Charlotte Mason’s original curriculum included comprehensive Bible readings alongside optional Sunday readings. The bible readings were taken directly from the Christian bible and included commentaries and studies. The Sunday readings, especially in the upper forms, included books on church history, devotionals, Christian biographies, prayer books, and other spiritual readings.
Wildwood encourages each family to include books on their own spiritual traditions. It would be impossible for us to include a listing of such resources and so we encourage families to discover their own books.
However, we have also chosen to offer some suggestions for those who may be interested in readings on World Religions, Philosophy or Logic. These are to be additional resources used by families to enrich their ideas about our wonderful world. They are meant to be optional and shared and enjoyed together. As such, they are not always limited to specific forms and parents may switch around books based on their desires or interests, or the levels, abilities and interests of all their children. Parents may choose books from any category, but the reality is that you will NOT be able to do all the books listed here!! Think of these as a giant smorgasbord from which you can pick and choose the ones you want to taste. Move on if something doesn’t appeal to you, or slow down and savour something if it nurtures your family time.
Form 1 Suggestions
World Religions
— In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton AMZ
— Religious biographies by Demi (Muhammad, Rumi, Krishna, Jesus, Buddha, St Francis, etc) AMZ
— The Story of Religion by Betsy and Giulio Maestro AMZ
— Sacred Stories: Wisdom from World Religions by Marilyn McFarlane AMZ
Philosophy
— Wisdom Tales from Around the World by Heather Forest AMZ
— The Three Questions by Jon J Muth AMZ
— Zen Shorts AMZ, Zen Ties AMZ and Zen Sock AMZ books by Jon J Muth
— I Wonder by Annaka Harris AMZ
— Peace Tales by Margaret MacDonald AMZ
— The Adventures of Mali & Keela: A Virtues Book for Children by Jonathan Collins AMZ
Logic
Lots of stories. Board games can also be an excellent way of laying foundational skills for the study of more formal logic in upper forms.
Books
— What Really Happened to Humpty? by Jeanie Franz Ransom AMZ
— Tuesday by David Wiesner (This almost wordless book offers lots of opportunities to wonder about what is actually going on and why?) AMZ
— Grandpa’s Teeth by Rod Clement AMZ
— Piggins by Jane Yolen AMZ
— Black and White by David Macaulay AMZ
— Any of Mitsumasa Anno’s Anno books AMZ
— Before After by Matthias Arégui and Anne-Margot Ramstein AMZ
Games
Rush Hour AMZ
Set AMZ
Colorku AMZ
Zoologic AMZ
Mastermind AMZ
Chess AMZ
Checkers AMZ
Qwirkle AMZ
Connect Four AMZ
Form 2 Suggestions
Continue use any of the resources from Form 1, especially if you haven’t used them, or they are well loved and have not yet exhausted their joy.
World Religions
— The Kids Book of World Religions by Jennifer Glossop AMZ
— The Belief Book by David G. McAfee (Atheist perspective) AMZ
— Comparative Religion: Investigate the World Through Religious Tradition by Carla Mooney AMZ
— One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship Hardcover by Mary Pope Osborne (does not offer a non-religious view) AMZ
Philosophy
— Harry Stottlemeier’s Discovery by Matthew Lipman
~~ Pixie and Nous also by Matthew Lipman are novels for the Grade 3-5 levels, but are extremely hard to find
— Philosophy for Kids: 40 Fun Questions That Help You Wonder about Everything! by David White AMZ
— Really, Really Big Questions by Stephen Law AMZ
— Philosophy Rocks! by Stephen Law AMZ
Logic
The ability to begin understanding logical problems is a developmental stage that happens in the brain. We often see it when children begin to understand jokes, or begin discovering puns. However, if a child’s brain isn’t developmentally ready to encounter these ideas or problems, they will be disinterested, or worse yet, become frustrated. The key to learning logic and not overwhelming a child who is not yet developmentally ready is to delay the introduction of logic, or to make sure that it is a fun and enjoyable activity enjoyed with the people they love.
Books
These books consist mostly of workbooks offering standard logic puzzles. They can be fun to work through and many of them follow a pattern that children can often learn, but not force a child who is not ready to work with these ideas.
— The Basics of Critical Thinking by Michael Baker AMZ
— Logic Safari Book 2 by Bonnie Risby AMZ
— Logic Safari Book 3 by Bonnie Risby AMZ
— The Ultimate Puzzle Book AMZ and the Ultimate Riddles Book AMZ both by J. J. Wiggins
— The Critical Thinking Mind Benders Books (Level 4 AMZ and 5 AMZ)
Games
Nine Men’s Morris AMZ
Gobblet AMZ
Rock Me Archimedes Game AMZ
Sudoku AMZ
Blockus AMZ
Clue – deductive reasoning AMZ
Forbidden Island – cooperative game that involves forward thinking to get the treasure and save the players AMZ
Love Letter – plan your moves based on what you think the others have AMZ
Upper Forms (coming soon)
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