End Of Year Update Ambleside Online: What We We're Changing & What We Liked

Here’s an honest update as we finish our first year using Ambleside Online with 3 kids. It was challenging, beautiful, frustrating at times, and full of beauty too. Come see what we liked, didn’t like, what we’ll keep or change, and if we’ll continue with it all next year.
My biggest struggle was the amount of time it took us, and the amount of readings. It left us feeling little zeal for more, because everyone was tired. But the books were fantastic and we learned SO much. I’m hoping that next year it will be smoother because I’ll have two better readers + more audiobooks, and possibly a toddler in preschool.
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[@shelbyl.hughes9392]

THIS is the video I needed. I'm an author (working on a children's novel!) and a homeschool mom to four daughters ages 9, 7, 5 and 2. It will be our first year using Ambleside and I'm a bit nervous because my eldest is not a strong reader yet and will need my help at least to start. Your tips and encouragement and even sharing your struggles is exactly what I needed. I'm not sure what to expect with our two-year-old in the mix of everything. I imagine she and her Kindergarten sister will be playing together quite a bit while I'm working with the older two. We'll see!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

You got this! I think your kindergartener is going to be clutch in terms of helping entertain your 2 year old. Hold on to that nap time as long as you can, and combine as much as you can for the 7 & 9 year old. Hope you have a really great year!

[@erinashley1910]

I am an AO dabbler but have never jumped fully into it because of having multiple kiddos (8, 6, 2, and a baby) and the thought of organizing that many separate years makes my head spin. But, I found a resource that has an AO "feel" but is much easier for me to manage. It's the read aloud banquets from Gateway to the Classics / Yesterday's Classics. I love the book choices, and I just print off each week's reading packet for the two older kiddos. They read and narrate what they can, and if they're struggling, I read with them. It's been so much easier than juggling a ton of books, like I was doing with other CM curricula I've used. Then, we can add in the riches that we do together. Nature study, composer, artist, handicraft... all of that is combined. Anyway, it sounds like we had similar years with not getting through as much as we wanted, but maybe a simplified reading plan will help.

[@goodmeasurehomestead7903]

Gateway to the Classics - the 'Banquets'- such a gem! So well done!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Thanks for sharing this resource! It's new to me so I'd love to read up on it. I like hearing how you've figured out something that works with 4 young kids, because I know it's hard!

[@brookeally1346]

Thank you for this review! I appreciate the honest feedback. It sounds like it definitely has some richness to it but it sounds very much overwhelming.

[@sarabauer5918]

I highly recommend the Warfare by Duct Tape books. I have all boys and they weren’t interested in handicrafts, but they have crafted so many shields, swords and helmets. They have so much fun using their finished products to re-enact the battles we’ve read about in history!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Heading off to google this...it sounds amazing!

[@Hookhamhomestead]

For the writing thing if you record the oral narrations in notebooks that gives a great keepsake without adding in more

[@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable]

Just something to consider with having your preschooler go to a preschool…1. It still takes away time to transport. So it will still interrupt your flow. 2. When they come home to “homeschool” down the road they will have a more school mentality. “Well, my teacher did it this way…” etc. This happened to me with my daughter because I worked fulltime until she was 5. It took several months to undo the “school” attitudes. 😊 She is in 5th grade and we still struggle with it sometimes because the structure was engrained. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Trust me though. I get it. I have a 10, 3 and 1 year old. The thought has crossed my mind too. Janelle Knutson has a great podcast episode on why not to send your preschooler off to do school with your older kids.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Very good things to consider, thank you for bringing that up and sharing your personal experience! I'll check out that podcast too. Have you ever considered a "mother's helper"? I've heard of homeschool families asking someone to come in to play with the preschool aged kids a few mornings a week instead of sending to preschool. Maybe that would be an option too but would love to hear if anyone has done this well.

[@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable]

@@LizBlueandHazel I have heard of that before, I just don’t know anyone who does that. 😃 What a blessing it would be though. The best of both worlds. ❤️

[@estecombrinck9424]

Thank you for your honesty ❤

[@chelsiefrazier8513]

I so appreciate the honesty about time! We had a very similar situation this year with a yr1, yr3, and yr 5, and two 2 and under. We decided to pick and choose some AO this upcoming year and went with something to be family style. But AO is so rich, and I love it, but I could not do the multiple levels.

[@JanaC923]

This was so helpful and I really appreciate your honesty. Thank you!!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

I'm so glad!

[@hannahhensley8497]

Grateful for your critical review of AO! Your critiques are many of the reasons why I don’t think the program as it stands would work for us anytime soon.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

I'm glad it was helpful!

[@NivesScott]

Ooh thank you for sharing! We are eyeing AO for our formal education so these videos are all part of my research! 😅

[@stxschoolhouse]

It feels like a lot to try to finish everything!!! Trying to finish by morning is unrealistic in some cases. I have a 7, 5, and almost 2 and we just never finished by lunch and I felt the same sometimes. We are doing the CMEC next year for the 3rd year and it's very very family oriented with how they combine many subjects within forms. Highly recommend! We do use AO Composer and Artist study with our co-op but other than that we do so many things together and I love it. I think as our toddlers get older, life will get a bit better haha

[@LizBlueandHazel]

So glad CMEC is working well and how fun you are in a Charlotte Mason co-op! Interesting how many CM curriculums use forms but AO does not. I wonder why that is? Enjoy your summer, and thanks for watching!

[@captain7471]

We just listened to the folk song, hymn, and the opera music at lunch while we ate and it worked well for us. We skipped all the handicrafts and have no plans to add that in. I take time out of the weekend to catch up on readings, especially Bible (we do together). I also look at our week and in the more busy days I’ll have my kids pick a shorter book or reading. Someone in the Facebook page made readers so it’s really easy to have it all together in a binder, that may be an option to look into for you to help condescend it. I definitely beefed up the science a lot

[@jeniferteodoro4513]

I love the idea of putting the paintings in the bathroom

[@LizBlueandHazel]

It will get some giggles from guests as well. But so far I'm loving it!

[@user-fb5ze9fx7e]

I appreciate this honest review. I LOVE the idea of putting the art print in the bathroom and will be doing that. We also didn't get to composers, nature study, or handicrafts. I have become much less doctrinaire about CM this past year because now I have a young child and I believe that younger kids need more explicit instruction. We did a form of creative writing this year with a "story starters" book that had picture prompts and I wrote down what my Y1 dictated to me.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

What a fun way to add in some creative writing! We did something similar at that age with Brave Writer called Jot it Down where I'd write their stories and it was precious! Thanks for sharing.

[@annagracehayes]

You are absolutely not the only one who can't get all AO done. The Advisory themselves always tweaked the program. I know some moms use ADE schedule cards to pare down AO to a timetable model instead of checklists. Great review!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Thanks for the encouragement!

[@courtb609]

This has been so helpful for me! I just watched your video last night on the book baskets and getting started. We have been an unschooling/Charlotte Mason family for 4 years and we’ve done everything together, which I have loved. I felt drawn to AO because of the organization but I was overwhelmed by the price of books for each kiddo. Your recap video is so helpful to allow me to do what I feel in my gut is right and not just do a pre planned system just because. Thanks for sharing!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

So glad it was helpful! We are utilizing the book baskets for each level again this year. I think you’ll love the simplicity of the 36 week schedule printable for each grade, just cross out books you don’t use. We did all our reading together before AO too, and I miss aspects of it, so I’m looking at what books I want to read together this year. We pulled a few from some of their 36 week schedules to do family style last year and I liked it, so we may do that again especially with literature picks. Just an idea if you end up missing the family style feel.

[@courtb609]

We’re jumping in with a 3rd and 5th year. Your review of your year has helped me to rethink how we’ll begin in the fall. I think we may do Bible and history together, maybe even starting out with George Washington’s world. I like the layout of AO but I also like to add in our own way of doing things. And as Ive looked for honest reviews of AO on KZbin, yours is by far my favorite. Thanks for all your hard work!!

[@_anourishedlife_]

The CMEC does a good job accommodating a wide spread of grades, keeping everyone on the same time period and combing as many subjects as you can in a family. Great teacher helps. Could be a good resource to look into.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

I didn’t know they keep the family on the same time period. That does seem like a big bonus and one reason I looked into Simply Charlotte Mason. Thanks for the info.

[@teamgibber]

@@LizBlueandHazel Alveary keeps students in the same time period as well. And they have lesson plans like AO does but even more in depth, broken down to daily lessons, including supply lists. CMEC does Kinderleben and Form 1 so well! But fell flat in the upper forms for us. And trying to schedule out all the books was exhausting with CMEC.

[@teamgibber]

A lot of this resonates with me! We just finished our first year of Charlotte Mason homeschooling and it's hard to balance the books and THINGS Charlotte Mason talks about in her volumes. Read her books if you haven't. Also, Sabbath Mood is very CM aligned and so great to spice up science for your family! We are using Alveary+ this year to jazz up the "things" of our school so we aren't drowning in all the books!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Awesome you're trying something new and adjusting too! I'll check out Sabbath Mood, thanks. Appreciate the insight!

[@chelseyummali]

I also have 4 kids, 1 is only 2.5 years, another is a Kindergartner this coming year, a soon to be 3rd grader and 5th grader. Ive always used the CM method. We really enjoy it, but I've always just used her principles and we didnt cover all subjects, or follow a curriculum. This year we are going to use Ambelside as Id like to be a bit more of a purest because I truly believe in her philosophy. The CM method is not for everyone, nor do you have to be a purest, do what makes your family happy. You could take what you like from Ambelside or CM in general and leave the rest. I know for me though, when I introduced my second child into homeschool I refused to teach my kids separate on anything except math and grammar. After speaking to a wonderful friend of mine who taught 4 children as well, she bases her school around the oldest child and adjust projects or activities by age. Yes of course some books may be a bit more advanced, but thats where I have my oldest read alone if need be. If I were you Id find a grade that feels comfortable for all the kids. When I watched your video on doing 3 separate grades I was like what?! how? SOOO many books. If you lighten your load by at least half, things like nature study and handicraft and composer study etc will be much easier and enjoyable. Research Waldorf Science. My gf is always doing cool science projects, but usually its more targeted towards middle/high school.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

I've never heard of Waldorf Science. I'll look into it! Yes, this year taught me we had TOO many books going and not enough independence with my kids. We made it, but definitely looking to cut back until we find peace. Hope you have a great year and thanks for sharing your experiences!

[@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable]

I followed some readings from AO Yr4 this year and I can see how this would be really hard to have multiple grades, but I think when you have more older kids it will be a lot easier because they do so much more independent reading from 4th grade on. I know they don’t recommend combining, but I highly recommend it. 😊 Also, please make sure to do Christina Rosetti in Poetry. I think she us in the Year 2 Anthology. My daughter loves all her poems. ❤

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Yes, hoping this year will be even smoother with bigger kids doing more on their own. Thanks for the heads up on Christina Rosetti! I have the year 2 AO poetry anthology so can't wait to see her style.

[@AHeartForHomeEducation]

We do the same handicraft all year! Switching each term is too quick for us. I usually pair it with reading aloud in the afternoons.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Thank you! Love the reading idea too while they work on their projects.

[@SouthernCouture4]

I would love to know how to raise tadpoles. My boys would love this!!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Here's my blog post and hoping to get a video together in a month or so. blueandhazel.com/raising-tadpoles-into-frogs

[@goodmeasurehomestead7903]

Concerning Hymns - we generally alternate between singing the hymn and the folksong, getting to each twice a week. So a month is just right. If we are really enjoying a specific one we will sing it extra. :) Getting Started with Latin and Getting Started with Spanish work really well for quick short lessons. Audios included.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Thanks for sharing how you alternate hymns and folk songs. That seems like a great plan! I've never heard of Getting Started With Spanish...do you do this family style or is it more like Duolingo that has each child do their own thing? Is it good for moms who don't speak Spanish already?

[@goodmeasurehomestead7903]

@@LizBlueandHazel We do it family style. Although it can def be independent. I expect the older children to put more in than the younger ones. We listen to the audio and take turns translating. (the answers are in the back) It progresses so slowly that it's great for having no experience. (in my opinion ;) I think it's very versatile - we do everything orally, but the children usually write the new words. Lots of ways to make it work.

[@RachelTerry]

Amblesides years after I believe year 2 are intended to be mostly independent for students. They are expected to be reading most of the books on their own. That can be difficult if you don’t have super fluent readers. Also if you have children close in age I’d combine subjects and pick one or the others book recommendation rather than every child having their own lengthy list of books. I’ve found for us, history, literature, and geography are easiest to combine and cut down on the amount of books we are reading. It’s easier to pick one history spine for everyone and then add in things for the older student to make it more difficult. I hope maybe that is helpful 😊

[@intentionallymade]

It is encouraged to read the books with child even if they can handle some of it on their own at that age. They explain it on the website well. They recommend slowly tapering off by year 4 but that it’s normal to still be reading some of the y4. Audio and following along in the book would be the best advised to free the mother teacher up some.

[@LittleBlessings3]

I'm just curious, have you ever looked into A Gentle Feast? They use forms so you could combine at least a couple of your kiddos and they would have all the same books. And then you would combine everybody for all the "beauty" subjects. Might be a sanity and time saver for you? I haven't used it yet, but I plan to. I had been back & forth between AO and AGF, but I'm more drawn to AGF because of the ability to combine and because they start w/American history, which I really liked. I'm going to follow AO for everything except history for next year when my oldest is in first and then I'm going to try out AGF the following year. Anyways, just wanted to share my thoughts in case that is helpful. Thanks for all your videos! I've found them all really helpful and appreciate your content!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Thanks for sharing what your family is planning to do! I haven't considered A Gentle Feast and am not familiar with the history rotations or forms. But combining into forms sounds like a win with kids close in age.

[@homeschoollifemom]

I have looked at AO so many times. My oldest son is dyslexic and still not a fluent reader. I’m like no way could I juggle so many different years and do all that reading. I also want our whole family in the same time period at the same time. I also feel like since some of the books span multiple years it’s really hard to jump into if you don’t start right from the beginning. We are using Simply Charlotte Mason’s history/Bible/geography this fall. I’m hoping it will be a good fit. We use Morning Time from Brighter Day Press for enrichments. I add in somethings from SCM for that too. I want all those subjects to be family style. My kids also like the more hands on science and would not be happy with science being only reading. I like a lot of the CM philosophy but not every aspect. I hope you can figure out a good rhythm this fall. The toddler years are definitely the hardest. My youngest was 4 this past school year and it went sooo much better.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Thanks for sharing your experience and your plans! From what people have mentioned over and over, it seems AO only gets "easier" to implement once there are independent kids (not including enrichments), which we're on the cusp of... but not there yet. I think Simply Charlotte Mason sounds wonderful for keeping everyone in the same history cycle while still giving the bigger kids extra reads. Hope ya'll love it and have a great year!

[@lohenymanley4740]

Hi, I love the honest review on AO and now considering using AO for my 3rd grader and preschooler. Do you mind sharing the links to the other curriculums (writing) and kits (science experiments) you use?

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Links: Crunch Labs subscription kit by Mark Rober (affiliate link with a $10 off 1st subscription order): bit.ly/3KArmcQ Link to my Brave Writer blog post on the Darts and Arrows: blueandhazel.com/brave-writer-darts Partnership Writing Review video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5i1XmCaq9qto6csi=uikspDdIEkJaHQCs Fix It Grammar: (affiliate link): amzn.to/3Vf7Oj1 Cozy Crafter Crates (affiliate link with $5 off your first subscription order): www.cozycraftercrates.com?r=1310083&s=21326

[@intentionallymade]

I went from AO to a gentle feast back to AO model and it’s totally okay to look at your kids as a form. Year 1-3 is form 1. Year 4-6 is form 2 and so on. I prefer NOT to group my kids together for history and keep that separate. I use cm simple studies for natural history stuff and her form guides are great. Cm plenary also has guides. I think you did very well considering. I sort of eb and flow with books and I use a co-op for all riches, handicrafts, Shakespeare, art and Plutarch so that makes it so nice. I’m just taking the overall ideas and see things as a whole is helpful. Some seasons we do more together and some we don’t and stick to basics and free reads. Progression over perfection for sure.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Thanks for the encouragement and for sharing how you do things! Very helpful.

[@LionWolverine]

I'm wondering why you left AGF for AO? I've been looking at AGF for years but have not tried it.

[@intentionallymade]

⁠@@LionWolverineI tried AGF cycle 1 when we took a break from our co-op and it was more of a light bulb moment for me to go back to AO. I liked the idea of combining my kids (I have a form 2 and two form 1 students) for history because we had used story of the world in early on in our journey, but we have since rejoined our co-op for next year and with that plus our lifestyle it just felt like it all fell on my lap for the readings. Because riches and bible and memory work and any extra delightful things we want to add in can be done together, it’s really nice training your kids to do their own readings and be on their own path. While I still have to read for my form 1 in a lot of things eventually they will be independent and it’s sweet one on one time we have together for now. Doing everything together was just too much so once I let that go, it’s been more freeing. AGF is beautiful and it’s just set up a little differently and her book placement is a little more gentle in that some of the books like island story is placed in form 2 with AGF where it’s in form 1 with AO. Lots of cross over with some books. I do still use the picture book thing with my form 1 with cm simple studies.

[@intentionallymade]

I also like that with AO every student has their own progression so if for some reason I had to take longer with one child the others can still move onto their next year. We school year round so this felt easier to me to manage in that sense.

[@LionWolverine]

@@intentionallymade makes sense! We've used AO and CMEC (which has quite a bit of combining) and I know what you mean about having everyone together. I love it but it's more work for me sometimes!

[@becwalker]

We use AO but don’t do everything. I have to remind myself that we don’t have to use it as scheduled and that’s ok. Re: pre-reading, I do pre-read now that my eldest is reading most of his books independently. I start the books 12 months before hand so I have plenty of time.

[@LizBlueandHazel]

That is pretty awesome!

[@SNF122784]

Thanks for your thorough review of AO! We did the CMEC last year but switching to the Alveary this next year to see if it helps with some of the issues we had. This year was hard for us because of my toddler as well! He did not like my attention on schooling his sister and it was kind of hard for him therefore hard for me 😄 We change our handicraft every term and I read our family read aloud during that timeslot. Have your boys tried whittling for their handicraft? They have great kids whittling kits with safety gloves and every boy loves working with a knife!

[@LizBlueandHazel]

Thanks for sharing and hope the Alveary works well for your family. I also like the idea of focusing on one handicraft for a term. And we haven't done whittling, but that's a great idea and I'd love to try that.

[@user-ms6hy8ui9o]

Also, do you miss Brave writer? Our homeschool journeys seem almost identical. Going from brave writer to Ambleside. I miss brave writer sometimes, but I know it’s not as rich. I guess nothing has it all! 😅 curious which one you like more.

[@user-ms6hy8ui9o]

Ah! I should have finished your video! Haha I see you covered that.

[@user-ms6hy8ui9o]

Have you tried using AO for groups? I group together my 4th grader and 2nd grader. Next year I add a Kindergetener, and so that will be tricky! Managing all kids can be so hard! But I’m thinking maybe I can do 2 different schedules. 🤞🏼

[@LizBlueandHazel]

We haven't used AO for groups. Is it similar to 'forms' in other CM curriculums? I was curious to see if we could do it with 3 kids as written. It was too much, but also our first year doing CM, and we moved states, and have a toddler, so lots of Grace! You can totally do this next year and I bet grouping your oldest two will be SO great.

[@user-ms6hy8ui9o]

@@LizBlueandHazel on the AO website at the top under curriculum there is an AO for Groups tab. You can check it out there but yes it is like forms. I didn’t even attempt putting all my kids together. I knew I would be spread too thin.

[@courtneyclark1024]

How have your kids liked having their own history? I was worried about going to separate years this past year but it’s really cut down on the competition. I love the idea of combining but in reality with big kids and littles it’s chaos 🙈😂

[@LizBlueandHazel]

I think the kids are ok with it, and it decreases competition. I'm also seeing them listen in "unofficially" to some readings, and learning tidbits of diff history years. I think when my year 3 gets to do her brother's year 4 books, she'll feel as though she has a loose connection with some. I don't think it really extends their day much, to be honest. It extends my day though, because I'm not done till everyone is done...which is what I struggle with! The other pro I'd say is that I have the ability to sneak off to a "more quiet" place and read together with one child, which is somehow easier than keeping 4 people quiet in the same room.