Our AmblesideOnline Year 9 Plans

Well, somehow the past week got away from me before I had a chance to make a blog post. Life this summer has been busier than I ever could have imagined, and now it is almost over! (And, spoiler alert, things are only going to get crazier from here on out!) Next week we will start a new school year, so lots of new adventures are about to begin. I thought I would sit down here at the outset of the year and share a little about what we are planning for my son’s Year 9 academics. So let’s dive in…

The Salad Bar Approach

If you are new to the AmblesideOnline’s high school program, it is different from earlier years of the curriculum because it is intentionally set up as a sort of “choose your own adventure.” There are more books than anyone should ever use in each subject area, and parents are encouraged to choose the best books for their own students from those lists. This is often referred to as the “salad bar approach.”

Obviously, this presents new high school parents with a bit of a dilemma. All the books sound so good, but there is limited time! And for those of us who have not read many (or any) of the recommended titles, it is challenging to know just how to pick and choose. It’s kind of like being at a buffet where all the food is foreign and new, and you don’t have any idea what foods to try and what probably won’t be to your liking. Thankfully, more experienced moms (and dads), post about what they did and why on the AO Forum, as well as on their own blogs, so us newbies can take their advice and apply it to our own situations and hope for the best.

The Many Caveats

With this salad bar dilemma in mind, I will share what books we have chosen to include in the coming year in case it might help others who come along behind. But I have a few several caveats to get out of the way before I begin. The first of those is that things may (and probably will) be adjusted as we go through the school year and find out what actually works for us as opposed to what I have planned. I am thankful to be at the point in our homeschool journey where I can say that I am comfortable changing things on the fly and not worrying that dropping a book or changing course mid-year is going to permanently ruin my child’s education! That takes some years, so if you aren’t there yet, give yourself some grace.

The second caveat is that my son is going to be doing a weekly full day homeschool enrichment program that lasts for the majority of the school year. As such he will only have 4 weekdays to complete his regular assignments. This enrichment program has an emphasis on aerospace and technology, so he will not need a heavy book load for me to feel he has earned a full credit in science this year. Since we did not use AO’s science books last year, we are pulling some titles from Year 8, as well as some living science books recommended by Nicole Williams of Sabbath Mood Homeschool.

My third caveat in planning is that my son is very likely to start taking dual credit courses online through the university where my husband works, probably starting as soon as next school year as a high school sophomore. As such, some of my choices in curriculum have been made to prepare him to make that leap to college level courses sooner, particularly in math and writing. This has nothing to do with the rigor or excellence of AO’s high school program, but everything to do with the easy access and affordability of dual credit for us because of my husband’s job situation. Since our son is very likely college-bound, it only makes sense for him to ease the cost of college by getting his Gen Eds out of the way early.

I also will not be including the subjects we do together during morning time in this post. These include hymns, folk songs, Scripture memory, poetry (reading and recitation), composer and artist study, Shakespeare, Plutarch, Nature Lore, and mythology.

NOTE: The book titles mentioned in this post are part of the AmblesideOnline curriculum, which is under copyright of AmblesideOnline.org. The information in this post is intended for educational purposes only. Be aware that AO’s curriculum and resources are revised from time to time. Please be sure to check the AO website for the most up-to-date versions of their curriculum, booklists, and schedules.

The Book Choices

Ok, now that we have all that out of the way, here are the books and curricula I planned for my son in Year 9. The books that are assigned in specific terms will be marked as follows: (*) Term 1, (**) Term 2, and (***) Term 3. Any unmarked books are spread over the whole year.

• Bible and Spiritual Life
  • 2 Kings*, 1 & 2 Chronicles** ***, Obadiah***, Jonah***, Psalms, Proverbs, Mark*, Acts** ***, James*** and Galatians*** (this is using the old AO Old Testament Bible schedule)
  • Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
  • The Legacy of William Carey by Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi * **
  • Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence *** (this was another old Year 9 choice that has since been moved to a different year)
• History and Biography
  • The Age of Revolution by Winston Churchill
  • A History of the American People by Paul Johnson
  • Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin *
  • Letters to His Son by Lord Chesterfield (selections)*
  • John Adams by David McCullough ** ***
  • Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen * **
  • Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis ***
  • Selected Speeches, Primary Source Documents, and Letters from the time period studied
• Literature
  • History of English Literature for Boys and Girls by H. E. Marshall
  • Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift * (as well as Swift’s Battle of the Books and Tale of a Tub)
  • Days with Sir Roger de Coverley by by Addison and Steele *
  • Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson **
  • She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith **
  • A School for Scandal by Richard Sheridan ***
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ***
  • The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (this will take us all year, if not more)
• Geography and Nature Study
  • Longitude by Dava Sobel *
  • Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose ** ***
  • The Land of Little Rain by Mary Austen
• Science and Health
  • The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday *
  • Stories of the Invisible by Philip Ball * **
  • Five Equations That Changed the World by Michael Guillen ** ***
  • A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking ***
  • Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Paul Brand ** ***
• Citizenship
  • Ourselves by Charlotte Mason (continued from years 7 and 8)
  • The Universe Next Door by James Sire
  • Are You Liberal, Conservative, Confused? By Richard Maybury *
  • Common Sense by Thomas Paine **
  • Essays of Political Economy by Jane Marcet ***
• Math
  • Continuing both Elementary Algebra and Geometry by Harold Jacobs
  • Algebra and Trigonometry by Paul A. Foerster (if we finish the other two books before the end of the year)
• Writing and Composition
  • The Lively Art of Writing by Lucille Vaughn Payne (This was the text I used myself in high school, and even though it isn’t technically on the AO lists, it is sometimes recommended in the forums and on Charlotte Mason blogs.)
• Foreign Language
  • A combination of Living German by R. W. Buckley, Rosetta Stone’s German course, and German podcasts/audiobooks for listening practice

What a List!

Phew, that looks like an awful lot to do in a year, doesn’t it?! It is, but I do think my son can handle it. When you spread things out over the course of three terms, it doesn’t look quite so daunting. The literature selections are almost all going to be on audio, and I often don’t require actual narrations on those, just letting them be enjoyed and absorbed. Some of the history/biography books are also not too precious to be cut. So if we get into the year and the schedule feels too crammed for real education, we will adjust as needed.

Until next time, happy homeschooling, friends!

Kiel

P.S.–I decided not to link to every single title in this post because I am about out of time to write for today…and that would just be a bit of overkill! However, if you do want to support the blog by using my Amazon affiliate link to shop for books (or anything else you need), I would greatly appreciate it. 🙂