60-day returns • free shipping on USA orders $129+
Sonya…HELP!!!!!!!
- This topic has 2 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 10 months ago by
.
Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
- Posts
Sonya (or any other available SCM staff member),
I am inwardly cringing at how I have misused your site! I recently discovered Ambleside Online and thought it looked great but a little too good to be true. I posed the question on this wonderful forum and got great feedback. (Thanks again all who responded!) They opened my eyes to all of the great resources on your site that I must have overlooked when initially researching it. I did not realize that you had so many great suggestions for literature and composer study and history, etc. I must really be brain dead!
Now here’s my problem. I want to correct this and start to take advantage of all you have to offer, but I’m not sure where to start. My DD’s are 7 and almost 4. Is it too late for me to start in on the 2nd grade guide? Did she miss too much in way of history or literature? Should I spend time catching us up?
Also, we just began composer and artist study this January. We began with Beethoven and Degas. Is it important to start in module 1 for these subjects or can I start with the module containing the people we have already started with?
Also, we have done no math curriculum this year so far. It is the subject my dd struggles with the most. I thought I could “wing it” by reviewing the concepts she didn’t master last year in school and adding as we went on. I feel I am failing at this as she and I are getting more and more frustrated with my bungled attempts at explanation. Is it too late to start a curriculum this far into the year?
Okay, here’s another question. I notice that you suggest a Children’s History of the World. How do you address the subject of evolution?
Well, I guess that’s enough pestering for now. Thanks in advance for your time! You are running a truly wonderful site that has been an answer to prayer! I just wish I would have realized it months ago!
Faith 🙂
Hi, Faith! I’m not staff, so can’t really answer your question from that point, but I am just starting my “year” so to speak. My dad got ill and passed away this fall, then I helped my mom deal with things and get settled out of state with her brother, so this fall was pretty crazy!
Since I am starting now, too, I’ll just share what I’m doing. (I’m sure Sonya will come along and give you great tips, too!)
I am starting with Module 1 composers/artists. I plan to spend 4-6 weeks on each, depending on what I can find for them through my library (love interlibrary loan! :D) I might not get through all 6 before this coming fall, but I will have covered most of them. I fight that dreaded “keeping up” monster, too!! I just have to do what I can and trust we’ll come around to it again!
I had already planned to do “Mystery of History” with my children–via my 19 yodd. I am reading “American History for Little Folks” with my 10 and under set. I thought somewhere on the website was something to use instead of the first 4 chapters of A Child’s History of the World. I had planned to use Guerber’s, but already had Mystery of History so am going with that. I am focusing right now on getting Bible time, language arts (I use Sandi Queen’s Language Lessons), math and history on a regular basis! I’m adding a little more when I can, but those 4 are my “core” for now.
As to math, I have let go of trying to get a grade a year done. I am not familiar with the Right Start Math, but a friend is using it and loves it. The focus, whatever math you use, is for them to understand it. I take the liberty to skip extra practice problems if my dc don’t need them (and sometimes they do!!!) I use a program that is not “first grade, second grade, third grade” etc. There is no timetable to be on page such and such on this day. I say all that to encourage you to not stress over whether you finish the math book this year. Or your dc may fly through it and be done early! And they are young enough, you have time on your side!
IMHO, it’s never to late to start where you are, do what you can, use what you have, and let God perfect it! (I borrowed that saying! 😉 )
God bless!
Trisch
Just so you know, Sonya is out of town on a family emergency. Sonya says she’ll try to respond to a few things when she returns.
First off, your children are still quite young so don’t panic because you feel you have made some mistakes. We’ve all made mistakes along the way. That is just part of learning together.
Secondly, the Charlotte Mason method is a very gentle way of learning. Don’t feel as if you have to complete a module in half a year. You can easily choose a few things to finish out the year without feeling as if you have to cram everything in. One of your goals should be to foster a love for learning. Trying to do too much will only kill that love and make your life stressful.
You may want to just choose a few books from the guide to enjoy together. You could continue with the artists you have already started. Remember that the guide is just that: a guide. That means it is there to help you choose books and materials but you are free to make changes that fit your family. Don’t worry what might be missed now as you have plenty of time to cover “missed” material in the years to come.
Regarding A Child’s History of the World. The first four chapters (or so) are written from an evolutionary standpoint. We don’t believe in evolution and skip that part. The entry in the CM Bookfinder cautions parents about that. Sonya also posted a review there for another book that is a good substitute for those first chapters.
Unfortunately, not everyone sees the warning in the Bookfinder. We certainly don’t want to lead anyone astray, so Sonya is working on rearranging the History Modules to not include that book.
Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
- The topic ‘Sonya…HELP!!!!!!!’ is closed to new replies.