Classical Conversations Unofficial Cycle 2 Book List compiled by Kimberly Wiltshire

Hello friends! It's that time of of year again where we're gearing up for our big homeschool adventure. One of my favorite parts about homeschooling Violet is that we get to read all kinds of books to ignite her imagination as we study certain topics. We follow Classical Conversations' program for our educational journey and I always love researching the topics for each year and compiling a list of books to either buy or check out from our local library. 

We're very excited about this year as this will be our first year to repeat a cycle in Classical Conversations. Cycle 2 was when we joined this incredible program and it was an amazing year for our little family. Here is my little princess meeting the ill fated Anne Boleyn at the Texas Renaissance Festival four years ago. That day will forever be one of my favorite days of all time. We had such a wonderful time!

This is a list of books that I have compiled after researching the topics for Classical Conversations Cycle 2. These books are recommended for children ages 4 to 10 based on the ratings and reviews either from Amazon or our public library. I have not read all of these books and cannot personally account for their material. These are generally Read-Aloud books that can be read individually or to a group of children. As with everything, please review these books before buying or checking them out from your library. I hope you enjoy this list. 

Happy Reading!

Kimberly

* MSB = Magic School Bus

* Please note that each subject is missing a week or more due to the lack of books

 found for that particular week.

HISTORY

Wk 1  Gisela’s Holiday Story (Gisela, Daughter of Charlemagne) - Lois Jarman

The Marvelous Blue Mouse - Christopher Manson

The Elephant from Baghdad - Mary Tavener Holmes

Wk 2  William the Conqueror, Get a Life - Philip Ardaqh

William the Conqueror: Last Invader of England - Tom McGowen

Wk 3  Richard the Lionheart:Crusader King of England - Thomas Streissquth

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Crusader!: A War You'd Rather Not Fight [Paperback] 

- Fiona MacDonald

Wk 4  The Magna Carta - James Daugherty

Wk 5  Joan of Arc - Diane Stanley

You Wouldn’t Want to be Joan of Arc -

Wk 6  Leonardo and the Flying Boy

Wk 7  The Adventures of Martin Luther - Carolyn Bergt

Wk 8  Who In the World Was the Forgotten Explorer? The Story of

Amerigo Vespucci - Lorene Lambert

Magellen’s World - Stuart Waldman

Wk 9  Peter the Great - Diane Stanley

The Three Musketeers - Alexander Dumas

Wk 10  The Fairy Tale about Ivan the Son of Czar and Firebird and about

 the Grey Wolf - Elienne Burkatovskii

Wk 11  Marguerite Makes a Book - Bruce Robertson

Wk 12  Time Warp Trio: Meet You at Waterloo - Jon Sciezka

  Minstrel in the Tower - Gloria Skurzynski

  A Medieval Fiest - Aliki

Wk 13  All About America: The Industrial Revolution - Hilarie N. Staton

  The Bobbin Girl - Emily Arnold McCully

Wk 14  Where Poppies Grow: A World War 1 Companion - Linda Grarfield

Wk 15  Ten and Twenty - Claire Bishop

  Christmas In the Trenches - John McCatcheon

Wk 16  You Wouldn’t Want to Be a WWII Piolet - Antram

  Hannaha’s Cold Winter - Trish Marx

  Benno and the Night of Broken Glass (Holocaust) - Meg Wiviott

Wk 17  Teedie: The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt - Don Brown

  TIME For Kids: Theodore Roosevelt: The Adventurous President

  - Editors for TIME For Kids

  You’re On Your Way, Teddy Roosevelt - Judith St. George

Wk 19  My Freedom Trip: A Child’s Escape from North Korea - Francis & Ginger Poork

Wk 20  The Wall - Eve Bunting

  My Grandpa’s War - David Volk

Wk 21  The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Cold War Ends - Nigel Kelly

Wk 22  The Wall: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain - Peter Sis

Wk 23  Ashely’s Yellow Ribbon - Barbara Davoll

Wk 24  Nelson Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom - Chris van Wyk

            Mandela: From the Life of the South African Statesman - Floyd Cooper

SCIENCE

Wk 1  Tropical Rainforest - Donald Silver

The Frozen Tundra: A Web of Life - Philip Johansson

What Is a Biome? - Bobbie Kalman

Animals Sleep: A Bedtime Book of Biomes - Thomas A. Heffron

Wk 2  Carnivores - Aaron Reynolds
Bear Wants More - Karma Wilson

Wk 3  MSB Gets Eaten: A Book About Food Chains - Pat Reif

Pond Circle - Betsy Franco

Gobble It Up - Jim Arnosky

Wk 4  Down Comes the Rain - Franklyn Branley

MSB Wet All Over: A Book About the Water Cycle - Pat Reif

The Water Hole - Grame Base

MSB At The Waterworks

Wk 5  MSB Goes Upstream: A Book About Salmon Migration

Going Home: The Mystery of Animal Migration - Merianne Berkes

Home At Last: A Song of Migration - April Pulley Sayre

Wk 6  The Wump World - Bill Peet

The Lorax - Dr. Seuss

The Berenstain Bears Don’t Pollute (Anymore) - Stan & Jan Berenstain

Wk 7  Stars - Mary Lyn Ray

How the Stars Fell into the Sky - Jerrie Dughton

Wk 8  Brother Sun, Sister Moon - Katherine Paterson

(based on the writings of St. Francis Assisi)

Wk 9  The Planets In Our Solar System - Franklyn M. Branley

National Geographic Readers: Planets - Elizabeth Carney

Clarice Bean, What Planet Are You From? - Lauren Child

Wk 10  What the Moon is Like - Franklyn M. Branley

The Moon Book - Gail Gibbons

Wk 11  What’s Out There? A Book About Space - Lynn Wilson

What Do You See? Our Solar System - Carme Sevenster

There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System - Tish Rabe

Wk 12  My Grandpa Was An Astronaut

Man on the Moon - Anastassia Suen

Moonwalk: The First Trip to the Moon - Judy Donnelly

Wk 13  The Solid Truth About States of Matter with Max Axiom,

Super Scientist - Agnieszka Biskup

Solids: States of Matter - Jim Mezzanotti

What Is The World Made of? All About Solids, Liquids and Gases

  - Weidner Zoehfield

Wk 15  Energy Makes Things Happen - Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Wk 16  A Crash Course in Forces and Motion with Max Axiom,

Super Scientist - Emily Soho

  

Wk 17  Forces Make Things Move - Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Wk 20  All About Heat - Lisa Trumbauer

Wk 24  Charged Up: The Story of Electricity - Bailey

  MSB And the Electric Field Trip - Joanna Cole

  The Shocking Story of Electricity - Anna Clayborrne

ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Wk 2   I And You And Don’t Forget Who: What Is a Pronoun?

(Words are Categorical) - Brian P. Cleary

Wk 13  Dearly, Nearly, Insincerely: What Is An Adverb? - Brian P. Cleary

Wk 23  Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What Is An Adjective? - Brian P. Cleary

GEOGRAPHY

(The following books are not necessarily about the geography for the week listed. They are for your use to encourage children to look up the locations mentioned.)

Wk 1  Little Dog Lost:The True Story of a Brave Dog Named Baltic -Monica Carnesi

Wk 2  The Three Golden Oranges - Alma Flor Ada

The Beautiful Butterfly: A Folktale from Spain - Judy Sierra

Wk 4  A Walk in London - Salvatore Rubbino

This I London - Miroslav Sasek

Wk 5  One Step At A Time (Hugo The Happy Starfish) - Suzy Liebermann

Heidi - Johanna Spyri

Wk 9  Kite Flying - Grace Lin

Wk 10  Child of The Sun - Sandra Arnold

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale - Carmen Agra

MATH

Wk 14  Benjamin Franklin and the Magic Squares - Frank Murphy

Wk 16  Sir Comfrence and the First Round Table - Cindy Neuschwander

Wk 17  Sir Cumfrence and the Dragon of Pi - Cindy Neuschwander

TIMELINE

Wk 4  You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Assyrian Soldier!: An Ancient Army You’d Rather Not

         Join [Paperback] - Rupert Matthews

Wk 5  You Wouldn’t Want to Be in Alexander the Great’s Army!: Miles You’d

Rather Not March [Paperback] Jacqueline Morley

Wk 9  You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Viking Explorer!: Voyages You’d Rather Not Make

(You Wouldn’t Want To) [Paperback] - Andrew Langley

Wk 14  The World Made New: Why the Age of Exploration Happened and How It

  Changed the World (Timelines of American History) [Hardcover]

  - Marc Aronson

Wk 16  You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Aristocrat in the French Revolution!: A Horrible Time

  in Paris You’d Rather Avoid [Paperback] - Jim Pipe

Wk 18  Trail of Tears (Step-Into-Reading) - Joseph Bruchac

Only the Names Remain: The Cherokees and The Trail of Tears - Alex W. Bealer

 

Wk 21  You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Secret Agent During World War II!: A Perilous

Mission Behind Enemy Lines [Paperback] - John Malam

Showing Off

The Tooth Fairy will be paying another visit to our house tonight. Poor thing, her wings must be worn out from all the trips she's been making to our neck of the woods!
Violet has been working really hard on all her memory work for Classical Conversations. (Is it still considered work when you're having so much fun learning?) She asked me to record her today while she ran through everything. How could I turn her down? You're right. I couldn't! She's especially cute with the missing tooth and the lisp that comes with it.

It's Here!

Our curriculum is finally here. Woo hoo!!! And, oh boy, does it ever look amazing. I'm so giddy right now I can't stand myself. Ha! Seriously though, I am very excited. Everything in our package looks wonderful. I'll be using this weekend to familiarize myself with it all so that I can put it to use on Monday.

This program looks incredibly easy to do and I'm feeling more secure in our decision to home school. Everything seems to be done for you with the Veritas Press Curriculum. The lessons are written out for you. They even give you questions to use for each topic you're covering. There is a great deal of material for me to cover this weekend but I feel pretty confident that Violet and I can do this. She is so eager to learn so I have that on my side. And, I feel like I've got a great curriculum on my side too. Just take a look at the 37 pound package that was delivered to our door yesterday!


And look at all the wonderful stuff that was packed inside...



There are 31 primer books (beginning readers), 9 books on art, 46 (5x8) stunning flashcards (they really are pretty), teacher manuals and student workbooks (for Kindergarten and First grade), and a Child's Story Bible are just some of the things included in this great curriculum. There is also a personalized lesson plan for you to follow. And that's just for the phonics portion!



(I have no idea why this photo is turned to the side since it doesn't show up that way in my photos. I just wanted to show you the lesson plans cd. Like how I edited out our name?)

Off To A Good Start

I think our home school experience is off to a good start. After working on Violet's writing skills yesterday she looks to me with a smile and the look of confidence on her face and sweetly asked, "Mommy, can we do school again tomorrow?" I explained that tomorrow (which is now today) is a Saturday and that you don't do school on Saturdays. And with all the seriousness my kiddo could muster she replied, "But I LIKE school! I WANT to do school on Saturday!".

Now, I'm not foolish enough to think that this type of thinking will last very long. I know that the day will come all too soon when I'll be met with groans of protest when I tell Violet that it's time to start school for the day. But, I think we're off to a pretty good start.

Opening A Can of Worms

I know that I am about to officially open a can of worms with this post. That's okay with me just that as long as if you disagree with me that you do so politely. That's all I ask. Because, in reality, what I'm about to bring up is something that is between my husband (the head of our household) and myself and I'm just sharing it with the rest of you. Are you ready? Because it's a doozy. Here goes...

My husband and I have decided that it would be in our daughter's best interest to home school her rather than send her to public school. Yes folks, you've read that right. We will home school our most precious treasure in this world, our daughter. We're not in a position to send her to private school but that is definitely something we'll consider if and when we're able to. This is not a decision we've taken lightly. We've actually been considering this since the day we had Violet. We knew that this day would come (with God's grace) and we wanted to be prepared. So, we've been researching, asking questions, and looking into all the different approaches to home school for over four years now. (In all honesty, I can't say five years because the first year of Violet's life was just survival mode as new parents.) Believe me when I say we've considered ALL our options! We've had pleanty of curricula to look in to, such as Sonlight, Classical Conversations, Veritas Press, A Beka Acadamy, and Oak Meadow, just to name a few.

The home school movement (if you'll call it that) has grown more popular over the years. It is no longer the isolated experience of the past. More and more families are choosing to home school their children.

"Each year, the homeschool movement graduates at least 100,000 students. Due to the fact that both the United States government and homeschool advocates agree that homeschooling has been growing at around 7% per annum for the past decade, it is not surprising that homeschooling is gaining increased attention."

(You can find the article to that quote here.) The co-op that we had hoped to get into this year is evidence of this growing trend ~ it's filled to capacity and cannot take any new families this year and the school year has just started! Not to worry though, there are other groups out there and we're already getting involved in one. It's smaller than the group we had wanted to get into and it's a bit of a drive for us but we'll make it work. I already know the women in the group, and their kids, and am looking forward to a fun new experience. Also, it seems that we have more friends that are home schooling their children than those who are sending their kids to public school. So, I'm not exaggerating the fact that we're surrounded by people who have been doing this for a while now or who are just starting out like we are.

What about the whole "socialization" thing? We've been peppered with questions regarding that and I assure you, Violet will be involved in many social settings. We're already looking into enrolling her in either a sport of some sort (soccer maybe?) or dance. Then there is church (the verdict is still out on where we're going to join but at least we're actively seeking a place to call home) and the co-op. Overall though, socialization is not something that I'm overly worried about. Here's why. Home schooled kids generally do well with children of all ages, not just kids who are in their own age group. Also, they interact with adults very well. I've yet to meet a socially incompetent home schooled child. I'm sure that there are some out there but I've not met one.

I'm nervous as heck about our decision to home school. I've questioned whether I can do this or not. So, this is a trial basis. Kindergarten is not something that one can easily mess up and I have that on my side. We'll be watching Violet closely and doing everything in our abilities to make sure she is receiving the best education she can possibly get. Education is not something that we take lightly. With that said, I am also feeling fairly confident in our decision too. The curriculum that we'll be using is pretty much laid out for you to use. It even comes with daily scripted lesson plans and an organized schedule if you want to follow them! Everything is laid out for you to follow. I love that!

Violet will be following a lot of the same programs that other kindergartners will be following. Saxon Math, Phonics, Fine Art Primers, and more. The curriculum that we'll be using is actually used by several private Christian schools in the Houston and Katy areas, schools that have a year long waiting list to get in to. It's highly approved. So, you see, we're not going into this decision blindly.

On a side note, I was talking with an old friend of mine recently who happens to be a retired college professor. As we talked the topic of home school came up. My friend was very encouraging in what she said to me. It seems that college professors LOVE home schooled students! She said that she has never had a bad experience with one in her classrooms in the twenty plus years that she taught. Home schooled students that go off to college know how to work on their own and always have their projects done and ready for review well in advance. She spoke highly of her former students that came from a home school background.

Everything my friend said spoke volumes in regards to an article I read recently (you can find that article here). Here is a short snippet from the article...

"In short, the results found in the new study are consistent with 25 years of research, which show that as a group homeschoolers consistently perform above average academically. The Progress Report also shows that, even as the numbers and diversity of homeschoolers have grown tremendously over the past 10 years, homeschoolers have actually increased the already sizable gap in academic achievement between themselves and their public school counterparts-moving from about 30 percentile points higher in the Rudner study (1998) to 37 percentile points higher in the Progress Report (2009)."

Violet is a very intelligent little girl. A lot of that intelligence comes from some very good genes from her father's side of the family (school was always a struggle for me that required a lot of extra work on my part). But also, a great deal of it comes from the work that I've been doing with her already. Our daughter knew her ABC's by sight (not rote) by the time she was just over a year old. We played with flash cards and made a game out of them. I'll never forget her pointing out random letters and saying what they were one night while at a friend's house. Everyone was surprised by how well she knew her ABC's. To prove that it wasn't a fluke, we had Violet point out random letters we asked her to look for. She never missed one. Violet learns things easily and is, in some ways, more advanced than a typical kindergartner. Then there are things that she's behind on that need some added work. I love sitting with Violet and helping her grasp a new concept (right now that is writing). There's nothing better than watching my daughter work on something and then grasp hold of it and take it on with a determined spunk that is all hers.

It is a huge desire of ours that Violet have not only an exceptional education experience but that her education is based on Christian principles that we hold dear. This is the greatest determining factor of ours in deciding to home school Violet. No, we're not religious fanatics that are trying to shelter our kid from the real world. But we want to be sure that Violet learns about the creation of our world through a Biblical viewpoint and not one where everything happened by chance. Will we teach Violet about other beliefs and theories? Absolutely. But, those theories and beliefs will not be the main focus of her education like they would be if she went to public school. And, we'll be able to design Violet's learning experiences to fit her and where she's at. We can move ahead in sections that she excels at and take more time on the ones she struggles with. You really don't get that in a public school setting. In a traditional school setting you can go only as far as the weakest students in the class can go.

Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent teachers out there. (We have some great educators in our family!) Great teachers that are more qualified to teach our daughter than I am but their investment in our daughter's education isn't as great as mine and Gregg's. We know our child and the way she learns. We know that the stakes are high and there is no room for failure on our parts. So, despite all the great and wonderful teachers that are out there we feel like our daughter's education is our job, our purpose in this life. And, as a friend who says it perfectly, "No one will love my children as much as I do."

So, we won't have any photos of Violet getting dressed for her first day of school. No photos of her waiting at the bus stop. Instead, I'll have photos of her actually learning things while sitting at our dining room table. I'll be able to chronicle the steps she takes while learning new things. Violet's first experiences will be different than those of a student going to public school and we're okay with that. So things will look differently around here compared to what you're used to seeing from a public school setting. I'll use our home school experience as another aspect of the blog. Maybe a section just for it's own self. Who knows what will happen? We're stepping out on faith that this is the perfect thing for our family, and most importantly that it's the perfect thing for our daughter. So, your prayers and support would be greatly appreciated.