Ambleside Online - Year 2 Booklist

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

Formatted etexts for year 2 can be accessed by joining the etext email list

In order to complete the curriculum additional instruction should be provided in the following areas.

Daily Instruction or Practice:

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

Weekly Instruction or Practice:

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

Bible

This site has many versions; it is preferable for a child to become accustomed to the language and flow of the KJV, as a familiarity with King James English will make other literature more accessible. Please read Lynn Bruce's article on the King James Version. 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: OT and NT | Study questions with nice maps |

History

An Island Story by HE Marshall ch 22-60 1066-1553, Harold II-Edward VI, (Our Island Story is the same book) Free Audio at Librivox Part 1, Part 2. Kings and Queen timeline figures here. [Be aware: The edition from Wilder Publications has no table of contents, or chapter numbers.]
This Country of Ours (TCOO) by HE Marshall ch 1-5 [Be aware: The edition from Wilder Publications has no table of contents, or chapter numbers.]
A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer ch 47 on Charlemaigne, skip Alfred - ch 61 OR The Discovery of New Worlds by MB Synge ch 12-29
Note: Chapters from The Story of Mankind by Van Loon are shown where they overlap with history being studied for those wishing to have an older student (5th grade and up) follow along in the same rotation or for those who are limited to only this text. Story of Mankind is for an older age group and not really recommended for children this young.

TERM 1
An Island Story ch 22-32 (1066-1189, Harold II Henry II)
This Country of Ours ch. 1 (How the Vikings...) OR Lief the Lucky by D'Aulaire
A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer ch 47, ch 49-53 (ch 45, 47-51 in 1st edition) 1000 AD Charlemaigne, Vikings Peter the Hermit; 800-1100 OR The Discovery of New Worlds by MB Synge ch 12-18 OR The Story of Mankind ch. 29-32 Charlemaigne, Norsemen, Feudalism, Chivalry

TERM 2
An Island Story ch 33-50 (1189-1399, Richard I Richard II)
A Child's History of the World by Hillyer ch 54-57 (ch 52-54 in 1st ed) Richard I-John I Magna Charta, 1189-1215 OR The Discovery of New Worlds by MB Synge ch 19-22 OR The Story of Mankind ch. 33-35, Pope vs. Emperor, Crusades, The Medieval City

TERM 3
An Island Story ch 51-61 (1399-1553, Henry IV-Henry VII)
This Country of Ours ch 2-5 (Columbus, 1492-1497, Henry VII) OR Columbus by D'Aulaire
A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer ch 58-61 (ch 55-58 in 1st edition) (Marco Polo-Joan of Arc; 1275-1456) OR The Discovery of New Worlds by MB Synge ch 23-29 OR The Story of Mankind ch. 36-38, Medieval Self-Government, The Medieval World, Medieval Trade

History Tales and/or Biography

Trial and Triumph (Church history from a definite Protestant perspective) by Richard Hannula (selected chapters) Read a sample excerpt or purchase the book. Now online Descriptions of some trials of the Christians may be intense; parents should preview chapters to determine suitablity based on their children's sensitivities. If you prefer, you can cover church history in Years 7-9 with a different book, Saints and Heroes.
* ** The Little Duke by Charlotte Yonge (An author CM used in the PNEU curriculum. This is a lively, literary biography of Richard, Duke of Normandy, great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, beginning in 943 AD. Yonge's historical information about events of the Viking era is meticulously researched, although presented in a somewhat Victorian tone.) Text also here. Anne White's study guide is here.
*** Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley

Geography

Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling -- map)
Seabird by Holling C. Holling

Natural History/Science

The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (a 1911 version is online in various formats here)
* ** The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess See Kelly Kenar's taxonomy key to research more about the animals in the book
*** Pagoo by Holling C Holling

Phonics/Reading Instruction

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
Alpha-Phonics: A Primer for Beginning Readers by Samuel L. Blumenfeld
Home Start in Reading by Ruth Beechick

Mathematics

Choose one; these are just a few suggestions; more help here.
Developmental Mathematics
Making Math Meaningful
Math U See
Miquon Math
Ray's Arithmetic
Singapore Math
Right Start Mathematics

Foreign Language

Lyric Language, Phrase-A-Day, Triple Play, Triple Play Plus, Springboard to French/Spanish are some programs we can recommend

Poetry

* Walter De La Mare
** Eugene Field and James Whitcombe Riley
*** Christina Rossetti

Literature

Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
Pilgrim's Progress Book 1 (Christian's Journey) by John Bunyan - the original language is recommended; read why and see recommended versions here.
Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty, selected tales (This book used in Years 1-3.) Purchase (This is a Christian character book using elements of nature to make its point; it's not a science book. If you feel you must substitute, we suggest Clara Dillingham Pierson's Among the __ People series because "each story closes with a gentle moral, inspiring children to right behavior," rather than substituting with a science book.)
* Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (published as "Betsy" in the UK)
** The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (we recommend the edition illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard)
*** Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (this book may be continued into the summer if necessary to finish) Don't let the language put you off this book. After getting a feel for the rhythym and phrases, many moms report that this is a favorite with their children, especially boys. It can be the book that helps transition children to some other challenging AO books. Now available as an unabridged audio with British accent from Audible.com.

Additional Books for Free Reading - these are books that no child should miss, but rather than overloading school time, these can be read during free time. No narrations need be required from these books. Parents should explain to students that historical fiction, while often well-researched, is still fiction, and contains the author's ideas of how things might have happened.
(Books with asterisks pertain to that term's historical studies)
Heidi by Joanna Spyri. Heidi wasn't written in English, and there are various translations out there; some leave things out. Look for one that has all of the chapters and includes the hymns. Beautifully illustrated, unabridged "gift edition" online here, and one with Jessie Wilcox Smith illustrations is here (although this one may not be complete).
A Wonder Book by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne (similar to Kingsley's The Heroes, which is read in Year 3)
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales
Pied Piper of Hamlin by Robert Browning
Abraham Lincoln by Ingri D'Aulaire
Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers (some versions say "revised" because P.L. Travers revised chapter 6 herself in 1981 to get rid of some rather nasty racist things.)
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle (sensitive readers - be aware that the child loses a hand in this story)
Chanticleer and the Fox - Barbara Cooney's is one version
Along Came A Dog by Meindert De Jong
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli

For those on a strict budget, recommended purchases are:

Year 2:
Hillyer's Child's History of the World (to be used for multiple years)
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (to be used for 6 years)
Trial and Triumph (Church History) by Richard Hannula (avail at http://www.canonpress.org/pages/church.asp)
Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley if your library does not have it
a Math program
a phonics program if necessary
Pagoo, Tree in the Trail, and Seabird by Holling C Holling if your library does not have them
Laura Ingalls Wilder books if your library does not have them
Other books can be read online or borrowed from the library.

Last update Mar. 16, 2007