Any description I give won't do it justice, so you can read more about it here.
I started using Ambleside Online last year. Going against *everyone's* suggestions to keep them separate, I put all three boys in year one. What a big mistake! I didn't want my older boys to miss all of the great literature available from the beginning, and at first it seemed to be working great. After a while, though, my oldest was bored out of his mind. Not bored because the readings were boring, but bored because he knew he was at a higher level than his brothers, and figured if they could understand what we were reading, it must be too low (boring) for him. We stopped using Ambelside long enough for me to prepare for the upcoming year (with them in different "years") and have been happy ever since. I learned a valuable lesson in all of this. The Advisory is the Advisory because they know what they are talking about. I am not because I don't. While I am the first to tell you to do what is right for your family, I really believe that it should be done with the input of others. <Stepping off my soapbox> After reading about placement on the Ambleside webpage, and anything I could get my hands on in the Yahoo Group archive, I did decide however, to put them in the "year" behind what grade they would be in if they were in public school. Much, much better decision!
Being the anal retentive type of person I am, I spent a week or so going over the weekly breakdowns, and pasting it into Word doc's on my hard drive. Now I have a nice, week-by-week copy of everything needed for the year. I printed a year at a time, putting them into 3 binders (one per "term") and separating each week with a divider. (I started to divide it by the day but decided that was too much� even for me.) I spent a few minutes with each week making a "checklist" of everything needing to be accomplished for each day. I also have a library list, a shopping list and am working on a project list.
A lot of people new to Ambleside look at the weekly breakdown and ask how they are ever going to get it all done??!! Having come to Ambleside from Classical education (ala The Well Trained Mind) my first question was "Is this all??!!" Some days take longer than others, but we usually spend between 2 � and 4 hours a day. Remember that Miss Mason suggests short lessons and slower reading. My goal isn't to hurry and finish a year. Instead it is to teach my boys things that will last them a lifetime.
Finding Ambleside Online was the best thing that has happened to out homeschool. Does that mean it will be a perfect fit for you? Of course not. But I will go as far as to say that I am sure there is something there that will fit perfectly into your homeschooling plans.
There was a bit of confusion about our schedule, so I will try to clear it up. If you still have questions, you can email me here.
"To this book schedule should be added daily penmanship, phonics, and math, as well as weekly nature study, art, music, and handicrafts. Foreign language may also be started."
Many have noticed that I have Art Appreciation, Composer Study and Foreign Language listed daily. Let me explain how we do each:
For our composer study, we just listen to the piece we are working on. I have found that if we listen to it every day, sometimes a few times a day (in the car, during bath time, during lunch, etc.) my boys learn more about it. On Monday we talk about the composer, and review it each day. We usually spend 5-10 minutes a day.
Our picture study is spent reading a short bio (if available) about the artist, and then just looking at the work, and talking about it. We sketch the piece from memory (as best they can. I don't expect perfection... just that they do their best) and spend some time the next day painting their
sketch.
We used to just study the piece, and talk about it, but after reading an article on Penny Gardner's web site, we started sketching, painting and narrating the work and my kids love it! It has really helped them understand the piece better. They have really enjoyed keeping an "art notebook", too. (But they love art... YMMV.)
We usually spend 5-10 minutes a day on picture study, unless it is a painting day... then we spend a little longer.
Right now, only my oldest is doing Plutarch and Shakespeare. I find it is easier to read a little bit every day than it is to sit down and do a big chunk of it. We spend 15-20 minutes a day reading and discussing what we just read. I also have found that the study guides Anne White has shared have been a huge help!
For German, we use Rosetta Stone. My kids really like doing it, so they do it daily. It is new to them, though. Once they have done it for a year or so, we will see how "fun" it is to them!
Here is a copy of week one for each of the years we are using. Sometime soon I will take the time to write a "typical day" so you can see how it all works out.