In early January we held a chili dinner for alumni of Ambleside School in McLean, Virginia. It has been seventeen years since I took the helm of Ambleside, and sitting with these young graduates—high school students, college students, and professionals, I was reminded of the long road we are on with our students and the distant vision of growth parents and teachers need to endure the difficulties along the way.

One student was eager to share his latest wisdom from his freshman year in college:

It’s so great that students at Ambleside listen to Mozart. It’s as if there is a distant drum beat that reminds me that there is something good and true in the world, and I can do something good and true in it. My friends at college don’t have this.

Featured, School SourceAmbleside SchoolMay 5, 2020alumni

In Honor of May Day

FeaturedAmbleside SchoolMay 1, 2020art, inspiration, poetry

Friday Chapel, May 1st

Spiritual, At Home LearningAmbleside SchoolMay 1, 2020chapel, spiritual formation

How to Begin A Nature Walk

Nature Study Lesson, created for 4th Grade At Home Learning

For the next few weeks azaleas will put on a marvelous display of color ranging from solid white, light pink, and lavender to bright oranges, pinks, and purples… Take a walk around your yard (if you have some) or your neighborhood and see how many different colors of this flowering shrub you can find.

Choose your favorite.

What do you notice about the leaves’ color and edges?

At Home Learning, School SourceAmbleside SchoolApril 28, 2020nature study, at home learning

Friday Chapel, April 24th

Every Friday at Ambleside, we hold a community chapel service that we share with teachers, students, and parents. While we cannot gather for chapel in person, we wanted to offer our families some resources to join together spiritually and share chapel at home. We invite you to use this video as an anchor for your own chapel service as a family today.

At Home Learning, SpiritualAmbleside SchoolApril 24, 2020chapel, spiritual formation, inspiration

Hymn of the Week, April 20

Every week, we will share a hymn for you and your families to reflect on and familiarize yourselves with. On Fridays, we will use these “Hymns of the Week” in our Chapel videos.

Please use this music, created by our Music Instructor, Sarah Wilcox, as best fits the rhythms of your household.

SpiritualAmbleside SchoolApril 20, 2020spiritual formation

Welcoming Holy Week

Here is the scripture and art from today’s Ambleside Notes, to serve as a meditation for the beginning of Holy Week. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, April 5, the events of which are represented in the artwork here and in the account from Matthew below.

Spiritual, FeaturedAmbleside SchoolApril 3, 2020inspiration, spiritual formation, poetry, art

How To Begin A Nature Study

At Home LearningAmbleside SchoolApril 3, 2020homeschooling, nature study, science

Friday Chapel & Passover Chapel

Here you will find a video from our Head of School with the Hymn of the Week and scripture reading, followed by a video of our Passover Chapel teaching.

Spiritual, At Home Learning, FeaturedAmbleside SchoolApril 3, 2020spiritual formation, passover, chapel

"The Children's Feast:" Preparing for Passover

Tomorrow, we will post the Passover Chapel video, where Deb Perry and Kate Perry guide us through the liturgy of a Passover meal.

But there is more to the feast than the moment of the meal itself. Kate Perry explains here how she and her family prepare the elements of the Passover meal and how the act of preparation can be spiritually instructive for both adults and children.

How to Participate in Passover Chapel on Friday

Every year, Ambleside holds a special chapel service near the beginning of Holy Week to teach our students about Passover, the Jewish festival to commemorate God’s deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt [Exodus 12]. The Passover meal is doubly significant for Christians, as the last moment Jesus shared with his disciples before his trial and crucifixion [Mark 14]. One way we prepare to enter Holy Week at Ambleside, which is structured to help us remember events from Christ’s life, is to corporately engage the liturgy of the Passover.

School Source, Spiritual, At Home LearningAmbleside SchoolApril 1, 2020inspiration, chapel

Hymn of the Week

Hi students! I miss you all and hope you are doing well. Here is our hymn for the week: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded. When you listen during the week, I hope you will take a minute to reflect on the words and use them as a prayer. You can also sing along with the harmony if you want!

A Prayer for Peace in Our Limitations

O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and
rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be
our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee,
to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou
art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Friday Chapel for At Home Learning

Every Friday at Ambleside, we hold a community Chapel service that we share with teachers, students, and parents. While we cannot gather for chapel in person, we wanted to offer our families some resources to join in spirit and share chapel at home. We invite you to use this video as an anchor for your own chapel service as a family today.

Message from Our Head of School

Dear Ambleside Parents,

Thank you for all your gracious patience as we respond to the new situation with COVID-19.

Due to the Governor’s Executive Order yesterday, Ambleside will end instruction in the building for the remainder of the school year as we join the effort to suppress this virus. We find ourselves in the unique position of accomplishing our mission in a different way than planned, but we are moving forward with “undaunted courage.”

UpdateAmbleside SchoolMarch 26, 2020

Community Prayer This Week

Featured, School Source, SpiritualAmbleside SchoolMarch 24, 2020at home learning, spiritual formation, art, prayer

Lent: Charity, Fasting, and At Home Learning

School Source, FeaturedAmbleside SchoolMarch 21, 2020at home learning, spiritual formation

Narration During At Home Learning

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…

Featured, At Home LearningAmbleside SchoolMarch 20, 2020at home learning, parenting, education, narration

Working with Multiple Children in At Home Learning

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…

Children's Literature and the "Suitability" of Children's Books

“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.”

FeaturedAmbleside SchoolJanuary 21, 2020