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AmblesideOnline for Groups Form 2A Booklist

Note: 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 AmblesideOnline, your first stop should be the the FAQ for some information about the curriculum and basic instructions. Our FAQ answers all the questions that people routinely ask: AO's history scope and sequence, how to schedule your school days, how to do narration, and more.

Key: (What do all those symbols mean?)

Book titles are linked to Project Gutenberg (which offers free etexts in a variety of formats) or other online text when no Project Gutenberg text is available.

Asterisks refer to which term the book is used: * Term 1 ** Term 2 *** Term 3

β - manybooks.net, another free ebook site.
α - free etext at archive.org; newer books can be borrowed for one hour at a time.
(ChrBk) - purchase from Christianbook.com using AO's affiliate link.
K - free Kindle text from amazon.com.
(£amzn) - Living Books Press purchase using AO's amazon.com affiliate link.
($amzn) - book purchase using AO's amazon.com affiliate link.
(K) - Kindle purchase using AO's amazon.com affiliate link.
(£) - Purchase directly from Living Books Press with an affiliate link; save 10% with discount code: AOBooks
Λ - free audiobook at Lit2Go
Ω - free audiobook at Librivox ^[2]
∩ - other free audiobook source
^[0] - Click the bracketed numeral to view any notes about the book near the bottom of the page.
^[0] - red footnotes indicate a heads-up for parents about the title. We cannot foresee every incident that might potentially be an issue to every family, but we have red-flagged those that are commonly a concern.

AO is an affiliate of Living Book Press, which means that when you purchase from our (£) links, we receive a commission which allows us to keep offering AO for free.

AO is an affiliate of Christianbook.com, which means that when you purchase from our (ChrBk) links, we receive a commission that helps with our costs.

AmblesideOnline is part of Amazon.com's Affiliate program. If you use the Amazon links, we receive a small commission which enables us to cover the costs of keeping the website and curriculum. Amazon links are identified like this: ($amzn) or (£amzn) or (K).

AmblesideOnline Form 2A Curriculum

Bible ^[6]

Old Testament - 1 and 2 Samuel
New Testament - The ministry of Jesus taken from all four gospels
or OT: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; NT: Birth of Christ and Early Ministry taken from all four gospels

History: 1640-1780

Keep a simple timeline. ^[4]

This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall ch 29-63, β α (£) (£amzn) (£amzn) ($amzn) K Ω ^[8]
Answering the Cry for Freedom by Gretchen Woelfle ($amzn) (K) ^[9]
George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster (ChrBk) ($amzn) ^[10]

Biography

Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula ($amzn) (K) ^[12]
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober ($amzn) (K) ^[16]
¹ ² The Ocean Of Truth by Joyce McPherson or other biography of Isaac Newton (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) ^[14]
³ Poor Richard by James Daugherty (ChrBk) ($amzn) (There is no Kindle edition; check author before purchasing.) ^[19]

Literature

The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch β α α ($amzn) (K) (ChrBk) Ω K Ω ^[30]
The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe β α (£) (ChrBk) ($amzn) Ω ^[32]
¹ Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving (or here ($amzn) Ω Λ
² The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving β (ChrBk) ($amzn) Ω Λ
³ Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (ChrBk) ($amzn) Ω

Purchase Rip Van Winkle, Sleepy Hollow, and Paul Revere's Ride for Kindle: (K)

Shakespeare for the 2023-2024 School Year:
* Twelfth Night
** King Lear
*** Measure for Measure

Poetry ^[27]

¹ Alfred Lord Tennyson
² Emily Dickinson Λ
³ William Wordsworth
Purchase AO's Volume 4 poetry collection which includes Tennyson, Dickinson, and Wordsworth in paperback or Kindle ($amzn) (K)

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: ($amzn) Level B: ($amzn)
Getty Dubay Italic Handwriting Series ($earch)

Dictation

Grammar and Composition

Recitation ^[recit]

Term 1
Joshua 1:9; Mark 6:34; Mark 8:36; 1 John 4:4
Break, Break, Break by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
A passage from the term's Shakespeare play
Term 2
Joshua 24:14-15; Mark 9:35; Mark 16:15
I Never Saw a Moor by Emily Dickinson
(There is no frigate like) A Book by Emily Dickinson
A passage from the term's Shakespeare play
Term 3
1 Samuel 2:2; Acts 4:12; Acts 5:29
The Rainbow by William Wordsworth
Daffodils by William Wordsworth
A passage from the term's Shakespeare play

Foreign Language

Latin

Geography

Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling (ChrBk) ($amzn) ^[18]
Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel ($amzn) ^[20]
What the World Eats by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel ($amzn) ^[20]

Ten minutes of map drills each week ^[22]
Locate places from the day's reading on a map

In addition, these geography concepts should be explained and taught this year: ^[24]
Term 1: Earth's surface is mostly water; highlands (cooler), lowlands (warmer), mountains (foot, slope, summit) and valleys
Term 2: The water cycle: clouds, rain, rivers, ocean, evaporation (vapor); dew, snow
Term 3: Rivers and waterways; rivers start at a mountain spring and flow to the sea; a river's source, mouth, bed, two banks, tributary (branch), rapids, cataract, waterfall. Oceans and their parts, why rivers wind, work of rivers (fertile after flooding, pebbles, gravel, sand)

Citizenship

Plutarch for the 2023-2024 School Year:
Term 1: Alcibiades (Study Guide with text; Text Only)
Term 2: Coriolanus (Study Guide with text; Text Only)
Term 3: Cato the Younger (Study Guide with text; Text Only)
(Purchase this year's study guides, Vol 9, in one book: ($amzn) (K)
AO's full Plutarch rotation

Nature Study and Science

The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock α (ChrBk) ($amzn) as scheduled in Nature Study.

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 all

The Storybook of Science by Jean-Henri Fabre (used over three years) α (£) (£amzn) ($amzn) (K) Ω
Madam How and Lady Why, Volume I, A Walk Through the Glen by Charles Kingsley, with notes by Anne White ($amzn) (K) ^[26]
It Couldn't Just Happen by Lawrence Richards (used over three years; (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
³ Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas by Cheryl Bardoe and Jos. Smith - a picture book ($amzn)

Great Inventors and Their Inventions by Frank P. Bachman
(or The Story of Inventions Michael J. McHugh and Frank P. Bachman) (over three years) α (£) (ChrBk) (£amzn) (K) Ω ^[28a]

Nature Study Topics for the 2023-2024 School Year:
summer/fall: Trees/shrubs/vines
winter: Stars/sky
spring: Amphibians
AO's full Nature Study rotation

Mathematics

Select a program from our page of Math Options.

Art

Artists (Picture Study) for the 2023-2024 School Year:

2023-2024 TERM 1 Tintoretto (1518-1594; Renaissance)
(This term's music: Renaissance)
Self portrait
1. Crucifixion, 1565, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice; study
2. Christ Before Pilate, 1567, also here Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice
3. The Adoration of the Magi, 1582, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice; study
4. Portrait of a Man, 1586-1589, State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
5. Paradise, 1588, Doge's Palace, Venice
6. The Last Supper, 1592-1594, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice
Download a pdf file of this term's six prints here ^[NOTE]

2023-2024 TERM 2 Claude Monet (1840-1926; French Impressionist)
(This term's composer: Ravel)
Biography
1. Terrace at St. Adresse, 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
2. Women in the Garden, 1866, Musee d'Orsay, Paris
3. Jean Monet on His Hobby Horse, 1872, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
4. Woman with a Parasol: Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (see also here)
5. Tulip Fields in Holland, 1886, Musee d'Orsay, Paris
6. The Waterlily Pond, 1899, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (Similar image here)
Download a pdf file of this term's six prints here ^[NOTE]

2023-2024 TERM 3 Georges Seurat (1859-1891; French Post-impressionist)
(This term's music: Opera Overtures)
1. Rock-Breakers, Le Raincy, 1882, also here Norton Simon Art Foundation, Pasadena, CA, USA
2. Man Cleaning His Boat, 1883, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, UK
3. Bathers at Asnieres, 1883-84, National Gallery, London, UK
4. Sunday on La Grande Jatte 1884, Art Institute of Chicago, USA
5. The Eiffel Tower, 1889, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, USA (also here)
6. The Circus, 1891, Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Download a pdf file of this term's six prints here ^[NOTE]

AO's full Artist rotation

Note: PDF files for AO's picture study are being made available for you to download and print yourself from "A Humble Place"; you can access the PDF files of pictures by clicking the "Individual Artworks Only" link by each artist's name. The "Picture Study aid" link is an additional optional resource and may require you to submit your email address or make a purchase, but the "Artworks Only" link is provided with no strings attached.

Music

Composers for the 2023-2024 School Year:

2023-2024 TERM 1 Renaissance Music (This term's artist: Tintoretto)
1. Songs * * * * *
2. Guillaume Dufay * *   Ave Maris Stella ("Hail, star of the sea") * *
3. Dance Music * * * * *
4. Josquin des Prez * * * *
5. Vocal Music of William Byrd * * * * *
6. Claudio Monteverdi * * * *   Monteverdi wrote the earliest opera still regularly performed: "L'Orfeo" *
     CD and mp3 Options:
     -- The Hillard Ensemble: Music for Tudor Kings seems to offer a nice variety of music from the era. ($amzn) ($mp3); also English and Italian Renaissance Madrigals. ($mp3) The Hilliard Ensemble has multiple CD's featuring Renaissance era composers.
     -- Gloriae Dei Cantores: Masters of the Renaissance (choral sacred music) ($amzn) ($mp3)
     -- Oxford Camerata: Renaissance Masterpieces (vocal) ($amzn) ($mp3)
     -- Dances of the Renaissance ($amzn) ($mp3)
     -- Catherine King: Elizabethan Songs and Consort Music (solo voice, instrumental) ($amzn) ($mp3)

2023-2024 TERM 2 Maurice Ravel (1875-1937; Impressionist) (This term's artist: Claude Monet)
1. Daphne et Chloe - selections * *   complete *
2. Bolero * *
3. Mother Goose Suite * *
4. Pavane pour une infante dufunte (no, there really is no dead princess) * *
5. Piano Concerto in D for the Left Hand (composed for a pianist who lost his right arm in WWI) * *
6. Rhapsody Espagnole * *

2023-2024 TERM 3 Opera Selections (This term's artist: Georges Seurat)
1. Giuseppi Verdi: "Triumphal March" from Aida * * and "Vedi! le fosche" (Anvil Chorus) * * from Il Trovatore
2. Giuseppi Verdi "Libiamo Ne'lieti Calici" (Brindisi; drinking song - parents, preview!) from La Traviata * * and "La Donne Il Mobile," from Rigoletto * *
3. Giacomo Puccini: "O Soave Fancuilla" * * and "Quando M'en Vo" * * from La Boheme, and "E Lucevan Le Stelle" * * from Tosca.
4. Giacamo Puccini: "Un Bel Di Vedremo" * * from Madama Butterfly, and "Nessun Dorma" * * from Turandot.
5. Gioacchino Rossini: overture * * and "Largo al factotum" (Figaro Figaro Figaro. . .) from Il Barbiere Di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) * *
6. Gioacchino Rossini: William Tell overture * *
We suggest using a selection of Opera favorites that contains most of these, such as Best Opera Album In The World . . . Ever! ($amzn) and filling in any missing pieces with whatever else is on the CD. Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi, Bizet's "Au fond du temple saint" from The Pearl Fishers, Verdi's "Celeste Aida" from Aida would be worthy substitutes.
One possibility: 25 Opera Favorites CD ($amzn)
1 - track 7. Giuseppi Verdi: "Triumphal March" from Aida; track 17. Gypsies' Chorus from Il Trovatore
2 - track 3. Giuseppi Verdi: "Libiamo Ne'lieti Calici" (Brindisi) from La Traviata; track 9. "La Donne Il Mobile," from Rigoletto
3 - track 21. Giacomo Puccini: "Che Gelida Manina" from La Boheme; track 23. "Quando M'en Vo" from La Boheme; track 18. "Vissi d'Arte" from Tosca
4 - track 6. Giacamo Puccini: "Un Bel Di" from Madama Butterfly, track 5. "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot
5 - track 4. Georges Bizet: "Au Fond du Temple Saint" from the Pearl Fishers; track 2. Gioacchino Rossini: "Largo al factotum" from The Barber of Seville
6 - track 1. Gioacchino Rossini: William Tell overture
     Free Ebook for younger students Verdi: The Little Boy who Loved the Hand Organ by Thomas Tapper
     Classics for Kids Past Shows: Verdi; Puccini; Bizet; Rossini

AO's full Composer rotation

Hymns for the 2023-2024 School Year:

August: The Rock That Is Higher Than I * ∘
September: For All the Saints who from their Labours Rest * ∘
October: For the Beauty of the Earth * * * ∘
November: Anywhere with Jesus * * ∘
December: Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow * * ∘
January: My Song is Love Unknown * * ∘
February: This is My Father's World * * ∘
March: Ah, Holy Jesus * * ∘
April: Count Your Blessings * * ∘
May: All Creatures of Our God and King * * *
June: Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending *
July: Holy, Holy, Holy * * *

AO's full Hymn rotation

Folksongs for the 2023-2024 School Year:

AO's Intro to 2023-2024's Folksongs
August (Bonus): God Bless America ∘
September: Aiken Drum * * ∘   Scottish version: * *
October: The Ash Grove * * * * ∘
November: The Lion Sleeps Tonight * * ∘
Over Christmas break, try learning a less familiar carol: Sleep, Sleep, Sleep My Little Child ∘ and/or O Little Town Of Bethlehem
January: The Water is Wide (Oh Waly, Waly) * * * * ∘
February: Now is the Hour * * * ∘
March: Log Driver's Waltz * * * ∘
April: A Man's A Man for A'That ("Should'a been Scotland's national anthem...") * * * ∘
May: Simple Gifts * * *
June: Click Go the Shears * *

AO's full Folksong rotation

Physical Education

One option is Swedish Drill Revisited by Dawn Duran purchase

Additional Books for Free Reading ^[34]

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson β α (£) (ChrBk) (£amzn) ($amzn) Ω
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell β (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) Ω Λ
Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter β (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) Ω
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett β (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) Ω Λ ∩
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit β (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) Ω
A Book of Golden Deeds by Charlotte Yonge β (£) (£amzn)
Bambi by Felix Salten ($amzn) (K)

The Chronicles of Narnia series (ChrBk) ($amzn) ($amzn) (K), by C.S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ($amzn) (K)
Prince Caspian ($amzn) (K)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ($amzn) (K)
The Magician's Nephew ($amzn) (K)
The Silver Chair ($amzn) (K)
The Horse and His Boy ($amzn) (K)
The Last Battle ($amzn) (K)

Little Britches series by Ralph Moody (ChrBk) ($earch) (K) (some language; please preview)
The Borrowers by Mary Norton (ChrBk) ($et) ($amzn) (K)
Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight ($amzn) (K)
Gentle Ben by Walt Morey (ChrBk) ($amzn)
Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (ChrBk) ($amzn)
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
Return To Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright ($amzn) (K)
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (ChrBk) ($amzn) ($amzn) (K) 9-bk series: (ChrBk) ($amzn) Paperback: ($amzn) (K)
The Peterkin Papers by Lucretia Hale β α ($amzn) (K); 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. Ω Ω

Calico Captive, by Elizabeth George Speare - girl interest (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
or The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare - boy interest (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
Tree of Freedom by Rebecca Caudill ($amzn) (K)
Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates (ChrBk) ($amzn)
The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery (British view of revolution) ($amzn) (K)
Justin Morgan had a Horse by Marguerite Henry (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)

If you would like some easier, but still excellent, living books, for a Form 2 student to read independently for free reading, consider choosing from this list:

Sarah Plain and Tall series by Patricia MacLachlan
Sarah Plain and Tall ($amzn) (K)
Skylark ($amzn) (K)
Caleb's Story ($amzn) (K)
More Perfect than the Moon ($amzn) (K)
Grandfather's Dance ($amzn) (K)

The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen by Lloyd Alexander ($amzn)
Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop ($amzn)
Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson ($amzn)
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois($amzn) (K)
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George ($amzn) (K)

Kate Seredy books, including:
The Good Master (ChrBk) ($amzn)
The White Stag ($amzn)
The Singing Tree (ChrBk) ($amzn)
The Chestry Oak ($amzn)

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien (ChrBk) ($amzn)
The Rescuers by Margery Sharp ($amzn) (K) (and others in the series)
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
Centerburg Tales by Robert McCloskey (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald; particularly interesting to boys; skip (or preview) the last chapter, ch 8, "The Great Brain's Reformation," as it's a light-hearted tale told in a frivolous manner about a boy's attempts to do himself in after his father disparages his disability. ($amzn) (K)

Noel Streatfeild books (appealing to girls in particular)
Ballet Shoes (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
Skating Shoes ($amzn) (K)
Dancing Shoes (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
Theater Shoes (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)

Footnotes

2. Note on Audiobooks: While links to audio books are added as a courtesy, Miss Mason's approach to grammar and composition is heavily dependent upon the children receiving an immense amount of visual exposure to the written word over many years, so parents should exercise extreme caution in how many audiobooks they use each year. Our brains just work differently when we see the words. (Cindy Rollins did a Circe Mason Jar podcast that included the role of audiobooks with difficult books.) For children who have difficulty reading, one solution is to have them follow the audio version along in a written text
Librivox free audio is done by volunteers, and some are better than others. Forgotten ClassicsHeidi Nash has a list of some favorite Librivox readers. Be aware that apps, including Librivox, that have clickable ads can open a browser and allow children unfiltered access to the internet, even when browsers have been disabled by the parent. There are options: either download mp3 files from Librivox and listen without the app, or only install the app on a parent-controlled device. Librivox has a pay option to turn off ads. (Back)

4. Timeline: Students who are ready for more timeline work than they have done before, but who are not quite advanced enough to begin a Book of Centuries (recommended for ages 10 and up), may like to begin a slightly more detailed chart, which Laurie Bestvater has named a "Stream of History" (The Living Page, p. 47-50). However, such a chart must still be kept quite simple, with a focus more towards general time periods and centuries rather than single years: "[it should be] conveniently visible as a whole, say within the compass of at most a yard in length" (p. 48). (This chart will continue to be used even after the Book of Centuries has been begun.)

Those who are ready may add the Book of Centuries, a lovely and important notebook which has been described elsewhere. Two Book of Centuries options: ($amzn).

Resources: Read an Advisory member's blog post about early timelines at Wendi Wanders. Instructions for timelines and charts are included in these Parents' Review articles: Book of the Centuries; Teaching Chronology; The Correlation of Lessons. For more details about the why, when, and how of keeping CM timelines (and other notebooks), we strongly recommend reading The Living Page by Laurie Bestvater ($amzn). We have more links on our history page here. (Back)

6. AO's Bible plan can be viewed here. It is a good idea for children to become accustomed to the language and flow of the King James Version of the Bible, as a familiarity with King James English will make other literature more accessible. For more about this, read Lynn Bruce's article on the King James Version.
Note: Parents/teachers may want to preread 2 Sam 13 (scheduled in week 28) and 2 Sam 18 (scheduled in week 32).
Optional Bible Resources: Bible Gateway has many versions of the Bible online. Timeline; Study questions with maps. (Back)

8. This Country of Ours is available in an "Annotated, Expanded, and Updated" version that includes correct tribal names, added information, and a pronunciation guide. Vol 2, used this Year, contains ch 29-63. Available in Paperback: ($amzn) or Hardcover: ($amzn) as well as Kindle: (K) More details are explained on our blog.
If you prefer, you can still purchase the original version: ($amzn) K The link to Project Gutenberg's etext and Librivox's audiobook have used the original public domain version.
Scheduled this year: Charles I-George III this year.
Term 1: ch 29-40 (Charles I-Charles II/Anne, 1636-1680)
Term 2: ch 41-51 (George I-George III 1723-1766)
Term 3: ch 52-63 (George III, 1765-1782)
Be aware that the edition for sale from Wilder Publications has no Table of Contents or chapter numbers. Public domain texts are available for anyone to copy, paste and publish, and many new companies are springing up publishing and selling these texts without editing for typos.
For planning purposes, there is a table of contents with dates for This Country of Ours. (Back)

9. Answering the Cry for Freedom: This book is scheduled over three years. Please note that the most offensive racial epithet is included in chapter 2, about Agrippa Hull, as part of a quote. We suggest reading this aloud and skipping or replacing the word. Additionally, there is a reference to amputation without anesthesia. (Back)

10. There are various editions of this book. If you have the older version, there is an alternate weekly schedule; if you have the newer Expanded Edition by Joanna Foster published by Beautiful Feet Books, there's an alternate weekly schedule.
(Back)

12. Trial and Triumph: Descriptions of some trials of the Christians may be intense; preview chapters to determine suitability based on their student's sensitivities. If you prefer, you can skip this book and cover church history in Form 3 with a different book, Saints and Heroes by George Hodges.
This book tells church history from a definite Protestant perspective; some may wish to skip this book or find an alternative. (Back)

14. Isaac Newton: If you already have the Sower Series biography of Isaac Newton by John Hudson Tiner (ChrBk), feel free to use that. If you need something online, there is a chapter about Isaac Newton in Robert S. Ball's Great Astronomers. β α ($earch) K
There's also a chapter on Newton in Nathaniel Hawthorne's True Stories from History and Biography. α ^[4]

16. Chapter 3, p. 17 of the Abigail Adams book contains this paragraph - 'Their love was growing giddy and passionate. Increasingly their meetings started with conversation, but quickly turned to lovemaking that pushed hard against the bounds of prudence. Both had so much -- yearning, called 'excessive sensibility,' that they actually became ill from anxiety and anticipation as the years of courtship continued.' The word 'lovemaking' is used in the old context of courting, but today's Hollywood movies have changed our perspective on the word. You might want to think twice before you leave it out.
Also, Chapter 3, pg. 20 refers to a servant named Tom. Abigail herself was staunchly anti-slavery. However her parents owned four slaves. Tom is referred to as a servant here, but he was one of the four people her parents held in slavery. Read more at https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/globelocal/2019/02/06/the-untold-stories-slaves-who-lived-abigail-adams-birthplace/HKhfj6jdy7r161zjJPaYII/story.html
If you're using the 36-week schedule posted, chapter 3 is scheduled in week 15. (Back)

Recitation: Charlotte Mason's PNEU schools expected children to be able to recite two Bible verses and a poem for their term exams. We have listed suggestions, but students should be allowed to have some input into what is memorized for recitation. Some students will gravitate towards a specific poem, or want to memorize all of a Psalm, and that should be encouraged. There are some possible suggestions for Shakespeare passages on our Shakespeare recitations page. (Back)

18. Minn of the Mississippi: These links have information and/or maps about the Mississippi River Page: The Great River; Map; Wikipedia. Beautiful Feet Books sells a set of maps for the Holling books; click on the link and then do a search for Holling Maps. (Back)

19. Poor Richard: There is no Kindle version of this book. When you click on the link AO provides to the paperback edition, amazon may try to suggest a Kindle link to a book of the same name, but it's not the same book. Make sure the book you get is the one by James Daugherty. The publisher of the currently-available book is Beautiful Feet Books.

The Poor Richard chapter "The Flaming Border" (pgs 71-77) has wording that reflects the time the book was written: "red men," "white men," and "squaw."

18a. Poor Richard seems to end abruptly on page 158, and the next page has the image of a faded historical document. But it's intentional. The document is the epitaph that Franklin wrote in 1728, and which is referred to on page 52. Page 158 ends with the words "He remembered something he had written long ago about" and then the next page adds "the Body of B. Franklin, Printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, Its contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ'd, appear once more, In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and amended By the Author. He was born Jan. 6, 1706. Died 17" (Back)

20. Material World/What the World Eats - How to use these books:
Leave them out, preferably near a globe or world map, and browse through them together from time to time.
Leave them out, browse through them and maybe once a month pick a country that especially interests your child. Look it up (briefly) on Wikipedia or in a good Atlas. Read a little bit more about it. Find it on a map or globe.
If your child is interested, he can pursue additional research in his free time and learn more about countries that particularly interest him, but this should be his own delight directed study or hobby.
How not to use these books: as the basis of a unit study or a burdensome checklist of additional tasks to fulfill.
Note: Material World: pg 16 and pg 70 have some National Geographic types of photos that may need screening.
Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio looks similar to What the World Eats; we think it could be used interchangeably. ($amzn) (Back)

22. Geography: SeterraOnline offers Free Map Quiz Games. If you have an iPad or iPhone, TapQuiz is a free map quiz app. (Back)

24. Geography: The Following geography concepts should be explained and taught this year; a book is not necessary as these can be explained informally during walks and outings. AO's complete list of geography topics.
Term 1: Earth's surface is mostly water; highlands (cooler), lowlands (warmer), mountains (foot, slope, summit) and valleys
These topics are covered in these chapters:
Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography (£) (£amzn): The Surface of the Earth Part I
Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography: The Surface of the Earth Part II
Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography: Highlands and Lowlands
Long's Home Geography α 11. Plains
Long's Home Geography α (£) (£amzn) 12. Hills, Mountains, Valleys
Term 2: The water cycle: clouds, rain, rivers, ocean, evaporation (vapor); dew, snow
These topics are covered in these chapters:
Long's Home Geography α 13. Rain, Wind, and Snow
Long's Home Geography α 14. How Water is Changed to vapor
Long's Home Geography α 15. How Vapor is Changed to Water
Long's Home Geography α 16. Dew, Clouds and rain
Long's Home Geography α 18. How Rivers are Made
Long's Home Geography α 19. More About Rivers
Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography: Rivers
Term 3: Rivers and waterways; rivers start at a mountain spring and flow to the sea; a river's source, mouth, bed, two banks, tributary (branch), rapids, cataract, waterfall. Oceans and their parts, why rivers wind, work of rivers (fertile after flooding, pebbles, gravel, sand)
These topics are covered in these chapters:
Long's Home Geography α 21. Work of Flowing Rivers
Long's Home Geography α 22. Waterdrop's Story
Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography: Countries
Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography: The Waters of the Earth Part I
Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography: The Waters of the Earth Part II
Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography: The Oceans and Their Parts (Back)

Plutarch: Charlotte Mason recommended Thomas North's "inimitable translation." (Back)

26. Madam How and Lady Why: This year, the first half of the book is covered:
Term 1: The Glen, Earthquakes
Term 2: Volcanos, Transformations of a Grain of Soil
Term 3: The Ice-Plough, The True Fairy-Tale
Anne White has formatted the text with her study notes into separate volumes. Volume 1, "A Walk Through the Glen," is scheduled this year. Volume 2, "Further Afield," is scheduled next year.
Walk Through The Glen text with a few edits (mostly for comments that would be considered racist by today's standards) for your student to read along
The text with Anne White's study guide which is linked above is recommended but not required. If you prefer just the original book without the study guide or edits, it is available at these links: Project Gutenberg β α (£) ($amzn) (£amzn) Ω K There's a schedule for the original book. Groups 2B lines up with Year 4 on that schedule.
Madam How and Lady Why is scheduled slowly over two years. This is an earth science book; if you use the study guide, you'll see that it takes time to adequately cover the subject matter. Researching the topics is what makes this useful as a science book.

Of what value is an old science book like Madam How and Lady Why? Apart from the superior writing quality, the best thing you can get out of old science books is a strong sense that science is a constantly changing thing, and that the "scientific evidence/theory/conclusion" of today can be debunked in a year, or two, or ten. Children should learn to take the words "Scientists think . . ." for exactly what they are worth (always worth considering, but never to be considered the final word). Reading older books will help you develop that sense.
Note on Kingsley's "old earth" comments: During the era when Madam How and Lady Why was written, there was no "young earth" discussion out there: evidence seemed to show an old earth, and the Church of England (Charles Kingsley was a clergyman), by and large, accepted a kind of theistic evolution.
This book is invaluable for understanding the deeper ideas of how to approach science. If you do nothing else with this book, at the very least, read the preface and chapter 8 (Madam How's Two Sons) -- that's the bare minimum, but, really, this whole book is truly worthwhile. Some parents are hesitant to use this book because of outdated science information; keep in mind that whatever is current, accurate and up to date changes all the time. Even if you buy a current science book today, there is material in it that is already out of date and will be defunct next year. Some science teachers complain that in some areas what is currently held as true changes so fast that they think science would be best taught using science journals as the text, and even then, in some topics, over half of what is published in journals ends up being retracted later. But that's data, and it's easy to correct outdated data. The ideas in this book are the foundation of a CM philosophy. This is a book to read together with your kids, to discuss, to research together. Some of the style of the writing can be off-putting, but that is also something that could become an advantage: use it as a writing or narration project, asking your student to 'retell what the author is getting at, but in current terms.' (Back)

27. Poetry: How do you "do" poetry? Simply read it and enjoy it, re-read it, read it again and listen to the sound of the phrases, let them paint a word picture in your mind. Do you feel like you need more direction? How to Read a Poem: Based on the Billy Collins Poem "Introduction to Poetry" by Tania Runyan is "less as an instructional book and more of an invitation." This is a suggested optional parent resource that encourages you read poetry for enjoyment. (Back)

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28a. 'The Story of Inventions' is online, except for the last 2 chapters, which were a later addition and still copyrighted. The online edition does not have the two later chapters. If you have the second edition, the chapter order may not match the AO schedule. AO member Amy H. posted a revised list on her blog. Great Inventors and Their Inventions by Frank P. Bachman (£) (£amzn) is an earlier version of the same book. If you have a copy, you can substitute. Or, boys might enjoy War Inventions by Charles R. Gibson (the Advisory hasn't read this yet.) All About Famous Inventors and Their Inventions α by Fletcher Pratt is similar; The Story of Great Inventions by Elmer Ellsworth Burns α might be another option. Chapter 10: Watch 6 min video on Medieval Manuscripts (Back)

30. Age of Fable, used over three years, is a book about Greek mythology, and some editions use illustrations of nudes, which some might find objectionable. This year: Preface to ch 14 (Minerva-Niobe)
Term 1: Preface to ch 4 (Diana and Actaeon)
Term 2: ch 4 (Latona and the rustics) to ch 8 (Apollo and Hyacinthus)
Term 3: ch 9 (Ceyx and Halcyone) to ch 14 (Niobe) (Back)

32. Robinson Crusoe: Yes, this is a hard book. It's hard for a reason. It's going to stretch and grow your student's ability to read and comprehend -- the Robinson Crusoe, Jungle Book, and Children of the New Forest he learns to manage now will prepare him for Oliver Twist, Age of Fable, and Sleepy Hollow in Form 2. This is how Form 3 students can read Churchill, Ivanhoe and Utopia later. It's a growing process that happens step by step, book by book. It's okay that it's hard at first. Read smaller portions, buddy-read (take turns paragraph by paragraph), let the child read along while listening to an audio version (make sure he's seeing the words/sentences). It's okay to use alternate ways of reading the book. But please, please...read the book. Once you have the experience of growing into a book as you read, it will be easier to persevere in the future when a book feels hard at first. The book starts slow, but most students end up loving it. Robinson Crusoe Book II, The Further Adventures, in which Crusoe returns to the island and goes to Madagascar, Asia and Siberia, is not scheduled and is not included in most versions of the book. (If you're using an undivided text that includes both books, Book 1 ends at "All these things, with some very surprising incidents in some new adventures of my own, for ten years more I may, perhaps, give a further account of hereafter." and Book 2 begins at "That homely proverb used on so many occasions in England, viz. 'That what is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh,' was never more verified than in the story of my Life.") Robinson Crusoe was worked into the 36-week AO schedule using an edition that had 27 chapters. If you use the Project Gutenberg etext or an edition that has no chapters, you may find this breakdown more useful. (Back)

34. Free Reading books 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. Advisory member Wendi C. suggests, "How you handle these is up to you . . ." (more) Students should understand 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. (Back)

Last updated March 31, 2023 (to update Bible)