Thinking about Next Year

This is a blog topic that deserves more attention than the 5 minutes I'm about to give it, but I've just got to get the thoughts off my chest right now (at 12:30 am!).

What I should be doing now instead of blogging!!

I've been home-educating for seven years, many of which were with a baby or a toddler and, as anyone with aforementioned personnel in their home-ed environment knows, they make for very challenging times.

Now my youngest is 4 and a pretty good reader, plus well-focused and enjoys being at the school table with the others.

Meanwhile, my 8-year-old boy, whom caused me many-a-problem with behaviour until we went to a cranial osteopath a couple of years ago, is turning into a really top-notch narrator a-la-Charlotte Mason method, showing me he actually can listen to my reading aloud, and can indeed tell back to me what I've been reading, including our latest nightly story of the Shakespeare play, "Merchant of Venice".

So the long and the short of it is that I'm planning this next September to do something I've always wanted to do, but didn't really have -- or so I felt -- the right situation to go for it wholeheartedly.  Namely, I'm going to implement the Ambleside Online curriculum with my children.

Despite warnings to the contrary, I think my older two can do Year 4 together, and my younger two can do Year 1 together, with some minor adjustments for the younger in the pair.

My kids are used to doing things together!

If you don't know about Ambleside Online, let me tell you that you're missing a treat.  It's a complete, detailed, and absolutely free curriculum for ages about 5 to 18, using the Charlotte Mason method and as many free on-line books as possible.

Check it out here: http://www.amblesideonline.org/