We are entering our third week of Ambleside Online Year 1 and already we are reaping the benefits of the generous curriculum inspired by Charlotte Mason. This is our first year where I would consider our homeschool inspired by Miss Mason in most of our subjects (no CM police, here!). In this post I will share a recap of the first couple weeks into our Year 1 homeschool, and break down our homeschool rhythm.
I have linked to the book lists on the AO website to respect their licensing terms. Books that use affiliate links in this blog post are not listed on the AO website.
I never want you to come away from my blog articles feeling the urge to make your own homeschool like mine. I only hope to inspire and encourage mothers who are seeking ideas and building confidence in their God-given ability to raise and educate their own children. No matter what your homeschooling style is, I am merely here to share what is working in our home and pray it is resourceful to my readers.
STARTING THE DAY WITH TRUTH, VIRTUE AND BEAUTY
This page contains affiliate links which means at no additional cost to you when you click through a link and make a purchase, I might make a small commission. Thank you for supporting my blog and our family!
We started with our morning collective, which I will share more details about in another post. Morning Collective has truly become my daughter and I’s favorite time together. I am very grateful we’ve made ‘morning time’ first in our day, and a priority in our homeschool.
WHAT DIDN’T SERVE US RIGHT AWAY & WHAT I CHANGED
After taking a playtime break, we jumped into our daily core lessons which includes math, writing (copy work), and reading. If you read my blog post about the curriculum I chose for our first grade homeschool, you know I chose Writing With Ease and The Good and The Beautiful Level 1 for Language Arts. However, right away, it was too much. TGTB Language Arts was terrific last year and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using it. For us, we were already reading so many great books in our AO curriculum, having extra writing and phonics curricula was unnecessary for us.
So, by day 3 we continued with our copywork taken from the readings we are using this term and it is going much more smoothly now! We are also working diligently at handwriting using Getty-Dubay Book B for some practice on letter formation. As for actual reading lessons (phonics, and word building), I am going to incorporate them starting in week 3 and will actually make a whole separate blog post to explain how. If you’re curious beforehand, I will be using Miss Mason’s methods inspired by what is described in her book Home Education starting on page 200.
NOTHING I PLANNED, BUT EVERYTHING WE NEEDED
Our first week went exactly as we needed it to go. It’s one thing to put your plans on paper and another to live it out and see what actually is the reality for your family culture. I was reminded of Proverbs 16:9 which says “The heart of the man plans his way, but establishes his steps.” I felt less fist-clenching to my plans this year because I know I am not perfect and I am unlearning so much from my own public school education. Yes, I want the very best for my children and I intentionally plan out our home education in a way that reflects so. However, I accept that sometimes my plan could actually become a stumbling block to my children and I must be willing to try another way. Even when I am unsure of how or what I’ll do next, the Lord’s faithfulness seems to always come through perfectly.
HOMESCHOOL RHYTHM & HOW I CULTIVATED OURS
Family rhythms are something of a love language to me. A rhythm takes the pressure off of getting something done at an exact time. It’s grace-filled so that even if you’re not checking the boxes (I love checklists!) in order, you can still have a functional family rhythm. When I made our homeschool rhythm, I wrote in the sure things that just happen organically in our home, first. Meals, getting ready, nap/rest time are a few examples. Then I began adding in the homeschool elements where I had white space. Most of our homeschool lessons can be done early morning before lunch and that is just what has worked well for us. We have young children and playtime, wonder, and creativity are a priority in our home, so afternoons are intentionally left open (as much as possible) for that free time my children need.
USE A HOMESCHOOL RHYTHM TO TRY NEW THINGS!
Our homeschool rhythm was also a great place to add elements that don’t come so naturally for us but where I want to cultivate them to become so. Physical rest time and read alouds are those elements for us this year. Yes, we read plenty for homeschool lessons. However, I want to cultivate a habit of reading for enjoyment in my home, and that means as the homemaker, I will set some time in our day just for reading, and allow my kiddos to pick their books (audio-books included) and just enjoy the time carved out to indulge. We call this “reading rest time”.
“Night rest time” involves winding down and preparing for sleep. We usually begin “night rest time” 30 minutes before bedtime and it has worked to slow the kids’ pace and promote falling and staying asleep quicker. Night rest time could be a movie for 30 minutes, or a book from their daddy, or a combination of both. It’s been the simplest way to incorporate resting time and after a long day, mom and dad benefit from it too!
I am very blessed to have discovered Ambleside Online’s free curriculum and I am eager to continue using their book lists and suggestions for all subjects in our AOY1! If you’ve been around for a while, you already know I was hesitant about the number of books to read for each subject. However, I quickly discovered that we can accomplish the readings in 10-15 minutes with oral narrations. It has been a great fit thus far for my family and I will continue to update our progress here on the blog and more day-to-day over on my Instagram at @ourcoopernest.
