history -could be a good thing to consider come my daughter's High School years:)
HAPPY HOMESCHOOLING to you!!!
So glad you stopped by, Deanna. I've heard wonderful things about Sonlight. They have tons of excellent books in their curriculum. I'm sure you will have wonderful year. :)
DeleteMany blessings to you, my friend.
Deanna, we've used Sonlight the whole way through and I love it! Enjoy!!
DeleteLisa,
ReplyDeleteI've always kept my eye on the AO book lists for adding to our own. I think that is one of the best out there. Enjoy your year!
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteAO definitely has of the best books for children. And I like reading them, too. ;)
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,
Lisa
We used Weaver for 6 years, Lifestyle of Learning, Rod and Staff, Bob Jones, and LOTS of Charlotte Mason throughout. I tried reading Charlotte's books earlier on in homeschooling but like Karen Andreola's book the best. It is nice that there are curriculum out there now to bring it all together. I have only one year left as my daughter does College Plus and my son does Bob Jones online.
ReplyDeleteIt just kind of thrills me to hear that someone is still talking about ways of homeschooling like CM because sometimes it seems like those methods have been replaced with academia even for young children instead of the love of learning.
Hi Judith,
DeleteI'm not familiar with Weaver. But we have used Rod and Staff and BJU and loved their books.
I ma so thankful that the Lord brought us to the CM philosophy. It has truly changed our home school. :)
So glad you stopped by and shared with us.
Blessings,
Lisa
Sounds like you are going to have another wonderful CM year Lisa. I love the pics of your learning rooms in your latest post too! Very nice and bright.
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good, Shirley.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a blessed year as well. :)
I am peeking in from another blog. I am highly interested in your journey with your new curriculum. I hope you have a great year.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to "meet" you, friend. Soon I hope to post on our new school year and adjusting to our new curriculum. Stay tuned! :) Hope you have a great year, too.
DeleteMany blessings.