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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 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 5 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
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 and Eugene Stock's commentaries, with Old Testament readings focusing on the kings and prophets in Israel, and New Testament on the first part of the life of Christ from all the gospels in harmony. Not every week has assignments from both OT and NT. Charlotte Mason taught with commentaries, reading the Bible passage first, then narration, then reading the commentary, but Smyth's and Stock's commentaries may reflect the doctrine of their era and denomination; they are not necessary to follow the Bible schedule. You can follow this schedule without commentary, or choose your own.
This Country of Ours by HE Marshall (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
* ** Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster, 342 pages (purchase)
OR The Story of Mankind by Hendrick Van Loon (purchase) [note] x
*** The Story of the World Volume 4 The Modern Age by Susan Wise Bauer (purchase) [note]
OR *** What Everyone Should Know About the 20th Century Axelrod, Phillips (purchase); click
optional: An Island Story (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
Term 1
Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster, first half, 171 pages (purchase)
OR The Story of Mankind by Hendrick VanLoon (purchase) [note]
OR A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer (purchase) [note]
optional: An Island Story by H.E. Marshall (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
This Country of Ours by H.E. Marshall (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
Term 2
Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster, second half, 171 pages (purchase)
OR The Story of Mankind by Hendrick VanLoon (purchase) [note]
OR A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer (purchase) [note]
optional: An Island Story by H.E. Marshall (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
This Country of Ours by H.E. Marshall (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
Term 3
The Story of the World Vol 4 by Susan Wise Bauer (purchase) [note]
OR The Story of Mankind by Hendrick VanLoon (purchase) [note]
OR A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer (purchase) [note]
optional: An Island Story by H.E. Marshall (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
This Country of Ours by H.E. Marshall (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note]
* Of Courage Undaunted: Across the Continent with Lewis and Clark by James Daugherty (purchase)
** Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness (purchase)
OR possibly a book about Beatrix Potter (some options)
*** Carry a Big Stick: The Uncommon Heroism of Teddy Roosevelt by George Grant (purchase)
Explore the Holy Land by Ann Voskamp (purchase), also available here
OR The Book of Marvels: The Occident and/or Second Book of Marvels: The Orient by Richard Halliburton (purchase), (see contents here), OR A Child's Geography of the World by Virgil Hillyer (purchase), (see contents here), both out of print but wonderful if you have access to them.
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
* Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton (purchase)
Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Book 5 by Worthington Hooker, edited by Michael J. McHugh (purchase) [note]
Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley (purchase) (see Anne White's Study Guide), second half of book:
* Madam How's Two Grandsons, The Coral Reef
** Field and Wild, The World's End
*** Homeward Bound
The Story of Inventions by Michael J. McHugh and Frank P. Bachman (purchase) [note]
Optional: Physics Lab in a Housewares Store 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.
* biography of Isaac Newton; there is a chapter about him in R. S. Ball's Great Astronomers (purchase)
** biography of Alexander Graham Bell, like Always Inventing by Tom L. Matthews (purchase), or Talking Wire by O.J. Stevenson (purchase)
*** biography of George Washington Carver (purchase)
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
* Rudyard Kipling
** Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [note]
*** John Greenleaf Whittier and Paul Lawrence Dunbar
Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch (purchase) ch 15 (Graeae) - ch 28 (Troy)
* King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green (purchase; purchase for Kindle)
OR The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle (also here (purchase; purchase for Kindle) [note] sequel
** Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (purchase or purchase; purchase for Kindle)
*** Kim by Rudyard Kipling (search amazon.com/purchase AO annotated version for Kindle)
Additional Books for Free Reading [note]
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (purchase)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (purchase)
Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling (purchase)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
Lad: A Dog (or another book in the Lad series; many are online) by Albert Payson Terhune (purchase)
The Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
The Wouldbegoods by Edith Nesbit (purchase)
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (purchase/purchase complete series/Kindle purchase with TOC)
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (purchase boxed set)
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (purchase boxed set)
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (purchase boxed set)
The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (purchase boxed set)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dodge (search amazon.com)
Michael Faraday, Father of Electronics by Charles Ludwig (purchase)
* Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham (purchase)
** Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith (purchase)
** Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (purchase/purchase for Kindle)
*** Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery; shows WWI effects on a community. Eighth book in the Anne of Avonlea series; those who like these books might enjoy Rilla more if they read some of the earlier ones first. (purchase/purchase boxed set/purchase for Kindle)
*** Falcons of France by Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall
*** Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton (purchase/pricey Kindle purchase)
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller (purchase)
For those on a strict budget, recommended purchases are:
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (used for 6 years; (purchase) - this is online, but would be cumbersome to utilize that way
a math program
Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster (purchase)
Explore the Holy Land by Ann Voskamp (purchase; also available here), or Complete Book of Marvels by Richard Halliburton or other geography book (try the library or used book vendors)
The Story of the World Volume 4 The Modern Age by Susan Wise Bauer (used in year 5 and 6) (purchase)
Of Courage Undaunted by James Daugherty (check library) (purchase)
Carry a Big Stick: The Uncommon Heroism of Teddy Roosevelt by George Grant (purchase)
Biography of Alexander Graham Bell (check library)
Biography of George Washington Carver (check library)
Christian Liberty Nature Reader grade 5 (purchase)
a Latin/foreign language program
Laura Ingalls Wilder books if your library doesn't have them (purchase 9-volume set)
Other books can be read online or borrowed from the library.
Last update Mar. 16, 2007
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