This year has had the most tweaks of all the AmblesideOnline years we've done. That's partly due to the nature of the AO offerings which leaves much scope for picking and choosing and partly because I'm modifying the content for our Australian situation. I also dropped some of the Post-Modern & Worldview books that were … Continue reading AmblesideOnline Year 12 – an Update
Ambleside Year 12
The Courts of the Morning by John Buchan (1929)
The Courts of the Morning is John Buchan’s 15th novel. Although Richard Hannay narrates the prologue, he then dips out of the story and lets the characters involved continue the narration. The characters include Sandy Arbuthnot, a master of disguise, Lawrence of Arabia type, and skilled linguist, who is the central character in a previous … Continue reading The Courts of the Morning by John Buchan (1929)
Quo Vadis: A Tale in the Time of Nero by Henryk Sienkiewicz (1896)
Quo Vadis is, as its subtitle implies, a work of historical fiction set in Ancient Rome during Nero’s reign. It is the love story and spiritual journey of a young couple - Marcus Vinicius, a Roman tribune from a patrician family, and Lygia, daughter of a Lygian barbarian chief, held as hostage in Rome. It … Continue reading Quo Vadis: A Tale in the Time of Nero by Henryk Sienkiewicz (1896)
It’s (not) Friday #4
This is a belated It's Friday post where I share snippets of what we've been doing in our Charlotte Mason High School curriculum. One of my daughter's favourite books this year is The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer but because it covers so much, she finds it difficult to narrate, so … Continue reading It’s (not) Friday #4
It’s Friday #2
Our visiting wallaby enjoying the new growth after all the rain we've had: Henry VIII was the last play that Shakespeare wrote and in it he describes the events that led up to the birth of King Henry’s daughter by Anne Boleyn. This week we read Act 5, Scene 2, where the King warns the … Continue reading It’s Friday #2
It’s Friday
Week 4 of Ambleside Online Year 12 - some of what we covered: biology, Middle East & mapwork, current events, and common place book. The Lord God Made The All is our Natural History read aloud this year. I also read Ourselves by Charlotte Mason aloud and we discuss it. This week we read about … Continue reading It’s Friday
Ambleside Online Year 12 in Australia
Year 12 has looked different every time we've done it. These are my initial, to be updated, plans for this year for my daughter who's just turned 17 using some selections from Ambleside Online (those are marked with an *) and adding other material I'd like her to cover. We're going into Week 3 as … Continue reading Ambleside Online Year 12 in Australia
Ambleside Year 12 Planning Post
I’ve been planning for Year 12 and thinking about the year ahead generally: choosing books, praying for wisdom; trying to discern what is best and committing it all to the Lord.I find it very refreshing to read Charlotte Mason’s words in A Philosophy of Education: ‘Some men take naturally to learning, and will struggle manfully … Continue reading Ambleside Year 12 Planning Post
The Body by Bill Bryson
The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson was published in 2019 and is a very readable and comprehensive book about the human body covering interesting aspects of anatomy, physiology, disease, the history of medical science, the immune system, conception and birth, and much more. The author includes amusing (and sometimes horrifying) anecdotes to … Continue reading The Body by Bill Bryson
An Australian Classic: The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson
The Fortunes of Richard Mahony is a 943 page classic and an Australian one at that. It is also a tragedy. The author relentlessly follows the ‘fortunes’ of both Richard Mahony and his wife, Polly (known as Mary later in the book), the ups and downs of their rollercoaster-like lives, the inevitable sadness of their … Continue reading An Australian Classic: The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson