Ambleside Online - Year 5 Booklist

Exam Questions

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.

Daily Lessons:

Penmanship or Copywork
Math
Foreign language
Latin
Musical Instrument Practice

Weekly Lessons:

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
A Shakespeare play

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 | Study questions with nice maps |

History

This Country of Ours by HE Marshall 1783-1914 (used in all terms)
* ** Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster, 342 pages Can be substituted with The Story of Mankind by Van Loon if preferred (read CM's review of The Story of Mankind)
*** The Story of the World Volume 4 The Modern Age by Susan Wise Bauer - The historical books that were recommend for Years 1-6 such as An Island Story, A Child's History of the World, Abraham Lincoln's World, The Story of Mankind were carefully selected based on literary quality and availability for those historical periods and we believe that Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World Volume 4 is the best book for the twentieth century that meets that same criteria.
OR *** What Everyone Should Know About the 20th Century: 200 Events That Shaped the World by Alan Axelrod, Charles Phillips (see note here)
Optional Extra: An Island Story 1820-1914, George IV-George V

TERM 1
This Country of Ours ch 64-75 (Washington-Tyler, George III - George IV- Victoria, 1783-1845)
* **Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster, 171 pages Note -- This time period is covered briefly in: The Story of Mankind ch 53-56 Napoleon, 1804; Holy Alliance; The Great Reaction; 1860, National Independence, 1791-1871, Age of the Engine, stone age 1878
OR A Child's History of the World ch 77-78 (ch 73 in 1st edition)
(optional extra: An Island Story, ch. 97-102 1820-1845, George III-Victoria)

TERM 2
This Country of Ours ch 71-91 (Monroe-Buchannan, George IV-Victoria, 1818-1860)
* ** Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster, 171 pages Note -- This time period is covered briefly in: The Story of Mankind ch 57-61 Social Revolution 1848; Emancipation 1831-1867; Age of Science 1846; A Chapter of Art 1827 OR A Child's History of the World ch 79-81 (ch 74-76 in 1st ed) Music
(optional extra: An Island Story, ch. 103-109 1820-1914, George IV-George V)

TERM 3
The Story of the World Vol 4 by Susan Wise Bauer pgs 4-242 this term (book will be finished in Year 6)
This Country of Ours chapters 92-99 (Johnson-Wilson, Victoria-George V, 1865-1919) Note -- This time period is covered briefly in: The Story of Mankind ch 62-65 Colonial Expansion and War 1868 - 1914; A New World, Part of the 20th century text up through WWI OR A Child's History of the World ch 82-84 (ch 77 in 1st ed) Civil War, Florence Nightingale, Machines
(optional extra: An Island Story, ch. 110-114 1899-1899, Victoria George V)

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. 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.
* Of Courage Undaunted: Across the Continent with Lewis and Clark by James Daugherty purchase from Beautiful Feet Books
** Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness, reprint available from Lifetime Gifts and Books.
OR possibly a book about Beatrix Potter
*** Carry a Big Stick: The Uncommon Heroism of Teddy Roosevelt by George Grant

Geography

Explore the Holy Land by Ann Voskamp, available here
OR The Book of Marvels: The Occident and/or Second Book of Marvels: The Orient by Richard Halliburton, (see contents here), OR A Child's Geography of the World by Virgil Hillyer, (see contents here), both out of print but wonderful if you have access to them.

Natural History

Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (a 1911 version is online in various formats here)
* Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton

Science

Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Book 5 by Worthington Hooker, edited by Michael J. McHugh [either the 1992 edition, or the 2002 edition, which is organized slightly differently]
The Fairy-land of Science by Arabella Buckley view page images or download text or purchase
Physics Lab in a Housewares Store by Robert Friedhoffer (another Friedhoffer book, or even another book of science experiments can be substitued if the book is hard to find - this book isn't worth paying inflated prices!)
OR, if you prefer, you can use any of the Exploring Creation With . . . series by Jeannie Fulbright for science in Years 3-6, available here. A support group is available.

Science Biography

* biography of Isaac Newton there is a chapter about him in R. S. Ball's Great Astronomers
** biography of Alexander Graham Bell, like Always Inventing by Tom L. Matthews, or Talking Wire by O.J. Stevenson
*** biography of George Washington Carver

Mathematics

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

Foreign Language

Latin

Poetry

* Rudyard Kipling
** Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (repeated in Year 5 because his longer poems are more historically appropriate for this year; try breaking up longer poems and reading them over a few days.)
*** John Greenleaf Whittier and Paul Lawrence Dunbar

Literature

Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch ch 15 (Graeae) - ch 28 (Troy)
* The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle (Index is here; a sequel, Champions of the Round Table, is here.)
** Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
*** Kim by Rudyard Kipling

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)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Lad: A Dog (or another book in the Lad series; many are online) by Albert Payson Terhune
The Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit
The Wouldbegoods by Edith Nesbit
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dodge
Michael Faraday, Father of Electronics by Charles Ludwig
* Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
** Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
** Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
*** 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.
*** Falcons of France by Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall
*** Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

For those on a strict budget, recommended purchases are:

Year 5
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (to be used for all 6 years)
Trial and Triumph (Church History) by Richard Hannula (avail at http://www.canonpress.org/pages/church.asp)
a math program
Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster
Explore the Holy Land by Ann Voskamp, 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)
Of Courage Undaunted by James Daugherty (check library)
Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness
Carry a Big Stick: The Uncommon Heroism of Teddy Roosevelt by George Grant
Biography of Alexander Graham Bell (check library)
Biography of George Washington Carver (check library)
Christian Liberty Nature Reader grade 5
Physics Lab in a Houswares Store by Friedhoffer or Exploring Creation With . . . by Jeannie Fulbright
a Latin/foreign language program
Laura Ingalls Wilder books if your library doesn't have them
Other books can be read online or borrowed from the library.

Last update Mar. 16, 2007