Bulking SCM with AO, esp. Jr./Sr. High

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  • mommyshortlegs
    Participant

    How would one realistically bulk Simply Charlotte Mason curriculum with offerings from Ambleside Online, particularly in Grades 7-12, and specifically History and Required or Recommended High School Courses? (Apparently the capitalization is meant to convey how daunted I feel by the thought of navigating high school.) SCM is a bit light for us, whereas Ambleside is a bit much…I say through the exhaustion of leading my rising 3rd Grader through part of Year 1; and she’s technically “behind” in AO terms, the work grows only more rich yet cavernous by Y4.

    I want to find a CM curriculum we can utilize throughout the years with no thought of bailing.

    For Elementary and Middle School years, I would prefer family-style History spanning Kindergarten and Grade 3 by Fall, and incorporating more American History and more “fun” reads generally (Fewer beheadings!), with creative narrations but also occasional and intentional corresponding activities: field trips, handicrafts, recipes, documentaries, and a list of related books commonly found within library systems (most TruthQuest options have been out of reach). For Jr./Sr. High, I envision in-depth studies of worldview, logic, literature, grammar, and both American and World History (I like the idea of Winston Churchill’s A History of the English-Speaking Peoples as spines [AO Y7-10]) — but beyond this “wishlist,” I’m lost.

    What curriculum am I describing? Am I just overdue for sleep and this whole business of educating my children will all seem more doable on the flip side?

    Tristan
    Participant

    First, take a breath. Then say these words, “Curriculum is my servant, not my master.”

    Okay, now we’ can begin. First, what is a realistic picture of a day or week of work? How many pages per day/week in a subject? Then choose books. Check page counts. Realize you have chosen way too many. Cut the list of books down to the very best/most important/most interesting. Check your page count again. Cut again if needed.

    Basically, I use places like SCM or AO or Sonlight or Beautiful Feet as my starting booklist and narrow things down from there. (I do not actually use any AO recommendations, but you get the idea.)

    If my high schooler is comfortable reading 15 pages in a sitting of history, and we want to do history 4 days per week this year, then 4×15= 60 pages per week. If our planned school year is 32 weeks that is 1920 pages of history reading. I look at my book idea list, have my teen help me sort it by most important and most interesting to them, and when we reach 1900 pages we cut the rest of the books off the list. Done.

    And please remember, your high schooler will be doing reading in a number of subjects, so don’t overload them.

    And to do things totally out of order, here is a bit about me, so you know where I’m coming from. I’m a mom of 10 kids ages 17-1, who have always been homeschooled. My oldest is a senior, graduates in May, and will be going to Southern Virginia University in the fall (she applied to 6 colleges, was accepted to 5 of those, and had to pick where to go). Personally, I don’t like AO because with a large family, I don’t want to be teaching 10 different kids 10 different history time periods at once. We do history time periods as a family until you reach high school, then you get to choose your studies each year. (Ex: my son will be 9th next year and is planning a history of science course, while the rest of the family will be doing something else.)

    You won’t find one curriculum that is exactly what you want, you will need to choose and adapt to fit your specific family and each specific child.

     

     

    CrystalN
    Participant

    Mommyshortlegs am I correct concluding from your post that you are planning your 3rd graders high school education? Can I just say, um….stop it. And I say that in absolute love. It is quite impossible to have any idea where you will be then. Certainly have a general plan, but detail will come as the years progress. I can certainly tell you my high schoolers coursework doesnt look anything like I would have planned it when he was in 3rd grade. I will say I love the SCM coursework because it is relaxed, and maybe light by some standards. But that just means we have time to pursue interests and read books that dont count as “curriculum”. I love that I can list my SCM stuff as coursework and it satisfies those pesky requirements, then I can add any extras I like with no pressure to complete them by some arbitrary end of semester date. We get the full and rich education, state requirements are met and my kids arent in tears. I would suggest making a loose general plan, but only including specific materials and coursework a year or two ahead. You change, the kids change, you discover new books, new ideas.

    Oh if I misread and you currently have a high schooler, ignore me, sorry…

    Crystal

    Rachel Allison
    Participant

    I cannot praise SCM enough. I have been homeschooling for thirteen years; and this past year was our first with SCM, and it has been our best year by far. It is March, and I am still looking forward to school every day!!!! I do not exaggerate when I say I truly believe SCM was a God-given gift to our family when I was despairing of how to do “all the things.”

    I would respectfully disagree that SCM is “light” for a high-schooler. I have thirteen children, ages 17 down to 5 mos. Two of mine are high-schoolers and do the high-school work. They are busy until about 2-3 in the afternoon, beginning at about 8:30AM, with a short break for lunch. Often they still do work a little later than 2 if family “dynamics” (ahem, the Littles) dictate.

    The narrations become more and more involved as they get older (and also, more fun, I think!). They take more thought and care. I have been very impressed with what my high-schoolers are learning and sharing. It is WAY more than I did in high school (and possibly even in college!). To write a poem in the style of Longfellow telling who Petrarch was? That is some very involved/advanced thinking, and NOT easy! (But so, so, so fun to read…)

    Worldview is very important to us. My oldest read Nancy Pearcey’s Total Truth last year, and this year we subbed out some of the literature suggestions because my high-schoolers had already read them. We chose to sub in books that would expound on the whole worldview theme, so they have read 1984 and Brave New World and are just starting Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death.

    SCM is very easy for us to use yet challenges in all the right ways. I don’t mean the readings are easy or light; it is just easy for me to plan and to know that they are getting a very well-rounded education and a generous feast!

    It is also easy to substitute other books if there are ones you would rather use. That would be my word of caution: I wouldn’t try to add any work, just substitute. There is plenty of work and real meat there as it is, and I think it could be very cumbersome to try to add more.

    Just my .02.

    Leslieh
    Participant

    I want to use Early Mondern Epistles for my 10th grader. How do I customize it for one student?

    totheskydear
    Participant

    <p style=”text-align: left;”>You would read the Family books and the books for 10th-12th grade.</p>
    OP, you could use Ambleside but lighten the load by doing Shakespeare one term, Plutarch the next and alternating like that instead of one of Plutarch’s Lives AND 1 Shakespeare play each term.

    Bek
    Participant

    Mommyshortlegs,

    I think I’ve seen you over on the AO forum…have you looked closely at the AO for groups? The set up may work for you EVEN IF YOU  ONLY HAVE ONE CHILD! Only the the top notch AO books are used and spread out over longer. I have decided to use AO4G with one of my children because the loud is a lot lighter (form 3 – yrs 7,8,9). I did take me a while to get my head around how it works but now it seems quite simple so that might be an option.

    The other thing is, if you are asking about subbing or deleting books on the forum you will get some amazing help and answers to guide you through the process but most of it is to help you implement AO…not really change it. Having said that it seems a lot more daunting than what it is.

    I agree with the other posters though, try not to map out too far ahead because it’ll do your head in (say I,  the curriculum junkie monster)

    If you wanted to use SCM as a base, but supplement with AO have a look at the time frame covered in each AO year (click on the year and it should come up with an overview of what’s covered) and scroll down to see the books used.

    Hope this helps.

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