Terrific review. We'll be starting Year 1 in Fall 2023. I had planned on dropping Parables of Nature, but your positive review is causing me to reconsider. How did your children do with Burgess Bird Book? That's another one that I'm giving the side eye to.
My kids may have listened to the Burgess Bird Book, but I honestly don’t know. 😬 If it’s anything like the Burgess Animal Book, then they loved it. They tend to love anything by him. I know Parables from Nature is one many families struggle with. I find that it helps to have knowledge of the Bible to understand the ideas and references it is getting at. But also, not to go into it with too many expectations. Every chapter is very different. Good luck with Year 1! It’s so fun, and lays a great foundation.
AmblesideOnline just has a booklist and reading schedule, and none of these books are textbooks. They’re all living books that tell history in a story-like way for the younger ages. So it doesn’t really teach you how to teach history, but it’s as simple as reading the books on the schedule and then having your kids repeat back to you what they just heard in the reading. It’s really fun and simple!
Both of my daughters have used Explode the Code for phonics, and then just practiced reading by using BOB Books or other easy readers like Frog and Toad, Little Bear, or Biscuit books. But I didn’t really push the skill of reading, because I’ve found that usually, it just clicks one day.
