Episode 85: Form IIB Recap


Charlotte Mason’s students moved to a new “form” at age 9 or 10. What makes Form II different from Form I in the subject content and skills? This podcast discusses the wider room experienced by students entering the upper elementary school years.

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“But we are considering, not the religious life of children, but their education by lessons; and their Bible lessons should help them to realise in early days that the knowledge of God is the principal knowledge, and, therefore, that their Bible lessons are their chief lessons.” (Vol. 1, p. 251)

“Next in order to religious knowledge, history is the pivot upon which our curriculum turns.” (Vol. 6, p. 273)

“In Form I children begin to gather conclusions as to the general life of the community from tales, fables, and the story of one or another great citizen. In Form II, citizenship becomes a definite subject rather from the point of view of what may be called the inspiration of citizenship than from that of the knowledge proper to a citizen.” (Vol. 6, p. 185)

“Except in Form I the study of Literature goes pari passu with that of History.” (Vol. 6, p. 180)

J. Paterson Smyth Commentaries (or, in ebook format here)

Stories from the History of Rome

Outdoor Geography

Heroes of Asgard

Life and Her Children

Storybook of Science

The Sciences

Outdoor Geography, H. Hatch (parent/teacher resource in teaching Geography recommended by the PNEU)

(Contains affiliate links)

Subjects by Form Page

Charlotte Mason’s Bible Rotation

Episode 12: The Chronology of History

The New Handwriting

Sabbath Mood Homeschool’s Living Science Study Guides

Special Studies Rotation

14 thoughts on “Episode 85: Form IIB Recap”

  1. KellyAnn

    Where would Heroes of Asgard fit in to the schedule – under what subject?

    Thank you!

    1. Rachel North

      Hi KellyAnn,

      According to CM’s PNEU schedules, Heroes of Asgard was read for literature in Form IIB. Form IIA was reading Bulfinch’s Age of Fable.

    2. Admin Post author

      Kellyann, Mythology is a regular part of literature throughout school.

      Thank you, Rachel, and always realize there are dozens of options for good mythology reading.

      -Liz

  2. Jennifer

    Thank you for doing this series. It is helpful to see the overview of the whole form. I have a couple of questions. Do the biographies fall under the history lesson time or are they an afternoon occupation? On the Form IIB handout under Geography is listed “Geography Reader.” What would an example of this be? Is it for teacher or student to read? Thank you!

    1. Admin Post author

      Jennnifer, Depending on which spine you use you will have more or less assigned reading from that for the history lesson time–you can fill in with biographies as time allows during morning history lessons, or use as a leisure read if there isn’t time in the morning lesson. If part of afternoons, then they are not narrated.

      Mason’s own geography series is an example, the first volume of which was used throughout form I.

  3. marissa Daugherty

    Thank you so very much for doing this PODCAST! Can you list some of the TALES of a neighboring country that we could use for studying England? Thank you!

    1. Admin Post author

      Marissa, We can take our cues from Miss Mason and use the early stories in Our Island Story for British Tales since that is what the students reading Tales of their own country would have done in Form IB. Remember, this use of the word Tales refers to the early accounts of a country’s history, before “authentic history” began and we have a continuous, chronological, written record of history.
      -Emily

  4. Amanda

    Thank you for this episode! Question- Is there a difference between D’aulaire’s Book of Norse Myths and the Heroes of Asgard? Just wondering if this could an appropriate substitute.

    1. Admin Post author

      They are different books, but both are good choices. You could absolutely substitute the D’Aulaire.

  5. Catie

    This is SO helpful. I’m so thankful for this podcast and the work you’re all doing. 🙂 I have to admit, I don’t do All the Things, but I do as much as I can, and for me, it’s really helpful to have the Baseline (as I call it) of what CM *actually* did. Gives me a good starting point!

    Blessings!

  6. Rachel Espino

    I currently use Simply Charlotte Mason’s History Units and actually like the simplicity of the lesson plans. However, I am trying to figure out how to use SCM using the CM history rotation. It is tricky, but I believe it is somewhat doable.

    Can you please tell me what sort of American history falls under the “Early American Year” of 1000 to 1650? American (US) history is relatively short and unless we are speaking of Native American history, what are we referring to? What sort of books would be read for American History? What sort of books would be read for British Tales? Would British Tales include Shakespeare?

    I am trying to understand where the books listed above fit in. Are they for literature or history?

    Sorry for so many questions, I am new to CM and I am trying to do the best I can to coordinate schedules properly.

    Thank you very much.

    1. Admin Post author

      Rachel,

      It might be helpful for you to listen to our podcast on history and to
      see the chart showing the history streams. Note the books listed in
      the show notes for episode 12. Be careful not to confuse “tales” for
      history and “tales” for literature.

      Liz

    2. Admin Post author

      Rachel,

      Rachel, It might be helpful for you to listen to our podcast on Chronology of History and to see the chart showing the history streams. Note the books listed in the show notes for episode12. Be careful not to confuse “tales” for history and “tales” for literature.

      Liz

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