An Ambleside Education

Education in all classes follows the clearly defined guiding Principles of Charlotte Mason and teachers are carefully trained in the Ambleside Method and accountable for applying it consistently. By maintaining an optimal learning atmosphere, training in the necessary habits, and engaging with inspirational ideas, Ambleside schools give their students the opportunity to become mature learners and excellent workers. Gaining knowledge and producing quality work become their own reward, thus negating the need for entertainment and artificial enticement.

The Ambleside Curriculum is composed of carefully chosen literary texts and objects of study. In all disciplines, beginning in the very early grades, Ambleside students are exposed to a wide selection of the best books, magnificent works of art, brilliant musical minds, and the majesty of creation. A typical day at Ambleside is both rigorous and inspiring, involving the work of the mind and the work of the hand; requiring individual effort and group cooperation. And, all is done under the watchful eye of a caring teacher who is as concerned with the forming of the heart as the informing of the mind.

At Ambleside, each class has a primary teacher who spends the vast majority of her time (including lunch and recess) with her class. And, class size is kept small (limited to twelve in kindergarten through second grades and sixteen in the older grades). This allows teachers and students to know each other well and to cultivate the kind of relationships necessary for optimal learning. While student work is assessed throughout the semester (via oral and/or written responses), special assessments in the form of essay examinations are given near the end of each term. After the completion of each term, parents receive an extensive, narrative Report of Progress detailing subjects studied, student strengths, student weaknesses and plans for future growth.

While most Ambleside schools are not affiliated with a particular church and Ambleside families are not required to share a particular faith commitment, all Ambleside students are exposed daily to the person and principles of Jesus Christ. They begin each day with an assembly that includes prayer and the singing of a hymn, attend a weekly chapel service, and study the Old and New Testaments as part of the curriculum. All Ambleside faculty and staff share a commitment to believe, follow and obey Jesus. This accords with the institutional commitment of Ambleside schools to the person and principles of Jesus, as revealed in Scripture, taught in the Nicene Creed, and lived in accordance with the Ambleside Code of Conduct.

Benefits
 Ambleside students are given the opportunity to become well-rounded, responsible citizens, who not only care about themselves but their classroom community and the world around them.  They learn to embrace ideas from the great thinkers of times past while actively developing the beauty sense within us all. Children learn to paint and  sing; to read with understanding and  write with clarity. Each day new worlds open for them through an array of award-winning classic literature for children and young adults. Light is shed onto the marvelously ordered world of mathematics and science in a way that inspires students to master basic concepts in the early grades and begin building on them to prepare for higher levels of learning such as algebra, geometry and trigonometry. And history becomes anything but boring as it unfolds before eager eyes and ears in memorable, compelling literary works.  Academics are central at Ambleside but equal emphasis is put on relational areas and the child as a whole being.   Students are nurtured in positive ways of relating to God, self, others, and work. By cultivating the habits proper to learning, Ambleside students grow in all areas of study to the fullness of their God-given potential. In cultivating the habits proper to mature living, Ambleside students grow in the skills necessary to live full and satisfying lives, rich in devotion to God, service to others, and continuing personal growth.

In the course of an Ambleside education students are on their way to becoming: