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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
Formatted etexts for year 4 can be accessed by joining the etext email list
Note: If your child has completed Year 3 and is not quite ready for Year 4, you might consider Year 3.5 as a transitional course of study between Year 3 and 4. It has been designed so that it can be started at any week during the first term, so if you get started on Year 4 and find that your child is struggling, you can switch mid-term. A 36-week schedule is also provided.
In order to complete the curriculum additional instruction should be provided in the following areas.
Penmanship or Copywork
Math
Foreign language
Latin
Musical Instrument Practice
Art Appreciation
Art
Grammar (AO's Language Arts Scope and Sequence for this level is here.)
Correspond history readings with a timeline or century book and map
Handicrafts
Music Appreciation, including folksongs and hymns
Nature Study
One Life from Plutarch per term
A Shakespeare play 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 | Study questions with nice maps |
The weekly schedule lists readings taken from J. Paterson Smyth's commentaries, with Old Testament readings focusing on Joshua and the Judges, and New Testament in Mark and the beginning of Acts. 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.
This Country of Ours by HE Marshall (purchase) (purchase for Kindle) Charles I-George III [note]
** ***George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster (purchase) 349 pages
OR The Story of Mankind by Hendrick Van Loon (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note] x
optional supplement: ***An Island Story [note] 1 2 x
Term 1
This Country of Ours (purchase) (purchase for Kindle) [note]
Optional: Story of Mankind by Van Loon [note]
OR A Child's History of the World [note]
Term 2
This Country of Ours (purchase) (purchase for Kindle) [note] (purchase)
George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster (purchase) [note]
OR Story of Mankind by Van Loon [note]
OR A Child's History of the
World [note]
Term 3
This Country of Ours (purchase) (purchase for Kindle) [note] (purchase)
George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster (purchase) [note]
OR Story of Mankind by Van Loon [note]
OR A Child's History of the World [note]
optional extra: An Island Story [note]
Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula (purchase/purchase for Kindle) [note]
* Poor Richard by James Daugherty (purchase)
** *** Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober (purchase/purchase for Kindle) (note).
Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling (purchase) [note] MR 1 2 BF
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
Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley (see Study Guide/links by Katie Barr; see also: resources below), first half:
* The Glen, Earthquakes;
** Volcanos, Transformations of a Grain of Soil
*** The Ice-Plough, The True Fairy-Tale, The Chalk Carts
The Storybook of Science by Jean-Henri Fabre (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
Optional: Physics Lab in the Home by Robert Friedhoffer (purchase for Kindle) (search amazon.com) [note]
Those preferring a textbook option may use the Exploring Creation With . . . series by Jeannie Fulbright for science in Years 3-6 (purchase): also available here. A support group is available.
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)
Select a program that meets your family's needs from our page of Math Options.
Latin
* Alfred Lord Tennyson (purchase for Kindle)
** Emily Dickinson
*** William Wordsworth (purchase for Kindle)
The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch preface to 14 (Minerva-Niobe)
* ** The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (purchase) [note] Free audio podcast.
** *** Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (purchase)
*** The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford (purchase)
short works (purchase a collection of all of these short works for Kindle):
*** The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (purchase) (listen to it on librivox.org)
*** Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (purchase) (listen to it on librivox; scroll down)
*** Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving (purchase) (listen to it on librivox.org; scroll down)
Additional Books for Free Reading [note]
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (purchase) (for Kindle)
Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter (purchase) (for Kindle)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (purchase) (for Kindle)
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit (purchase) (for Kindle)
A Book of Golden Deeds by Charlotte Yonge (purchase)
Bambi by Felix Salten (purchase)
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis (purchase all in one volume) (purchase boxed set)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (purchase for Kindle)
The Magician's Nephew (purchase for Kindle)
The Horse and His Boy (purchase for Kindle)
Prince Caspian (purchase for Kindle)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (purchase for Kindle)
The Silver Chair (purchase for Kindle)
The Last Battle (purchase for Kindle)
Little Britches series by Ralph Moody (purchase) (some language; please preview)
The Borrowers by Mary Norton (purchase) (purchase complete Borrowers boxed set) (purchase for Kindle)
Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight (purchase)
Gentle Ben by Walt Morey (purchase)
Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (purchase)
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright (purchase)
Return To Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright (purchase)
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (purchase)
The Peterkin Papers by Lucretia Hale (purchase); 22 chapters; The Complete Peterkin Papers has a few additional chapters, but each chapter can stand alone. These were originally printed as serials in a magazine.
** Calico Captive (girl interest; purchase/purchase for Kindle) or The Sign of the Beaver (boy interest; purchase/purchase for Kindle) by Elizabeth George Speare
*** Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (purchase)
Tree of Freedom by Rebecca Caudill (purchase)
Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates (purchase)
*** The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery (British view of revolution) (purchase)
Justin Morgan had a Horse by Marguerite Henry (purchase)
For those on a strict budget, recommended purchases are:
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
George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster (check library) (purchase)
Poor Richard by James Daugherty (purchase)
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
Minn of the Mississippi if your library doesn't have it (purchase)
a Latin/foreign language program
The Incredible Jouney by Sheila Burnford if your library doesn't have it (purchase)
Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis if your library doesn't have them
Elizabeth Enright books are nice if you can find them cheap (but not worth high collector prices) (purchase)
Other books can be read online or borrowed from the library.
Madame How and Lady Why Links
Chapter 2 Earthquakes
http://www.crustal.ucsb.edu/ics/outreach/understanding/
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ls/pathfinders/earthquakes/
http://www.scecdc.scec.org/recenteqs/ - has a map with current and recent earthquakes in CA & NV.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/4kids/ - lots of fun stuff for kids
http://www.suzy.co.nz/SuzysWorld/Factpage.asp?FactSheet=30
http://www.thirteen.org/savageearth/animations/hellscrust/main.html
http://ology.amnh.org/earth/plates/index.html
Chapter 3 Volcanoes
http://kids.discovery.com/games/pompeii/pompeii.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/0312/main.html
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0405/quickflicks/
http://www.suzy.co.nz/SuzysWorld/Factpage.asp?FactSheet=196
Chapter 5 The Ice-Plough (glaciers and the ice age)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/earth/glacier.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/warnings/
http://www.pbs.org/edens/patagonia/tglacier.htm#Instructional%20Objectives:
http://nsidc.org/glaciers/
Also, another book that goes along well with this topic is Life in the Great Ice Age sold by Answers in Genesis
http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/Life-in-the-Great-Ice-Age,4327,185.aspx
and has lesson plans available http://www.answersingenesis.org/cec/archive.asp (scroll down to the bottom of the page for lesson plans for this book)
(Thanks to Cindy Gould for many of these Madame How and Lady Why resources)
Last update Oct 8, 2011
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