ADAPTING AMBLESIDE ONLINE | Homeschooling 2023-2024

Рет қаралды 3,588

Жыл бұрын

Today I'm discussing how we're adapting Ambleside Online to make it work for our family. I'm well into coordinating our homeschooling 2023-2024 plans for our Charlotte Mason inspired homeschool, and we're making Ambleside Online work to suit the needs of my younger two learners. I love the methodology behind a Charlotte Mason education, but I also love the freedom to adapt homeschool curriculum choices to better suit my family's needs and desires. I am excited to dive into being an Ambleside Online homeschool, but, no matter which Charlotte Mason homeschool curriculum we use, I'll always appreciate the freedom to make swaps and changes to suit our preferences. I am very much looking forward to Ambleside Online year 3 and the Charlotte Mason feast that awaits! Is your family an Ambleside Online family or do you use some other Charlotte Mason curriculum? How are you preparing for next school year? Let me know what future videos you'd like to see about Ambleside Online homeschooling!
Why we chose Ambleside Online: • SWITCHING TO AMBLESIDE...
Ambleside Online Year 3: www.amblesideonline.org/ao-y3...
More about the Ambleside Online feast: www.amblesideonline.org/index
*Get a free trial class with Homeschool Spanish Academy: bit.ly/39WXMzr
Places I shop for discount and secondhand books online:
^ ThriftBooks - Get a free book with $30 purchase: www.thriftbooks.com/share/?co...
^ Book Outlet - $5 off your first purchase of $25+: bookoutlet.com/loyalty/referr...
^ Discover Books - 15% off on 2 or more books: bit.ly/3gJ0j17
*Amazon (I always compare the price for their used book listings): amzn.to/3gEAS0O
*AbeBooks: affiliates.abebooks.com/theho...
Ebay.com
I'm Jess, a homeschool mom raising three awesome girls. I'm a reluctant homeschooler turned full-blown homeschool convert! Now, my girls and I love being a homeschooling family! I've embraced my love for Charlotte Mason and running an eclectic homeschool. I'm so thrilled to be part the homeschool community here on KZfaq and enjoy getting to know other homeschoolers. Whether you're a fellow homeschooling mom or are just interested in learning more about home education, I'm so glad you're here! Subscribe to follow along as I share our homeschooling journey and my family's experience living, loving, and learning at home. Introduce yourself in the comments so I can say hello!
Subscribing is free, and I'd love to have you join The Homeschool Convert Community! Click that subscribe button, or click here to visit my channel's homepage to explore more: / thehomeschoolconvert .
Find me on Instagram at @thehomeschoolconvert!
Music: KZfaq Music Library
FTC Disclaimer: This video is not sponsored. Links marked with an asterisk (*) are affiliate. That means I get a small commission off any purchases made through those links without any additional cost to the purchaser. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for supporting The Homeschool Convert!
I'm an Usborne Books & More Consultant and would love to help you shop for books! Feel free to reach out to me personally or browse here: b11022.myubam.com/
#homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoolmom

Пікірлер: 74

@homeschool.pray.repeat Жыл бұрын

I’ve been waiting on this video! I hope more homeschool moms will make videos on how they customize AO for their homeschools so others realize there’s no Charlotte Mason or Ambleside police coming for you if you don’t do things exactly as written. ❤️

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Exactly! We should feel the freedom to adapt things as we choose. It will all be okay.

@Hopelb Жыл бұрын

Amen! I use AO and felt the freedom earlier this year to make it work for MY family!😉

@heather48692 11 ай бұрын

Very helpful, thank you! ;)

@ddcejams 6 ай бұрын

Hi, I have watched most of you video. you are lovely and it's lovely to see how excited you are about books and homeschooling. Which is making me feel excited too. Can I ask though, where do you go to, to get your audio-books from please?

@TheHomeschoolConvert 5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! I use my library card to use Libby and Hoopla. Hoopla has been a great resource especially, as book loans are available immediately and I don’t have to wait for something to become available. We’ve done Our Island Story, A Child’s History of the World, Lamb’s Shakespeare, Parables of Nature, and many literature selections through Hoopla. Sometimes my oldest will follow along with the physical books.

@CW22241 Жыл бұрын

😉 Absolutely love your videos. I get so excited when you post. Keep up the great work

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! 🥰

@themelissavanhorn Жыл бұрын

😉 😉

@Tezzie13 Жыл бұрын

😉 love seeing how you plan out and swap what you need

@helloharrishomeschool9554 Жыл бұрын

😉 I love how much love and time and effort you spend pouring into your planning. It’s always a joy to listen to your plans and thoughts on homeschool and curriculum.

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Thank you for such sweet encouragement. 🥰 It’s a joy to have the privilege of homeschooling my children, and I love the planning process.

@meganrose22 Жыл бұрын

Loved seeing in to your lesson! I’ve been so curious about Logic of English. We started out with AAR and I wasn’t sure how they would compare. This program seems so amazing as well! Thanks for sharing. 😊

@SorgieWrites Жыл бұрын

😉 Thank You for such great recommendations and ideas!!!!!

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching! I'm so glad it was helpful!

@JocyQ Жыл бұрын

My girls and I really really enjoyed reading The Little Pilgrims Progress this year-& the illustrations were 🤩 so beautifully done- I think picture books are great for all ages. They’re just so enjoyable and fun to look at. 😉

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

I’m looking forward to reading it!

@alanapeasley4806 Жыл бұрын

😉 As always, I appreciate your thoughts and insights Jess. It is helpful as I’m in the midst of homeschool plans for next year as well.

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Thank you, Alana! I'm so glad others can connect with my verbal processing! ;)

@heatherscofield8474 11 ай бұрын

😉

@chelseaandrews200 Жыл бұрын

😉 I have been watching you for awhlle and its so obvious how much you love to learn and sharing that love with your kiddos! I love hearing everything you are doing. My 2nd grader and I read Understood Betsy this past year. It was a slower start but we ended up loving it. I agree with incorporating more modern books. I understand the importance of older, rich, living books but there shoild be room for modern books as well. Anyways, keep doing what you are doing! I love hearing about it 🥰

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for your sweet comment! We do love learning together so very much.

@gbcflower Жыл бұрын

😉 I really enjoyed this video.

@tiffweilbacher6206 Жыл бұрын

We are doing something similar this year. I have printed Y1 and Y3 schedules, and combined some things, added some books that were important to me, replaced some titles I didn’t feel comfortable with, and made a great schedule of family and individual studies for my boys! We don’t have to stick exactly to any schedule or curriculum, but I love the suggestions from AO. Personally, I think the fairy stories and Shakespeare are just too dark for children to be reading, so I have substituted other great literature in place of those. And we use Hoopla for audiobooks often as well! Thanks so much for sharing!

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Sounds like a great plan! It’s so great that we can each make adaptations that suit our families best.

@chelsiefrazier8513 Жыл бұрын

We adapt AO and I love to hear how others do it. Understood Betsy is a must read!

@agmendoza Жыл бұрын

I’m excited to see how your year goes! We are starting AO Year 1 with my daughter in the fall! 😉

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Wishing you a fabulous Year 1!!

@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable Жыл бұрын

😉 ❤ I really like how you use things to fit your needs. I’ve been trying to be more adaptable like that now that I’ve been homeschooling for a few years. We make curriculum work for us, not the other way around. 😊

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Exactly! 😉😘

@cghernandez17 Жыл бұрын

😉 Thank you for inspiring me! It will be our first year using ambleside and super excited about it. I am also combining my girls (6th & 3rd grade) for history but keeping everything else at their designated grade level 🤪 I thought I was nuts! But you have reminded me that we have that freedom and we will definitely not be skimping on all the wealth of literature 🤩

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Oh, I'm so humbled I could be an encouragement! Hope y'all have a great year! What year are you combining for history?

@cghernandez17 Жыл бұрын

We have been doing Story of the World and just wrapped up Volume 3 as a family. So we will be picking up mid year 5 where ambleside starts modern times 🤪 I’m trying my best to plan it out and not get discouraged

@mywarriorshaven8280 Жыл бұрын

😉 Can’t wait to see the more modern free reads!

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

I think I may share more term-by-term next school year!

@therusticroad Жыл бұрын

😉 Great plans!! ❤

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

😘♥️

@susanna4389 Жыл бұрын

I always think your videos aren't long enough! 😉

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

You’re too sweet! 😘

@user-fb5ze9fx7e Жыл бұрын

We've followed a similar path. I was anti-homeschooling until 2020 and then became an AO homeschooler. I modify it heavily every year, but i have a hard time letting go of that guilt. In Year 3 I assigned the D'Aulaire Greek Myths and Tales of Troy and Greece by Lang instead of Heroes by Kingsley, which looked so dry. We also started Island Story and TCOO from the beginning because I felt that was important and didn't want to miss any of it. 😉

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

I love the freedom we have to make things our own! I know some hardcore AOers encourage people to trudge through the more difficult reads because "they're worth it," but I want us to enjoy what we're reading as much as we can.

@carladavis6392 Жыл бұрын

😉 I enjoy your content very much and am leaning towards AO for my granddaughter (we have guardianship of her). She will not start formal lessons on the fall but I am reading the CM volumes and starting to implement the philosophy in our home.

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! 🥰 I love that you’re able to start the preparations. When we got guardianship of my niece, homeschooling high school was completely new territory! There was definitely a learning curve that first year, but it’s been such a great fit for her long term.

@kristinasidor2393 Жыл бұрын

😉 can’t wait to check out AO to see if it would work for our homeschool.

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

It can seem overwhelming at first with all subjects and books listed in one place, but it really is an incredible free resource!

@Hedd.Somewhere Жыл бұрын

Window on the World! We've used that in many different ways over the years. Excellent. We enjoyed Adventures of the Treasure Fleet after we finished our Marco Polo picture book. It's still exploration of the east, but different people. If you're looking for a recommendation... ;)

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

I haven't heard of Treasure Fleet! Thank you so much for the recommendation!

@heathercox5801 Жыл бұрын

😉I have wanted to try Ambleside, but it seems Greek to me. I've been watching different videos of people using it and I'm starting to understand how it's laid out and I might try to incorporate it sometime.

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

It can seem overwhelming at first, but I’ve found the more I’ve explored and read through the site and looked at the schedules the easier it’s been to decode. The forum and Facebook group are also helpful.

@TheGLOSSette Жыл бұрын

That's why I like Ambleside Online so much because the curriculum and the scheduling and the book list and stuff itself is free. So I don't feel bad about spending money and not using the whole curriculum and its adapting it to my own needs. We don't do everything on there. Its too much for us. But if i had to pay for the book list or the teacher's guide or the schedule or what not I would feel obliged to stick to it to a T.

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

That’s pretty close to how I feel too! I don’t think I’d stick to it to a T, but I’d be frustrated to pay and not fully utilize something.

@jamiebarba Жыл бұрын

We struggled with the audio version of The Heroes. We pulled out the D’Aulaire book for Perseus and then read the Heroes. Also, my boys have Yoto players, so we made our Y3 a card of The Heroes and he listened to Jason & the Argonauts that way, and it worked much better for him through earphones than as a group. For Our Island Story, we occasionally listened to the audiobook version. We seemed to do it more & more as the year went on. Now that we’re trying to finish up in the summer, it’s exclusively an audiobook. A Child’s History of the World is also available on audiobook, but we only used it a couple of times. I actually quite like the narrator, though.

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

I’ve heard so many people say they love their Yoto players. We’ve been listening to OIS on audio to get “caught up” for starting next year, and we’re really enjoying it! I love that it’s British history read by British people, haha. Somehow the accent helps. My dad is British, so it’s not that a British accent is a novelty to us, but it really does just feel appropriate.

@agrowingtime Жыл бұрын

Are you familiar with Jim Weiss? He does the audio for Story of the World. He also has a bunch of story collections. They are all on Audible. We LOVE the Greek mythology one. I only wish there were more stories!

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

I'll have to keep this in mind! Thanks!

@nataliecrowe2122 Жыл бұрын

I think your plans look great. From what I've seen over the years, not many use AO exactly as written, especially in later years. It kinda seems that way because on the FB group, they limit discussion to just AO and no subbing. They want that discussion to be on the forum because, on FB, things can get crazy for the moderators. The idea is to adapt for your children, but not so much that it doesn't even resemble AO. Also, my tip for anyone new is to not add too much. It can get overwhelming pretty quickly. 😉 We liked that marco polo book as well as the Freedman. There is a schedule on the forum for both those books together.

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Great advice! I’ve seen that schedule on the forum and am considering that. The other option I’ve started to consider is just doing the MP book I have and then doing Around the World in 100 Years to learn about some of the other prominent explorers during the Age of Exploration. AO doesn’t have it scheduled in any of the years, but it’s sitting on my bookshelf and one I think that I’d like to use at some point.

@jamiebarba Жыл бұрын

We did that combined schedule this year. It worked well for my Y3. I also picked up Animals Marco Polo Saw, but forgot about it! We’re going to read it this summer.

@Micasa22 Жыл бұрын

We are also utilizing AO Y3 next school year and modifying it here and there. 😉

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

It’ll be fun to connect with others doing AO Y3 through this process! What are y’all modifying?

@Micasa22 Жыл бұрын

@@TheHomeschoolConvert we are following their literature reads, nature lore, some of their science, folk songs, free reads, and some of the geography. We have a different plan for history, artists, composers, and poetry. I love being able to utilize what they’ve put together. It’s been a true blessing.

@samanthawoods615 Жыл бұрын

Your hoopla sounds way more generous than mine 😫 we are only allowed 6 books a month and that includes renewals.

@TheHomeschoolConvert 11 ай бұрын

Bummer! At least it’s free with no wait, but I get that more loans would be helpful, especially with AO.

@TheGLOSSette Жыл бұрын

Sorry if I commented about this or asked about this before. You mentioned that you have a chronic illness. How do you manage homeschooling and taking care of your household? My friend also has a chronic illness and possibly a second one that's yet to be fully diagnosed. She gets very tired easily and so on and so forth. She also has two kids one is 3 and one is 4.5. Her older daughter is going to kindergarten in the fall. She was all into homeschooling then gave up cuz she felt like she would not be able to manage so is officially putting her kid in public school. Its sad cuz she knows all the "bad" stuff about public schools. Plus her kid is neurodivergent (not officially diagnosed yet) so gets anxious and overwhelmed easily. Without a 1:1 at school i dunno how her kid would manage. I do pray for her but im at a loss.

@TheHomeschoolConvert Жыл бұрын

Oh, that’s so hard for your friend. This is so hard to answer here with just text, but it’s a lot of listening to my body and adapting our schedule and routines to work around when I feel best. For example, I’ve been in a flare that has me pretty wiped out by mid-afternoon, so we make sure to get our school in before the exhaustion hits. We utilize audiobooks, and I feel like leaning more Charlotte Mason eliminates a lot of busy work for us while also prioritizing the things we enjoy most.