PLANNING AMBLESIDE ONLINE as a Secular Family || Homeschool Plan for Next Year

[@toharpyo]

Looks beautiful in Thumbnil 💕

[@captain7471]

Pilgrims Progress is a wonderful story so I would be hesitant to pull it completely!

[@MaryBarfield]

Ok so I’m glad you said this! I was actually doing some more research last night on Pilgrims Progress and I was getting the impression that it may be less overtly religious and more about character and morals? And I was thinking that I might bring in Little Pilgrims Progress? Have you looked at that version before? If so, what did you think?

[@captain7471]

I’m also planning my oldest child’s Year Two for AO and have decided to go with Little Pilgrims Progress. I have not read more than the first few pages to get a feel for it so I don’t have advice, sorry!

[@jaimewolf9036]

@@MaryBarfieldWe just got Little Pilgrims Progress and I think you’ll like it much better!

[@ashleymorris12]

Please pre-read Egyptian Diary! I have all the books in that series and while they are good (and we enjoyed them!), there are instances of abuse, death, and torture that can be way too much for a younger child. If you get the giant picture book version, the pictures can be gruesome or scary.

[@MaryBarfield]

Oh wow, I’m so glad you mentioned that! I’ve actually been thinking about pulling those 2 books from the schedule because I don’t want to overdo it with our schedule, but the mature content may be an additional reason to do so. I appreciate the heads up immensely! 🥰

[@Hookhamhomestead]

I feel like parables of nature would be something you would enjoy from a morality/character perspective

[@MaryBarfield]

That’s what someone else told me, which is why I was thinking about still including it! Thank you for confirming 🥰

[@homeschoolingtutu]

We are thinking of doing Ambleside Year 1 next year, so this was helpful. I think we will do Ancients (SOTW, etc.) in the summer before going into Ambleside's Year 1 history.

[@MaryBarfield]

I’m glad you found it helpful! 🥰 doing Ancients over the summer is also a great option/idea! I didn’t even think of that!

[@kristenpoletti790]

Do you mind sharing your schedules? Love how you set them up! I will also have a year 1 and 2 next year.

[@birdybirdy7737]

I would also like to see this! Is there a way to make it available to view or even print? Maybe through google docs or something?

[@MaryBarfield]

Absolutely! I would be happy to share them! If you both would email me at [e-mail] (my social media email), I will get copies over to you for you use! :)

[@brookeally1346]

I’m not sure what happened to my comment 😂. Parables of Nature is very cheap if you get the kindle version. I’d recommend checking it out first to see if it’s a good fit for your family. So far I’ve only read one story so far and my youngest boy loved it. It was very sweet.

[@MaryBarfield]

😂 thank you for the recommendation! That’s actually a great idea and if we like it, I would go ahead and purchase the physical copy since it spans across a couple years for the girls! 🥰

[@captain7471]

We are almost done with Year One with AO and I don’t think Parables Of Nature is very religious at all, I find that it’s more so character and morals than religious. Story Of The World is great but does have a couple Bible stories in it, so there is a lot of debate on if it’s religious or not.

[@MaryBarfield]

That’s great! How have you enjoyed year one? Also, after reading other comments, along with yours, I’ve decided to include Parables From Nature! Especially after reading the sample on my kindle - it was so sweet 🥰! I guess this is where I’m kind of a conundrum, because I grew up going to Catholic school my whole life (K-12), so the fact that STOW has a few Bible stories in it doesn’t really bother me, and I do plan to read those chapters to my girls and not skip them. I feel like our family falls somewhere between the secular and religious “label”. Thank you so much for your input! I truly appreciate it 🥰

[@captain7471]

Me and my oldest child have absolutely LOVED doing AO! Even my toddlers join in for a few stories. My toddlers especially love the James Herriot book the most, I have probably read that one 30 times 😂

[@kristenpoletti790]

Secular families will often switch out parables of nature with Among the ___ people (pond, forest, etc)

[@MaryBarfield]

Thank you for the additional resource! I will look into those books. I know Parables From Nature is used over the first 3 years of AO, so if there are multiple of the "Among the People" series and we like it, maybe we can read 1 over each year!

[@NaturallyNoni]

Is Story of the World religion based? I know history and religion are tied together, but I am having a hard time finding one that isn't religion based but also Charlotte Mason style

[@MaryBarfield]

So I think Story of the World is one that people have strong opinions about that can run the spectrum. Some say it’s religious, some say neutral, and others have called it secular. From what I’ve pre-read of Ancients so far, I would personally put it in the neutral bucket. I also have realized from all my research and history reading over the last year or so, that ALL history curriculums have a bias or “spin” to them regardless of the authors intentions. So I think it’s important to find what works for your family the best and tweak if necessary with challenging + through provoking conversations. Hopefully that was helpful 💕

[@MaryBarfield]

Also I forgot to mention that I’m enjoying the narrative style of STOW vol 1 so far and I think my kiddos will enjoy it as well next year, but I’ll keep y’all posted if they don’t lol.

[@NaturallyNoni]

​@@MaryBarfieldthank you!