News

August, 2009

ASI Inservice Photos


June, 2009

May, 2009

Begins Sunday, June 21, with dinner at 6:00 p.m.
Concludes with dinner on Saturday evening, June 27

October, 2006

Ambleside Principal conducts training in South Africa

May, 2006

The ASI Vision: Ten schools by 2010!

March, 2006

A Blessed Work

January, 2006

Second Fall Internship

October, 2006
Ambleside Principal conducts training in South Africa
In July, Maryellen St.Cyr, Principal of Ambleside School of Fredericksburg, and Bill St. Cyr, Director of Training for Ambleside Schools International (ASI), conducted a weeklong training at Hout Bay Christian School in Cape Town, South Africa during their "winter break". The entire Hout Bay staff attended as well as the principal and a teacher of another school in Cape Town. It included conferences on the nature of the child, the student teacher-relationship, and the method of education. Hout Bay teachers attended several hours of class taught in the Ambleside method and applied what they had learned in class demonstrations.

Hout Bay is a private Christian School founded twenty years ago as part of a church ministry with 90 students from grade Kindergarten to ninth grade. In March of 2004, Hout Bay sent their principal and assistant principal to Fredericksburg for an internship and started applying some ideas from the philosophy used by Ambleside Schools International. Nested on the side of spectacular hills overlooking the ocean, Hout Bay welcomes children from a mixed-race and mixed-income community, including the very wealthy to the extremely poor. One third of Hout Bay's students are on scholarship. "We visited a family of six from the school who lived in a house the size of a large living room," says Mrs. St. Cyr. The school's main language is English but Afrikaans is taught as a second language as well as four other different languages spoken by students.

Ant Cawood, a middle school teacher at Hout Bay, said about the training, "My teaching has undergone a complete transformation as a result of your training. I think I'm starting to understand what education is about for the first time. Thank you for being such an inspiration." Sally Nicholas, a second grade teacher wrote, "Thank you for the help and ideas that you gave me over the week that we spent with you. The atmosphere in my class is so calm and one of the children that have caught onto narration the best is the little African boy I spoke to you about, the one that sang constantly (in class). By the way that has ceased completely." Kevin Edmunds, the principal of Hout Bay wrote, "You cannot believe the difference in the atmosphere of the whole school this term. It is almost as if we have a new staff and new pupils. The (Ambleside) atmosphere deals with 80% of all discipline problems and now we, as a staff, are committed to maintaining the vision."

The Ambleside education method is founded on the principles of Charlotte Mason. Ambleside Schools International, headquartered in Fredericksburg Texas, oversees teacher training and school creation based on the Ambleside method around the world. Four schools in the United States and a school in Brazil are presently utilizing Ambleside curriculum and method. ASI's vision is to have 10 practicing schools by 2010 and a hundred by 2020, and a thousand by 2030.

Back to top
 

May, 2006
The ASI Vision: Ten schools by 2010!
In four years, Ambleside Schools International (ASI) envisions ten member schools, including one to two training centers in addition to Fredericksburg. By 2010, we hope to see 700 to 1,000 children enrolled in schools using the Ambleside curriculum.

Where we are in the process
Much work was completed this year to establish the ASI organization and its administrative structure. Three schools in the United States and a school in Brazil are utilizing Ambleside curriculum and method. Much work was done this year to mentor and train the principals and teachers of our existing member schools. ASI also supported the creation of Ambleside of Ocala, Florida, which is opening in the fall with a one-room classroom for kindergarten, first and second grade students. ASI continues to nurture relationships with schools and individuals committed to Charlotte Mason education. On the Internet, ASI has launched a new website (www.amblesideschools.org). Through the newsletter At Ambleside, 200 contacts worldwide are encouraged and educated.

This year, a total of 54 educators were trained at internships. They included leaders and teachers from three larger established schools in Dallas and Indianapolis, educators from Canada, Russia, and England, and several persons led by the Lord to start a Charlotte Mason school. The next steps:

As we look forward to next year and the work ahead, we thank God for all the persons who have gone before us, those with us now and those who will join us in the future for their contributions to this great endeavor.

Back to top
 


March, 2006
A Blessed Work
The works of Ambleside goes beyond academics: it addresses habits and character. But any rigorous methods of education can claim they build character. So what makes Ambleside and Charlotte Mason education unique? Doesn't that sounds like the work of our Lord? In fact, as we relate this way to children, we are not only instructors but in many ways ministers to them within the boundaries of the activity of education. I believe that our work (as any true work of education) is Gospel work, not by words only, but by our actions and who we are.

Knowing that, Ambleside's work is bound to be the target of the Enemy. He will start among us, by creating divisions, doubt, fear, anger at times. Attacks also come from outside our schools through many various practical challenges, from which our member schools are not exempt. For instance, the school in Pombos, Brazil, couldn't reopen the school in February because the state administration required that they'd be registered first. The new school of Ocala, Fla., had found a great location but it fell through right after a major information meeting. Ambleside Herndon had to start school in a large rented barn last year and operated there for two months until the proper building was ready.

Meanwhile God's Spirit and people are at work: Ocala's school project is moving forward and is gaining momentum; Brazil is moving ahead with new teachers and only lost two weeks of school; Herndon is growing in a healthy way; people from the US and all over the world continue to come to our internship and to be inspired.

I am excited to be part of this work because it is an important redeeming work: for students, teachers and parents. To sustain it, we need ongoing prayers. At this time of Lent, it is a good time to reaffirm the need for prayer, and I would like to suggest praying for the work overall, the individual schools, the teachers, the principals, the board members. I am organizing a weekly prayer time at Ambleside on Thursdays from 3:30 to 4:15 Central time. Join us if you can. We cherish your prayers.

Back to top
 


January, 2006
Second Fall Internship
In early December, nine teachers and a parent from schools in Indianapolis, Indiana; Herndon, Virginia; and Dallas, Austin and San Angelo, attended a three-day internship at Ambleside. As part of the training, participants ere given a comprehensive view of an Ambleside education and the philosophy behind it to gain a vision and practical understanding of the methods. The course was the second internship of the school year, combining study, discussion of methods along with classroom observation.

Participants in the December internship said they were enriched by the training. “I could never go back to my classroom and teach the way I used to,” said Terri Anderson, pre-K teacher at The Oaks Academy in Indianapolis. “I’ll never be the same. My prayers were answered,” she added.

The San Angelo and Herndon schools are sister schools using the same curriculum and methods as the Fredericksburg campus. The other participating schools also use the Charlotte Mason method used at Ambleside and came here in hopes of making their own practice more consistent. These schools, West Dallas Community School, the City School of Austin and the Oaks Academy of Indianapolis are all schools developed for children of lower-income families and minority racial origin. The schools also have more than fifty percent of their children on full scholarships.

“What we observe is that our method of education is not only working with children with a privileged family environment, but is for all children,” said Maryellen St. Cyr, principal of Ambleside. “All are responding to the learning environment which we foster, and all can learn to love rich literature, history or science books.” She also added that the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education has been successful at a school for impoverished children in Pombos, Brazil. “The Ambleside method brings up children in an environment that develops self-learners of the mind and heart,” said Gerard Migeon, former executive director of Ambleside Schools International (ASI). “They grow to see that they can be active participants in languages, art, music and science rather than being only consumers and retainers of information,” he said. “Children learn the habits that improve their ability to learn, such as attention, oral and written expression, memorization, perfect execution, patience for one another, and team cooperation,” Migeon added.

ASI promotes the Ambleside method outside of Fredericksburg and helps existing or new schools adopt it. “We_re seeing a growing interest in our work. Our first two internships of the year have been full, and we expect the two in the spring to be full also,” he said. “It is exciting to see a pioneering work resonate with people from all over the world,” said Migeon.

In the past five years, Ambleside has trained over 100 teachers from schools in the United States, Canada, Brazil, South Africa and Switzerland.

Back to top