Based on AO's Year 11. Detailed weekly schedules for these books are available in various formats:
Html List; PDF; modifiable DOC; modifiable ODT
History studied in Year 11: The 20th century
Term 1: 1900-1940, Term 2: 1940-1960, Term 3: 1960-present
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.
Table of Contents: KEY TO SYMBOLS |
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Old Testament: Lamentations, Ezekiel, Joel, Daniel, Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, Nehemiah, Malachi
New Testament: 2 Corinthians, Romans, Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Timothy, 1 and 2 Peter, Titus, Hebrews, Jude, 1, 2 and 3 John
Psalms 106-150
Proverbs 17-31
Bible Gateway has many versions of the Bible online. [4]
Suggested Devotional Reading
Keep a century chart and Century Book of the period studied. [6]
A History of the Twentieth Century:
The Concise Edition of the Acclaimed World History by Martin
Gilbert ($amzn) (K)
The Trial at Nuremberg (one short essay; the original link is gone, and the new site hosting the article includes graphic war images, so we've used an archive.org link until we find a replacement.)
Various speeches (four per term are scheduled; others are optional but inserted in the 36-week schedule where they fit chronologically.)
* Woodrow Wilson, entering World War I, April 2, 1917 "War Message"
* Lou Gehrig's farewell to baseball speech July 4, 1939 (also see biography on the site)
* Winston Churchill "Blood, sweat and tears" May 13, 1940
* Winston Churchill "Their finest hour" June 18, 1940
** Franklin Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor address Dec 8, 1941 "a day that will live in infamy"
** Eisenhower--D-Day invasion order June 5, 1944 "The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you."
** Franklin Roosevelt D-Day Prayer June 6, 1944
** Douglas MacArthur's farewell to Congress April 19, 1951 "Old soldiers never die"
*** John F. Kennedy's Inauguration January 20, 1961 "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country."
*** John F. Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" June 26, 1963
*** I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. Aug 28, 1963 OR "I've been to the mountaintop" March 3, 1968
*** Ronald Reagan--Brandenberg Gate June 12, 1987 "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt (or here; ($amzn) (K)
A basic government book [10]
Plutarch's Lives - follow AO's Plutarch rotation. [15]
Keep up with daily news (resource options here) and keep a calendar of events
Seven Men Who Rule the World from the
Grave by David Breese ($amzn) (K)
Amusing Ourselves to Death by
Neil Postman ($amzn) (K)
Invitation to the Classics by Louise Cowan and Os Guinness ($amzn) [16]
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald ($amzn) (K)
The Chosen by Chaim Potok ($amzn) (K)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
(3 parts) ($amzn) (K)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ($amzn) (K)
* The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster (1909); also here Ω
* The Open Window by Saki (Hector. H. Munro; 1914)
* Barn Burning by William Faulkner (1939)
** The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber (1939) (possibly here)
** Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell (1936)
** The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (1948) (also here)
** The Outstation by Somerset Maugham (1950) (also here, a third of the way down)
*** A & P by John Updike (1961)
*** Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1961)
*** Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor (1965) or here
If you prefer some upbeat stories, there are some "feel good" short by classic authors listed here.
* In Defense of the Essay by Christopher Orlet
* The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent by John Erskine, 1915
* The Superstition of School by G. K. Chesterton, 1923, from The Common Man (also here)
* Master of Many Trades by Robert Twigger, 2013
* The Second Time I Learned to Read by Stephen L. Carter
** Introduction to Athanasius' Incarnation (or, The Reading of Old Books) by C. S. Lewis, 1944 or here
** The Inner Ring by C. S. Lewis, 1944
** Politics and the English Language by George Orwell, 1946
*** Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation by Ronald Reagan, 1983
*** Can Beauty Help us to Become Better People? by John Armstrong, 2014
*** You're Regretting Wrong by Judith Shulevitz, 2014
*** The Problem With Too Much Information by Dougald Hine, 2014
Or, if you prefer a book:
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman ($amzn) (K) [18]
Edna St. Vincent Millay
A short anthology of Modern Poetry [20]
Matthew 6
2 Timothy 3
Psalms 27; 33
Hebrews 9
John 1:1-14
Psalms
91; 136
Acts 2:14-47
Ephesians 6
Psalms 122, 123 (these are short)
Psalms 119:9-30
Shakespeare passages
a poem per term from the term's poetry selections
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.
Do dictation regularly.
Continue your math program; for some options, see this page.
Apologia science text ($earch) OR BJU Press Science
Six Easy Pieces by Richard P. Feynman ($amzn) (K)
Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif ($amzn) (K) (chapters 9-12 this year)
Our National Parks by John
Muir
Continue the artist rotation posted at AmblesideOnline
Continue the composer rotation and hymn rotation posted at AmblesideOnline
Folk Songs:
* Over There
* It's
a long way to Tipperary
* There's a Little Blue Star in
the Window
** White
Cliffs of Dover
** When
the Lights Go On Again All Over the World
** I'll Be Seeing You
*** Where
Have All the Flowers Gone
*** We Shall Overcome
*** Okie
from Muskogee
Begin Latin if you've not started already, or continue with any previous foreign language studies
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
Work on useful skills such as budgeting, gardening, cooking, car maintenance, carpentry, etc.
Try to use books that were not included from Year 11 in addition to the Year 11 Free reading List
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. (Cindy Rollins did a Circe Mason Jar podcast that included the role of audiobooks with difficult books.) For children who have difficulty reading, one solution is to have them follow the audio version along in a written text.4. AO's Bible plan goes through the Bible semi-chronologically over 6 years in Years 6-11. This year's Bible readings would be as follows:
4a. A History of the American People by Paul Johnson:
Term 1 1900-1940 pg 621-725 (104 pgs)
Term 2 1940-1960 pg 725-841 (116 pgs)
Term 3 1960-2000 pg 845-976 (131 pgs)
A weekly schedule for Paul Johnson's History of the American People is here.
There's a new American history book published in 2019 called Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story by Wilfred M. McClay. ($amzn) (K) The Advisory is still previewing this book, so we can't make an official recommendation yet. However, if you wish to give it a try, there's a schedule that fits it into Years 8-11 here. Year 11 corresponds with ch 14-Epilogue. (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 ($amzn). (Back)
7. Diary of a Young Girl: We recommend locating an edition published before 1989, as later editions include content that was left out of earlier editions and will need parental screening. If you use a later edition -- The Critical Edition (1989), or The Definitive Edition (1991), or The Revised Critical Edition (2003) -- please pre-read for content. (The mass paperback linked from the AO website ($amzn) translated by B. M Mooryart-Doubleday "with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt" should be fine; it's a reprint an earlier edition.) (Back)
8. The World: Travels 1950-2000 - only half of this book is scheduled. There's brief non-graphic mention of the author's gender-change operation in chapter 18, titled "Casablanca." The chapter is very short and can be skipped or removed. Also some language on pg 233 and 242. (Back)
10. 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:
14. Ourselves: approximately 22 pages per term. This book will continue through all the remaining years of AO/HEO curriculum. This is the 4th volume of Mason's 6 Volume Series. This year: pages 68-136 of Book 2
Also available in a modern English paraphrase that can be read online or purchased. (K) The paraphrase of Book 2, Self-Direction, the second half of Volume 4, can be purchased as a separate paperback book.
Term 1: Book 2 pg 68-96
Term 2: Book 2 pg 97-114
Term 3: Book 2 pg 115-136 (Back)
15. Plutarch: Charlotte Mason recommended Thomas North's "inimitable translation." (Back)
16. Invitation to the Classics: pages 307 to 366 this year, beginning with James Joyce, and continuing to the end of the book; the chapters are short. Table of Contents arranged by Year and Term for both books is available here.
(Back)
18. Ex Libris: If you prefer a book, "This witty collection of 18 essays recounts a lifelong love affair with books and language." (Back)
20. A short anthology of Modern Poetry: some suggestions are Norton's Anthology of Modern Poetry or The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, Third Edition, Volume 2: Contemporary Poetry (Back)
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Last update Oct. 5, 2020