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I'm a wife to my "Mr. Right". A momma of five. A maker of slow food and simple living. A collector of memories, a keeper of books, and a champion for books that make memories. An addict who likes my half-and-half with a splash of coffee. A fractured pot transformed by the One Who makes broken things beautiful. I heart homeschooling, brake for libraries, and am glad you're here with me on the journey! Be sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter. Or, follow along with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google +, Youtube, or Pinterest.

5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Homeschool curriculum choices for a 5th grader

This boy of mine. He's small in stature, but big in mind. To use a phrase from my dad's lexicon, "He's a smart cookie, that one!" And he is. He's 9 and should be in 4th grade, but he's in fifth (or so it says on his annual reporting form that I have to send in to the district office) and he does 6th grade math. He's not a genius. He's just a boy that has been granted permission to learn at his own pace. Since I don't homeschool with grade levels, he's never been held back by common core standards or the local school's scope-and-sequence. 


Here's what he'll be learning this year.
(Items with an asterisk indicate a new-to-us resource. Because we don't homeschool on Tuesdays, all subjects will be completed four times a week unless otherwise indicated.)


(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)


Content-rich subjects

As in year's past, he will do a lot of his content-rich subjects like Morning timehistory, world geography, science, art, and composer study with the rest of the family. You can see all of those subjects and curriculum choices here>>>

Personal Devotions- everyday


Language

  • LLATL The Purple Book- I was so impressed with this very book when I did it with my oldest son last year and am looking forward to doing a replay of it with his younger brother this coming school year. (Use coupon code unlikelyhomeschool at checkout to get 15% off your entire purchase from Common Sense Press, the makers of LAHTL.)
  • Finish All About Spelling Level 4 and move on to Level 5.
  • Read for pleasure every day.
  • Read the following books that correspond with the LLATL Purple Book. (He's already read two of the four titles that are recommended in the Book Study sections of the Purple Book. Since the book studies are not necessary elements of the program, I plan to just skip those two books. But he will read these other two...)
Farmer Boy
Caddie Woodlawn  
  • If he's not currently working through an LLATL suggested book, he will read a chapter from a book that I assign to him. These will be classics, biographies, or exceptional fiction.


Math


Handwriting/Copywork

Electives

World View- 1x a week

  • Boyhood & Beyond- One day a week, instead of reading his normal Mom-assigned book, he will read a chapter from this book out loud to me. His older brother read it two years ago and still counts it as one of the best books he's ever read.

Critical Thinking- 1x a week


Typing- 1x a week

  • He will continue to be a child-of-the-day and help me with lunch and dinner once a week. 
  • Sweep the entire house after lunch.
  • Empty the dishwasher each day.
  • Wash the windows as needed. 
  • Sort the laundry with his younger brother as needed.
  • Put his own clean laundry away each week.
  • Dust the house on big-chore days with his younger brothers.
  • Help clean the boys' room and make his bed each day.

Piano

  • lesson 1x a week
  • practice 5x a week

In the messy middle of the homeschool day, I'll expect to find him surrounded by Legos, making Stop-Motion videos, and racing hot rods around the living room floor. It's who he is. It's what he does.

12 comments:

  1. Something I noticed is missing is science. I'd love to know your thoughts there- what your doing/not doing and why. Science is one thing I often feel guilty about missing (experiments, etc.) because it is something that I enjoyed so much growing up and I know my own children would enjoy if we worked more often at. Apologia is our main science but of course, natural, interest-led science learning is pretty prevalent as well. But, usually it is done basically by reading books. Not much hands-on. :-(

    Coincidentally, our children are the same ages so I really, REALLY love your insights/curriculum choices/book lists and recommendations because they so perfectly align with the ages/genders of my own children. Thanks for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. Science is one of the content-rich subjects. You can follow that link and see what we'll be doing. I tend to make my own path for science. Some years it's a hit and others, it's a miss. But, my kids read so much that I know that if I miss something, they'll pick it up on their own in their own reading time.

      Glad to know my suggestions are helpful. I'm always eager to hear the recommendations of others, so if you've got any, I'm all ears!

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  2. How do you like the Mind Benders? There are so many different choices for logic / critical thinking books!

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    Replies
    1. We like them and have used them for years. They're open-n-go and quick.

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  3. How early would you switch to LLATL? I am currently homeschooling 2 boys, 1 is 9 and is doing 4th grade this year, the other is 5 doing K and 1st and will go into 2nd grade next year.

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    Replies
    1. I personally wouldn't put any child into a grammar program until about third grade, or whenever they have become a solid independent reader. Up until that point, phonics/reading is the most important skill to work on.

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  4. Is there a new link for Handwriting/Copywork
    Character Handwriting Cursive?

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    Replies
    1. I know that Rainbow Resources sells them. You can find those here>>>https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/7646/Character-Handwriting.html

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  5. Can a student use the purple book (with the teacher guide) pretty independently? Or does the parent have to be heavily involved?

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    Replies
    1. I think they could use it independently, but it's not designed for that. There are some sections of explanatory info that are not included in the student book.

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