Piney Woods Homeschool

  Personalizing AmblesideOnline In the book In Memoriam, E. A. Parish remembers frustration that sometimes Charlotte Mason seemed inconsistent in her feedback to the teachers.  Parish says, "And when we asked for the precise recipe we were told to 'mix it with brains.' Every lesson needs a special giving, and the method is based upon broad principles which leave the teacher all the exercise of her own ingenuity." We also have to exercise our own ingenuity when planning.  I can’t tell you exactly how to plan your weeks and your days, but I can show you a little of what I do and why I do it that way, and I can show you some principles from Charlotte Mason. AmblesideOnline provides book lists and schedules for every year in Years 1-12, plus for the Groups Forms I, II, and III which each have three years.  The book list is on one page and the schedule is on another, for each year.  The schedule gives you assignments for one week, not for each day.  That weekly...

 This summer I will schedule Year 7 for the fifth time, although this is the first time I will be scheduling Year 7 since the big changes in 2023.  The first time I scheduled Year 7 was before the addition of most of the science, so it also was significantly different from the three Year 7s of my middle students.  We are also participating in an online discussion group this year, so I will have to adjust our schedule for some of the books in order to match the discussion group schedule.  We will be reading Plutarch with an in-person group, so I will not be adding Plutarch to our schedule at all this year. As I always do, I begin by saving a new copy of the Year 7 chart from the AO website .  I use the regular year chart rather than the "basic" or "lite" chart to begin from.  If I were lightening this year, I would still start with the regular schedule and then consult the basic schedule for ideas, but I don't expect to need to lighten this year for this stu...

This is my fifth time going through AmblesideOnline 's Year 6 with a student, but the first time I've documented the Year 6 scheduling process. Year 6 is substantially different this time than it was the previous times, so I will have some decisions to make. I will mostly be scheduling Term 1 of Year 6 for this post, although if I make additions that affect the other terms I will usually go ahead and put those in so I don't forget them later.  The first thing I do is download the Word format (.doc) chart from the AO website . I then open my Google Drive to the folder where I keep schedules, then choose Upload a File and load this Word document. Then I have to tell Google to save this as a Google Doc. Then I rename it to designate which school year and which child this schedule is for. Then I delete the .doc file from my Google Drive since now I have a Google Docs file instead. Next, I scan down the list of books on the left side of the chart, looking for any title...

  This year is my fifth time scheduling AmblesideOnline's Year 5.  I've  previously blogged about the process I used for one of those instances. When I schedule a year, I don't start with a previous version I've created for another child.  I start with a fresh copy of the latest official schedule chart.  Both the .doc and the .odt versions of the charts, available on the  AmblesideOnline website, allow editing, so I download one of those.  I use OpenOffice on my computer, so I would download the .odt version if I planned to keep it on my computer.  However, I usually store my schedules in Google Drive, and the .doc version converts to Google Docs better than .odt does, so this time I am using the .doc version. My first step is to download the .doc chart from AmblesideOnline.  That's available on the Year 5 Schedule page . Now I log in to Google Drive and upload that chart to my Schedules folder.  When I open that file, Google converts ...

  I am, I can, I ought, I will. The motto of Charlotte Mason’s PNEU schools helped students and teachers focus on their own capabilities and responsibilities.  This is not a self-help motto though.  Behind these words lies an understanding of God at work in me and through me to make this possible.   Because of God, I am.  With God’s help, I can.  For God’s glory, I ought. By God’s grace, I will. As homeschool parents, we often feel the weight of responsibility and inadequacy.  How can we possibly nurture, and teach, and civilize these tiny humans so that they reach all the potential God gave them?  Where do we find the courage to keep trying, day after day?  With God’s help, I can. Homeschooling is a ministry to our families.  For some of us, it will be a lifelong ministry.  For others, it will be a season of ministry.  We can’t know in advance which it will be, either.  God has His own plans for us and for our famili...

 I love this recipe from Gwen's Nest for Cold and Flu Brew . When I make it, I adjust a bit. Pour one jar of cranberry juice into the pot. Fill that empty jar with apple cider, then pour into the pot. Do that again. Add a large can of frozen orange juice. Add 5 or 6 sticks of cinnamon. Add some cloves and star anise. Simmer for as long as you're willing to wait.