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Please be advised that these booklists and curriculum suggestions are incomplete without a thorough understanding of Charlotte Mason's ideas and methods. We cannot emphasize enough that you take time to familiarize yourself with her philosophy by reading her books.
If you're planning to use Ambleside Online, your first stop should be the the FAQ for some information about the curriculum and basic instructions. It is not advisable to attempt this curriculum without first reading the FAQ. Homeschoolers hoping to raise their children to be readers, as Charlotte Mason urged, owe it to themselves to take the first step in reading by looking over the instructions for the curriculum they plan to use. The FAQ has all the questions that people routinely ask, with detailed answers and explanations collected from two years of responses to user questions.
Asterisks refer to which term the book is used.
* the book is used in term 1
** the book is used in term 2
*** the book is used in term 3
We have left the history schedule light to enable parents to add supplemental books and biographies as they have access to them and their children have an interest in a specific event from the history texts.
Formatted etexts for year 1 can be accessed by joining the etext email list
In order to complete the curriculum additional instruction should be provided in the following areas.
Penmanship or Copywork (AO's Language Arts Scope and Sequence for this level is here.)
Phonics (read notes on teaching phonics in a CM education.) Free online beginning readers by Harriette Taylor Treadwell
Math
Foreign language
Art
Correspond history readings with a timeline or century book and map
Handicrafts
Music Appreciation, including folksongs and hymns
Nature Study
An artist and a composer each term
This site has many versions. [note] x Penny Gardner has a list of Old and New Testament stories to read straight from the Bible that may be useful for Bible time. | Bible timeline | Coloring Sheets from Calvary Chapel | Study questions with nice maps |
Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
An Island Story by H.E. Marshall (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note] 1 2 x
* ** Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin, selected chapters (purchase/search Kindle) [note]
** *** Viking Tales by Jennie Hall (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note]
* Benjamin Franklin by Ingri D'Aulaire (purchase)
** George Washington by Ingri D'Aulaire (purchase)
*** Buffalo Bill by Ingri D'Aulaire (purchase)
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling (purchase) [note] (1 2 3)
The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (purchase), as scheduled in Nature Study; online. You may find it helpful and fun to participate in the Outdoor Hour Challenge blog.
Supplies for Nature Study:
Nature notebook and pencils or paint for each student
Begin to build a library of regional field guides
Plenty of time to allow Nature Study to be a fun learning experience for both parent and child
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot (purchase) [note]
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess (purchase/search for Kindle) [note] See resources below.
A curriculum or program for handwriting is not necessary (especially for this age), but if you want to use one, these are some we've used and can suggest:
A Reason for Writing (Level A: purchase) (Level B: purchase)
Getty Dubay Italic Handwriting Series (purchase)
These are programs the advisory has used and can recommend (not an exhaustive list):
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Engelmann, Haddox and Bruner (purchase)
Alpha-Phonics: A Primer for Beginning Readers by Samuel L. Blumenfeld (purchase spiral-bound or Kindle)
Home Start in Reading by Ruth Beechick (purchase)
SCM's Delightful Reading This looks lovely, and is based on CM's ideas, but none of the Advisory have used it. If you'd like to try something similar, but without purchasing a program, listmember Amy blogged about how she taught her child to read using CM's instructions here.
Beginning readers might gain confidence from classics retold in A Primary Reader by E. Louise Smythe (purchase)
Select a program that meets your family's needs from our page of Math Options.
Lyric Language, Phrase-A-Day, Triple Play, Triple Play Plus, Springboard to French/Spanish are some programs we can recommend (Purchase Lyric Language Spanish Dvd; Purchase Phrase-a-day Spanish for Young Children CD & Color Book (Spanish Edition); Purchase Triple Play Plus Spanish; Purchase Springboard to Spanish)
Read a Parents' Review article on teaching foreign languages
* A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson; (purchase/search for Kindle) online [note]
** Now We Are Six/When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne (Purchase 4-Volume Pooh Library or Now We Are Six/purchase for Kindle or When We Were Very Young/purchase for Kindle)
*** A Child's Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa (purchase),
OR The Oxford Book of Children's Verse Iona and Peter Opie (purchase),
OR AO's free online collection of 200 Classic Children's Poems.
The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter (purchase book with CD/search Kindle) (also online here )
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit (purchase/search Kindle) OR Tales from Shakespeare by Charles Lamb (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (purchase/purchase for Kindle), selected chapters. [note]
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (purchase/purchase for Kindle) Librivox [note] Nice free audio recordings of some stories here.
Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty, selections. (purchase/purchase for Kindle) Audio in progress here. [note]
Additional Books for Free Reading [note]
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (purchase)
King of the Golden River by John Ruskin
Peter Pan (or, Peter Pan and Wendy) by James M. Barrie (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note]
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (purchase/search Kindle)
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges (purchase)
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (purchase)
Pocahontas by Ingri D'Aulaire (purchase)
Charlotte Mason created a "List of Attainments;" what a child should be able to do by age 6, and by age 12. It might be helpful to take a look at this list since many Year 1 students are age 6.
For those on a strict budget, recommended purchases are:
Year 1:
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (used for 6 years; (purchase) - online, but would be cumbersome to utilize that way
a Math program
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C Holling (your library might have it) (purchase)
D'Aulaire books if your library does not have them: Ben Franklin (purchase), George Washington (purchase), Buffalo Bill (purchase)
children's picture books by James Herriot if your library doesn't have them (purchase)
a phonics program (although you can make do yourself, as this mom did)
a well-illustrated (not by Thomas Kinkade - see note below) version of A Child's Garden of Verses is good to own (purchase)
When We Were Very Young (purchase) and Now We Are Six (purchase) by Milne are nice to own, although most libraries will have these
A Child's Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa (purchase) is nice to own unless you already own the Oxford Book of Children's Verse or plan to use AO's online poems
Laura Ingalls Wilder books if your library does not have them (purchase)
Other books can be read online or borrowed from the library.
Burgess Bird Book Resources - SartorisSmiles has resources for each chapter.
Supplements for Bird Study: Online pictures and information for each chapter |
More Bird Photos |
Bird songs online |
An online birdfeeder guide
For free coloring pages, go about halfway down this page. Also, Rod and Staff has bird pictures in their Nature to Color coloring book.
There's a site to order from; calling them directly may be quicker. 1-606-522-4348
Lisa Dal Santo has created a complete list that dates, summarizes and arranges all of the chapters in book order and chronological order.
The following chapters are scheduled:
The Sword of Damocles (Greek)
Damon and Pythias; and A Laconic Answer (Greek)
The Brave Three Hundred
Alexander and Bucephelas; and *Diogenes (Greek)
The Story of Regulus (Roman)
Cornelia's Jewels (Roman)
Horatius at the Bridge (Roman)
Cincinnatus (Roman)
Androclus and the Lion (Roman)
King Alfred and the Beggar (Saxon England)
The Story of William Tell (Switzerland 1300's)
Arnold Winkelried; (1386)
Bruce and the Spider (Britain, 1329)
The Black Douglas (James Douglas, Britain, d 1330)
Whittington (Britain, 1423)
The *Inchcape Rock (1500's; look for Peter Graham's painting)
Casablanca (1500's)
Sir Philip Sidney (1586) and *The Ungrateful Soldier
George Washington and his Hatchet; .5 page and *Doctor Goldsmith (1774)
Picciola (1800's)
How Napoleon Crossed the Alps (1800's)
Maximillian and the Gooseherd (King of Bavaria, 1800's)
Antonio Canova (1822)
Grace Darling (1842)
The Kingdoms (Frederick William, King of Prussia)
From the Blue Fairy Book, the following chapters are scheduled:
Recommended List (with possible problematic events in parentheses for parents whose children may have specific issues with certain elements of stories)
Term 1 (37 pages total)
Beauty and the Beast; -Familiar (20 pages)
Why the Sea is Salt (a man tells his brother to go the Dead; a ship sinks and all perish) (5 pages)
Prince Darling (12 pages)
Term 2 (38 pages total)
The Glass Slipper; - Familiar (8 pages)
Master Maid (Unnecessary cruelty to her suitors. Couldn't she just say no?), (16 pages)
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp -Familiar (A wicked Magician and his wicked Brother are killed) (14 pages)
Term 3 (37 pages total)
East of the Sun, West of the Moon; (11 pages)
The Forty Thieves (9 pages)
White Cat (The white cat is killed and the princess appears) (17 pages)
Some Good Alternatives
Princess and the Glass Hill; (10 pages)
Blue Beard (6 pages)
Prince Hyacinth (7 pages)
Toads and Diamonds (a selfish girl dies in the woods) - familiar (4 pages)
Snow-white and Rose red (a bear kills an evil gnome) - Familiar (7 pages)
Hansel and Gretel - Familiar (the witch dies) (8 pages)
Rumpelstiltskin (however, Rumpelstiltskin tears himself in half at the end); - Familiar (4 pages)
If your children are sensitive to tragic stories, (and every family's needs will be different because children are unique and have varying levels of tolerance) you may prefer these less violent suggestions. However, you may want to first read Donna-Jean's comments before assuming that such tales are bad for children.
Term 1 (32 pages total)
The Glass Slipper; - common (8 pages)
Felicia and the Pot of Pinks; (9 pages)
Toads and Diamonds (a selfish girl dies in the woods) - familiar (4 pages)
East of the Sun, West of the Moon; (An troll woman bursts with anger) (11 pages)
Term 2 (32 pages total)
Beauty and the Beast; - Familiar (20 pages)
Prince Hyacinth (7 pages)
Why the Sea is Salt (a greedy man tells his brother to go the Dead; ship sinks, all perish) (5 pgs)
Term 3 (29 pages total)
Snow-white and Rose red (a bear kills an evil gnome) - Familiar (7 pages)
Prince Darling (12 pages)
Princess and the Glass Hill; (10 pages)
Some Good Alternatives
Hansel and Gretel - Familiar (the witch dies) (8 pages)
Rumpelstiltskin (however, Rumpelstiltskin tears himself in half at the end); - Familiar (4 pages)
FAIRY TALE OPTIONS:
If you prefer not to use Lang's you may want to look at Hans Christian Andersen's Tales or Howard Pyle's The Wonder Clock or, take a look at these Nine Tales with no fairies, witches or magic spells.) Read about fairy tales from CM's original PR magazine: 1, 2, 3, and read Wendi Capehart's article about Fairy Tales. Another option: Grimm's Fairy Tales; here is one possible suggestion for edits.
Last update Oct 8, 2011
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