Ambleside Online proudly announces that we at AO are creating our own course of science instruction that is closer to Charlotte Mason's principles in the upper years as a replacement to previous suggestions to use a textbook such as Apologia. The overall plan moved "Secrets of the Universe" up a year, replacing it in Year 6 with "The Mystery of the Periodic Table" and "The Elements" as preparation for chemistry topics. Users will also find an addition to year 4 as well as additional science free reads in years 6 and 7. Years 6 and 7 are posted on the AO booklists and schedules, and AO will be transitioning Years 8-12 as completed. Those who prefer to use Apologia (or another program) may still do so, and the change doesn't need to affect them at all. The switch to a more "living" style of science is an exciting work in progress. Stay tuned for further updates, information on implementation, etc. As always, those with children pursuing STEM fields will need to ensure upper level course requirements for college admission are met.

There is a minor update that needs to be done on the forum. I hope to do this one night this weekend after the little ones are in bed. It should not take very long and hopefully, the side effects should not be as they are when we do an upgrade.

Now that the Forum is up and running, we're looking at other ways to help our users. AO's interactive Facebook group is now reopening for our users and friends who prefer to communicate that way. Please remember that FB's privacy cannot be guaranteed, and that the search facility is limited. The AO Forum will continue to be the main online face of AO.

(And don't forget to "like" AO's Facebook fan page!)

I want to give everyone a heads up that at some point this weekend, I will be doing some needed upgrades to the forum. I am not sure which night it will be (could even be tonight!), but I wanted to let you know that the forum WILL be down for a few hours while I work on it!