AmblesideOnline Year 7 Lite Booklist

10. Timeline: At this age, students should be keeping a Century Chart and Book of Centuries. 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)

12. The Birth of Britain is Volume 1 of Winston Churchill's 4 volume set, "A History of the English Speaking Peoples." The next three volumes will be used in Years 8, 9 and 10. Don't get the one edited by Henry Steele Commager, as it's abridged. For planning purposes, there is a Table of Contents with dates for all 4 volumes of A History of the English Speaking Peoples, and a schedule to break down the week's chapter into 4 short daily readings.
(Maps of medieval England)
Term 1: Chapter 1-9
Term 2: Chapter 10-20
Term 3: Chapter 21-30
Or, use A History of England by Arnold-Forster, online at archive.org, Google Books Purchase Whole Book: ($amzn; Lulu.com; Options) Just Yr 7: ($amzn; Lulu.com); a schedule is here. You can also see a list that correlates chapters of Churchill, Arnold-Forster, and An Island Story for Years 7 and 8. There's also a schedule that breaks these down into two or three daily readings per week. (Back)

14. Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People: We've provided a link to the selections that are scheduled in AO for weeks 1-7. The entire thing is here. (Back)

15. In Freedom's Cause: Although "In Freedom's Cause" is a work of fiction, it is a more accurate account of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in Scottish history than is available in many other similar books. There is a dramatic audio abridgment for this book. We don't recommend doing an audio drama in place of a book, but if this book is such a stretch that even the audiobook is challenging and you're considering dropping it altogether, you might consider this option. The quality seems to match Focus on the Family's Radio Theater projects, and they have some big name celebrities, including Joanne Froggert (Lady Mary Crawley's maid Anna from Downton Abbey), Billy Boyd (Pippin in LOTR movies), Skandar Keynes (Edmund Pevensie in the Narnia movies), and James Cosmo (from Braveheart). More information here. (Back)

16. The Life of King Alfred: the text with weeks for this Basic lighter schedule marked for Weeks 3-12. Another copy scheduled in Weeks 8-15 for Year 7 Detailed. (Back)

18. Joan of Arc: Andrew Lang's Joan of Arc is the one used in the 36-week schedule for length. However, if your student can manage it, Mark Twain's is recommended -- it's not difficult reading, but it is much longer. Mark Twain wrote, "I like Joan of Arc best of all my books, and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing." (Back)

19. Whatever Happened to Penny Candy: There are currently seven editions of this book; if you have a later edition, you may need to make some minor adjustments in its scheduling. Canadians: there is a Canadian supplement to this book. (Back)

22. 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.
There is a modern English paraphrase that can be read online or purchased. ($amzn) (K) (Back)

Plutarch: Charlotte Mason recommended Thomas North's "inimitable translation." We recommend Anne White's Study Guides, which use North's translation. (Back)

26. Current Events: 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)

28. (The History of) English Literature for Boys and Girls:
Term 1: ch 1 (The Listening Time) - ch 12 (Father of English Song)
Term 2: ch 13 (How Caedmon Sang) - ch 24 (Chaucer)
Term 3: ch 25 (First English Guide-book) - ch 31 (Sign of the Red Pale)
AO schedules this book in conjunction with Invitation to the Classics; more material is covered in Marshall's History of English Literature from Year 7 to the middle of Year 10, and more is covered in Invitation to the Classics from the middle of Year 10, and through Year 11. If you prefer to use only Invitation to the Classics by Louise Cowan and Os Guinness ($amzn), Year 7 students would read pg 77-112 Early Christian Writers to Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. A Table of Contents to help with planning. (Back)

30. Beowulf: Burton Raffel's is our first choice ($amzn) (K); Seamus Heaney's ($amzn) (K) (∩) is also fine if you already have it. Seamus Heaney's translation is available with graphics that illuminate the setting and objects mentioned in the text. Another option: an updated verse translation by Frederick Rebsamen ($amzn) (K), or use this free-verse version. Another option: Online Translation by Francis B. Gummere.
Ω Λ
Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye ($amzn) (K) is a prose version that's not exact, but could be used as an introduction if your students is struggling.
Since there are so many variations, we've put schedules for the different books on their own page, here. We suggest you paste the schedule for your book to a doc and print it to use as a bookmarker during the term. (Back)

31. Watership Down: An allegorical story that includes "community, connection, relationships, government systems and consequences, what makes a civilization, what makes it humane or inhumane, quests, and more." Read what Advisory member Wendi Capehart said about why this book is scheduled. (Back)

32. The Once and Future King, hereafter referred to as TOAFK, Book One ("The Sword in the Stone") and Book Two ("The Queen of Air and Darkness") will be divided over three terms. This book is not in the curriculum to give the students another version of a King Arthur story, and it should not be the student's only exposure to the King Arthur mythos. Rather, this book is contains living lessons in government, including self-government, self-discipline, consequences of bad decisions (even when made in ignorance), leadership, and so much more. It cannot easily be replaced by any other book. NOTE: This is a read aloud and discuss book. **Please preview.** The themes in this book, although controversial, are too important to dismiss. For more information, read discussion about this book. [If you need to cut back, Book 2 could have only selected chapters read. The chapters in Book 2 that are about Arthur and Merlyn are 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. Chapters in Book 2 that more squeamish students might want to skip are 1, 5, and 7. All of Book 1 should be read. Spark Notes gives a brief summary of each chapter in Book 2 to help you decide whether doing selected chapters is right for your student.] (Back)

33. The Age of Chivalry: Part 1, which is about King Arthur, is scheduled over Term 1. Part 2, The Mabinogeon, would make excellent free reading. This assumes your student read King Arthur in Year 5; if this isn't the case, consider using one of the Year 5 King Arthur options instead of Age of Chivalry. (Back)

33a. Ivanhoe: Katie Barr has provided study notes to go along with this book. (Back)

34. Chaucer for Children: A Golden Key by Mrs. H. R. Haweis is preferred over the prose Chaucer Storybook, as it actually includes Chaucer's poetry. An AO mom has reprinted this book at Lulu.com in color $ or black and white $. If you use Tappan's Chaucer Storybook ($amzn) (K), do one chapter per week in Term 3 (weeks 25-35). AO originally scheduled the now out-of-print A Taste of Chaucer by Anne Malcolmson ($amzn); be sure to use a version of Canterbury Tales specifically edited for students (Chaucer needs editing!)
If you are lucky enough to have a copy of Malcolmson's Taste of Chaucer, here is a weekly schedule for it:
week 25 A Taste of Chaucer Introduction
week 26 A Taste of Chaucer The Prologue
week 27 A Taste of Chaucer The Fortunes of the Great: The Monk's Tale
week 28 A Taste of Chaucer Chanticleer and the Fox: The Nun's Priest's Tale
week 29 A Taste of Chaucer Patient Griselda: The Tale of the Clerk of Oxford
week 30 A Taste of Chaucer Phoebus and the Crow: The Manciple's Tale
week 31 A Taste of Chaucer The Rocks of Brittany: The Franklin's Tale
week 32 A Taste of Chaucer The Ballad of Sir Thopas: Chaucer's Tale
week 33 A Taste of Chaucer The Story of Constance: The Tale of the Man of Law
week 35 A Taste of Chaucer The Wily Alchemist: The Canon Yeoman's Tale
week 36 A Taste of Chaucer Three Men in Search of Death: The Pardoner's Tale
(Back)

35. 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)

36. The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1919, edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch, is a poetry anthology Charlotte Mason used; it's very good, and it's online with a chronological index at Bartleby.com, though we suggest using an ad-blocker if you use the website. (Poems 1-24, 29, 31-33) The same text, but with a different title, is also at Project Gutenberg β The best way to tackle these is to have your student rewrite them in their own words. Some tips for reading Middle English. As a parent resource, this site offers modern translations of the assigned poems. Click the first line, then click the word "translation" at the top. AO offers some rough and general modern translations, but be aware that allowing your child to use paraphrases as a crutch will not help them acclimate to Middle English. Relying on paraphrases will prevent your child from developing the mental muscles needed to comprehend older books. But sometimes paraphrases are 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. Check online sites such as Librivox for free audio readings of poems. (Back)

38. Grammar: In terms of difficulty (easiest to most challenging), Easy Grammar Plus is probably the easiest, followed by Jensen's, and then Our Mother Tongue.
Jensen's Grammar goes slowly and step-by-step; their answer key is thorough (Our Mother Tongue doesn't always have answers). There are 75 lessons, so plan to take two years, or else do two lessons per week. Expect to pay about $30 for the Jensen's text and answer key. The DVD's are not necessary. You will probably find it cheaper at New Leaf Publishing, or other homeschool sellers such as Lamppost Homeschool.
If you are not confident about teaching grammar, you might prefer Easy Grammar Plus by Wanda Phillips. It's less intense than Jensen's, but still doesn't assume a lot of previous knowledge from the teacher. It's easier than Jensen with just a couple suggested alterations (for example, don't insist on memorizing the prepositions at the start, just write a list of them and explain an easy way to remember most of them: any way a worm can go in relation to two apples, or ways a bird can fly in relation to two mountains). A parent using this with one child could get by with only the Teacher's Edition (ChrBk) since the student workbook is included in it, but multiple students would need their own workbooks (ChrBk). You can also purchase from their website. Easy Grammar Grade 8 Student 180 Daily Teaching Lessons by Wanda Phillips is just as good; it also has the student workbook included in the teacher's edition.

Those who are more familiar with grammar may prefer Our Mother Tongue. It's more interesting as it uses classic literature for exercises and includes snippets of history about language. The Answer Key ($amzn) is sold separately. Our Mother Tongue has 49 chapters. One suggestion is to spread the book over two years, doing about 9 chapters per term. Start week 26 with Unit 1, Lessons 1-9, and continue the book next year. (Back)

40. Science: If your child wants to pursue a scientific major and needs to prepare for special exams, you may want to contact your college of choice to find out what the requirements are. We have not undertaken to prepare our students for specialty exams, but to give them a foundation of knowledge about science which will make it a matter of interest to them for life. (Back)

41. Choose one of Jean Henri Fabre's books. Selections were chosen for length (30-50 pgs per term), but feel free to read more if your student is interested.

Life of the Spider: these selections are scheduled:
Term 1: ch 2 The Banded Epeira
-- ch 3 Narbonne Lycosa
-- ch 4 Narbonne Lycosa: Burrow
Term 2: ch 5 Narbonne Lycosa Family
-- ch 6 Narbonne Lycosa: Climbing-Instinct
-- ch 7 The Spiders' Exodus
-- ch 9 Garden Spiders: Building the Web
Term 3: ch 10 Garden Spiders: my Neighbour
-- ch 11 Garden Spiders: Lime-Snare
-- ch 12 Garden Spiders: Telegraph-Wire,
-- ch 13 Garden Spiders: Pairing and Hunting
-- ch 14 Garden Spiders: Question of Property

The Social Life of Insects: these selections are scheduled:
Term 1: ch 3 Song of the Cigale (Cicada)
-- ch 4 Cigale Their Eggs and Their Hatching
-- ch 5 The Mantis: The Chase
Term 2: ch 10 The Field Cricket
-- ch 11 The Italian Cricket
-- ch 14 Great Peacock
-- ch 15 Oak Eggar or Banded Monk
Term 3: ch 17 Elephant-Beetle
-- ch 20 The Grey Locust (Back)

42. Secrets of the Universe was republished by Living Books Press as five separate books:
Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics (£) (£amzn)
Objects in Motion: Principles of Classical Mechanics (£) (£amzn)
Waves: Principles of Light, Electricity, and Magnetism (£) (£amzn)
Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics (£) (£amzn)
Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics (£) (£amzn)
Purchase the 5-volume set (£); see help in corresponding the books.

These books have been republished by Living Book Press and and can be ordered individually directly from their website. They may also in print through Lerner Publishing Group at Book Depository. Some of the American references may have been converted to British references.
The book goes in and out of print and can sometimes be difficult to find, although it does pop up; public libraries would be the obvious first place to look since the book isn't really that old. Please don't feel that the Advisory is asking anyone to go on a major quest for the only excellent book out there. That's not what was intended by leaving the book on the list, only that if you CAN get a copy, it's still our first choice for this year. If you are unable to access it, another solid option is The Boy Scientist by John Bryan Lewellen, out of print, but more readily available at used book sources than Secrets of the Universe (not the recent "The Boy Scientist: 160 Extraordinary Experiments and Adventures;" look for the 1955 one by John Llewellen). Another option is The Sciences by Edward Holden, out of print, but online. Charlotte Mason herself recommended Holden's book, so even simply taking a look at it will give an idea of the kind of science text she would have used. We don't usually recommend out of print books, or very expensive books. All of these books are good, and if you can obtain them, we suggest you use them. However, we continue to seek an alternative that fits our guidelines of excellence, availability, and affordability.
The Boy Scientist by John Lewellen covers similar topics and is a very worthwhile alternative. Try this link: ($amzn) Be sure to get the 1955 red book by John Llewellen. There's a 2009 book (it's blue) called "The Boy Scientist: 160 Experiments, A Popular mechanics Book" by C. J. Peterson; it is not the same book. A weekly breakdown could look like this:
Term 1
     Boy Scientist: week 1 ch 1, first half (pg 1-9)
     Boy Scientist: week 2 ch 1, second half (pg 9-18)
     Boy Scientist: week 3 ch 2, first third (pg 20-26)
     Boy Scientist: week 4 ch 2, second third (pg 26-33)
     Boy Scientist: week 5 ch 2, last third (pg 33-40)
     Boy Scientist: week 6 ch 3, first half (pg 42-49)
     Boy Scientist: week 7 ch 3, second half (pg 49-58)
     Boy Scientist: week 8 ch 4, first half (pg 60-65)
     Boy Scientist: week 9 ch 4, second half (pg 65-70)
     Boy Scientist: week 10 ch 5, first third (pg 72-78)
     Boy Scientist: week 11 ch 5, second third (pg 78-85)
     Boy Scientist: week 12 ch 5, last third (pg 85-92)
Term 2
     Boy Scientist: week 13 ch 6, first half (pg 94-99)
     Boy Scientist: week 14 ch 6, second half (pg 99-106)
     Boy Scientist: week 15 ch 7, first quarter (pg 108-114)
     Boy Scientist: week 16 ch 7, second quarter (pg 114-121)
     Boy Scientist: week 17 ch 7, third quarter (pg 121-128)
     Boy Scientist: week 18 ch 7, last quarter (pg 128-136)
     Boy Scientist: week 19 ch 8, first quarter (pg 138-144)
     Boy Scientist: week 20 ch 8, second quarter (pg 144-150)
     Boy Scientist: week 21 ch 8, third quarter (pg 150-157)
     Boy Scientist: week 22 ch 8, last quarter (pg 157-164)
     Boy Scientist: week 23 ch 9, first third (pg 166-173)
     Boy Scientist: week 24 ch 9, second third (pg 173-180)
Term 3
     Boy Scientist: week 25 ch 9, last third (pg 180-188)
     Boy Scientist: week 26 ch 10, first quarter (pg 190-195)
     Boy Scientist: week 27 ch 10, second quarter (pg 195-200)
     Boy Scientist: week 28 ch 10, third quarter (pg 200-206)
     Boy Scientist: week 29 ch 10, last quarter (pg 206-214)
     Boy Scientist: week 30 ch 11, first half (pg 216-224)
     Boy Scientist: week 31 ch 11, second half (pg 224-232)
     Boy Scientist: week 32 ch 12, first third (pg 234-240)
     Boy Scientist: week 33 ch 12, second third (pg 240-246)
     Boy Scientist: week 34 ch 12, last third (pg 246-254)
     Boy Scientist: week 35 ch 13, first half (pg 256-260)
     Boy Scientist: week 36 ch 13, second half (pg 260-264) (Back)

43. Wonder Book of Chemistry: Many of the experiments are not safe; in some cases, the explanations of what happens are sufficient to benefit from this book. (Back)

44. First Studies of Plant Life: this book will be continued next year. Planting, growing and observing germinating seeds and plants is necessary to benefit from this book. If you prefer, you may substitute Exploring Creation with Botany by Jeanne Fulbright ($amzn) over Years 7 and 8, with selected activities from the book. (Back)

45. Signs and Seasons - read Prologue-Chapter 2 this year, including note on how to use properly. The book is cheaper from CBD. Field work is an integral part of this book. Field activities are included in the back of the book, so the field guide is not necessary.
If you prefer, A Walk through the Heavens: A Guide to Stars and Constellations by Milton Heifetz may be used. ($amzn) (K) (Back)

46. Great Astronomers is spread across Years 7-10. This year: Term 1: Introduction, Ptolemy. Term 2: Copernicus. Term 3: Brahe. 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. Or, there are briefer biographies online at MacTutor History of mathematics archives at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. They can be searched alphabetically. (Back)

47. Fallacy Detective: There's a newer edition of this book that has 38 chapters. The two new chapters are chapter 6 "Special Pleading" and chapter 17, "Slippery Slope." If you want to add these extra chapters, one suggestion is to schedule chapters 1-13 in term 1 (scheduling ch 5 and 6 together), 14-25 in term 2 and 26-38 in term 3 (scheduling ch 33-34 together). (Back)

48. 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 and History of Art for Young People are huge books with much more text than the Painting books, and may be too much for most students on top of their other reading. (Back)

Last updated March 31, 2023 (to update Bible)