Ambleside Online Year 8 Lite

This is an AmblesideOnline student's idea of which books were most helpful and most indispensible for someone needing to pare down. This schedule does not have official Advisory approval. ;)

based on AO's Year 8 (a 36 week schedule is here)

Exam Questions

Devotional Reading

Follow the Bible reading plan of your choice.
Evidence That Demands a Verdict (or More Than a Carpenter) by Josh McDowell OR The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers OR Desiring God by John Piper
Saints and Heroes, Vol 2 by George Hodges, for church history, if you didn't use Trial and Triumph in Years 1-6 (online here)

History

The New World by Winston Churchill (volume 2 of his History of the English Speaking Peoples)
A slightly abridged version of Martin Luther's defense before the Diet of Worms (online here)
Queen Elizabeth's speech to the Spanish Armada, July 29, 1588 (online here; also included in the text of Churchill's book)

Biographies

A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt
A Coffin for King Charles by C. V. Wedgwood OR Queen Elizabeth by Jacob Abbott (online here)
Johannes Kepler chapter from The Great Astronomers by R.S. Ball (online here) OR Johannes Kepler: Giant of Faith and Science by John Hudson Tiner

Geography

Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl, OR Christopher Columbus, Mariner by Samuel Eliot Morison (this book, especially ch 11, will require parental screening) OR The Life of Christopher Columbus by Edward Everett Hale (online here)

Government and Economics

Whatever Happened to Justice by Richard Maybury
I, Pencil a short essay by Leonard Read (online here) This is included in ch 15 of Whatever Happened to Justice

Citizenship

Ourselves by Charlotte Mason (online here, also available in a modern paraphrase)
Plutarch's Lives (follow Ambleside Online's rotation)
Utopia by Sir Thomas More (online here)
Francis Bacon essays (online here; just a couple; choose from Of Truth, Of Revenge, Of Innovations, Of Friendship, Of Regiment of Health, Of Suspicion, Of Discourse, Of Riches, Of Youth and Age, Of Studies (paraphrase), Of Praise, Of Honor and Reputation, Of Anger.)

Current Events

Keep up with daily news (resource options here) and keep a calendar of events

Literature

The History of English Literature for Girls and Boys by H.E. Marshall ch 32-59 (online here)
Everyman, a Morality Play (online here)
Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley (online here) OR I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni (online here; There's a newer version translated by Omero Sabatini called Promise of Fidelity, and also a Penguin Classics version translated by Bruce Penman and called The Betrothed.)
Shakespeare (continue with Ambleside Online rotation)

Poetry

Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves, which is Spenser's Fairie Queene Book I (online here)
Shakespeare's Sonnets, selections (download 12 sonnets) Modern translations of the sonnets from No Fear
John Milton: L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Lycidas, On His Blindness
          Or, you might prefer to read poems by John Donne (notes here) and George Herbert, online here and here.
The Roar on the Other Side: A Guide for Student Poets by Suzanne Clark (optional)
Check online sites such as Librivox for free audio readings of poems; this is a growing project and more poems are online every month.

Grammar and Composition

Our Mother Tongue: An Introductory Guide to English Grammar by Nancy Wilson (continue from last year; do Lessons 10-49)

Recitation

Romans 6; 1 Cor. 13; Psalms 139
Shakespeare passages
a poem per term from the term's poetry selections

Copywork/Transcription

Include selections from Shakespeare, the Bible, poetry and other sources. These selections may be the same ones used for recitation. Consider begining a personal quote book.
Also, do dictation regularly.

Math

Continue your math program; for some options, see this page.

Science

The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (as a reference)
Apologia science text OR Rainbow Science

Nature Study

Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper (online here)
William Harvey and the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood by Thomas Henry Huxley (online here)

Logic

How To Read a Book revised edition by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren (3 years)

Drawing and Art

The Story of Painting by H. W. Janson - chapters 4, 5
Continue the artist rotation posted at Ambleside Online

Music

Continue the composer rotation and hymn rotation posted at Ambleside Online
Folk Songs:
Term 1: Barbara Allen, Star of the County Down, Andrew Barton
Term 2: The Death of Queen Jane, The Miller of Dee, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
Term 3: Three Mariners, The Oak and the Ash, My Lodging is on the Cold Ground

Foreign Language

Begin Latin if you've not started already OR Continue with any previous foreign language studies

Health

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Paul Brand if you didn't do it last year (see notes here)

Life and Work Skills

Work on useful skills such as budgeting, gardening, cooking, car maintenance, carpentry, etc.

Free Reading

Try to use books that were not included from Year 8, or the Year 8 Free reading List
One fun suggestion: James Baldwin's retelling of Don Quixote.

Last update Oct 15, 2006