We're Back!

Man, the holidays were jammed packed of events this year. It seemed like only yesterday that I overate at Thanksgiving. Before I could blink an eye, I overate at Christmas. Between both sides of the family, we attended 4 get togethers. All with food. My how we are blessed! Then, my sister-in-law Shanna, had the crazy idea to get married on the 29th, just 4 short days after the week of gluttony. Getting married wasn't the crazy idea, by the way. Her expecting me to fit into a bridesmaid dress...now that was crazy.
It was a beautiful wedding and they had the best wedding cake I have ever eaten. And I know cake!! ;)
Anywho, so I've been evaluating and trying to settle on a plan for Lillie's first "official" year of school. I have looked at Ambleside and also Miss Maggie's free curriculum over at Old Fashioned Education. (I give much love to Miss Maggie. She was formerly The Hillbilly Housewife, but has since moved on. Susanne has taken it over and is doing a great job keeping with the vision of frugal living. Miss Maggie has a new blog called Frugal Abundance, and I encourage you to check it out.)
So, here's what I've decided. I like Ambleside, but will need to do alot of tweaking as it is heavy with literature and I don't want to get too overwhelmed. I like Miss Maggie's take because of it's simplicity and total use of online and free resources and texts. She is CM friendly, but will need to add some resources and factor in things like Nature study and such. Alright, so I'm going to follow Miss Maggie's forty week schedule for Kindergarten, supplementing with some recommended texts from Ambleside's Year One. Not failing to incorporate nature study, but also dedicating some time each week to let Lillie do some fun science experiments. Adding in handicrafts, the Abeka Handbook of Reading for phonics practice and the McGuffey's Primer for reading. Toss in MEP free math curriculum and blend until smooth. Hopefully, this recipe will lead to a lump free schoolyear, though I realize that is idealistic. However, what I love about the path we've chosen, is that I can evaluate. I can see when things aren't working. And I, not a stranger who knows nothing about my child and really doesn't have the luxury of tweaking to fit her individual learning style, can decide the new course of action.