Years 7-8-9 First Year Booklist

History: Middles Ages, Renaissance

Term 1: 800-1215; Term 2: 1216-1485; Term 3: 1450-1640

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

The Birth of Britain by Winston Churchill α ($amzn) (K) ^[4]
The New World by Winston Churchill α ($amzn) (K) OR A History of England by Arnold-Forster α ($amzn; Lulu.com) ^[6]
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (ChrBk) Ω ^[8]
William of Malmesbury's account of the Battle of Hastings
The Magna Carta (there's a modern paraphrase)
A slightly abridged version of Martin Luther's defense before the Diet of Worms
Queen Elizabeth's speech to the Spanish Armada, July 29, 1588 (this is included in the text of Churchill's book)
Mourt's Relation: Journal of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth α ^[10]

Biography

The Life of King Alfred by Asser, selected passages α ^[12]
The Story of Joan of Arc by Andrew Lang α ($amzn) K Ω
or (Personal Recollections of) Joan of Arc by Mark Twain; online: Vol 1 and Vol 2. (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) Ω ^[14]

A Man For All Seasons, a play by Robert Bolt ($amzn) (K) Movie: ($amzn)

Literature

(The History of) English Literature for Boys and Girls by H.E. Marshall ch 1-49 β α ($amzn) (K) Ω ^[22]
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott β α ($amzn) (K) Ω ^[24]
Beowulf - Burton Raffel's is our first choice (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K); Seamus Heaney's (ChrBk)($amzn) (K) (∩) is also fine if you already have it. ^[26]
The Once and Future King Book I and II by T. H. White (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) ^[28]
Watership Down by Richard Adams (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) ^[30]
Chaucer for Children: A Golden Key by Mrs. H. R. Haweis α (K) ^[32]
Everyman, a Morality Play α (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) Ω Check YouTube for live performances. (There is a very abridged version here.)

Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley β α (K); study guide here (continues next year)
I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni β α; continues next year ^[34]

Follow AO's Shakespeare Rotation.

Poetry ^[36]

The Oxford Book of English Verse (Poems 1-24, 29, 31-33; two terms) ^[38]
Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves by Roy Maynard (ChrBk) ($amzn) OR The Faerie Queene, Bk I, ed. by Carol Kaske ($amzn) (K) ^[40]
Shakespeare's Sonnets, selections (download 12 sonnets) Modern translations of the sonnets from NoFear Shakespeare

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

Our Mother Tongue: An Introductory Guide to English Grammar by Nancy Wilson ($amzn) Answer Key: ($amzn) or other grammar book ^[42]

Recitation

2 Bible passages of about 20 verses each and 2 Psalms per term
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

The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin ($amzn) (K)
or Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl ($amzn) (K)

Citizenship

Ourselves by Charlotte Mason (£) (£amzn) ^[18]
Utopia by Sir Thomas More (or here) β α ($amzn) Ω We suggest the modern translation by Paul Turner
Francis Bacon selected essays (student should write paraphrases of these) ^[20]
Character is Destiny by Russell Gough (£) (£amzn) ∫

Follow AO's rotation of Plutarch's Lives.

Government and Economics

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy by Richard Maybury (ChrBk) ($amzn) ^[16]
Whatever Happened to Justice by Richard Maybury α (ChrBk) ($amzn)

Current Events

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

Nature Study and Science ^[sci]

Follow AO's Nature Study Rotation of subjects.

The Handbook of Nature Study α by Anna Botsford Comstock (as a reference) (ChrBk) ($amzn)
* Eric Sloane's Weather Book by Eric Sloane ($amzn) (K)

The Life of the Spider by Jean Henri Fabre, selections β ($amzn) Ω Fabre texts with photos
or Social Life in the Insect World by J. Henri Fabre, selections ^[44]

Secrets of the Universe: Discovering the Universal Laws of Science by Paul Fleisher, a five-book series: ^[46]
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 (£)
The Wonder Book of Chemistry by Jean Henri Fabre α (£) ($amzn) (K) ^[48]
First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson α [Google Books] ($amzn) ^[50]
Adventures with a Microscope by Richard Headstrom, chose 11 adventures if you are able to procure/borrow a microscope. ($amzn) (K) Jeanne Webb's study guide
Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy by Jay Ryan (ChrBk) ($amzn) (CBD) ^[52]
Great Astronomers by R.S. Ball β α (£) (£amzn) ^[54]
The Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp, selections α (£) (£amzn) (K) ^[56]

Optional: Johannes Kepler: Giant of Faith and Science by John Hudson Tiner (ChrBk) ($amzn) in place of the chapter on Kepler in R. S. Ball text

Mathematics

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

Logic

The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel and Hans Bluedorn (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) ^[58]
How To Read a Book revised edition by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren; used for 3 years (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K)

Art

The Story of Painting by H. W. Janson - Towards Revolution and part of The Age of Machines ($amzn)

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.

Folksongs which are particularly appropriate for this time period include:
weeks 1-8 The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood; The Three Ravens; and The Outlandish Knight. Lyrics and the midi files
* and ** When The King Enjoys His Own Again; Farewell to Lochaber; Battle of Otterburn, or any other tunes of your choice from this website.
** Go No More a Rushing; Greensleeves; Scarborough.
*** Barbara Allen, Star of the County Down, Andrew Barton; The Death of Queen Jane, The Miller of Dee, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes; English folksongs and other folksongs.

Work on each song about 4 weeks, reviewing as desired. The idea is to enjoy them, not turn them into drudgery.

Folk Songs:
The Skye Boat Song
The World Turned Upside Down
Yankee Doodle
The Water is Wide
Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier
Robert Burns' poetry and music fit this era. One example: A Man's a Man For a' That
When Johnny Comes Marching Home, 1863
Buffalo Gals, 1848
Simple Gifts, 1848
Dixie, 1859
John Brown's Body, 1860

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

In addition to the free reading list from Years 7 and 8, consider including these from Year 7:

In Freedom's Cause by G.A. Henty β α Ω (ChrBk) ($amzn) (K) Although "In Freedom's Cause" is a work of fiction, it is a more accurate account of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in Scottish history than is available in many other similar books. There is a dramatic audio abridgment for this book. We don't recommend doing an audio drama in place of a book, but if this book is such a stretch that even the audiobook is challenging and you're considering dropping it altogether, you might consider this option. The quality seems to match Focus on the Family's Radio Theater projects, and they have some big name celebrities, including Joanne Froggert (Lady Mary Crawley's maid Anna from Downton Abbey), Billy Boyd (Pippin in LOTR movies), Skandar Keynes (Edmund Pevensie in the Narnia movies), and James Cosmo (from Braveheart). More information here.
The Age of Chivalry by Thomas Bulfinch, Part 1 β α ($amzn) (K) Ω ^[33]
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey ($amzn) (K)

and from Year 8, whichever of these you did not assign for school:

I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni β α ^[34]
or Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley β α (K) Study guide here)

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)

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)

1. Bright Valley of Love is a true story about a Christian community for the physically and mentally impaired threatened by the Nazi regime in WWII. (Back)

2. The Pursuit of Holiness: a no nonsense guide to godly living. (Back)

3. Saints and Heroes: for church history, if you didn't use Trial and Triumph in Years 1-6; all of book 1 and the first ten chapters of Vol 2 are covered this year. Ω (Back)

4. 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 for this year.
Maps of medieval England
Term 1: Birth of Britain Chapter 1-15
Term 2: Birth of Britain Chapter 16-30
Term 3: The New World Chapter 1-14
(Back)

6. A History of England by Arnold-Forster, online at archive.org, Google Books ($amzn; Lulu.com; Options); schedule for Years 7/8 and the first term of 8/9.
List that correlates chapters of Churchill, Arnold-Forster, and An Island Story for Years 7 and 8.
Schedule that breaks these down into four daily readings per week.
The schedule does not include daily breakdowns for Churchill's Age of Revolution, which is not correlated with Arnold-Forster. (Back)

8. 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)

10. Mourt's Relation: A Relation or Journal of the beginning and proceedings of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth in New England, by certain English Adventurers both Merchants and others attributed to G. Mourt (George Morton), 1622, is a compilation of journal entries of the original settlers. The pdf file was provided by Caleb Johnson, and is 45 pgs long. The text posted at Google Books and archive.org α was edited by Dwight B. Heath in 1963.
Mourt's Relations is scheduled over 4 weeks (weeks 33-36), which works out to 11 pages of Caleb Johnson's pdf per week.
Another option: The Landing of the Pilgrims is a Landmark book by James Daugherty drawn from the Pilgrims' own journals, including Bradford's journal. (This book is scheduled in Year 3) ($amzn) (K) It would be scheduled as follows:
week 33 Landing of the Pilgrims Part 1 pg 1-31
week 34 Landing of the Pilgrims Part 2 pg 35-81
week 35 Landing of the Pilgrims Part 3 pg 85-114
week 36 Landing of the Pilgrims Part 3 pg 114-149
(Back)

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

14. 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)

16. 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)

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

20. Francis Bacon essay suggestions:
Of Truth, Of Revenge, Of Adversity, Of Innovations, Of Regiment of Health, Of Suspicion, Of Discourse,
Of Riches, Of Youth and Age, Of Studies. Most of these selections have been collected and divided into manageable paragraphs. We suggest your students write their own paraphrase both as a help to understanding and to aid their own writing skills. (Back)

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

22. (The History of) English Literature for Boys and Girls: purchase from Kelly Kenar, who typed this e-text for the use of AOHEO. Postage at lulu.com is automatically set to UPS ground which is expensive, but you can choose media mail which is substantially cheaper. (If you purchase this book, we request that you purchase from the link provided, as other publishers' reprints of this book have used Kelly's hand-typed etext.)
Term 1: ch 1 (The Listening Time) - ch 17 (Havelok the Dane)
Term 2: ch 18 (Song Stories) - ch 30 (Beginning of the Theater)
Term 3: ch 31 (First English Guide-book) - ch 43 (Spenser: His Last Days)
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), students in this year would read pg 77-154 Early Christian Writers to William Shakespeare. Table of contents to help with planning. (Back)

24. Ivanhoe: Katie Barr has provided a Study Guide to go along with this book. (Back)

26. 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)

28. 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") are read in Term 1. 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)

30. 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. Chaucer: If you need a prose version, you might try The Chaucer Story Book by Eva Tappan α ($amzn) (K); however, you will be cheating your student if you do not assign some of Chaucer's poetry. AO originally scheduled the out-of-print A Taste of Chaucer by Anne Malcolmson ($amzn); if you have it, you can use that. If you decide to use something else, be sure to use a version of Canturbury Tales specifically edited for students (Chaucer needs editing!) (Back)

33. The Age of Chivalry: versions seem to differ in Part III; the 3-in-1 edition of Bulfinch's Mythology lists "Hero Myths of the British Race" (Beowulf, Cuchulain, Hereward the Wake, and Robin Hood), while the 1858 edition covers "The Knights of English History" in ch 33-39: King Richard, Robin Hood, Chevy Chase, and Edward the Black Prince. (This assumes your student read King Arthur in Year 5; if this isn't the case, consider using one of the Year 5 options instead.) (Back)

34. Choose either Westward Ho or I Promessi Sposi for school reading and assign the other as free reading (perhaps with an audiobook). A 36-week schedule to take a slow pace is available for each book. Westward Ho! is a swash-buckling classic about two brothers around the era of the Spanish Armada. I Promessi Sposi is Italy's quintessential classic novel in the same way Les Miserables is to France.
I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed): Penguin Classics has version translated by Bruce Penman and called The Betrothed ($amzn) (K). Ω (Back)

36. 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)

38. 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 slightly 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. 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. Check online sites such as Librivox for free audio readings of poems. (Back)

40. Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves: The Kindle version is badly formatted and not recommended. For those who need a children's version, there's a 'modern' (1916) retelling of The Faerie Queene by Mary MacLeod available. It's online at Sacred Texts and archive.org. Book I is "The Red Cross Knight." Ω (Back)