Scheduling "The Story of Inventions" Second Edition

My book, which is the second edition of “The Story of Inventions“, does not match the Ambleside Online schedule. I have 2 extra chapters, and the order of my chapters is different. (The book is also called “Great Inventors and Their Inventions”. The author is Frank P. Bachman.)

Another person had the same issue, and made a forum post. But no one seemed to have an alternate schedule. Last year with my eldest we just read straight through, in a willy-nilly fashion. I decided for my next child, who will read independently, I needed to be more orderly, so I matched the second edition up to AO’s 36 week schedule.

AO’s schedule & order with second edition chapter numbers:
  • Ch 1 (2) James Watt and the Steam Engine
  • Ch 17 (3) Robert Fulton and the Steamboat
  • Ch 18 (2) George Stephenson and the Locomotive
  • Ch 2 (2) Invention of the Electric Engine and Electric Locomotive
  • Ch 5 (2) Invention of the Spinning Machines
  • Ch 6 (2) Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin
  • Ch 7 (3) Elias Howe and the Sewing Machine
  • Ch 8 (2) Cyrus McCormick and the Reaper
  • Ch 9 (3) Henry Bessemer and the Making of Steel
  • Ch 11 (2) John Gutenberg and the Printing Press
  • Ch 12 (2) Samuel Morse and the Telegraph
  • Ch 13 (2) Alexander Graham Bell and the Telephone
  • Ch 3 (1) Thomas Edison and the Electric Light
  • Ch 19 (1) The Wright Brothers and the Airplane
  • Ch 14 (1) Nikola Tessla, Guglielmo Marconi, and the Radio
  • Ch 15 (1) John Baird and the Television
  • Ch 20 (1) John Holland and the Submarine
  • Ch 21 (1) Goddard, Von Braun, and Rockets to the Moon
  • Ch 16 (1) The Invention of the Computer
  • Ch 4 (Not Scheduled) Enrico Fermi and the Atomic Age
  • Ch 10 (Not Scheduled) Henry Ford and the Automobile
Ambleside Online has this book scheduled over 34 weeks, and only 2 (relatively) short chapters are left out. Which should have been simple. Unfortunately, going in book order broke chapter 7 about Elias Howe over Christmas break, and caused chapter 13 on Alexander Graham Bell to be split between terms as well. To fix that I allowed two weeks for chapter 7, instead of three weeks.

Second edition, in book order, over 35 weeks.
  1. TERM ONE (weeks 1-2) James Watt and the Steam Engine
  2. (weeks 3-4) Invention of the Electric Engine and Electric Locomotive
  3. (week 5) Thomas Edison and the Electric Light
  4. (week 6)  Enrico Fermi and the Atomic Age
  5. (weeks 7-8) Invention of the Spinning Machines
  6. (weeks 9-10) Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin
  7. (weeks 11-12) Elias Howe and the Sewing Machine (This chapter was originally spread over 3 weeks.)
  8. TERM TWO (weeks 13-14) Cyrus McCormick and the Reaper
  9. (weeks 15-17) Henry Bessemer and the Making of Steel
  10. (week 18) Henry Ford and the Automobile
  11. (weeks 19-20) John Gutenberg and the Printing Press
  12. (weeks 21-22) Samuel Morse and the Telegraph
  13. (weeks 23-24) Alexander Graham Bell and the Telephone
  14. TERM THREE (week 25) Nikola Tessla, Guglielmo Marconi, and the Radio
  15. (week 26) John Baird and the Television
  16. (week 27) The Invention of the Computer
  17. (weeks 28-30) Robert Fulton and the Steamboat
  18. (weeks 31-32) George Stephenson and the Locomotive
  19. (week 33) The Wright Brothers and the Airplane
  20. (week 34) John Holland and the Submarine
  21. (week 35) Goddard, Von Braun, and Rockets to the Moon
I hope this can help someone. Of course, this isn’t as nice as AO’s schedule, where stopping places are marked. Usually a quick glance through the chapter headings will make a stopping place apparent, Since my second son tends to read quickly, like his mother, I’ll probably place an over-sized sticky note to remind him to stop.
I’m almost done customizing the AO grid schedules for next year, I just have to put the finishing touches on David’s schedule. I am so thankful that AO has their schedules both as a list and a grid. I find both formats helpful.

4 Comments

  1. KayPelham

    Thank you for this. I just have to remember this is here when our book gets here in the mail. I don’t know what version we will have. I purposely bought a hard copy rather than read the online version because of the last chapters that aren’t available online. I’m just sitting here on the doorstep waiting for all our lovely books to arrive 🙂

    Reply
  2. Amy

    Oh, I love it when books show up! I bought the hard-copy for the same reason, I knew DS would want to know about the making of rockets and computers.

    Reply
  3. Harmony Moore

    Thank you for taking the time to post this. I’m plugging your second list into our schedule now. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Kim Dow

    I was wondering the reason for the Ambleside order, rather than just going in order of the new edition. Knowing Ambleside, I guessed chronology, and after checking a few dates, that is mostly how it goes. So, even though it’s a bit confusing to keep jumping around, I think I’ll stick with the inventions that will match up with the history schedule (or at least close). Thank you so much for the work you put into this!

    Reply

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