A Humane Proposal: Grades 2-6

A Beginning Cycle for the Grammar Stage

In 1977, Russell Kirk wrote an essay containing his recommended educational program for high school students. He kept it limited to the humane letters, an aspect of study he valued immensely.¹ I’d like to offer something similar here. These are my thoughts based on my own children’s education as well as what I’ve seen at two different classical Christian schools over the last twelve years. This first part will contain some basic thoughts on the “Grammar Stage,” (Grades 2-6).² Here, I will limit myself to twenty books per grade. I think an ideal school year runs between 30-32 weeks (rather than the now standard 36-38). This sets a reasonable pace for school reading requirements, while allowing plenty of time for students to read on their own.

Kindergarten and 1st Grade

I am of the mind that these years are best spent at home. Every mom and dad can provide what is needed at this stage. However, I know for many this is a difficulty, and schools will be needed. In those cases, schools should make every attempt to focus on imparting foundational skills through the reading of good literature. Most readers, such as the Dick and Jane series (and its imitators) are poor substitutes for proper reading. Most schools and parents will opt to adopt some kind of reading program (such as those created by Memoria Press or Abeka), so I won’t belabor my thoughts here. For schools with eager Kindergarten and First grade students, The Lion, the Witch, and Wardrobe and Prince Caspian are appropriate read alouds (respectively).³

2nd Grade

While I think the early Grammar years are appropriate for less chronological study, focusing more on family and local history than metanarratives, one could begin this proposal here. For the school or parent wanting to dive into this Big Picture view of the Humane Letters, a study of the Pre-Classical world would be appropriate (Creation - 1250 BC) for history as well as some preliminary stories about America (since I have an American student in mind). As you’ll note in the readings below, this is the only time where a divided history and literature would be recommended.

Literature

The Courage of Sarah Noble, Dalgleish
The Boxcar Children, Warner
Little House in the Big Woods, Wilder
Farmer Boy, Wilder⁴
Winnie-the-Pooh, Milne
Andersen’s Fairy Tales
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Pinocchio, Collodi
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lewis⁵
Little Britches, Moody
All-of-a-Kind Family, Taylor
The Wizard of Oz, Baum

History

The Bible (Genesis-Deuteronomy)⁶
Tales of Ancient Egypt, Green
Leif the Lucky, D’Aulaire
Columbus, D’Aulaire
Pocahontas, D’Aulaire
Benjamin Franklin, D’Aulaire
George Washington, D’Aulaire
Abraham Lincoln, D’Aulaire

3rd Grade

Third grade is ideal for a proper introduction to the Classical world (c. 1250 BC - 250 AD). Beginning around the age of 8, I think it best to integrate the study of history, literature, and theology. Teaching students to see the disciplines in conversation with one another is important to be sure, but also helping them recognize that these are contextualized and related is important. Some of the books on this list might be tough for a third-grade student on their own, but I think it appropriate to still read books together, aloud. Why will become more apparent when I discuss the later grades. There is also a lot of overlap in many of the books listed. Parents and schools do not have to read every book on these lists, if they want to bring in other books that they love. Additionally, some of the books listed here fit well thematically, though they are set in a different era. This would only work with a teacher who can help make these connections explicit for the students.

The Bible (Joshua-Chronicles)
Fables, Aesop
Greek Myths, D’Aulaire
Black Ships Before Troy, Sutcliff
The Children’s Homer, Colum
Tales of Greek Heroes, Green
The Aeneid for Boys and Girls, Church
Detectives in Togas, Winterfeld
The Wonder Book for Boys and Girls, Hawthorne
Tanglewood Tales, Hawthorne
The Silver Chair, Lewis
Joel, A Boy of Galilee, Hamby
Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ, Wallace
Water-Babies, Kingsley
Misty of Chincoteague, Henry
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Peterson
Charlotte’s Web, White
For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem, Henty
Farmer Giles of Ham, Tolkien (as a medieval fable, this story can help bridge 3rd and 4th grade, so it is appropriate for the end of the year)
Story of the World: Ancient Times, Bauer⁷

4th Grade

Moving chronologically, this is an appropriate point to study the Medieval world (250 - 1450 AD). There is an abundance of good reading materials that cover the Middle Ages for this age group. Many of these books could be substituted for others of similar topic, such as swapping Sidney Lanier’s Arthur tales with Roger Lancelyn Green’s. Teachers and parents should use their own experience here, leaning into appropriate swaps as needed.

The Bible (Ezra-Lamentations)
Norse Myths, D’Aulaire
The Children of Odin, Colum
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dahl
The Golden Key, MacDonald
The Door in the Wall, de Angeli
The Shining Company, Sutcliff
King Arthur and His Knights, Lanier
Robin Hood, Green
Tales from Spenser, Maclehose
Adam of the Road, Gray
The Dragon and the Raven, or, The Days of King Alfred, Henty
Rolf and the Viking Bow, French
Chaucer for Children, Haweis
The Princess and the Goblin, MacDonald
The Horse and His Boy, Lewis
The Hobbit, Tolkien
The Last Unicorn, Beagle
Duncan’s War, Bond
The Story of the World: The Middle Ages, Bauer

5th Grade

While many classical programs begin a study of American history, spread over two years, I think it would be wiser to divide the final years of the Grammar School between Early Modernity and Late Modernity. The fifth grade would continue the chronological pattern with a focus on the Early Modern world (1450 - 1865 AD). While I recommend the study and reading of poetry in every grade, beginning in the home, I would argue that a more formalized study of poetry is most appropriate around the age of ten.

The Bible (Ezekiel-John)
Tales from Shakespeare, Lamb
Johnny Tremain, Forbes
The Minute Boys of Lexington, Stratemeyer
The Minutes Boys of Bunker Hill, Stratemeyer
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Latham
Treasure Island, Stevenson
Kidnapped, Stevenson
Poems, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Wizard of the North, Oman
Poems (especially Lady of the Lake), Sir Walter Scott
Short Stories, Washington Irving
The Marble Faun, Hawthorne
The Song of Hiawatha, Longfellow
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass, Carroll
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe
Short Stories, Bret Harte
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain
John Carter of Mars, Burroughs
Story of the World: Early Modern Ages, Bauer

6th Grade

While the need to feed the different imaginations of boys and girls begins early, I have endeavored to make sure that there are reading options here that do just that. For whatever reason, elementary school curriculums tend to favor either the masculine or the feminine imagination in their book selections (And my experience is mostly of the latter). By this point, hopefully the students have learned that there is something of value in reading stories about the opposite sex. This is particularly evident in the stories below. As the study of the Late Modern world (1865 AD - Present) wraps up this learning stage, it sets the stage for revisiting many of these stories in different forms in the following grades.

The Bible (Acts-Revelation)
Little Women, Alcott
Little Men, Alcott
Everyday Life of Abraham Lincoln, Brown
Carry a Big Stick, Grant
Around the World in Eighty Days, Verne
The Wind in the Willows, Grahame
A Christmas Carol, Dickens
Short Stories, Edgar Allen Poe
The Secret Garden, Burnett
Anne of Green Gables, Montgomery
The Jungle Book, Kipling
Poems, Rudyard Kipling
Hound of the Baskervilles, Doyle
Short Stories, O. Henry
Poems, Robert Frost
The Last Battle, Lewis
The Hiding Place, Ten Boom
The Yearling, Rawlings
Story of the World: The Modern Age, Bauer

Reading these stories, in this order, I think yields a well-rounded education that builds the imagination while also supporting the exploration of history, literature, and poetry.

In the next entry for this series, I’ll lay out how this program would transition to the Logic stage, grades 7-10.

1. Russell Kirk, “Humane Literature in High Schools,” Textbook Evaluation Report No. 665 (New Rochelle, NY: America’s Future, 1977), 1-10.

2. I don’t love this label for the Kindergarten through Sixth grade stage, but it is the one with the most cultural currency. It sometimes creates a false appearance that the Liberal Art of Grammar is only or primarily covered in these grades.

3. I may write about this at greater length some day, but I have long been convinced that the history of CCE does not address students prior to age 7 or 8, and that this is by design rather than accident.

4. Most schools focus on Little House on the Prairie, which is fine. The first two books in the series are recommended here because they are sufficiently different from one another, and they focus on difference protagonists: LHBW a young girl and FB a young man.

5. I would argue that, particularly at a school, the Inklings ought to be woven throughout the entire program. The Chronicles of Narnia should begin being read as a class in Kindergarten or 2nd grade, giving the students a shared language and giving new students something to enter. The Chronicles of Narnia should also be read in publication order, not chronological order. Hopefully, parents are reading Lewis aloud to their children before sending them to school.

6. I do not object to the use of Children’s Bibles for this kind of study, as the goal is to get the primary details of the Biblical story into the mind and heart of the child. Reading directly from a translation accomplishes this too, though it requires a more concerted effort in the classroom to do so successfully.

7. The Story of the World series is readable and engaging. Having students read it throughout the year in conjunction with the other texts will help anchor their study to the historical moment. I don’t necessarily oppose the card systems popular through Veritas Press and Classical Conversations, but I can also attest that few students retain that information into their teenage years. I think reading Bauer’s books, and supplementing with the cards, will do a better job of furnishing the wardrobe of the child’s moral imagination.