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AmblesideOnline Year 10 Lite Booklist

Based on AO's Year 10

As students mature, their reading material will present more challenging content, and may include strong language and more mature themes. We have placed footnotes linked in red beside those books that most parents will consider an issue. However, we cannot anticipate which content might be an issue for every family. We encourage parents to pre-screen material to determine its appropriateness for their child and family.

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 Year 10 Lite Curriculum

As a help for scheduling Year 10 Lite of AmblesideOnline's curriculum, we are pleased to offer printable charts, the weekly assignments in list form below, or families may choose to use a modification of either for their own personal use. However, please see Our Fair Use Policy before sharing any part of the curriculum.

Choose a format:     PDF     DOC     ODT

You can download and edit .doc and .odt files before printing. Printable schedules include details for all three terms.

b10

Weekly Readings

The following weekly readings should be broken up into daily readings in whatever way works best for your family.

Bible

2 Kings 1-25, 1 Chronicles 1-29, 2 Chronicles 1-36, Obadiah, Jonah
John 1-21, 1 Thessalonians 1-5, 2 Thessalonians 1-3, 1 Corinthians 1-16
Psalms 1-55, Proverbs 17-31

Bible Gateway has many versions of the Bible online. ^[4]

Spiritual Formation

The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer α (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew and John Sherrill α α α (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
or The Little Woman by Gladys Aylward and Christine Hunter α (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) ^[5]

History: 1815 - 1901/02

Term 1: 1815-1860, Term 2: 1860-1865 America, Term 3: 1865-1902

Keep a century chart and Century Book of the period studied. ^[6]

The Great Democracies by Winston Churchill ($amzn) (K) (schedule here)
OR A History of the American People by Paul Johnson ($amzn) (K)
OR Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story by Wilfred M. McClay is an option for American history. ($amzn) (K) The paperback version may not be sturdy -- we saw one that had pages falling out after a few days. This is a lighter option. ^[7]

Arguing About Slavery by William Lee Miller ($amzn)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown; optional (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)

Biography

The Story of Abraham Lincoln by Mary Hamilton α ($amzn) (K) Ω
OR The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay β α Ω

Narrative on the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass β α (ChrBk) Ω ∫ ^[9]
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington β α (ChrBk) ($amzn) Ω Λ ∫

History Supplements and Speeches

Term 1

* The Holy Alliance Treaty September 26, 1815 or herebr /> * The Catholic Emancipation Act article and actual act ^[8]
* Giuseppe Garibaldi's speech to his soldiers (compare to Henry V's speech in Shakespeare, or Elizabeth's speech to her troops)
* Select from the list of Irish Views of the Potato Famine ^[10]
* Parliamentary testimony from Accounts of English Mill workers ^[12]

Term 2

** Missouri Compromise, 1820.
** The 1850 compromise included the end of the slave trade in Washington, DC
** Dred Scott Decision, 1857
** Confederate Constitution
** Causes for Secession ^[14]
** Ordinances of secession
** Lincoln's goals for the war, as stated in a letter to Horace Greeley
** Emancipation Proclamation, 1863

Term 3

*** Gladstone's speech to his constituents on the accomplishments of the administration
*** Disraeli's speech on the Reform Bill
*** Andrew Johnson's Proclamation of Amnesty for South
*** Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, 1866 ^[16]
*** The Berlin Conference of 1885 to divide Africa ^[18]
*** British Missionary Letters urging annexation of South Sea Islands ^[20]
*** Open letter to the Belgian King from an American ^[22]

Literature

Follow AO's Shakespeare Rotation.

Invitation to the Classics by Louise Cowan and Os Guinness ($amzn) ^[38]
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe β α (ChrBk) ($amzn) Ω
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson β α ($amzn) Ω
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley β α (ChrBk) ($amzn) Ω
*** The Deadliest Monster by Jeff Baldwin (ChrBk) ($amzn) ∫ ^[39]
Silas Marner, The Weaver of Raveloe by George Eliot β α (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) Ω

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, as free reading β α (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) Ω ^[40]

Short Stories

* My Kinsman, Major Molineux by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1832; also here and here; from The Snow Image)
* Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1835; also here) Ω
* The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe (1839) Ω
** The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol (1842) audio Ω Ω
** A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert (1877; also called A Simple Soul) Ω
** The Grand Inquisitor by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1880) Ω
*** The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant (1884) Ω
*** How Much Land Does a Man Need? by Leo Tolstoy (1886) Ω
*** The Open Boat by Stephen Crane (1897) Ω

Essays

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Art, from "Society and Solitude;"" also here
Nature, from "Essays, Second Series;" also here"

Frederick Douglass
Reconstruction
An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage
My Escape From Slavery Ω

G. K. Chesterton
A Piece of Chalk
The Twelve Men
What is Right With the World

Poetry

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (23 poems here) (ChrBk)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning (some poems here)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (ChrBk) and Walt Whitman

Copywork

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

Dictation

Do dictation regularly.

Grammar and Composition

If you've read the selections from Years 7-9, use The Book on Writing: the Ultimate Guide to Writing Well by Paula LaRocque ($amzn) (K) ^[41]

On the Art of Writing by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch; optional ($amzn)

Recitation

2 Corinthians 6; Ephesians 4; Proverbs 1-4; Hebrews 8; Amos 5:1-24; 1 Peter 2
Psalm 19; Psalm 111; Psalms 121; Psalm 122; Psalm 145; Psalm 118
Shakespeare passages
a poem per term from the term's poetry selections

Foreign Language

Begin Latin if you've not started already, or continue with any previous foreign language studies

Geography

Ten minutes of map drills each week ^[24]
Locate places from the day's reading on a map
Explore foreign places relevant in news and current events. ^[26]

Eothen by Alexander Kinglake β α ($amzn) (K) Ω

Citizenship

Ourselves by Charlotte Mason (£) (£amzn) ^[32]

Follow AO's rotation of Plutarch's Lives.

One Race One Blood by Ken Ham and A. Charles Ware (Revised and Updated Edition) (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) The chapters are online at their website.
Seven Men Who Rule the World from the Grave by David Breese α (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman α (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)
The following two essays from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin α ^[s]
     1. Sesame: Of King's Treasuries
     2. The Mystery of Life and its Arts
77-minute Video on Biblical Citizenship: Vimeo (This is optional for those outside the U.S.) ^[27]

Government and Economics

The Law by Frederic Bastiat or here ($amzn) (K) OR this 107-page pdf

A basic government book ^28]

Current Events

Students should have a plan for keeping up with current events. This is not optional. ^[36]

Science

The Handbook of Nature Study α by Anna Botsford Comstock (as a reference) (ChrBk) ($amzn)

Apologia science text ($earch) OR BJU Press Science

Six Easy Pieces by Richard P. Feynman ($amzn) (K) Online at CalTech
Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif α ($amzn) (K) ^[45]
The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, second half ($amzn) (K) α ^[43]
Great Astronomers by Robert S. Ball, optional β α (£) ^[44]

Nature Study

Walden by Henry David Thoreau, selections β α (ChrBk) ($amzn K; free Kindle edition may be missing segments)

Follow AO's Nature Study Rotation of subjects.

Mathematics

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

Logic

How To Read a Book revised edition by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren (Part 3) (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)

Art

The Story of Painting by H. W. Janson - The Age of Machines ($amzn) ^[46]

Follow AO's Artist rotation; Picture Study helps on YouTube.

Music

Follow AO's Composer Study rotation.

Follow AO's Hymn Rotation.

Follow AO's Folksong Rotation.

These Folk Songs fit historically with Year 10:
When Johnny Comes Marching Home, 1863
Buffalo Gals, 1848
Simple Gifts, 1848
Dixie, 1859
John Brown's Body, 1860
Poverty Knock, origin uncertain (please preview and edit the verses as your family sees fit) term three
The Triumph of General Ludd, 1811
The Arms Of Abraham
Various Songs by Stephen Foster; CD: ($amzn)

Health and Physical Education

Study nutrition
Keep fit: Learn and play a game (kick ball, tennis, croquet, ping-pong, softball, etc.) or folk-dance, or pursue other physical activity of your choice. One option is Swedish Drill Revisited by Dawn Duran purchase

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 10 in addition to the Year 10 Free reading List

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.

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. Heidi 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.

Cindy Rollins did a Circe Mason Jar podcast that included the role of audiobooks with difficult books. There's an archived copy here.
(Back)

4. AO's Bible plan goes through the Bible semi-chronologically over 6 years in Years 7-12. This year's Bible readings would be as follows:
2 Kings 1-25, 1 Chronicles 1-29, 2 Chronicles 1-36, Obadiah, Jonah
John 1-21, 1 Thessalonians 1-5, 2 Thessalonians 1-3, 1 Corinthians 1-16
Psalms 1-55, Proverbs 17-31
If you were using the old Bible schedule that was posted before 2023, you can find that here. (Back)

5. The Little Woman, 1970, is Gladys Aylward's own story in her own words, with a focus on God's provision and power. Some may prefer The Small Woman by Alan Burgess, 1957, also published under the title The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, in which Gladys Aylward told her story to Burgess, a BBC reporter, which is the detailed account of how she went from being a parlormaid in England to being a missionary in war-torn China. Parents/teachers may want to pre-read some parts, due to descriptions of violence. The Burgess book gives a detailed impression of China. His book is out of print, but there are seven copies at archive.org which can be read online for an hour at a time. α Another very good option is A London Sparrow by Phyllis Thompson, 1971. α ($amzn) It follows Gladys Aylward's own book, but fills in details taken from her letters as well as interviews with those who were close to her, providing a sense of Gladys Aylward as a person. It chronicles her life all the way to her final days in 1970. (Back)

6. Timeline: At this age, students should be keeping a Century Chart and Book of Centuries. Students at this level in the PNEU schools made summaries of dates and events, referred to maps as they read their history, and made century charts. Instructions for making your own 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, how of keeping CM timelines (and other notebooks), we recommend Laurie Bestvater's book, The Living Page ($amzn). Two Book of Centuries options: (£) (£) (Back)

7. Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story by Wilfred M. McClay. ($amzn) (K) Year 10 corresponds with ch 6-13. There's a schedule that fits it into Years 8-11. This is a lighter option than most of our other history spines. (Back)

8. The Catholic Emancipation Act: This link takes you to a single page article which is a helpful introduction to the topic. The author quotes from articles of the period and contemporary politicians pro and con. It's illustrated with images of political cartoons of the time. Read the article, and then click through to read the actual act (Back)

9. Frederick Douglass: The end of chapter 1 describes brutal abuse of a slave that may be upsetting for sensitive students.

10. Irish Views of the Famine: select some readings from this list of diaries and Irish newspaper accounts of the Irish Potato Famine. (Back)

12. Parliamentary testimony from Accounts of English Mill workers: It could be interesting to read this together- one person reading the questions, the other reading the answers, as much in character as possible. Elizabeth Gaskell's book North and South deals with conditions of mill workers. ($amzn) K The BBC also did an excellent job rendering the book into film. ($amzn) (Back)

14. Causes for Secession: We could only find official State documents stating reasons for secession for Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas. (Back)

16. Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, 1866, clearly illustrates the bitterness and resentment toward the south. (Back)

18. The Berlin Conference of 1885: (15 November 1884 - 26 February 1885; begin at the heading 'Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 to Divide Africa' that starts with "In 1884 at the request of Portugal, German Chancellor Otto von Bismark called together the major western powers of the world to negotiate questions" and read only until you come to the start of Report of the British Consul, Roger Casement. (Back)

20. British Missionary Letters urging annexation of South Sea Islands: Quite a shock to modern sensibilities. (Back)

22. Open letter to the Belgian King Leopold II from an American visitor to the Congo, which seems to be pertinent (very interesting, too). (Back)

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

26. Maps: Many countries have a tourism department, and writing to their embassies for free brochures, maps, and other travel information might be an inexpensive way to supplement geography studies. Also, see our notes about The World and I under current events. This is a rich resource for this purpose also. (Back)

27. 77-min Video on Biblical Citizenship: View on Vimeo - This is the second of Patriot Academy's 8-week course on Biblical Citizenship (which is free online, but you have to sign up as a "coach" to view the whole course and download the workbook). This material is presented by David Barton (of Wallbuilders) and his son Tim Barton.
4 minutes: Outline of family, civil, and church government; the church's sewardship of business, government, family, religion, media, education, and education; most frequently quoted sources of the Founding Fathers 20 minutes: the "castle doctrine," which is the basis for Amendments 2, 3, and 4.
30 minutes: how values have changed since 1776
36 minutes: An American history response to the 1619 Project; Jamestown vs Plymouth; indentured servants, slaves, and prisoners of war; evangelist Harry Hoosier; politician Wentworth Cheswell; notable Black patriots of the Revolutionary war: Prince Estabrook, Peter Salem, Salem Poor, Prince Whipple, Oliver Cromwell, James Armistead, Crispus Attucks; Woodrow Wilson's removal of Black Americans from U.S. History and Darwin's "favored races;" facts and statistics about slavery; slavery as a global problem; Christian activism's role in ending slavery.

Alternately, there's a 57-minute video on YouTube by David Barton (of Wallbuilders) going through much of the same material regarding the 1619 Project: American exceptionalism comes from a foundation of Christianity; notable Black Americans: Great Awakening evangelist Harry Hoosier; John Marrant, child musical prodigy who converted to Christianity and evangelized native Americans; pastor and patriot Lemuel Haynes; politician Wentworth Cheswell; Revolutionary war heroes Peter Salem, Salem Poor, Prince Whipple, Oliver Cromwell, Jack Sisson, James Armistead; politician Thomas Hercules; DNA evidence shows that "race is largely subjective;" racism is a human problem that's not limited to any one race; facts and stastics about slavery; the Christian pledge that MLK's civil rights supporters had to sign.
This is geared for U.S. citizens; if you are outside the U.S., this is optional. (Back)

28. A basic government book: High School students will need to earn credit for basic government. This material can be done in Year 9, 10, 11 or 12. Some options:

Foundation for Freedom: A Study of the United States Constitution Workbook by Lars Johnson - This "workbook" is the text with review exercises after each chapter, which can be skipped. ($amzn) Foundation for Freedom is an updated, full-color version of The Story of the Constitution, Second Edition by Sol Bloom and Lars Johnson ($amzn). Both appear to be the same book/workbook, but the newer one is in color. (Sol Bloom's original 1937 Story of the Constitution, which Lars Johnson used as a foundation for his own book, is online at Hathi Trust.) Because it was written in 1937, it stops at the 21st Amendment. Lars Johnson did an excellent job expanding and updating the Bloom book by adding concerns that weren't on the radar in 1937. He also wrote a chapter on limited government, checks and balances, and Biblical morality as well as a full-page explanation of each Amendment; Sol Bloom's book just explains each Amendment with a sentence or two. If you are in a situation where you need an online resource, the Sol Bloom text could work, but you should also seek out a source that explains why each Amendment was added and what it does.

Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution is a twelve-week online course offered by Hillsdale College with 40-minute streaming video lectures (or you can download the audios). You have to register with a login and password, but the course is free. After you register, "you can find out how to get a copy of Hillsdale's U.S. Constitution Reader, the essential companion to the course, which contains over a hundred primary source documents edited by Hillsdale's Politics faculty." The website says the course begins on Feb 24, but their FAQ says their courses are archived so you can start them at any time, and you can go at your pace.

Exploring Government Curriculum Package by Ray Notgrass (purchase from CBD)

The Everything American Government Book by Nick Ragone is an easy to read explanation of political terms (such as caucus, filibuster, bureaucracy, regulatory commission, judicial review, pork barrel spending, gerrymandering) with a minimum of bias. The author glosses over the Constitution, giving his interpretation of the key points, so this is not a substitute for learning what's in the U.S. Constitution. If you decide to use this book, a schedule that divides it over either 36 weeks or 18 weeks is here. ($amzn) (K).

This 10-minute YouTube video presents a clear explanation of the difference between a republic based on law, and a democracy based on majority rule. (Back)

32. Ourselves, the 4th volume of Mason's 6 Volume Series: approximately 22 pages per term. This book will continue through all the remaining years of AO's high school curriculum. If your student is graduating before Year 12, you may wish to speed up in order to complete the book before graduation. This year: pages 1-67 of Book 2.
There is a modern English paraphrase that can be read online or purchased. ($amzn) (K)
Term 1: Book 2 pg 1-21
Term 2: Book 2 pg 21-48
Term 3: Book 2 pg 49-67 (Back)

34. Plutarch: Charlotte Mason recommended Thomas North's "inimitable translation." If you need to cut back, do one or two Lives this year. (Back)

Sesame and Lilies: A modern English paraphrase of Sesame and Lilies is available: ($amzn) (K) The second essay, "Lilies: Of Queens' Gardens," is optional. While very Victorian, it is a wonderful contrast between older and modern attitudes about a woman's role in society, which makes it valuable for discussion; if you wish to have your student read it, it would be a "read and discuss" essay. (Back)

36. Charlotte Mason had students at this level read the daily news and keep a calendar of events. We suggest students choose the most important 2 or 3 stories of the week and re-write them in their own words as a chronicle of the year, making the heading of each page something like "This Week in History, September 1st, 2003." Parents: pre-read and filter current events materials (on the web, or in print) as necessary, due to the potential for coverage and topics of an explicit nature, even from conservative sources. We've listed some possible options.
Blogs as a media form have rapidly overtaken hard-copy publications. News is being reported there, in some cases, faster and more accurately than other, older media forms. Students should learn about them, find one they trust, and check it regularly. However, we recommend that parents first become familiar with blogs and visit the one(s) their children will frequent. We suggest several poliblogs, but parents should know that not every message on these blogs will be 'child-friendly' and often have ads that include scantily clad women. Also, most blogs link to a multitude of other blogs and sites that may not be child-friendly.
Comments posted on blogs can be considered a new media equivalent of a letter to the editor, and students should learn how to communicate well on blogs. (Back)

38. Invitation to the Classics: pages 203 to 306 this year, or about 25 chapters, beginning with Jane Austen, and ending just before James Joyce; the chapters are short.
Alternately, you could continue (or supplement with) (The History of) English Literature for Boys and Girls, by H.E. Marshall β α ($amzn) (K) Chapters 74-85 (Wordsworth to Tennyson.) Table of Contents arranged by Year and Term for both books are available: History of English Literature; Invitation to the Classics. (Back)

39. The Deadliest Monster: a literary worldview study contrasting the books "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "Frankenstein." It should be read after reading those two books. (Back)

40. Les Miserables cannot be missed. Wikipedia says this book "is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. . . Beginning in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, the novel follows the lives and interactions of several characters, particularly the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his experience of redemption. Examining the nature of law and grace, the novel elaborates upon the history of France, the architecture and urban design of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, antimonarchism, justice, religion, and the types and nature of romantic and familial love." However, it is long. We suggest that your student enjoy the book as free reading, perhaps via an audiobook. A suggested pace is included in the 36-week schedule; if you follow the schedule, three of the five volumes will be completed over the school year, and the remaining two can be done over the summer between Year 10 and Year 11. A two-hour movie cannot begin to explore the depths of this epic story. (Back)

41. LaRocque's "On Writing Well" is useful for young writers, but was written for adults and occasionally uses examples or language appropriate for that audience, particularly in chapter 17 (which can be skipped if preferred). (Back)

42. Shakespeare: Leithart's book Brightest Heaven of Invention ($amzn) (K) is a Christian study guide for 6 Shakespeare plays: Henry V, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, and Much Ado About Nothing. (If you need to cut back, do one or two plays this year.) (Back)

43. The Sea Around Us - chapters 1-8 are scheduled in Year 9; chapters 9-14 in Year 10. The Young Readers Edition adapted by Anne Terry White may be helpful if you can find it (it's out of print). It's about a third shorter and has illustrations. It can follow the same schedule, but two of the chapters have different titles: ch 2, The Pattern of the Surface, is called The Surface of the Sea; ch 10, Wind, Sun, and the Spinning of the Earth, is called Rivers in the Sea. AO links to a special edition that's in print, but it's not the Young Readers edition and it has no illustrations. If you're curious why The Sea Around Us is scheduled, The Guardian has an article that describes The Sea Around Us as "the first, and still perhaps the best science bestseller. . . The reader is immersed in a new and wonderful world, one where everything really is connected to everything else. This sense of the sea and all its constituents as part of an interrelated system infuses the entire book." The special edition we've linked "features a new chapter written by Jeffrey Levinton, a leading expert in marine ecology, that brings the scientific side of The Sea Around Us completely up to date. Levinton incorporates the most recent thinking on continental drift, coral reefs, the spread of the ocean floor, the deterioration of the oceans, mass extinction of sea life, and many other topics." ($amzn) There is some evolutionary content in the book, especially the first chapter. If your student already read The Sea Around Us in Year 6, a good alternate (but not replacement) is Carson's Under the Sea Wind, which follows the lives of fish, birds, and animals that live in or near the sea. α ($amzn) (K) (Back)

44. Great Astronomers: optional this year. Chapters are included in the weekly schedule as a help to scheduling them roughly where they belong chronologically (John Herschel, Parson Earl of Rosse, Hamilton, Airy, Le Verrier, Adams). If your student is struggling with Great Astronomers, the individual chapters have been paraphrased here. However, be mindful that your student will only grow into challenging books by reading challenging books. Use paraphrases sparingly if at all. Relying on paraphrases will prevent your child from developing the mental muscles needed to comprehend older books. But sometimes a paraphrase is needed. If a child is completely lost, then nothing in their brain is firing up, so there are times (and specific children) where it can make the difference between giving up on a book, or using a paraphrase so the ideas at least get through. Read more about this in Wendi Capehart's blog post Imagination and the Mind's Eye. (Back)

45. Microbe Hunters is a collection of science biographies. Chapters 3-8 (Pasteur, Koch, Pasteur again, Roux and Behring, Metchnikoff, Smith) are scheduled in Year 10. The book will be finished in Year 11. (Back)

46. If you already have Janson's Picture History of Painting, Janson's History of Art for Young People or Janson's History of Art, those books are broken down into their appropriate terms for Years 7-11. Note that Janson's History of Art is a huge book, and may be too much for most students on top of their other reading. (Back)

Last updated March 31, 2023 (to update Bible)