Daily Schedule for AO Year 4 - Term 2

We're nearing the end of Year 4's Term 1 using Ambleside Online's curriculum, and it has been such a refreshing couple of months.  I cannot say enough great things about this curriculum and about implementing the Charlotte Mason method in schooling.  Watching my son make connections and really learn from the living books we're using is such a magical thing.  I've even learned a few things myself!

Term 1 really helped me gauge where Bent is academically, and just how much independent work he's ready for.  I've learned a few things:

1. We weren't ready to read Shakespeare. Part of it I'm sure is that I'm from the camp of "Shakespeare's plays are meant to be watched, not read," but another part was simply that Bent hadn't been exposed to any Shakespeare before, so it was a bit much to take in.  Instead of reading the scheduled play for this year and term, we decided to take it back a notch (AO's year's 1-3 style) and read from Tales from Shakespeare (Puffin Classics) which we will continue to do on Saturdays (our Friday) for Tea Time.

2. Plutarch is NOT our thing.  I see you reaching for your pitchfork, but hear me out.  What works for some does not work for all.  Some people like chocolate, some like vanilla.  Bent was dying of boredom from each passage we read about Caesar, and frankly, I was too.  He just wasn't there yet comprehension-wise.  Language aside, Plutarch read to us like overhearing a conversation about Season 3, Episode 6 of a television program which we had never seen before.  There were no connections being made, no backstory to pull from, no way to remember the names since there were no details or development of any characters.  I felt like if the aim was to learn about Caesar, another book would be a better fit for us, and if the aim was to expose him to Plutarch's writings, well....we've been exposed for now, but we will have to wait a while until we revisit. We will not continue Plutarch next term, but Ambleside Online has a handy, 3 times/week breakdown on their site, which works nicely for a Mon/Wed/Fri schedule if you'd like to add it in.

I've made the schedule available in PDF and Word formats, that way you can edit it to fit your family.

Click HERE to Download the Daily Schedule for AO Year 4 - Term 2 

A few notes:

We've been using Easy Grammar, Grade 2 in our Morning Basket, as that's the copy I had on hand, and this is the first year Grammar is formally introduced.  We have been working through that at a pretty quick pace, so I think we will be moving up to Grade 3 after Christmas break.

We use the version of Madam How and Lady Why pictured below, so the reading breakdown by page number on the schedule has been adjusted for that version. If you are using the other version, use the page numbers listed on the AO site.

Our Morning Basket will stay pretty much the same as Term 1, with the exception of a new Cursive Writing workbook, and the replacement of Khan Academy for Math with Saxon 6/5.
Khan academy didn't work for us at all.  My son made a game of it where his goal was getting points and not actually learning the material. We switched back to Saxon Math mid term, and I'm so glad we did.  It's familiar to him, the spiral method works very well for him, and he understands the material.

George Washington's World will be part of the daily morning basket to be read independently and then narrated.

Kidnapped will be read independently twice a week, while listening along to the audio on Librivox.

I've moved one of the weekly Storybook of Science chapters into the morning basket time slot. The reading is something he can handle independently, and we will read the second chapter in the afternoon the same day, which provides the perfect opportunity for him to "catch me up" by narrating the chapter he read that morning to me before we begin the chapter we read together. 

For Latin, we've been using Getting Started with Latin, and I'm so glad that we chose this program.  It's such an easy program to follow, with just the right amount of new material each lesson.  Bent has really impressed me with his retention!  Other than a little bit of Spanish when he was younger (colors, numbers, etc), this is his first real attempt at foreign language, and I'm really wishing we would have started the recommended language schedule sooner! I'm wondering if it would be ok, to begin Spanish with him after Christmas break, since 2 languages are scheduled for year 4, or if I should hold off until next year.  I'd love opinions from other CM/AO mamas, so please leave me a comment if you have suggestions!

P.S.  I mentioned in the Term 1 post that I was thinking about purchasing Bird Bingo, and I wanted to let you know, it was SUCH a hit! If you're on the fence about it, GET IT!  It's very well made, the whole family can play together, and you can't help but learn all of the birds just from playing.  I definitely recommend it!

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Our Homeschool Daily Rhythm

We've been homeschooling off and on since preschool, re-enrolling in public school a couple of times, but the end of January marked exactly 1 whole year of schooling at home.  It has been so incredibly wonderful.
I won't lie, there were quite a few times in the beginning when I questioned whether we were doing the right thing; when my boy seemed so lonely, desperate for companions his own age, but every time I'd bring it up, Jon would just remind me of all the awesome things about homeschooling (no car rider line, no one bringing weapons to school, not having to study useless information, and learning at our own pace to name a few), and I'd settle back into feeling (mostly) like we were doing the right thing.
Not long had passed into our most recent homeschooling journey when one day, the neighborhood kids decided to come out and play, and Bent finally got the nerve to introduce himself.  They been great friends every since, so my motherly worries have vanished.

We follow more of a rhythm than a schedule, so there are no "set times' when we do any particular activity.  A rhythm is more of "first we do this, then we do this, and after that we do this.  We usually never do this before we do that" - type of thing.

Here's a peek into our day:

Wake up.
Breakfast and chill.  I don't believe in making your children start on work while they eat a meal. Meals are for eating and enjoying, not absentmindedly shoveling food into your mouth while your mother sings/reads/hands you work to be done.  The boys eat their breakfast in peace.

After breakfast, they may watch a little television or play together while I shower and get ready for the day.  It usually amounts to 10 minutes of television watching and the rest creative play.

They then get dressed, brush teeth, tidy their rooms, and Bent gets his Morning Work basket.  He has until lunchtime to complete his basket, so if he is struck by a creative thought, or the need to run outside and get some energy out, that's perfectly fine.  This helps him to learn time management, since he is the one in control of his work schedule.  He has a deadline to meet, and consequences if it's not met (no electronics for the remainder of the day if his work isn't completed by lunch time - electronics are the bees knees right now, so if his work is complete, he earns the privilege of electronic time after school).

Lunch.  Again, no school work during meals.  We just enjoy our meal together.

Quiet time.  Unfortunately, my 3 year old has decided he no longer needs to nap, which was when we used to do our main lessons.  Quiet time now consists of my 3 year old quietly laying down and resting while he watches a movie, usually ending with him playing blocks/legos/puzzles independently in his room.  This is when Bent and I work on the parts of his daily schooling that require my guidance - Math and Literature daily, alternating Science and History every other day.

Once our school work is complete, the boys have free time to play for the remainder of the afternoon.

That's our homeschool rhythm.  I'd love it if you tell me about your day in the comments or link to your post for me to read.  It's so interesting and helpful to read about how other homeschool families spend their day.

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