Meeting Ambleside Online Co-Founder

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Last week, I had the privilege of meeting one of the co-founders of Ambleside Online. Lynn Bruce worked with five other homeschool moms more than 20 years ago to put together a Charlotte Mason curriculum for homeschoolers. They fought in court to keep it free. Details, details, details. You don’t want to know. But trust me, the world of homeschooling curriculum creation can be as brutal as the business world.

Lynn Bruce

Lynn Bruce and I, at Seven Islands

By the way, have you seen the Ambleside Online website recently? It is new and improved. Totally worth a visit.

When my children were younger, we followed Charlotte Mason and principles, guidelines, and recommendations. Many evenings, I would go to Ambleside Online to get guidance and book titles for my children. Good times.

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20-minute Rule – Facebook Live

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Yesterday I spoke about a Charlote Mason principle which I call “the 20-minute rule.” Charlotte Mason was an English educator in the 1800s. Schools around the world still use her principles, thanks to the influence of the British Commonwealth. Homeschoolers love Charlotte Mason because it teaches gently and efficiently.

Soap Droid

We have been making soap for fun. Here’s a droid.

I am not 100% Charlotte Mason in my philosophy of education, but I like a lot of her principles. The 20-minute rule should not be taken literally and robotically. Charlotte Mason suggested 20 minutes of active instruction time as a great rule of thumb for teachers. Children can pay attention for 20 minutes. At least, we should strive to help them achieve this level of concentration. Continue reading »


Library Story Time

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For several reasons, we have been inconsistent with our library visits. Back in January, we bought a lot of books because our house got damaged by wind and water the night of the Gatlinburg wildfire and we lost 40 books from our collection. So I took them to Barnes and Noble and let them choose lots of new books.

Andy Armadillo visits the library

Andy Armadillo from Texas Roadhouse came over to Story Time at our local library.

In retrospect, I wish I had been more careful with our choices, but that’s another story and hindsight is 20/20. I must focus on the fact that they are reading, learning new vocabulary and seeing how stories are put together. All this to say, we have been busy reading books we own, too busy to go borrow books from the local library.

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Knitting

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My mom is a Master Knitter, i.e. she has always knitted pretty scarves, sweaters, cardigans, and dresses. She made me several matching mother-and-child sweaters and cardigans, which we wore with pride and joy. As the kids outgrew theirs, I kept wearing mine, having fond memories.

She taught me how to knit when I was maybe 10. Now that I have children, I am motivated to pick this hobby back up, polish my skills, and make a few things for my children to inspire them.

Children wearing red knitted socks

My kids wearing the socks I made

The first thing I needed to do though was to learn knitting vocabulary in English. As all my stories of exploration start, I went to my local library… The librarian planted several knitting books in my hands. Continue reading »


Appalachian Home Educators Conference

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With homeschool convention season just around the corner, I am very excited to announce the Appalachian Home Educators Conference (AHEC) taking place in Pigeon Forge, TN on June 26-28, 2014. I really wanted to attend a homeschool conference this year, but I did not want to travel three, four, or five hours to get to one.

You can imagine how happy I was when I heard that a local homeschooling mom is organizing AHEC twenty minutes from my home! Not only is it close by, it is also a Charlotte Mason conference, for the most part. I call myself an eclectic homeschooling mom, but Charlotte Mason is one of my preferred methods.

With speakers like Diana Waring, Janice Campbell, Joanne Calderwood, Dr. Jay Wile, and many others, you cannot go wrong.

If you wanted to learn how to use Handwriting Without Tears, you can attend their day-long seminar, which has a separate admission ticket.

The cost to attend the Appalachian Home Educators Conference goes up on March 1, so you have today and tomorrow only to sign up at the early bird price.

You can sign up through the AHEC ad in the menu on the right or you can sign up right here. All these links I am providing are affiliate links. An affiliate link allows me to earn a small percentage of the conference price, while you don’t pay anything extra. Thank you for your support!


Mom Monday Week 8 – The Charlotte Mason Series

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Some of you might know how much I enjoy the Charlotte Mason method in my homeschool: the gentle approach to learning, living books, awe-inspiring nature walks, foreign languages, habit training. I have read great books about the Charlotte Mason approach, like For the Children’s Sake. I recently started A Charlotte Mason Companion.

It occurred to me that it might be a good idea to read the lady herself. To listen to her own words, if you will, and try to penetrate the meaning of those Victorian phrases myself.

Charlotte Mason Series

I especially thought about her Home Education series – a six-volume set. Too much to read? Perhaps. So I put the thought aside. I have a few too many books on my night stand at this moment.

The other day, I got to spend half an hour at Cedar Springs Christian Bookstore in Knoxville, which features a whole section for homeschool curriculum, some gently used. I have had some luck in the past finding treasures over there. Continue reading »


Katie Meets the Impressionists Review

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(This post contains affiliate links, i.e. you purchase great products at no additional cost to you and I receive a small percentage of their price. For my full disclosure policy, click here.)

Homeschooling moms tend to be curious, life-long learners because teachers must be willing to learn constantly. Personally, I love studying new things. I almost feel selfish at times for all the fun I have learning and reading and preparing my lesson plans for the following day. Take, for instance, art appreciation.

Recently, I came across a series of art books for kids, featuring Katie, a little girl who goes to the art museum and can enter and exit paintings as needed. James Mayhew, a graduate of Maidstone College of Art, wrote at least a dozen of these books, from what I can gather, and I want all of them! Do I sound like the nerdy kid from “The Polar Express” movie, when they passed by the toy store window?

We bought two titles to get started on our collection: “Katie Meets the Impressionists” and “Katie and the Spanish Princess.” My children asked me to read each of them twice the first time we cracked them open. That night, they asked daddy to read them again.

Auguste Renoir (French, 1841 - 1919 ), A Girl with a Watering Can, 1876, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection

My three-year-old recognized this painting. We have seen it before in “A Year in Art.” It was the first confirmation I received that my art education efforts are paying off.

In “Katie Meets the Impressionists,” our heroine meets Jean, Claude Monet’s son, as well as the Girl with the Watering Can, the girl on “Her First Evening Out,” and lots of Blue Dancers – all mesmerizing characters in famous paintings by Monet, Renoir and Degas.

I was very proud of my three-year-old daughter who reacted as soon as she saw the Girl with the Watering Can – “She’s the girl from that other book!” My daughter recognized the girl in the painting because we have been using “A Year in Art” for our tea time and this painting is featured in there.

Charlotte Mason advocated exposure to art. Most educators believe in the refining influence of art education. “Katie Meets the Impressionists” provides a gentle introduction to or an exciting continuation of art appreciation.

For the French names or words in the book, a Google search like “Degas pronunciation” helps.

Your own copy of this book, which you can show your children again and again, will create great homeschooling memories.

Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop

Our First Official Homeschool Break

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We homeschool for six weeks and take a week off. Many veteran homeschoolers have recommended this schedule as a sanity preserver, so I am going with the voice of experience. We have homeschooled now for six weeks and this is the first official school break in our home. It’s exciting.

I thought this would be the week when I finally finish some writing projects and can applesauce, but I have all kinds of other appointments which I was not planning on. On top of that, our monthly Ripley’s Aquarium science class happens to be this week and we still have another session of our Adventurer Club to attend before we take a two-week break from that…

Looks like learning will happen despite the break from the 3Rs.

The curve ball is the bug my daughter has been fighting for a few days now and which has transferred to my son today.

Speaking of my son, I asked him to sweep the floor after lunch and he did a great job. I still had to sweep a bit after him in places, but he has made a lot of progress since last week. He was proud of what he accomplished. After he missed the trash can though, he got discouraged. He asked me to sweep up the mess. I told him that he was still learning and encouraged him not to give up. He was still negative, but stood there and watched me sweep.

After I cleaned up the trash can area, he came back to me asking me to let him try dumping the dust pan again. He did not miss this time. I felt he was growing right there before my eyes, not just in home ec. skills, but also in attitude towards work and in his self-image.

Work is an important component of the Moore Formula (besides academics and service). I think children learn so much by working and performing chores around the house.

As I look up, I thank God for every day I am able to stay home and teach the kids.

As I look up, I thank God for every day I am able to stay home and teach the kids.

When we visited their grandmother in the hospital over the weekend (that falls under service, by the way), my son narrated a whole book to her of his own free will – Curious George Gets a Job. (Narration is a Charlotte Mason method.)

Of all the books we have read to him recently, he thought of that one because George broke his leg and had to wear a cast – like grandmother, who fell and broke her leg, and has to wear a cast now.

My daughter sang I’m a Super Sleuth – which she learned in church recently – also of her own free will. Children are so good at comforting others. They are natural at it.

I feel so blessed to be able to stay home with them and teach them and watch them grow and learn.

Homeschooling blesses me just as much as it blesses them. Which is why, when I look up at the sky, I thank God for my life. How did I get to be so lucky?


How to Homeschool

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Homeschooling is different for every family, but there are six basic approaches or methods:

1. Classical – A child’s brain development naturally sets the stage for the trivium: primary school, or the grammar stage, during which learning is based on concrete tasks and memorizing facts; middle school or the logic stage, during which learning tackles abstract concepts and reasoning from cause to effect; and high school or the rhetoric stage, when learning focuses more on expressing what has already been acquired. This is the method I lean toward heavily.

2. Charlotte Mason – A British educator of the nineteenth century, Ms. Mason is more relevant today than ever, in my opinion. Her emphasis on living books, i.e. regular books (as opposed to textbooks/workbooks), narration, and nature study would bring life into any educational pursuit. I like this approach very much and use it to balance my natural propensity toward rote memorization. Get more information about Charlotte here. Want a free curriculum with a Charlotte Mason approach? Get it here.

3. Unit Studies – The method which took me the most to understand and appreciate, even though I studied under one of its biggest proponents. The Prussian educational method of separating knowledge into subjects, which was used in my public school, had indoctrinated, errr…. trained me well. Once I got unit studies though, I used Before Five in a Row and came to a new level of freedom in my mind about home education. The mother of all unit study curricula is Konos. I find I am not brave enough for it, but it obviously works for a great number of homeschoolers. In conclusion, I use this method sparingly.

4. Traditional – Most of us learned like this in a public school somewhere around the world. Textbooks provide the theory, which you apply while filling out workbooks. Homeschoolers tend to call this method dry and boring, but some children thrive on this. I have a three-year old who asks for worksheets almost every day. Rod and Staff, Abeka and Bob Jones are examples of traditional curricula. Personally, I use Rod and Staff and anything I can find online. There is a vast array of worksheets online. Don’t get overwhelmed.

5. Unschooling – Also known as relaxed homeschooling or delight-based or child-led. I could not be an unschooler, but I like the emphasis on the child’s desire to look into a certain topic. I recognize that the highest point of learning is when a child asks a question. I capitalize on those teaching moments throughout the day. However, I need the structure of a schedule and a carefully laid out curriculum to feel sane.

6. Eclectic – People like me, who pick and choose at least two different methods, curricula and approaches to tailor the education of their children, are called eclectic homeschoolers.

I am leaving out Montessori, Waldorf, independent study, umbrella/charter/online schools and other methods. The best book I have found, which I think any homeschooler should have on their reference shelf, is Cathy Duffy’s “101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum“. The first few chapters explain methods and learning styles. You will walk away with a clearer picture of what your homeschool should be like.

Special note on The Moore Formula

For a balanced education, i.e. one which trains the hand, the heart and the head, taking into consideration a child’s readiness level for formal education, I always keep in mind The Moore Foundation’s philosophy. In fact, it is the overarching method I keep in mind before making any decision in my homeschool.