Introduction

Thanks for the warm welcome.  =)

I’ll fill you in on my homeschooling adventures in curriculum switching.  =P  We started with Sonlight many moons ago when my 11 and 9 year old boys were just getting started in their schooling.  We did Prek, K and 1.  Then I tried WP Animals and Their Worlds for a year, because my boys were absolutely animal crazy.  After that I didn’t know what to do with myself because I wasn’t necessarily sure I wanted to do either one of those curriculums.  I ended up finding Ambleside Online.  I read about Charlotte Mason and was sure this was how I wanted to homeschool, although I’m not sure how well I’ve really pulled it off.  We did Ambleside Online for 3 years.  So my 11 year old did Years 2, 3 and just finished 4.  My 9 year old did Years 1 and 2.  I always felt like we were so seperate and I missed doing history together like we did in SL and WP, but I loved the books of Ambleside, for the most part, but of course there was NO time for me to do much nature study or picture study, although we dabbled here and there.  I just didn’t feel like I was keeping up and it started to feel like a schedule and list to be checked off and not an educational way of life.  I have 3 younger children besides, and I felt like someone was always getting left out and like I said, I missed my boys being on the same topic.  I also would take out some of the books because I just felt like there were too many myths and too much Shakespeare to keep up with, and I wanted more Bible but could hardly fit it in even though it’s the most important!  I tried to toy with the AO schedule to see if I could put them on the same history rotation but I just couldn’t make it work.  I had been planning on continuing with AO, because I’ve looked at other curriculums and even though it wasn’t exactly working out like I envisioned my homeschool walk, I figured it was the best of what I could find for us.  I wasn’t even feeling excited about our little homeschool anymore.  THEN…dun, dun da duuuuuhhhhh!  Simply Charlotte Mason!  It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for and thinking of and trying to do myself but couldn’t.  I am excited for the first time in a long time, and my kids are excited, too. 

Nothing against AO, by the way.  Those ladies who put it together have done a fine job of it.  But for my family, I am looking forward to our best year ever with Simply Charlotte Mason.

Jen =)