Before we get started, if you are completely new to Charlotte Mason, start here! Then, follow the links on this page and continue reading about Charlotte Mason. I could go on and on about Charlotte Mason, but so many things have already been written way more eloquently than I can say them. I’m a busy homeschool mom farm wife, I’m saving time and being resourceful! If you’re considering Ambleside Online as your curriculum, you may as well get used to visiting the website because you’re going to spend a lot of time there. *The website is much easier to use on a computer instead of a smartphone or tablet. Many people complain about the website being cumbersome to use. However, on a computer with time to look around and click links, I have never had a problem figuring it out.*
Charlotte Mason’s 20 Principles
Again, I am going to send you to the website where this has all already been hashed out and made easy to understand. Some people absolutely say that you can homeschool the CM way with secular curriculum. However, I beg to argue. There is no way you can read these 20 Principles and say God doesn’t have a part in this way of educating. I say Charlotte Mason was a devout Christian and God is tightly woven into her words, beliefs, and works. With that being said, I will also say Ambleside Online (AO) is a Christian curriculum.
My First Ambleside Online Experience
A little bit of back story first. My oldest is 13. When she was five we tried AO Year 1 (even though it clearly says to wait until age 6 or even 7). I bought all the books, printed off the schedule, and we started. We made it about three weeks, and I put everything up for sale and ordered traditional style textbooks and workbooks. I thought the stories were dumb. The readings were too easy. She was not going to learn anything using this method. Now, let me say that we weren’t adding in reading/phonics, narration (what even was that), and I didn’t attempt ANY of the riches. Not a very good attempt at all. For some unknown reason to me, I stayed in the Facebook group all this time. I saw success stories, followed living book sales and pages, had envy, jealousy, and FearOfMissingOut watching people buy all the living books, post about their days, and ask their questions about narration. I wanted to like AO, but I couldn’t implement AO. However, I kept reading the book lists. I always felt we were missing out, but it was just too much to figure out. Fast forward about seven years. My middle son has been a very slow learner with some major difficulties added in. The textbooks and workbooks brought about tears and fights with school every. single. day. without a lot of progress to show for the struggle. I spent a good week praying, praying, praying and looking at different curriculum. I went to the AO website again. This time on a computer and really dug in. I mean I clicked almost every link there is, and I read about narration, and I searched the Facebook group for narration help, and I joined the Forum and the App. I was going to figure this out!!
Ambleside Online: Take Two
After two weeks of completely immersing myself into the website I decided to give it another try. I decided to put my son in Year 3. I ordered the books for Term 1 of Year 3, and I tried this again; with a different kid and a different approach. Originally, I had planned to do Year 3.5 with him, but he has made so many leaps and bounds in his progress he is going to make it straight to Year 4! I am so proud of him and how far he has progressed all across the board in all of his subjects. This is where it gets a little complicated. There is so much to cover with AO. Instead of trying to do ALL the things right from the start, I eased us in gently.
As you can see, the schedule is very helpful! It tells you exactly what to do for each week. Then, all you have to do is break it down into days. The most important thing to remember is short lessons. It seems really weird at first to quit when you’re going full steam ahead and making progress. But, I promise you will make even better progress if you stop. I found it very helpful the first few weeks to set a timer for 15-30 minutes depending on the subject. When the timer went off, I told him we were done with that subject for the day; even if the lesson wasn’t finished. For my burned-out-reluctant-hesitant-no-confidence learner, this timer method had the biggest impact on him I believe. He very quickly learned when the timer went off, mom was going to keep her word, and he would be done. Sometimes we may have a second session later in the day to work on something again, but that is something I take lesson by lesson. If I think it is okay to wait until tomorrow, it waits until tomorrow. The fights and tears over getting school books out were over by the end of the first week.
So, back to starting gently. I started with math, reading practice, copy work, Bible, one poem, and at least one reading every day. Narration was only required on the one reading a day. Narration is one of those skills (it is a skill!) that takes practice and work to get right. It doesn’t happen naturally, and it likely won’t happen quickly. Every day for two weeks we did these things. I let him pick his copy work out of his reading practice for the day. One sentence. He could pick any sentence. Start small. This is a gentle, but rigorous education. Build the habits, and then increase the workload. One thing I can say for sure: this curriculum builds over the years. I have Year 6. Year 6 takes many hours a week to complete. I walked away from Year 1 because I thought it was too easy. It was easy, but the entire big picture does not stay like Year 1. Year 1 builds those habits and skills like reading and narration. Trust the process! Our foremothers knew what they were doing!
Almost a whole year has gone by since we started Term 1. We are now doing Shakespeare, Plutarch, recitation, pretty much all the things! I will another post breaking down how to do more of the riches and more resources. There are so many. Less than two weeks after starting my son, I ordered Year 6 books for my daughter. The same child I quit Year 1 with. AO has been an adjustment for her. She loves textbooks and workbooks. I think she still struggles with narration even after all these months of doing it. She has a hard time thinking for herself. She has really struggled with not having a worksheet to fill the blanks in or circle multiple choice answers. As far as I am concerned, we are home with Ambleside Online. I have a toddler to start school over with in a few years. He will only have Ambleside Online and is already being raised and parented by Charlotte Mason’s principles, words, and ideas in her books.
Helpful Tips with Ambleside Online
As I mentioned above, the most common complaint I see about Ambleside Online is the website. The founders have crammed so much information into this website, there is just a lot to contain! Again, it works far easier on a computer. I use a Chromebook 98% of the time, and get along with it great!
Two places to start are the FAQ and the Site Map. These tell you what you need to know and where to go next.
Another thing I completely missed before is a lot of the readings are online for free! A lot of people prefer to order physical copies of the books, or even digital ones. I, too, was once one of these people. However, we are short on space here in our home, and sometimes money too. I have found it is just as easy to read them online. We do have a laser printer so I print them out and put them in a three ring folder, but this is only a new development since my laser printer find. Seriously, ask God and you shall receive! It isn’t always in my timing, but He has always provided what I have asked for in one way or another.
Charlotte Mason wrote books as well. These are available several different places. The original ones are pink. The language can be hard to comprehend though. Living Book Press has put them back into print. My favorite place to read them is in modern day English and free on the AO website. Most people start with Home Education Volume 1. I recommend starting with Parents and Children Volume 2. The others are School Education Volume 3, Ourselves Volume 4, Formation of Character Volume 5, and A Philosophy of Education Volume 6.
My number one piece of advice is don’t look at the website and get overwhelmed! I will share so much more on HOW to do this! Take it one day at a time.
May God bless you and keep you,
Ashley