AO-HELP Emergency Plan

AmblesideOnline's Helping Hand Emergency Learning Plan

AmblesideOnline is part of Amazon.com's Affiliate program. If you use our Amazon.com links, we receive a small commission which enables us to cover the costs of keeping the website and curriculum. Amazon.com links are identified like this: ($amzn) or (K), but we have provided links to free and alternate sources as well.

AO-HELP is a free, complete, user-friendly curriculum plan for homeschooling families who need support, encouragement, and alternatives to the curriculum they've lost in a disaster, and also for churches and other groups needing to set up temporary schools for children who may not have been homeschooled.

Back in 2005, we created this streamlined curriculum plan for those suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Today, as Hurricane Helene has ravaged America's southeast, we again offer this free curriculum for families struggling in the wake of this great crisis. Others, too, have used our AO-HELP plan during life's many types of storms. Please know that as we prepare this AO-HELP, we realize that anyone needing to use this has been through a terrible experience. As we put these links and plans together, we are praying for you, and trusting that God will give you peace and comfort, and that your home -- wherever it is -- will be healed and blessed.
~ The AmblesideOnline Advisory

All texts and teaching materials needed to implement this plan are free online. The only things you need are access to a computer and printer, paper and pencil. Please print out and share this information freely with anyone who might need it.

We know that there are more important things than missed schooling during a crisis. But sometimes in the midst of disasters, creating a small oasis of normalcy and continuity is very important. In the midst of such a disaster, grown-ups with many urgent details on their minds cannot focus on thinking up things for children to do, and it is our prayer that this free resource will fill a need.

The most important things to do during a disaster are simple things that bring the family together -- special times that build memories and connections. This includes things like singing hymns and folk songs, reading poetry, playing silly but educational games like Mad Libs, telling stories to each other (try stories about when you were young), reading and retelling Bible stories and old folk tales like The Little Red Hen, The Lion and the Mouse, or The Gingerbread Man. Enjoy each other's company, try baking together, dancing, making something, play old fashioned games such as hide the thimble, 20 questions, and ring around the rosie.

Children are born persons -- they have ideas, working brains, wants, needs. Our approach is to let children work with ideas rather than for us to pour in data. We are less interested in giving lists of facts than in giving children food for thought and the opportunity to share their thoughts as they process the things they read, hear, or think about in a way that draws out what they know instead of giving them a test to show us what they don't know.

After a reading assignment in a public school, students might typically do worksheets, take a quiz, or write a book report after reading a story or a book, in order to reinforce the learning. But we suggest you try these things instead -- not all at once; just choose one of these for each story or section you read:

Those who can write, write down as much as they can remember as fast as they can for about two or three minutes (Mom or Dad should try this, too).
Roll a dice, and the person who rolls the highest number tell back what he/she remembers about the story. When finished, anybody else can add details they think are important or they think should be clarified.
Act out the story.
Draw a picture of a scene from the story, and then tell about what you drew.
Use small toys (legos, beanie babies, fisher price little people, dollhouse dolls, whatever you have) to retell the story. Or make finger puppets by drawing the characters, cutting them out, and taping them to popsicle sticks, chopsticks, plastic picnic knives or spoons, strips of cardboard -- the process and the retelling are what matter here, not the artisan quality of your tools.
Use some ideas from this blog post about using a Narration Jar

Think beyond the usual textbooks. Improvise, make the most of what you have, make things up. For example, one family was given an old board game that was too hard to use, but it had a lot of little coloured plastic pieces that fit into each other, and those became their favourite math manipulative. If your phys. ed. equipment consists of a jump rope and a ball, look for new ways to use them instead of worrying that you don't have access to more than that.

Make use of people as resources, including you, your spouse, your relatives and friends. Use internet helps such as search engines, e-texts, swap boards, patterns, maps, Bible commentaries, game instructions, study notes, and experts with websites.

Here are some free or almost-free things to do even if you don't have much on hand to work with: copywork (hand-copying a sentence or two every day from a well written book. This helps imprint correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation), narration (telling back a story), guessing games, pencil games, dice games, card games, writing stories, writing letters, telling jokes, telling time, memory work, paper folding, listening to the radio, counting things, measuring things, fixing things, cleaning things, hopscotch, bug watching, bird watching, leaf collecting, sorting socks, acting things out, reading maps, making calendars, finger spelling, sprouting beans, drawing, cooking, walking, reading, singing, talking, listening, praying.

Useful Free Resources

Free printable Handwriting Paper
Printable planners here and here
Enchanted Learning features thousands of educational worksheets and games.

Subjects

BIBLE SUGGESTIONS
HISTORY
MATH
LITERATURE
POETRY
GEOGRAPHY
SCIENCE AND NATURE
LANGUAGE ARTS
MUSIC
ART APPRECIATION
GAMES AND HANDICRAFTS
HOW TO SCHEDULE IT ALL IN

BIBLE

In a time of crisis, the Bible can be a source of great comfort and guidance. We suggest that you read a memory verse aloud to the children, asking them to say it back to you. Another way to memorize verses is to write a verse on a blackboard or whiteboard and erase a single word, then try to say the verse aloud together. Then erase another word and again try to repeat the verse together, and so on. This method may also be used to memorize short poems. We suggest no more than one verse a week for younger children, perhaps even one verse every two weeks. Older children might work on an entire passage at a time. For them we suggest Psalm 1; Psalm 23; and 1 Corinthians 13. If you do not have access to a Bible, try BlueLetterBible.org. BibleGateway.com has audio option. Younger children might work on these verses over the course of three to five months:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Ps 46:1

Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Ps 100:3

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Ps 19:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1-5

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Ps 107:1

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Ps 124:8

Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. Ps 119:73

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. Rom 12:10

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. Prov 15:1

Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. Rom 14:19

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Eph 4:32

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight. Prov 12:22

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Ps 34:13

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. Eccl 9:10

Bible Stories to Read

Bible Gateway has Bible versions in multiple versions and languages.

HISTORY

All of these books are fully online and completely free. Just click on the title to read the text.

To help children process history (or anything else they learn), it's important for them to tell back part of the story in some way after every reading, and find places on a map.

These are educational for ALL ages:

An Island Story (British history; also here) by H.E. Marshall (free audio)
OR
The Story of the World (5-volume series of world history) by M. B. Synge. The series is made up of the following volumes:
            On the Shores of the Great Sea (free audio)
            The Discovery of New Worlds (free audio)
            The Awakening of Europe (free audio)
            The Struggle for Sea Power
            Growth of the British Empire

Younger children might prefer one of the following books. Since these contain stand-alone tales, they can be easier to follow than a continuing history sequence, especially if consistency in school scheduling is a problem, as it often is in times of crisis.
Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin (free audio)
Thirty More Famous Stories by James Baldwin (free audio)

MATH

Suggestions for Mathematics without a Textbook: Preschool through Primary

Here are some everyday items that can be used for math:
Small objects: beans, blocks, cereal, pasta, raisins, pebbles, pennies
Small finger food items such as peanuts and raisins or cereal that can be eaten after math is done!
Small stones, pinecones, pennies, broken match sticks
Small toys such as cars, people, animals (for illustrating story/word problems)
Markers, crayons, pencils
Construction paper (can be backdrop for story problems, or can be used for simple flash cards, fraction pieces, and matching games)
Lined or blank paper, index cards, large pieces of paper or cardboard to make things like a hundred chart (one hundreds chart is online here)
Deck of cards, either traditional type or from another card game
Real or play money
A clock
Homemade or commercial balance (there are many ways to improvise this, such as suspending two containers from a broomstick between two chairs);
Object that have different geometric shapes such as cans and boxes
Things around you for counting (leaves on the ground, cars on the road, forks on the table)
Things with numerals on them to read (cans and boxes, houses, gas pumps);
Things to cut in fractional pieces--sandwiches, candy bars
Calendar (new or old)
Board games such as Sorry, Snakes and Ladders, Yahtzee
Beads to string in patterns (or pieces of coloured straws, or macaroni, or...)
Ruler, measuring tape, measuring cups

Suggested Math Topics and Activities

Keep your math lessons and games shorter than your child's attention span (that means lessons as short as 10 to 20 minutes for the youngest ones), and always quit while they are still having fun, and well before frustration kicks in.

Patterns: Learn to look for patterns everywhere, in nature, in fruits and vegetables (cut an apple in half sideways and observe the star), on your clothing, and in picture books. Tiles on the floor make a pattern, as do designs on wallpaper. Have fun putting together your own patterns using whatever you have on hand.

Old and new calendars: You can do a lot with these, depending on the child's age. Really young ones can just cut them up and play with the numbers -- sort them out, cut and paste them. With older ones, you can ask questions like "How many Tuesdays in June? How many days until we go to church? How many days ago did we do this or that? How many days are in three weeks?"

Cup of Twenty: give the child a cup with twenty small counters in it. It can be beads, dried beans, dry macaroni, poker chips, those glass things for planters that look like flattened marbles--whatever. Also give them each a regular set of dice from a game, one with the number dots for 1-6. Let them take turns rolling, telling you what they rolled (this, again, helps with the recognition of dot patterns from 1-6), and then they remove that many counters from their cup. The first one to zero wins. As they play, occasionally ask questions about who has the most, who has the least, how many counters they have left, how many counters they have removed all together, etc. Once all the counters are out of the cup, they roll to return counters to the cup - same thing - an occasional question about who has more, who can win with just one roll, how many all together from the last roll and this one.

Draw a blank form for a math equation. You might do it this way: use a circle, a plus sign, another circle, and then an equals sign. It looks kind of like this: ( ) + ( ) = Put the number we are working with in the place where the sum belongs, then give the child that amount of small manipulatives. Her job is to move them around in the circles to show different ways of making six. She writes down each of the math problems she figures out. So she'll put two manipulatives in one circle, the remaining four in the second, and then write down 2 + 4 = 6.

Here's a math game to play with a regular deck of cards. Take out a set for numbers one through ten. Have the kids put them in order smallest to largest, and then largest to smallest. Give them a set of beans and have them put one bean over each spot (this is helpful for learning one to one correspondence).

Money: count the coins in your purse, sort them by size and color, learn their denominations, count nickels by fives, dimes by tens.

Counting real things: eyes in the room, shoes, cans of soup -- whatever items are at hand. Ask how many more and how many less you will have if you add three, take three out, and so forth. Ask your child to put ten objects in a pile or bag.

Measuring things, measuring each other: You can get an amazing amount of mileage out of an activity as simple as measuring each other (height, weight, and various body parts), or measuring each other's paces and then seeing how many paces it takes to cross the yard or to get to the corner. Time also comes into this kind of measurement: how long does it take you to go fifty paces? Use a stopwatch or a watch with a second hand. There are a lot of other fun things you can do with a stopwatch or some other timer: see how long it takes you to hop fifty times, or, in a reverse activity, see how many times you can hop in thirty seconds.

First get the concrete stuff down, then add the number sentences to the concrete stuff he already knows and feels comfortable with. Once they've gotten good at games like 'what's in my hand,' most kids can quickly see that the sense in having the symbols for 'and this many more' (+); is the same as (=).

If you are near a good public library, there are many books available to help with math, including picture books to read and resource books for parents and teachers (including many game suggestions such as those we've mentioned). Peggy Kaye's books are good (see her Games for Learning as well as Games for Math). Here's a simple example from Games for Learning: you need paper, crayons and two dice. Each person draws a rainbow shape on their paper and divides it into squares, from left to right across the arc, which must be numbered from 2 to 12. (Not 1, for obvious reasons.) Take turns rolling the dice, and whatever you roll, color in that box on your rainbow, any color you like. If you get a combination that you've already colored, you miss that turn. You can either play till somebody's filled in all their boxes, or set a time limit. This really simple game can involve several different math concepts; for instance, little ones can just count the spots on the dice, but primary-age students can add the two dice together much more quickly. You can also point out (or the kids will notice themselves) that certain numbers come up much more frequently because there are more combinations that add up to them; it's easier to roll something adding up to a 6, 7 or 8 than it is to get a 2 or a 12.

Throughout the day look for opportunities to talk about numbers, estimate numbers and test your answers. The more you do this, the better the child will get at picturing numbers in his head.

Include your children in the real life math problems you are doing yourself. I need to put up a fence, how much fencing do I need? What kind of math problem is that? I need to paint the wall, how much paint do I need? I need to buy carpeting, how much carpeting do I need? We need to set the table. How many places shall we set? For additional math practice, children should make up one story problem of their own each day (along with the answer).

The King's Chessboard teaches the concept of doubling exponentially.

For Older Children through Teens

If the students have access to a computer and the Internet, one of the simplest-to-access complete courses online is TheMathPage.com, which includes a complete course in arithmetic, one in algebra, and one in trigonometry. Searches for teachers' pages and printable math worksheets will turn up many more possibilities (searching by the particular topic such as "multiplying fractions" will yield faster results). Other algebra help sites: SchoolYourself.org and PurpleMath.com .

Alternatively, teenagers might enjoy the challenge of working through Euclid's Elements.

Here is a link concerning math contests for Jr./Sr. High -- the archives of some contests (USAMTS, for example) are great for math curriculum and problem-solving skills in the absence of textbooks for a month or two (recommended for students who really enjoy mathematics, algebra level and above): ArtofProblemSolving.com

As in the earlier years, it is important to keep the lessons to a reasonable length (depending on the age of the student). A very young child might only spend ten minutes on math, while an older children can take twenty, or even thirty minutes on math in a day. Don't hesitate to spread a lesson or worksheet over a couple of days to keep within a short timeframe.

Math Games and Worksheets

These websites are fun and interesting for those who want to go deeper, but they are not necessary. For crisis mode it is enough to keep the student from slipping back by playing easy arithmetic games with the four basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division):

MathFactCafe.com - clear and easy to use. You can generate math worksheets to print out and use, or use their online flashcard drill

Time for Time - clock games and quizzes for teaching the concept of time

LITERATURE

Because this is a plan intended to aid those who have suddenly found themselves in a crisis, we cannot know what has been covered already, nor do we know what the children will be doing when the crisis situation is over. Therefore we have tried to use resources that will be new to the children, and can be used with a wide age range. If the children are young enough, use these resources as read-alouds. To make it challenging enough for older students, have them read it to themselves (or to younger friends and siblings). A simple but effective method for teaching composition, as well as for encouraging retention of and attention to the material, is to ask the student to narrate, or tell back, what they have read or what has been read aloud to them.

We suggest:
Beatrix Potter Tales (free audio) [Peter Rabbit coloring pages to print]

Folk Tales

In times of great stress it can be a great comfort to simply sit together cozily and retell stories. Telling stories of your family's history is one possibility. Another would be to retell old folktales. We suggest some folktales to start with, although, of course, you might want to use others. We have provided links for those who are not familiar with the stories, or who do not need to have to remember one more thing, but if you can, retell these tales or others from memory. These are online to read for free; click to view the text.
The Little Red Hen
The Gingerbread Man
Little Red Ridinghood
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Stone Soup
The Three Little Pigs
The Wind and the Sun
The Three Sillies

Heroes Every Child Should Know, by Hamilton Wright Mabie
Each of these chapters stands on its own, so you may pick up and leave off wherever you need to. Because they are biographies of heroes, students will be given models to look up to and people large enough to spark their imaginations and touch their hearts. You would read one or two biographies each week, depending on the age of the children.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (free audio)

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney (free audio)

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham (free audio)

Aesop's Fables
Read about three fables each week. You could ask the children to illustrate the fables as you read them. These are excellent for children who are just learning to narrate.

ChildrensBooksOnline.org includes familiar childhood stories in Spanish, as well as many other languages.

If you would like something that looks a little more schoolish, The Elson Readers, Book 5 offers some vocabulary and discussion questions to use with quality literature.

Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice
For younger children, Merchant of Venice is told in story form. (free audio) (scroll down to listen to Merchant of Venice)

Shakespeare's Henry V

High school:
Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle:
            A Study in Scarlet (a novel) (free audio)
            The Sign of the Four (a novel) (free audio)
            The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (stand-alone mysteries) (free audio)
            The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (stand-alone mysteries) (free audio)
            The Hound of the Baskervilles (a novel) (free audio)
            The Return of Sherlock Holmes (stand-alone mysteries) (free audio)
            The Valley of Fear (a novel) (free audio)
            His Last Bow (stand-alone mysteries) (free audio)
Short stories are a good choice for high school. There are many online selections at Short-stories.co.uk/ The site has pop-up ads, but it's easy to use and features a 'story of the day,' (click on the main Fiction section for that, in case you get lost somewhere else on the site), page lengths, star ratings and movie-style PG/age ratings.
P.G. Wodehouse wrote entertaining short stories. Here are two collections:
            The Politeness of Princes
            Death at the Exelsior and Other Stories (free audio)
More P.G. Wodehouse audiobooks at librivox

POETRY

Read aloud one poem per day to the children. No further lesson plans are necessary -- simply read the poem. Welcome any voluntary comments offered in response to the reading.

We suggest that children get a taste of poetry every day. This is not the time to analyze and dissect the poems. Just read a poem or two each day. Once a week ask the children if there are any poems they would like to hear again, and allow them to choose from the poems they've already heard. Talk about it afterward if you like, but it's enough to begin just by hearing a poem read on a regular basis. We have chosen the works of Emily Dickinson because we believe she is simple enough for young children to gain something from exposure to her work, yet interesting enough for older children. Her poems are online here.
AmblesideOnline also has a more varied collection of poetry here.
Very young children might prefer Mother Goose.

GEOGRAPHY

Home Geography for Primary Grades

High School:
Sailing Around the World by Joshua Slocum (free audio)
OR
South! by Ernest Henry Shackleton; Harrowing Antarctic expedition 1914-1917. (free audio)

Geography lessons will be greatly enhanced if you're able to locate places on a map or globe as they come up in reading.
There are maps online here and here. Seterra has map drills to print or play online.

SCIENCE AND NATURE STUDY

For very young children:
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess (free audio)

For slightly older children:
The Young Folks' Book of Inventions by T.C. Bridges

For high school:
The Life of the Spider by Jean-Henri Fabre -- fascinating; a classic
OR
The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday -- a chemistry classic (free audio) We recommend Bill Hammack's YouTube presentation of this book.

Crash Course Biology Youtube playlist

LANGUAGE ARTS

Children can learn or reinforce handwriting, punctuation, capitalization rules, sentence structure, spelling, grammar and style by doing copywork from any of their school books. Copywork is just what it sounds like -- copying down a sentence or poem or verse. It exposes children to the form of written sentences on a page, it is a means of teaching children to spell, and it also covers handwriting practice. Be careful not to burden young children with too much written work. Less is more, and children should write only as much as they can write perfectly. Handwriting Practice worksheets are available if desired. Hymns or poems can also be copied. The youngest children can copy a sentence, or even just one word. Older children can do more.

Prepared dictation is one more tool to improve skills in language arts: the child should study a sentence or paragraph (depending on his age) and, after he's sure he knows it, someone reads him the sentence or paragraph, and he writes it without looking at the original. Read about the benefits of dictation here.

A Charlotte Mason Language Arts scope and sequence that explains how this subject can be taught with very little curriculum.

Grammar -- play Word Libs online
Another good grammar site is DailyGrammar.com

Phonics websites for beginning students
Reading/Phonics Lessons
JanBrett.com (alphabet and other links are listed in the Activities tab at the top of the page)
Starfall.com

Handwriting Websites
Phdmom/writing_paper -- lots of pop-up ads, but nice writing paper
StudioArts.net/calligraphy -- Italic handwriting
HandwritingWorksheets.com -- A site that allows you to input the words to make worksheets for handwriting
Cursive Writing Lessons and Worksheets
Worksheet Works --Another site that allows you to input the words to make worksheets for handwriting

If you do not have access to paper and pencil, here are some possible substitutes:
A stick in the sand
a finger in mud
salt or cornmeal in a cake pan or shoebox, just a thin layer, and the child traces in it with his finger.
A thin layer of shaving cream spread evenly over a cookie sheet, window, tray, or the bathtub -- the child traces through it with his finger.
Whiteboard
Chalkboard
chalk on sidewalk
Bit of charcoal or a rock on sidewalk (this one is messy, but it will work)

MUSIC

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Simply play the classical music selections in the background while the children eat, rest, do chores or crafts.

Johann Strauss, Jr. -- almost any CD will feature an easy-to-listen-to selection of his waltzes. One suggestion: Strauss Favorite Waltzes ($amzn) (2-hr Best of Strauss on YouTube)
Here is some classical music online, especially for young children just beginning to appreciate classical music:
Benjamin Britten's Simple Symphony (YouTube)
Aaron Copland's Rodeo (YouTube)
Prokofiev's Lt. Kije Suite (YouTube)
Claude Debussy's Children's Corner Suite (YouTube)
Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite (YouTube)
Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenberg Concertos No. 2 (YouTube)

Haydn (YouTube), Mozart (YouTube) and Brahms (YouTube) are also good choices for starters. You can find other selections at ClassicsforKids.com. Click the magnifying glass to search.

Listen to free streaming classical music: WDAV or KING FM.

The typical AmblesideOnline Composer Study plan is to select one composer to listen to for 12 weeks; find that here

Classic FM has free resources for teaching music.

FOLK SONGS

Research shows that singing together increases bonding and a sense of cooperation. Singing also increases the 'happy' hormones and can relieve anxiety.

Sing one of these folk songs anywhere from a couple of times a week to every day for about six weeks, then begin to learn the next one, or you may alternate them throughout that time period. It is not necessary to have accompaniment, as children can learn to sing a cappella with ease.

These songs would be a good starting point for children new to folk songs:
1) Home on the Range (YouTube)
2) English Country Garden (YouTube)
3) I've Been Working On the Railroad (YouTube)
4) Simple Gifts (YouTube)
5) Blow the Man Down (YouTube)
6) Freight Train (YouTube)
7) The Happy Wanderer (YouTube)
8) Funiculi (YouTube)
9) Waltzing Matilda (YouTube)

Spotify Playlist of Folksongs

Contemplator.com has a large selection of lyrics and midi files of American folk songs.

Click here to view the other AmblesideOnline Folksong selections.

HYMNS

Choose a hymn and sing it several times a week, even daily, for a month. First thing in the morning is a good time for this. Most of our hymn selections are linked to midi files which may be helpful in learning the tune initially, but it is best for the development of a child's singing ability to have them sing the hymn without accompaniment as soon as they have become familiar with it.

These hymns would be good ones for a time of crisis:

It Is Well With My Soul (YouTube)
What a Friend We Have in Jesus (YouTube)
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (YouTube)
Tis So Sweet (YouTube)
Because He Lives I Can Face Tomorrow (YouTube)
Anywhere With Jesus (YouTube)
Oh Love Which Will Not Let Me Go (YouTube)
Here We Are But Straying Pilgrims (YouTube)
A Mighty Fortress (YouTube)
Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah (YouTube)
Be Still My Soul (YouTube)
Rock of Ages (YouTube)
Where No One Stands Alone (YouTube)
Poor Wayfaring Stranger (YouTube)

And here are some that children especially enjoy:
Anywhere with Jesus (YouTube)
Trust and Obey (YouTube)
Doxology, or Old Hundredth (YouTube)
Can You Count the Stars (YouTube)
Jesus Loves Me (YouTube)

A cappella hymns on YouTube

AmblesideOnline's Hymn selections (over 100 hymns) are here

ART STUDY

Select one artist and study one painting per week. Either view these directly from the computer, or print them out. Have the student(s) look at the picture for a few minutes, then have them look away (or turn the print over). Ask them, "What do you remember from the painting?" and let them 'narrate' (tell back) what they noticed. Some artist selections (click on smaller images to enlarge):

Paintings by American artist Mary Cassatt -- American Impressionist - 1844-1926

1. In The Loge (Woman in Black at the Opera), 1880 (Smarthistory on YouTube)
2. Woman and Child Driving, 1881
3. Children on the Shore, 1884
4. The Child's Bath, 1893 (Smarthistory on YouTube)
5. The Boating Party, 1893/4
6. Breakfast in Bed, 1894

HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL artists

Thomas Cole (1801-1848) (Smarthistory on YouTube)

Read a 14-page article about Thomas Cole by David Quine here, Adventures in Art, Cornerstone Curriculum (first appeared in Home Schooling Today.) Used with permission.

The Voyage of Life - 1842, an allegorical series of 4 paintings, always exhibited together. Oil on canvas, each approx. 55 x 77 in. There are two sets - one at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the other in Utica, NY.
1) The Voyage of Life: Childhood
2) The Voyage of Life: Youth
3) The Voyage of Life: Manhood
4) The Voyage of Life: Old Age
5) View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm ("The Oxbow") (Smarthistory on YouTube)

Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828-1901)
6) Newspaper Boy
7) Driving Home the Cows
8) River Scene
9) Train
10) Palmer River
11) Moon Over Harbor

The AmblesideOnline Artist studies are here.

More sites that offer art resources:
Artcyclopedia.com/
Gardenofpraise.com/art.htm Art Appreciation/Lessons For Kids
Artist Coloring Pages at Enchantedlearning.com
Elements of Art (lines, color, balance): 2-min YouTube animation
Smarthistory short art videos
Online Art Galleries:
International Gallery
National Portrait Gallery

GAMES AND HANDICRAFTS

An enjoyable handicraft is origami, which only requires paper.

Here are some links to origami patterns that can be printed out and followed:
Folds.net -- simple through complex models and techniques
Origami Instructions
PaperFolding.com -- includes basics for beginners

These sites also offer handicrafts and art lessons:
How To Sew By Hand (6-min YouTube) Basic Handsewing Stitches (8-min YouTube)
Kitchen Table Classroom's Free Online Art Classes

Another easy craft project would be paper airplanes:
Paper Airplanes HQ -- sorted by coolest, farthest, and easiest.
Joseph Palmer's Paper Planes
FoldNFly Paper Airplane Designs from easy to expert
Kyong Lee's Amazing Paper Airplanes
Alex's Paper Airplanes (archived version of the page here)
Flying Toys.Com kits students can use to make their own flying machines.
Throwing a Paper Airplane: It's a Balancing Act (archived version of this page)
10PaperAirplanes.com
PaperPlane.org For fourteen years, Ken Blackburn's paper airplanes held the Guinness Book record for time aloft (18.8 seconds). This is from his book.

Make a Popup Paper Village - templates to download and cut out
Construct a paper town
Make little buildings out of paper cups, or here
Pictures of fairies to color

With just a piece of string, many different games can be played. This site shows several different string games, with illustrations and directions. It also has video clips of how to do the string games, with slow dial-up, dial-up, or broadband.

Traditional folk games

Hand Shadows

How To Schedule It All

Subjects can be scheduled in whatever way works best for your situation. You can do history twice a week, or every day. You can do math just a couple of days a week if you like. Some homeschooling families like to get all their reading and math done between Mon-Thurs and save their "fun stuff" (looking at art, singing folk songs, playing math games) for Fridays. Some folks like to do Bible first, then have breakfast, do their table-time work (writing and math) and save reading for last. Others like to shuffle things around so that they have breaks in between reading to do something different, like math or looking at a picture. It's totally up to you.

This is one way a schedule might be worked out to "do school." Note that not every subject needs to be done every day, but, over the week, everything is covered.

Monday
Read a Bible story
Work on a Bible memory verse
Listen to some Classical Music, perhaps during rest time or lunch
Read a chapter from one of the history books, have child 'narrate' (tell back) after the reading
Work on math, either informally, or using online math worksheets
Read a poem informally
Spend a few minutes on copywork for Language Arts
Practice a folksong for fun
Spend a few minutes looking at and discussing one of the suggested paintings informally for Art Appreciation

Tuesday
Read a Bible story
Work on a Bible memory verse
Read a chapter from the Home Geography book, have child narrate after the reading
Read a story or chapter from one of the Literature selections, have child narrate after the reading
Read a poem informally
Spend a few minutes on copywork for Language Arts; older children might also do a prepared dictation
Work on a Hymn
Games/Handicrafts can be a resource for free time

Wednesday
Read a Bible story
Work on a Bible memory verse
Listen to some Classical Music, perhaps during rest time or lunch
Read a chapter from one of the history books, have child narrate after the reading
Work on math, either informally, or using online math worksheets
Read a story or chapter from one of the Literature selections, have child narrate after the reading
Read a poem informally
Spend a few minutes on copywork for Language Arts
Games/Handicrafts can be a resource for free time

Thursday
Read a Bible story
Work on a Bible memory verse
Read a chapter from one of the Science selections, have child narrate after the reading
Read a story or chapter from one of the Literature selections, have child narrate after the reading
Read a poem informally
Spend a few minutes on copywork for Language Arts; older children might also do a prepared dictation
Practice a folksong for fun
Games/Handicrafts can be a resource for free time

Friday
Read a Bible story
Work on a Bible memory verse
Listen to some Classical Music, perhaps during rest time or lunch
Work on math, either informally, or using online math worksheets
Read a chapter from one of the Science selections, have child narrate after the reading
Read a story or chapter from one of the Literature selections, have child narrate after the reading
Read a poem informally
Spend a few minutes on copywork for Language Arts
Work on a Hymn
Games/Handicrafts can be a resource for free time

Please know that as we prepare this AO-HELP, we realize that anyone needing to use this has been through a terrible experience. As we put these links and plans together, we are praying for you, and trusting that God will give you peace and comfort, and that your home -- wherever it is -- will be healed and blessed.

~ The AmblesideOnline Advisory

If you'd like to know more about this method of education, here are a few links to get you started.

The Spirit and Letter of a Charlotte Mason education by Karen Glass

Narration by Karen Glass

Education is the Science of Relations by Karen Glass

Patio Chats - a series of very brief, conversational articles that will provide you with a basic overview of this type of education.

Last updated March 15, 2020

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