Ambleside Online takes Charlotte Mason into the 21st Century

“But Beauty is everywhere – in white clouds against the blue, in the gray bole of the beech, the play of a kitten, the lovely flight and beautiful colouring of birds, in the hills and the valleys and the streams, in the wind-flower and the blossom of her broom.”

These words, written by
Charlotte Mason, speak to her appreciation for the world God made, and the beauty in it. She taught that children should learn to love and appreciate the natural world around them. Seeking to teach these values to the children, she founded many schools in England using her unique teaching methods.

A living wealth of information,
Ambleside Online homeschool curriculum takes Charlotte Mason’s teaching methods from the turn of the century and brings them into the 21st century, while keeping all of her philosophies, thoughts, and ideas alive. An appreciation for fine works and things “above the ordinary” is one of Miss Mason and Ambleside’s goals.

Learning of history and science is done through biographies, autobiographies, living history books, and outdoor nature study - hoping to create within the student a relationship and an intimate connection with the study.

The
Ambleside Online advisory investigates, reads and researches literally 100’s of books, speeches and essays in order to stay true to Miss Mason’s standards for twaddle-free living books. The simplicity of nature study, the enjoyment of living books, the practice of narration – all are encouraged and taught in the curriculum. Essays, articles, schedules, and books written by Charlotte Mason and her school instructors are greatly encouraged reading for parents.

Amazingly, this great resource is
FREE! The Ambleside Online curriculum is available completely free of charge at amblesideonline.org. Understand, it consists of literature available online or through the library, used-book stores, Project Gutenberg, Amazon.com, etc.

Simple and well thought out, the web site has easy to follow guides and simple navigation. It’s divided into 12 years, with booklists and schedules for each grade.
Ambleside Online is an advanced curriculum – some students will work well in their grade level, others will need to work one or two years below. If just beginning to home school a 6th grader from public school, Ambleside’s Year 4 or Year 5 will, most likely, be the right level.

There’s so much more to this curriculum. Visit their web site; peruse their booklists and schedules; read some of Charlotte Mason’s articles, and learn about nature study.

Charlotte Mason’s methods and
Ambleside Online will inspire and breathe life into any home school program.