After enjoying Year One of Ambleside Online together, I realized that my daughter was not ready to move onto Y2. I decided I would create a Year 1.5 for her this year. My Year 1.5 is also serving as Y1 for my six year old son, for they will move together into Year 2 in the fall of 2009. I used books from the free reading list that we did not get to during Y1, and chose living books already in my library to fill the remaining subjects. Here's the booklist we'll be enjoying together:
My Year 1.5
General History
*Viking Adventure by Clyde Robert Bulla
**William Tell illustrated by Margaret Early
**The Silver Mace: A Story of Williamsburg by Maud and Miska Petersham
***Thirty More Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin (Audio CD)
American History
*Pocahontas by The D’Aulaire’s
**Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
***Our Country’s Story by Francis Cavanah
Geography
Home Geography For Primary Grades by C. C. Long (done with older siblings)
Geology
* The Little Island by Golden MacDonald (Margaret Wise Brown)
** Hill of Fire (Volcanoes) by Thomas P. Lewis
**The Buried City of Pompeii by Shelley Yanaka
***The Year of Fire by Teddy Jam and Ian Wallace
***WildFire by Evans G. Valens, Jr. illustrated by Clement Hurd
Natural History/Science
Handbook of Nature Studies for additional information
Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader 1
*Mammal/Fish Focus:
Animals Born Alive and Well by Ruth Heller
Strange Fishes of the Sea by Olive L. Earle
Fish Out of School by Evelyn Shaw
Dissect a fish from the grocery store
**Reptile/Amphibian Focus:
I Caught a Lizard by Gladys Conklin
Frogs and Toads by Herbert S. Zim
Snakes by Herbert S. Zim
Pet store visit/ friend’s house for snake visit and handling
***Bird/Insect/Invertebrate Focus:
Birds At Home by Marguerite Henry
Birds and their Nests by Olive L. Earle
The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons
All Upon a Sidewalk by Jean Craighead George
Worms by Lois and Louis Darling
Phonics
100 EZ Lessons until finished OR
Phonics Pathways then
McGuffey’s Pictorial Primer
Mathematics
Finish Math-U-See Primer, begin Alpha
Foreign Language
Sign Language
Spanish
Poetry
* **The Girls’ Book of Verse compiled by Mary Gould Davis AND/OR The Boy’s Book of Verse compiled by Helen Dean Fish
*** First Poems of Childhood complied and illustrated by Tasha Tudor
Literature
*Happy Little Family by Rebecca Caudill
**Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
***Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Mythology/Folklore
*D’Aulaire’s Norse Gods and Giants
**D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths
***American Tall-Tale Animals by Adrien Stoutenburg
Virtues/Hero Stories
* **Child’s Book of Heroes by William Bennett
** ***The Children’s Book of Virtues by William Bennett
Artist Study, Folk Song, Hymn, Composer all according to the AO schedule
Free Reading
IR=Independent Reader
RA=Read Aloud
The Wonder Clock by Howard Pyle RA
King of the Golden River by John Ruskin (repeat) RA
Pinocchio by C. Collodi RA
The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang RA
A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla RA
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams RA
St. George and the Dragon retold by Margaret Hodges, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman RA
The George and Martha Series by James Marshall IR
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren RA
Little Bear Series by Else Holmelund Minarek illustrated by Maurice Sendak IR
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes illustrated by Louis Slobodkin IR
Nurse Matilda by Christianna Brand illustrated by Edward Ardizzone RA
The Plain Princess by Phyllis McGinley RA
Mother West Wind’s Children by Thornton Burgess RA
I found your article on the Blog Carn. Your plan looks like lots of fun. I'm glad you're doing them together. So much relationship building goes on with this sort of arrangement. Have a great year.
What a great idea to create a year 1.5 for your family.
DS did well with Y1 and we will be starting Y2 soon. I'm going to play it by ear but I think he may need a little extra time before jumping into Y4 in a few years. This was a good reminder to me that if I don't get to a book and I think I'm going to need more time, I can make a bridge year.
What a lot of great reads you have there.
We are almost finished with "Farmer Boy" from our free reading list. And just the other day, he brought up something from "Little House on the Prarie" that we listened to in the car in June! Something about they had to leave their house becaue of the Indian wars. It took me a minute to even remember what he was talking about. Yeah! He's getting it!
How can you miss when you are reading such great literature. I think it is great that you understood the needs of your child so well to know when to slow down and revisit or explore those things more.
I'm the blessed wife of My Honey of 14 years, and Momma to eight wonderful Lambies aged 13 and under. We live in Central CA, and use Ambleside Online for our curriculum. I'd love to meet you , so browse a while and feel free to leave a comment!
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• Aug. 4, 2008 - hello!