DO LIFE TOGETHER! Hello, we are a family of five residing in the southern Appalachian mountain region of Georgia. We home educate our children, love getting outdoors, work hard, and play hard! On our channel you will find us chatting all about our faith filled adventures, homemaking, and learning. Jonah and SarahRuth quit their typical American jobs so they could DO LIFE TOGETHER! They share this lifestyle with others so that families can once again thrive as they grow in their faith and friendships.
Thank you for making this and I do have some questions..what is the best way to ask? I would love to see how you combine your kiddos. I have 2 boys 13 & 10 and girl 7 1/2 I looked at alveary last year then went with biblioplan and we didn't finish it.. To much to type here.. But I am back to looking at alveary for my youngest 3 to refresh our schoolkng..my hoghschoolers are doing online school..
Yes my main issue with amblesideonline is I have 5 kiddos and I just can’t afford to purchase all the books . So I am creating some unit studies printing some free ones and let’s see how that goes
Hi there! I am new to homeschooling and am planning to teach my 1st grader this year. I am searching for the right curriculums for us and am really leaning towards Exploring Nature With Children and the Playful Pioneers. In your experience, would you be able to use the two together? We will also add math (leaning towards Math-U-See) not sure if we would need anything else specific, like phonics.
Hello Rebecca! Yes, you could do ENWC and Playful Pioneers, I did. Jen does include some nature study in her curriculums, but ENWC is so simple to implement and wonderful for 1st grade.
Oh no! I am sorry it feels overwhelming. If you want super straightforward and open and go, I highly recommend A Gentle Feast. It is a CM curriculum too and there is a lot less to wade through. That said, I am loving The Alveary. I will try and make a video at some point. I have been swamped lately.
This was great info. my son will be in the 3rd grade (2025-2026 school yr). And I was looking for more info. about standardized testing. So, thank you...thank you...thank you.🙌🏾 I also appreciated the information as a "Home Educator" I can creat and issue my son's high school diploma when that day comes🎉🥹. Bless U✌🏾
I’m looking for something for 1 child. My son is very hyper and my husband and I struggle to get him to sit still and do work. Is there anything out there? I love the idea of CM but I’m just not sure.
I have friends that have one kiddo and follow a CM philosophy. IMO, A Gentle Feast is a nice fit. Be sure he has access to many breaks, lots of heavy work, and plenty of time outdoors.
I loved watching this, SarahRuth! I used Alveary two or so years ago and I see it getting better and better! This year I am trying out just ordering their suggested books and going at our own pace, Sally Clarkson style. Eeek, we will see how it goes! My personality just gets anxious with lesson plans, crazy enough. I am excited to see your excitement!!
I found this interesting. Thanks for sharing! I have been with the Alveary for 7 full years now and am seriously considering a change next year. You are right, their in depth details are fabulous (though at times overwhelming - like drinking from a fire hydrant setting everything up, but runs smooth once you get organized). The past two years the Alveary has been focusing a lot on Native American Indians - so much so, that it seems odd and imbalanced. I can appreciate an expanding view from just European descendants, but the majority of us ARE of European decent so it does make sense to focus on our country and it's heritage. The story a lot of their history paints is of victim hood, and not on what was overcome. African American history is often presented in that light as well. Also, their literature options are becoming more modern and my middle school and teens rarely are exposed to any classics. The middle school years seem soft. I really don't like the direction history and literature are heading. I DO love where they are going with Spanish and science. Their botany course this year is amazing and we are very much looking forward to using it. I know there isn't a perfect curriculum - this is just to give perspective.
Thanks so much for adding your thoughts. My eldest is grade 6 and after looking at his books and pre-reading, I’ve not found them “soft”. However, this is only my very first exposure to their book lists at this higher grade level. We shall see!
Loved listening to this! 😍🥰♥️ You popped up on my recommended videos. I’m refreshing my CM home school this year, too, so it’s interesting to hear what others are doing.
@@kindletogetherness I cobble together my own! From all the great booklists etc. I’ve been CM homeschooling for awhile and really like doing that. I know ‘open and go’ are very helpful. 🥰blessings over your learning year!
Thank you for this review with thoughtful feedback! I’d love to see a video for the under 6 crowd. I have a 3 and (almost) 5 year old and I’m trying to find the best option for our family 😊
I’m not sure of the context for this question, but I learned about her in college. We had to do a research thesis paper on a philosophy of education we liked and in researching the various philosophies, I found Miss Mason and read her volumes.
The fact that is each kid is separated would be big challenge for me with 4 kids. Doing family style learning & then adding different reading levels for things like science, geography & history is kinda a must. So I'd love to see how you do it with multiple kids.
Fun! I hope your family has a great year with Alveary. We used Alveary for a few subjects this past year and had re-subscribed for next year when that opened up, but are planning to move to something else now, instead. It's a wonderful program, but it became too difficult to juggle with a large family, especially with a few kiddos in the learn to read stage plus littles and older ones. We need more family style, open & go, so we are choosing more options along those lines:) I'm sure you'll love it, though!
Thanks for sharing your experience with it. I can see how it might be more of a challenge if you don’t combine forms a lot in The Alveary. I only have 3 children and I’ll be combining a bunch.
@stephaniesticka5556 I don't have all of our curriculum figured out yet- Berean builders science in the beginning is our choice for family style science, likely adding in some Simply CM Exploring what God has created/Discover what Go's created book recommendations. SCM is the most family style I have found for history but we are CDN so it doesn't work for us for early modern/modern. I'm piecing that together myself, family style. I haven't found any truly family style CM programs. A gentle feast combines forms, so that's helpful compared to others that are grade based.
Thank you for sharing this wisdom with us. So often I get so caught up in what is occurring that I forget to look at how God could be using this to mold me into the woman He wants me to be.
I have six children 14 and under and have used the Alveary 2 years, CMEC 1 year, AO 1 year, and a Gentle Feast 2 years. Last year I tried doing my own thing last year. I will be back using A Gentle Feast and plan to use it through graduation. I find it to be the simplest to use with a large family.
Wow! It’s so neat that you’ve tried so many and been able to see how each works. It’s quite possible we will circle back to AGF as well at some point, but I’m excited to try The Alveary.
This was the most helpful and encouraging video like this that I've watched! Very relatable for my situation with my 3 girls and how we also can't rely on a consistent nap time like I hear many homeschool moms suggest. I just found your channel and have been loving your content. Thank you!
Wow! Thanks for responding to let me know! The toddler and baby years were some of my favorite parenting years thus far - but that’s looking back. Haha. It’s a lot of work when you’re in the thick of it.
I was looking at Without Doors for this coming year, but now you and Shanda have me looking into Alveary. I really love how the daily lessons are set up and how using Syllabird is an additional option! I've watched the book list videos for this coming year and am unfamiliar with almost all of them. I also didn't see any classics at all. The lesson seems SO rich and I absolutely love the scaffolding that is provided, but I also would hate to miss out on great classic literature. Are there actually classics included but just not shown in the videos?
I’m not certain which classics you’d like to see but we are doing Plutarch and Shakespeare, which I believe are classic. Pilgrims Progress would all be a classic in my opinion. We are coming from AGF where a lot of the read alouds are classic children’s literature. I feel like those are easily pulled for afternoon read alouds, but aren’t necessarily needed for a robust lesson feast. Unless you’re meaning some history and other classics I’m not thinking of. Also, while I’ve not used Without Doors, it’s been highly recommended several times. What makes it not a great fit for our family is it’s more a unit study of specific time periods, versus laid out like Miss Mason suggested (multiple history streams as your children enter form 2). If a family wanted all their children in the same period of history, some kids would begin in Ancient when they were ready for formal lessons, some children would start with British. I’m a big proponent of always starting a child with their home country. This is what drew me to AGF and The Alveary also does it.
@@kindletogetherness Thank you for your response! This makes sense. I was thinking of possibly just pulling classic children’s literature as read alouds if Alveary didn’t include that in the plans. That seems like an easy enough addition! I see what you mean about Without Doors. It does look like a great time period unit study approach, but history cycles definitely differ from CM methods. Thank you, SarahRuth!
Such a good question. Tbh, we wound up switching into TG&TB. I don’t use it as written because I don’t love the workbook feel of a lot of it. However, I also like my kids all in the same math, because for me as the teacher, this works best. The SCM series is a solid year or 2 behind my eldest and it’s made it hard for us to stay bought into it as much as I wish we could.
Thank you so much for the Code for Alveary. I am so excited to be doing it this year and a little nerves. Happy to be joining you and your friend with Alveary :)
It’s one of my favorite parts too. They have different Bible lessons/suggestions for different grade groups, but it’s so easy to just pick one (that’s what I did). Composer, folk song, and artist study are all the same for different ages.
Would very helpful to learn how to combine.. I have ages 7 1/2, 10, and 13 year old.. 2 boys and youngest is a girl.. I have been looking at the Alveary for a week now as I have been praying for something new.. Long story short my two highschoolers are doing online school 😢 but its okay I want to refresh our schooling with the younger 3.. My 13 year old son was a late reader and isn't like all about the boom work etc Back history my older two that graduated were mainly CM taught and we used amblesode for a while but were not constant and it was hard for me with all the different years.. and j did some with the middles but then went to tapestry and that was too much, then life hit and thjngs have been all over the place.. We tried biblioplan this last year didn't finish and I didn't like how fast and it reminded me of tapestry.. Couldn't fall in love with it.we also tried some masterbooks but not in love but like the elementary math I asked my 13 year old about the online school like his older siblings and he was like Nope I like doing it with you and reading etc.. So I started looking at ambleside again and then I remembered the alveary I looked at last year and came back to it. I am wondering how I can do with all 3 and how long it will take o plan before we start after labor day.. I really like the more modern feel as well 😊 Thank you so much for sharing this as I have looked at a gentle feast as well but I love all the map work with alveary etc
I plan to share that for sure. I may be premature by sharing this summer, instead of waiting to see what actually works this fall. Haha. So it may become a 2 part video series.
@@kindletogetherness I understand that I’m so thankful God laid on your heart to do all that you do. We have many things in common I’m learning watching your videos
So fun!! As far as the lesson plans laid out like a gentle feast, Alveary does have that!! 🎉🎉 It’s called Alveary+ and it will reschedule lessons as well so it’s a little more useful IMO.
Oh I see what you mean, each grade side by side rather than a single list for each day. Alveary+ isn’t quite like that. But you def request that as they are updating and improving! Excellent idea!
It’s called Syllabird. I found it a bit overwhelming initially, but I’m so tech not savvy. Once I sat down and relaxed and really looked at it, it was very straight forward.
We made this decision too! I started with AGF largely from watching you, but when I saw the Alveary this year and looked at samples, realized this is what I need! I’m so excited to know I can watch you go through this too as we venture in!
@@kindletogetherness Thank you! I have Without Doors Early America Guide and I have been looking at AGF Cycle 1. Without doors is very beautifully done, but I purchased before learning about AGF. AGF just makes it seem easy to implementing a CM style learning. But I am unsure I will change curriculum before we have even started.
How fun!! Okay, I like learning about the nature inside each person, through Dressing Your Truth (I've never bought anything from them). There's 4 nature's/energies, that all of us have a little bit of each, but have a dominant type. Mine is type 4 - all or nothing, black and white, bold and striking. There are facial features on me that give this away, too! My secondary also crops up I my facial features in support of the primary. 😊 I'm the "lowest" energy. I've long pondered that you are a Type 1 - playful, light, airy, and exuberant energy that comes across very naturally! I think your facial features move upward, even. So, the feeling of getting bored and needing that big breath of fresh air and not wanting to pick from all the great choices, was no surprise for me. I think you're going to love this year of Alveary! 🤩
Wow! This is such a fun and complimentary comment. Also, unexpected. I hope I’m those things - fun and airy and exuberant. Do you use a specific curriculum? Forgive me if we’ve previously talked about this and I’m forgetting 🤦🏻♀️🤪
@@kindletogetherness I've used AO since my first (now in her early 20s) was in 4th year. I had my second child 10 years after her, and we've continued with AO entirely until this year. I'm adding in Sabbath Mood Science for my second, this year, going in to their 6th year. I keep eyeing Alveary and CMEC, one for one reason, and the other for different reasons. I'll enjoy hearing your updates on Alveary. <3
It is a shock to me too! Haha. I really fought switching because I loved using A Gentle Feast. However, I feel like this was God leading me and my sons to a new place in our lessons.
In regards to Alvearys history...if you are starting with a 6 year old in Form 1B are they wanting you to jump in wherever they are? Isn't that not consistent with what CM did with teaching history of their own country first ( I agree that this makes a lot of sense)
