A New Semester, A New Beginning

The kids are thumbing through some picture books right now about ancient Egypt. These are books that I've been collecting over the years in preperation for our year with the Ancients. I waded through the books on my shelves (I have many, many books...it's a passion of mine) to make sure that these books won't be overlooked this year. We are officially starting (and continuing...lol!) our year in the Ancient World.

Let me explain: I love Charlotte Mason, I love classical style of education as well. I love The Well Trained Mind and I love the CM series. Wow. They're not too different, yet they're completely different at the same time. I first stumbled upon WTM a few years ago and I couldn't wait until my oldest was old enough for first grade. I had plenty of time to get my ducks in a row and waited impatiently for that 1st grade mark. We were going full steam ahead with everything that Jessie and Susan Wise Bauer said. But then Miss Mason grabbed ahold of me. I love the "gentle art of learning". I love the fact that I don't have to be at a certain spot or through a certain book by a certain time. I want my school and home full of living books that tell stories rather than spurting out facts. I love letting our school be the guide and not a book. I developed a new philosophy. I guess it's mostly CM with Classical undertones.

So for a year and a half I've been following the Ambleside Online (CM) schedule and really loving it. Yet, we were also doing Story of the World (classical) history on the side. It has just been too much for me. I never keep up and always feel bad for being behind, even though we're doing more than enough school each day. Over the break I prayed about it and I realized that I can really do both CM and classical if I work at it. I have decided to put AO on pause (although I love the books and will continue using them as extras) because I didn't like how it jumped around to different time periods in history. I wanted to focus each year on a specific time period and maybe have different books outside of that period as our free reads. I am sticking with Story of the World for now, as I like the maps and extras provided in the workbook. The kids are learning so much about Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, China, and India. I'm learning much as well. I honestly was NEVER taught this! We're all loving it! Last night I searched our library online for some of the extra books that are recommended in each chapter and we have at our library at least two of the extra reads per chapter. So I'm going to request those and add those into our weeklong study of each chapter. I feel this will take away some of the stress of following two curriculums at once and it'll get me back to where I wanted to be in the history rotations. Now, we are a litte behind since my oldest is half way through second grade but it worked out perfectly! God is good isn't he?? See, now my son is old enough to listen and participate and he's getting a lot out of the Ancients as well.

I guess what it all boils down to is do what works for your family and don't be afraid to change/tweak/abandon a curriculum if you're not happy. Our day is still slam full of living books and CM style of education (picture study, music study, nature study, etc) with some classical history added in. I think we're all going to love it. And if not...I know what to do! ;)

Jill