Help with Ambleside, please!

You difinitely need to join the AO forum, they have all the answers you seek.  They do a lot of work it is rigorous and it pays to check it carefully to make sure it is what you need.  I have taken resources from HEO and Simply CM and used both, I build my own curriculum but there will be writing and math and I can tell you if you follow AO through HEO it will be very rigorous.  Join their forum as well, and then you will have the chance to ask questions and read responses from the people who really use it and know.  Blessings  Linda

Okay, I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’ll give it a try…

First question: Are you new to Charlotte Mason’s methods, or just the AO curriculum?

We use AO and SCM (taking what we like from each), because different aspects of each suit us better.  I would strongly suggest you look through AO and sort out what you would like to use and would not like to use.  Don’t feel like you need to use every book there (we don’t), although most of them are quite good. We cut out the majority of the mythology because we feel our children are too young for so much of it.

The way we do it is: oral narrations for most of the readings, with selected written narrations, usually from their favorite subject(s).  We are just transitioning to written narrations, as my oldest is only twelve and lacks confidence in his writing abilities.

This link may be helpful: 

http://simplycharlottemason.com/2008/09/15/the-art-of-narrating/

Gaeleen

I’ve been using Ambleside for a few years, but not exclusively and not exactly as scheduled on the site. More and more I use SCM books and I also use a lot of my own books and materials. But I do use the schedules on AO as my starting point as I plan each term.

My eldest is also in 7th grade, though she is not doing AO year 7. AO is quite advanced and doing a year that is lower than “grade level” will still provide a very rigorous curriculum. My 7th grader is doing a mix of AO 4-6 since she’s covered some subjects in the past, but needs a lower-level for other subjects.

My DD is reading Shakespeare on her own, but we do Plutarch together. Most other books she reads on her own, but I also read them myself, not because it’s required but because they are such good books that I don’t want to miss them!

My 7th grader does a combination of oral and written narrations. She has been narrating orally since about age 6 and transitioned to written narration about age 11. Even though she is writing her narrations now, I still ask for oral narrations because I believe oral narration is valuable and worth keeping up the practice. She keeps a nature journal, a history journal (with her written narrations and occassional illustrations), and a science journal (with written narrations and an illustration for each entry), and a geography journal (with written narrations, maps, and illustrations). In addition, I started giving extra writing assignments to her this year. She is doing creative writing (which she’s always done on her own initiative in the past, but now we’re giving the work more structure) and I’m introducing essay writing later this winter or spring. She started formal grammar and Latin this year. Based on recommendations from this board, I selected Getting Started with Latin, and we use Sonya’s books for prepared dictation.

My younger child, age 9, is finishing AO year 2 and will begin AO year 3 soon. He’s heard many of the books when I read them aloud to his sister, but he’s enjoying them again. He reads some books on his own (the Holling C. Holling books, for example), but most of the books I read aloud to him. He gives oral narration after each reading, except his free reading. I don’t require written narrations from him, but since his sister is keeping journals for various subjects, he wanted to do that too. He usually draws a cartoon for his entry with a short caption or dialogue for his journals. He does copywork about four times a week.

My kids do science, art history, and geography together, with each child working at their own level.

We do painting study regularly (though not always in the CM way) and we all keep a nature journal. I have room for improvement with our BOCs (Book of Centuries) and composer studies. We tend to work on handicrafts in spurts, though that’s probably not the best approach.

For the scheduling details, I print the AO 36-week schedule and then cross out the AO books I don’t want to use and insert my substitutions. I then tranfer the weekly readings and assignments to my own calendar 12 weeks at a time, and then I follow  that schedule. I tend to put most work M-Th and leave F for “catch-up” days. I also like to include a few free days in the term for “catch-up” days and I’m always glad for that breathing room on our schedule – we always have work that needs catching up.

I don’t know if this answered any of your questions! I’ve been happy with AO, combining it with SCM and my own book selections and assignments. Definitely explore the AO website, read the old articles, etc.

I apologize for the length of this post….