Homeschool Open House!

I was reading Kelli's blog over at Living in Grace and saw she participating in an open house. It looked fun, so I read hers, and clicked on over to Less of Me ~ More of Him, read the info and decided to play along!

So welcome, everyone, to my Homeschool Open House!




What can I say about us.
I have 3 blessings - they are 1, 4, and 7. We are only formally homeschooling the oldest right now. This will technically be our third year, but our first year was very light! This year I have made a switch and we will be using the Ambleside Online plan for many of the subjects. I am excited to make this switch and hope we can use it effectively. The more I read about Charlotte Mason, the more I really do like her style of education!

We are also using Math-U-See and MCP Phonics. Although the CM guides say to wait on grammar, we are doing a bit of work with that as well!

We are very unstructured thought out our day. Some days we "school" in the morning, some in the afternoon, some in the evenings. I let my dd decide which work to do first and which to save for last. She enjoys having this input, although she knows if she puts it off and doesn't get her work done, then she loses that freedom and I will set the day's activities.
I will say however, that I think I will need to set more of a schedule up this year than for previous years especially with the added music, nature, art, Shakespeare and what not. I know we can't do ALL those things each day so I may assign each one it's own day or let her assign them at the start of the week! We'll see how it goes - which is how a lot of our systems are worked out. We just go with the flow and change it as needed.

This year will be interesting as we adjust to a new way of doing things. I admit, all the emphasis on nature is a bit scary to me. Although it sounds good in theory, I am not an out doorsy kind of person! It will stretch me to be out in nature with the kids SO much (especially with our Chicago winters! I will NOT willingly be out in the 30 degree temps stomping through snow!) Although I have no doubt I will look back on this year and be glad that I did it, I will need that extra push! Also, we're only a week into it, but I believe we can get through some of the reading much quicker than scheduled. I suppose it's because most kids are doing year 1 at 6 and she should probably be in year 2 or 3. So we may work through year 1 in less than 36 weeks and move onto year 2. However, my dd is loving what we have read so far and that is encouraging!

Also, I have yet to purchase any books. I got them all from the library for now! I could probably do that for the next 2 years, but I think (if we still like this curriculum in a month) we will simply purchase them. Some books last for a few years, one gets used for 6 years, and with 2 others coming up behind her, trying to request them all, and then adjust our year based on when they are available for check-out, well, I'd rather just buy them truthfully! I guess the beauty is that I only need to buy what I really want to own and that is nice!

Okay, I think that's enough rambling for now! Thanks for reading! =) And please, if you stop by, say hi so I know who you are =)