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SCM/AO
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Is the SCM curriculum complete or do you have to add to it? Do any of you also (or only) use ambleside online?
I started out using AO, with my own tweaking. Now I use AO and SCM, with my own tweaking and adjustments to suit my family’s needs.
I’ll let some of the other jump in with specifics on how they got started, but I would like to offer a few pointers.
Be sure to look over the text at the top of the main curriculum guide page. That will give some explanation about how it’s different from AO or others.
If you’d like some more general information on planning you might like the article series we did a while back on planning your homeschool curriculum.
I also found a couple previous discussions on using the curriculum guide that might be helpful: Using SCM curriculum guides and Stuck, stuck, stuck. There are likely others as well but those are what I found in a quick search.
Hi,
I think SCM is complete, but I do use SCM and AO.
I like a lot of AO’s history and biographies in the younger years (1-6), and I like spending more time on recent history than SCM does.
What we’ve been doing is Ancient history with SCM, and a reduced load of AO for more recent history, with Canadian history added since we are in Canada. Poetry/Shakespeare/Artist/Composer study a la SCM. I pick and choose from the AO literature – take the best from there and the best from here. I leave out all the mythology they recommend – Sonya does a much better job with her guides for Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome.
I don’t think you can go wrong with SCM only, it’s just personal preference for me to spread out recent history over more years.
Gaeleen
I used AO last year, and now use an AO/SCM combo. I bought SCM’s “Planning Your CM Education.” It was very helpful to make sure I was covering everything I wanted to do to give a CM education. I just pick and choose what I like best from each curriculum. Such as:
1) I prefer keeping the kids together for history as SCM does, so use their history (SCM books along with Truthquest guides, an AO alternate). I also like that SCM de-emphasizes British history (we just couldn’t get into the Marshall history books that AO uses, though others love them). I didn’t like the kids being on different history periods with AO (just my preference).
2) I like SCM’s character development books.
3) I like to pick and choose our artists and composers based on what I have on hand, etc. so just plan that as I wish into my schedule.
4) AO does more Shakespeare, I just chose a happy medium in the # of plays we do. AO does 3 plays/yr. SCM does one every other year. We do one per year.
5) We use Apologia for elem. science, Math-U-See for Math, Junior Analytical Grammar—-curriculums I see rec. on one site or the other, or both.
6) I like the AO required literature selections, very deep—use them for school time required lit. Then look at the AO free read list and SCM lit. list by age and make a book basket for free reading time that kids just pick as they go.
There’s other stuff we do, but hope this is helpful in some way:) Just what we do. No right or wrong way to do much of this as long as your using good, living books. I like the freedom of choosing our own books. Each year I plan to just scan both lists and pick what I like best from each. The guide is a big help for this. Blessings as you choose! Gina
Thank you Gina! Could you give me any idea what I can expect to pay for a year of elementary education (with no library accessible)? I am trying to work out what all I’ll be buying and whether or not it will end up less expensive than something like Sonlight.
Thanks again!
Check out these threads about some of these types of questions I had at one point –
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/switching-from-ao-to-hifi-to-rod-038-staff-to-scm
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/is-there-enough-in-the-modules-or-do-i-need-to-add
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/placement-and-what-to-cover-now
As to cost, hmm, well I buy ALL of our resources, but buy many used. I have 4 kids – 9, 6, 3, 1 and have probably spent around $400-$500 a year (but we buy LOTS of books, more than necessary, really).
I spend about $600-700 per year (have a 2nd and 5th grader). I buy everything used that I can. I usually check local homeschool sales, http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com, http://www.vegsource.com, Well Trained Mind Forum sale board, and use Paperback Swap. Whatever I don’t find there, I’ll buy from Amazon or new, but not much new —-generally our writing curriculum and math, spelling, and copywork books. AO has lots of books online if your budget is tight, but I prefer hardcopies.
I probably overspend some at the used book sales—-finding neat things that aren’t on my list:) Gina
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