PNEU Programme 94 Form I Book List

PNEU Programme 94 Book List Form I #charlottemason

When I was in high school, I somehow managed to get an entire class period in the school library where I did some simple tasks for a 4th grade teacher. Not only did I get class credit for this period, oftentimes I was done with the work in fifteen minutes and was able to spend the rest of the time perusing the books on the shelves.

My school was tiny and not particularly wealthy. Despite the fact that it was a private school, we didn’t have much. This meant that where other libraries might get rid of a book due to age, our library kept older tomes on the shelves, making liberal use of packing tape on any repairs they might need. In some cases, this wasn’t the best idea, and the books probably should’ve been disposed of or sent to someone who knew more about book repair. But in a few cases, especially for books that weren’t particularly popular, I was amazed at the condition in which they had been kept, some for over 100 years.

There is also something special about reading words that at least a few generations have read before me. I appreciate the wisdom and glimpse at a different time and thinking (in most cases) that many of them have to offer.

Today I thought I might share a little glimpse at the books the Form I students in the PNEU schools of 1922 were reading. PNEU Programme 94, which lists the books and resources each Form would be using over the course of the term, was the last one published before Ms. Mason’s death in early 1923 and, as my friend Dawn puts it, it’s the last Programme “we know of from Charlotte Mason’s life.” As I’m still a baby in the Charlotte Mason world, I found this list fascinating when it was brought to my attention and the bibliophile in me was immediately inspired to find these old tomes, some of which were familiar and others not so much.

I want to preface the list by saying that I’m posting it purely for informational purposes and not so anyone feels pressured to use these exact books in their own homeschool. At around the same time I was introduced to this Programme, I was in the process of trying to find a good drawing book for us to use during our lesson time that was instructional but not rigid, overly-ambitious, or far too complicated. When I saw What To Draw and How to Draw It listed in the Programme, I looked it up on Archive.org and found that it was exactly what I was looking for. While this is definitely not the case for every book listed below, I think it’s interesting to look at the style and kinds of books they were using for different subjects and use that information when considering what to use in our own school time.

Each title is linked to an online version of that particular book, if I have been able to find one. I also included the name of the author and publisher as listed in the Programme. And I have linked to a modern reprint, if available. Yesterday’s Classics has done a wonderful job of publishing high-quality reprints of classics and I have been pleased with every single book I’ve purchased from them. More recently, Living Book Press is also printing classic books. If you are looking for a book used in the PNEU schools that’s not listed below, I’d highly recommend checking out these two publishers to see if they offer that title. And if you see any modern reprints that I’ve left out, please let me know!

PNEU Programme 94 Form I Book list

Bible Lessons

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	Joshua and Judges	J. Paterson Smyth	SPCK	Yesterday’s Classics
AB	Bible Atlas		SPCK	SPCK*
AB	Children’s Book of Prayers	S. B. Macy	Longmans
A	A Book of Golden Deeds	Charlotte Yonge		Pinnacle Press
B	Parables from Nature	Margaret Gatty		Living Book Press, Yesterday’s Classics
B	The Child’s Book of Saints			Pinnacle Press
AB	Sidelights on the Bible	Brightwen
AB	*The Wonderful Prayer*	G. Hollis

* This is not the same version mentioned in the Programme but a modern version from the same publisher.

Writing

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*A New Handwriting*	M. M. Bridges		Scholar’s Choice

Tales

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
A	*Pilgrim’s Progress*			Penguin
B	*Andersen’s Fairy Tales*		Oxford Press or Dent	Leather-Bound Classics
B	*Grimm’s Fairy Tales*		Oxford Press or Dent	Knickerbocker Classics
B	*Aesop’s Fables*		Murray	Wentworth Press

English History

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*Our Island Story*	E. H. Marshall	Jack	Living Book Press, Yesterday’s Classics
A	*Tales From Canterbury*	Frewen Lord	Sampson Low	Amazon

Geography

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*Ambleside Geography*
A	*Atlas of Comparative Geography*	Philips
B	*The World at Home*		Nelson	Andesite Press
B	*How the World Travels*	A. Methley	Gardner Darton	Palala Press

Natural History

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*The Changing Year*	F. M. Haines	Wadsworth
AB	*Countryside Rambles*	W. S. Furneaux	Philip	Yesterday’s Classics
AB	*A Nature Study Guide*	W. S. Furneaux	Longmans	Yesterday’s Classics
A	*Birdland Stories*	O. Pike	R. T. S.
A	*Insect Life*		Cassell	Yesterday’s Classics
A	*Tommy Smith’s Animals*	E. Selous	Methuen	Yesterday’s Classics
B	*Plant Life in Field and Garden*	Fisher	Cassell	Yesterday’s Classics
B	*Tommy Smith at the Zoo*		Methuen	Yesterday’s Classics

Sums

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*The Teaching of Mathematics to Young Children*	I. Stephens
AB	*New Concrete Arithmetic*	Pendlebury	Bell
A	*New Junior Arithmetic*	Bompas Smith	Methuen

French

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
A	*La Livre Rouge*		Blackie
A	*French Fables in Action*	V. Partington	Dent	Yesterday’s Classics
B	*Illustrated French Primer*	Henry Bué	Hatchette & Co.
B	*The Children’s Entente Cordiale*	L. M. Oyler	Jack

Brushdrawing

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*What To Draw and How To Draw It*		Skeffington & Son	Living Book Press

Recitations

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
A	*The Fairy Green*	R. Fyleman	Methuen
B	*Recitations for Little Children*	G. H. Tuffley

Reading

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
B	*The Children’s Letter Box*	E. Tetley	Jackson & Son
B	*Dickory Dickory Dock: The Children’s Reading Box*	E. Tetley	Jackson & Son
B	*The Happy Reader*	E. L. Young	Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.
B	*Puss in Boots*		Blackie

Music

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*Child Pianist*		Curwen & Son
AB	*Teacher’s Guide*			Forgotten Book s

Singing

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*French Songs*	Violet Partington	Dent
AB	*French Rounds and Nursery Rhymes*		Augener
A	*Ten Minutes’ Lessons in Sight-Singing*		Curwen & Son
A	*The National Song Book*	ed. C. V. Stanford	Boosey & Co
B	*The Joyous Book of Singing Games*	John Hornby	Arnold
B	*Songtime*	ed. Percy Dearmer	Curwen

Drill

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*The Joyous Book of Singing Games*	John Hornby	Arnold
AB	*Rhythmic Games and Dances*	Florence Hewitt	Longmans	Scholar Select
AB	*Syllabus of Physical Exercises*		Eyre & Spottiswoode	Forgotten Books
AB	*British Marches for Schools*

Work

Form	Title	Author	Publisher	Modern Reprint
AB	*The Little Girl’s Gardening Book*		Mills & Boon
AB	*Little Girl’s Sewing Book*		R. T. S.
AB	*The Little Girl’s Knitting Book**		R. T. S.
AB	*What shall we make?*	M. La Trobe Foster	C. M. S.
A	*Paper Modelling*	M. Swannell	Philip & Son	Living Library Press
B	*Paper Folding*	H. G. Paterson	P. N. E. U.

* This may be a mistake. There is another book by the same author as the Little Girl’s Sewing Book under the title, The Little Girl’s Knitting and Crochet Book.

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7 Comments

Dawn Tull says:

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Here are a couple of additions to your links:
Charlotte Mason Poetry had just started transcribing The Changing Year by Haines. The January chapter is here: http://charlottemasonpoetry.org/a-walk-in-january/ (subsequent chapters will be released monthly during 2020).
The Teaching of Mathematics to Young Children by Irene Stephens is also now available as a free download from CMP (http://charlottemasonpoetry.org/the-teaching-of-mathematics-to-young-children/).

1. Rebecca says:
  
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  Thanks, Dawn! I wasn’t aware of The Changing Year being up.
  
2. Rebecca says:
  
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  I also updated the link for The Teaching of Mathematics to Young Children – thank you!
  
Jen @ Bookish Family says:

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After seeing this, I really wanted to check out the Joyous Book of Singing Games but I hate how Hathi Trust only allows you to download one page at a time. I asked Google Books to re-evaluate whether the book was in the public domain (since Hathi Trust determined it was and their source was Google!) and they quickly did. Here it is in all its download-able glory https://books.google.com/books?id=3YYWAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q&f=false

1. Rebecca says:
  
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  Jen, this is wonderful! Thank you! I have updated the link! 🙂
  
Nathan Brothers says:

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I think the book that you have listed under the Work header as “The Little Girl’s Gardening Book” is likely the book “A Little Girl’s Gardening Book” by Randolph Selina which was published by Mills & Boon Limited in 1913. (I don’t own a copy, but there’s one for sale in Dorset (see: https://www.abebooks.com/Little-Girlapos-Gardening-Book-RANDOLPH-SELINA/31456972103/bd)

1. Rebecca says:
  
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  Thank you, Nathan! I will look into that one!