Ambleside Online - Year 2 Booklist

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.

Exam 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. [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 |
The weekly schedule lists readings taken from J. Paterson Smyth's commentaries, with Old Testament readings focusing on Genesis, and New Testament in the book of Matthew. Charlotte Mason taught both with commentaries, reading the Bible passage first, then narration, then reading the commentary, but Smyth's commentaries may reflect the doctrine of his era and denomination; they are not necessary to follow the Bible schedule.

History: 1000 A.D. to Middle Ages

An Island Story by H.E. Marshall (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note] 1 2 x
A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer (purchase) [note]
OR The Discovery of New Worlds by MB Synge (purchase) ch 12-29

     Term 1
        An Island Story by H.E. Marshall (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note]
        This Country of Ours (purchase) [note] OR Leif the Lucky by D'Aulaire
        A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer (purchase) [note]
             OR The Discovery of New Worlds by MB Synge (purchase) ch 12-18
        [Story of Mankind by VanLoon: note]

     Term 2
        An Island Story by H.E. Marshall (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note]
        A Child's History of the World by Hillyer (purchase) [note]
             OR The Discovery of New Worlds by MB Synge (purchase) ch 19-22
        [Story of Mankind by VanLoon: note]

     Term 3
        An Island Story by H.E. Marshall (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note]
        This Country of Ours (purchase) [note] OR Columbus by D'Aulaire
        A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer (purchase) [note]
             OR The Discovery of New Worlds by MB Synge (purchase) ch 23-29
        [Story of Mankind by VanLoon: note]

History Tales and/or Biography

Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
* ** The Little Duke by Charlotte Yonge (purchase) [note] Text also here. Anne White's study guide is here.
*** Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley (purchase)

Geography

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

Natural History/Science

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

The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess - Term1: ch 1-15; Term 2: ch 16-27; Term 3: ch 28-40 (purchase) See up-to-date searchable taxonomy and/or Kelly Kenar's taxonomy key to research more about the animals in the book

Penmanship/Copywork

A curriculum or program for handwriting is not necessary, 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)

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 (purchase)
     Alpha-Phonics: A Primer for Beginning Readers by Samuel L. Blumenfeld (purchase spiral-bound copy or for 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)

Mathematics

Select a program that meets your family's needs from our page of Math Options.

Additional Books for Free Reading [note]
Heidi by Joanna Spyri. (purchase) [note] online; JWSmith
A Wonder Book by Nathaniel Hawthorne (purchase)
Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne (purchase) [note]
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney (purchase)
Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales (purchase/purchase (nice but pricey) for Kindle)
Pied Piper of Hamlin by Robert Browning (purchase)
Abraham Lincoln by Ingri D'Aulaire (purchase)
Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (purchase; 9-volume set also available)
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (purchase)
The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting (purchase)
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note] x
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry (purchase)
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle (purchase) [note]
Chanticleer and the Fox - Barbara Cooney's is one version (purchase)
Along Came A Dog by Meindert De Jong (purchase)
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli (purchase/purchase for Kindle)

(Purchase a Kindle)

For those on a strict budget, recommended purchases are:

Hillyer's Child's History of the World (is used for multiple years; purchase) unless you plan to use M.B. Synge's online books instead
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (used for 6 years; (purchase) - online, but would be cumbersome to utilize that way
Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley if your library does not have it (purchase)
a Math program
a phonics program (although you can make do yourself, as this mom did)
Pagoo (purchase), Tree in the Trail (purchase) and Seabird (purchase) by Holling C Holling if your library does not have them
Laura Ingalls Wilder books if your library does not have them (purchase)
D'Aulaire's Abraham Lincoln (free reading), if your library doesn't have it (purchase)
Other books can be read online or borrowed from the library.

Last update Oct 8, 2011