Dear Ambleside Parents,
During these days of Ambleside At Home Learning, it is important to invite your children to tell back throughout their morning work to secure their attention and their understanding. One of the distinctives of a Charlotte Mason education is the use of narration, the simple method of “telling back” whatever has been read, seen, or heard…
Read More
Dear Parents,
The greatest challenge for parents of multiple children during At Home Learning is managing all of their individual needs. What follows is an outline of how the work may be coordinated and accomplished with multiple children at once. Remember, more important than book-learning is maintaining an atmosphere of peace and joy in the home…
Read More
“This New Yorker article chronicles the development of “children’s literature” as a distinct genre in the context of children’s readership at the turn of the 20th century. It’s an interesting read especially for those seeking to provide children with access to good books.”
Read More
We have entered the season of Advent in the church calendar, the time when we all look forward to Christ's coming. At Ambleside, we look for ways to turn our students' attention to the significance of this time. In assembly, we sing carols and retell the story of the thread of redemption through the Jesse Tree. In our classrooms, we create an atmosphere of expectation by reading classic Christmas stories, and decorating with a wreath, a crèche, or Christmas lights. We practice music and readings for our Candlelight Lessons and Carols Christmas Service…
Read More
This week we enter our time of exams- a time of gaining a window into our students' minds. This is an opportunity for us to see how your students are organizing knowledge, synthesizing ideas, and mastering skills. We can also gain valuable insight into the habits of learning that are formed or lacking in the young scholar.
Read More
At Ambleside, we aim to inspire our students to servant leadership. Our Veterans Day Chapel is one way we do this by exposing our students to men and women veterans who have served our country in times of war and in times of peace. These individuals have chosen of their own accord to put their lives in a position where at any moment they may be called upon to stand in harm's way in order to protect others. For our students, veterans are excellent examples of sacrificial servant leaders.
Read More
I have been fascinated re-reading Masons' ideas on the mind of a child in the context of recent discoveries in neuroscience. Leading psychiatrists (Jeffrey Schwartz, Dan Siegel, Curt Thompson, and Karl Lehman) have been exploring the power of "mindsight" over the function of the brain. Such research has led to transformed living in persons who have long been held captive to addictions, compulsions, depression, and other unhealthy psychological maladies.
Mason, a "psychiatrist" in her own right, draws the same clear distinction between mind and brain….
Read More
We are aware of the middle school years, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, as significant years as students move from childhood toward adulthood. This season in a young person's life is rich with opportunities for connection with their parents and understanding of themselves.
Read More
Partnering with parents in the education of their children is one of the unique guiding principles of Ambleside School.
Charlotte Mason, whose educational principles inspire our classrooms, began her work over one hundred years ago with parents…
Read More
Here’s a link to an interesting article published last week in The Atlantic on navigating the use of phones and portable devices and parenting.
Read a brief excerpt here:
Read More
Some of us are spontaneous and function best in crisis mode. Some of us thrive on routine and plan our calendars weeks in advance. Regardless, I imagine that as each of us made the transition into parenthood, we moved a little closer to routines to make our busy lives work. September seems to be the natural month for "New Year's Resolutions," and now is the time for home routines to set a tone for your student's education.
Read More
Do you feel you are always nagging your children? Charlotte Mason's ideas about building character in our children through habit are fresh approaches for parents. Interestingly enough, some of her suggestions are validated by modern brain research.
Read More
Recently on a Saturday morning I attended a seminar, “Growing Up Peaceful.” As an over-50 mom, I have a growing list of families for whom I pray with deep compassion. Among these, many are struggling to understand why their child has panic attacks or cannot show up consistently for a class or job. A child struggling with anxiety or depression is a common concern. As a mother (and future grandmother!), I strive to be aware of how I can make a difference in the life of my children and their friends.
Read More
I am an extremely grateful father of five adult children, all of whom love Jesus and one another. How did this happen? I’m not sure, but here are some highlights of what happened along the way.
Read More
Charlotte Mason discussed curriculum not as an end in itself, but as the overflow of a philosophy. Consider the foundation of this philosophy--children are persons, bearers of God's image--and the educational tools to which it directs us: atmosphere of environment, discipline of habit, and inspirational ideas from a banquet of thought.
Read More
"We (as parents and teachers) ought to do so much for our children, and are able to do so much for them, that we begin to think everything rests with us...Our endeavors become fussy and restless. We try to dominate them too much, even when we fail to govern, and we are unable to perceive that wise and purposeful letting alone is the best part of education." -Charlotte Mason
Read More
Dr. Sax began his talk on Friday, March 15th, with this pop quiz.
"Which of the following, measured when a child is 11 years of age, is the best predictor of happiness and overall life satisfaction roughly 20 years later, when that child has become a 31- or 32-year-old adult?
Read More
In the last few days, I have been pondering what Ambleside brings to families. Time and again I have heard parents say, "Ambleside has changed our family." This has been true for my family, and one of the most powerful ideas Ambleside gives to families, mainly parents, is the idea of…
Read More
Two years ago, it was a fresh spring day.
Blooms were coming to life all around me but my own spirit was fading. In this season of newness, I had recently been introduced to a season of newness in my own life: parenting a teenage girl…
Read More