Little House Learning Co. — Scheduling

What is Ambleside Online?  From their website, amblesideonline.org "AmblesideOnline is a free homeschool curriculum that uses Charlotte Mason's classically-based principles to prepare children for a life of rich relationships with everything around them: God, humanity, and the natural world." Ambleside Online is essentially a free book list and schedule for each year of formal education, starting at age 6, for history, literature, poetry, geography, and science. They also include information about artist study, composer study, folk songs, and hymn study. You have to pick a separate curriculum for math and foreign language.  The tricky thing about AO is that you...

I am someone who tends to over complicate things. When it comes to our homeschool day, I've found a comfortable rhythm separating our day into three parts. Having the day divided into three parts helps me fit in all of our subjects and helps the day stay on track without a timed schedule.  Our Homeschool Day in Three Parts Part 1: Morning Time Our morning time starts after breakfast and after everyone is dressed and completed their morning chores. In the past we've done morning time during breakfast, but now that my kids are getting older they are often finished with breakfast...

Over the years our daily rhythm has fluctuated and changed quite a bit. Our seasons with newborns or babies, looked very different than it does now with our youngest being in preschool. But, I think it is incredibly helpful to see how others arrange their day since it gives such a practical glimpse into how homeschooling is done. Our Preschool Homeschool Schedule Our youngest child is three this year and we are following the Let Them Be Little Preschool with her, so here is what a typical day in her life looks like:  6:30amShe usually is one of our first kids up and comes into our room to...

Here's something you should know about me--I love planning! I also consider homeschooling to be my job of sorts, so I spend a lot of time thinking about, prepping for and planning our homeschool, especially in the summer months when we're off.  Whether you're planning your first year, are already a planner like me or just you wish that you were, here is a step-by-step look at how I plan our homeschool year. Homeschool Planning 1. Decide on a Curriculum: First I assess what grades I'll be teaching and decide on what curriculum we will be using for the year. I call...

But before we dive headfirst into our summer plans of camping and traveling, I take time to reflect on all this year has been. I know from years past that if I don't pause for a moment and reflect, I will forget the insights I have gained. It's also easy to breeze into another year without celebrating the "wins" we've had in this one! 

So here are a few questions for reflection and evaluation that I'm walking through this spring as we wrap up our year.