Curriculum
Believing that the ordinary child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, we must give him a full and generous curriculum; taking care, only, that the knowledge offered to him is vital — that is, the facts are not presented without their informing ideas. A child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts.
Charlotte Mason recognised in children a natural hunger to know, a profound craving for relationship with persons present and past, historic and fictional; with plants and animals; with earth, sea and sky; with great story, poetry, art and music. In accord with her vision, Ambleside Schools International created a rich, formative, and deeply satisfying curriculum for students from preschool to high school.
The Ambleside curriculum is comprised of skill-based (disciplinary) and content-based (inspirational) texts and resources. These are not mutually exclusive forms of instruction — each discipline is infused with inspiration and each inspiration requires its discipline. Disciplinary and inspirational instruction work in tandem, enlivening students’ engagement with ideas and rigorous knowledge.
As the children mature, the curriculum they encounter broadens and deepens. It moves beyond fundamental skills to advanced work that prepares them to cultivate a rich intellectual life through varied subjects, regardless of their post-secondary paths.
The curriculum consists primarily of books, books they can live upon; books alive with thought and feeling and delight in knowledge, nutriment for the mind. These texts have stood the test of time and contain beautiful language, universal themes, rich characters, intricate plots. Still others offer disciplinary information in an inspirational, accessible format with plenty of practice.
Whenever possible, Ambleside Schools International selects books that are in print and readily available to accommodate the broadest possible audience. Some resources are selectively available via used bookstores and websites; these have been chosen because they will most effectively reach the mind of the student.
The Ambleside curriculum provides:
- A wide and varied course of study (16 – 22 varied subjects weekly).
- A daily plan for skill development and content mastery.
- Knowledge characterised as vital, fruitful, interesting, and ideas-rich.
- Books characterised as representing “the best thought of the best writers”.
- Materials that aid in understanding and exploring, without diluting, the discipline.
- Grade-level sequences in select studies.
- Grade-level sequences for inspirational subjects, among them citizenship and science.
- Science observations and experiments correlated with science studies.
- An unabridged Shakespeare play read yearly from grade 4 to grade 8.
- Art in various mediums and handwork.