I keep telling myself it will be alright. The kids are definitely learning and enjoying themselves. So, those are both pluses. But being behind grates my need to follow a plan. I've preached there is "no catching up" in homeschool, only picking up where you've left off so many times that you would think I'm fine with it. Secretly though, yeah, it bites.
There have been many things we've tried and realized it just wasn't a good fit for us. Many weak areas I've found in the children that have needed more time. And many days I've come to realize I just need to work on my own habit of finding our groove.
We are continuing with Ambleside Online for the most part. The parts we have changed...
Bible-We are following Simply Charlotte Mason's Genesis through Deuteronomy and Ancient Egypt. We only read the Scripture assignments and grade 1-3 living books (as read alouds) because the kids were really overwhelmed (and so was I) in trying to sort through the history and geography assignments and tying them into our AO foundation.
Geography- I would prefer geography be tied to our Bible or History reads versus Ambleside's assignment of Marco Polo which is China. I've been struggling here trying to decide on the best route. We don't enjoy the books assigned in SCM (new or old versions), Ancient Egypt and Her Neighbors or Letters From Egypt. So, I'm still on the hunt, in the meantime we are looking in various places for resources on Africa.
Math-We started out with Math-U-See which worked for a little while but seemed very teacher intensive and to far out of the box for us to feel comfortable with it. Then we switched to Math Mammoth because it seemed a good fit until she started teaching 10 different ways to complete a math problem (it had a vague ring of common core to it). I wanted a program that was direct and easy to teach. Well, I found Xtra Math which is basically flash cards online for the kids. Its a mastery program where the kids have to master all the facts before they move on to the next order of operations. They love it, its a game to them and they can see their progress! Once they master addition and subtraction facts we will try and incorporate Math Mammoth again.
Ambleside is definitely our foundation. I started out with my own versions and combining schedules because I was worried my oldest would miss out. Seven weeks in though, I decided it was best just to jump into year 3 with her and go from there. She's actually enjoying it and doing well. I realized their age and grade gap was to great. My oldest needed something more challenging and something to call her own. She's actually done well and being an independent reader this was a better choice for her.
That's where we are at right now. I'm praying and trusting for His Grace to cover the gaps that's for sure!
