Ambleside Online is an extensive K-12 curriculum based on the Charlotte Mason method. This means kids read real books rather than textbooks, spend time in nature, and are allowed time after school to pursue their own interests. The resources on the Ambleside website are completely free, as is membership in the support network. The authors are adamant that simply reading the books on these lists won't give your child a Charlotte Mason-style education, though: you'll need to thoroughly understand and apply her methods, which they've made available to users in free online e-texts via a contemporary-language translation of her 6-volume homeschool education series.
If you plan on using Ambleside Online, your first stop should be the FAQ section for information about the curriculum and basic instructions.Do not attempt to use this curriculum without first reading the FAQ's. Homeschoolers hoping to raise their children to be readers, as Charlotte Mason urged, owe it to themselves to take the first step in reading by looking over the instructions for the curriculum they plan to use. The FAQ section has all the questions that people routinely ask, with detailed answers and explanations collected from two years of responses to user questions.
Year 6 reflects a transition year between the education of childhood and the more challenging education of the upper years. As such, some mature subject matter is included. The authors have tried to make note of this wherever applicable, but they encourage parents to pre-screen material to determine its appropriateness for their children and family.
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