These are the books that Z will read in the evening for fun for 1 hour and once he completes this list, he will choose his own to finish out the year.
These are the challenging morning books that Z will be reading for 45 minutes:
We're not required to do testing in Ohio but I like to see where my kids stand when it comes to these tests. I read that the 1970's CAT (California Achievement Test) is the best to use before they dumbed-down the testing, so we use that one. As you can see, Z is very advanced and the vocabulary was a bit antiquated, so he missed some - obviously that's the downside with using a test from 1970.
.png)
.png)
We purchase the tests through Academic Excellence and if you use my link, you can get $5 off of your first purchase of at least $10 minimum. If you use my link to get this discount, they also give me a $3 coupon to use for the next test I buy.
I did a post on our new history and how well it went for 4th grade. We are covering all years of history from ancient to modern using The Human Odyssey (THO), Story of the World (SOTW) and The Good and the Beautiful (TGAB). I already owned THO and SOTW, so I had all those and even PDF versions of the SOTW activity guides so I could print any pages my son was interested in doing.
I bought TGAB, all 4 years, because they were discontinuing it and I also wanted the games. I was also interested in trying out their historical fiction books and let me tell you - those are our absolute favorites! It is so disappointing that they discontinued printing the reprints of these great books but we went ahead and bought all the ones we wanted that were available and we are enjoying reading them as a family and I'm saving them for my future grandkids.
Here are links to some of the tools I used to combine these histories together:
Here are the plans for Z's 5th grade year:
Bible - Bible Study Guide for All Ages
We found the absolute best solution for Z and he now loves history! I had went through so many programs the past few years and most we just stopped early on because it was like pulling teeth. Then, I prayed and came up with something that worked so well for us for 4th grade that we are going to continue on with it through 7th grade (or whenever we finish it).
I combined The Human Odyssey with Story of the World and The Good and the Beautiful history. I have had The Human Odyssey for many years because I had planned to use it with my daughter but my hospitalizations and health got in the way and she ended up doing history on her own with Notgrass (which she loved). So, I already had the books, all 3 volumes and I tried starting it with Z and he, not only loved it, but he retained a large amount.
What we do is read 3-4 pages from The Human Odyssey and then another day he listens to SOTW audio while he follows along with the book. Then we do the maps and some activities but mostly, we use the book lists from SOTW as extra reading. I then incorporate TGAB and the book lists, along with videos on YT pertaining to whatever we are studying. It worked beautifully I must say! We finished up Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hebrews, China and India and will start in the fall with Ancient Greece and then Rome.
I will post a more detailed post soon hopefully with downloads that show how to combine all 3 of these curriculums if anyone is interested. It does take work and there is some repetitition but Z enjoyed hearing some things again in the other lessons.
These are the books that Z will be reading in his evening reading time for fun. These are at or below his reading level for enjoyment. If he finishes the first 11 books, I will be adding on to this list more later on in the school year.
This is Z's morning reading book list that he reads independently for 40 minutes daily. Most of these are simpler versions of the original works using the Stepping Stones and Classic Starts series.
Here are the plans for Z's 4th grade year:
Bible - Bible Study Guide for All Ages
Notes on Z progress and curriculum plans:
Z tested into the 7/6 Saxon Math book last fall but I had an uneasiness about skipping 2 math books, and Z cried and said he wanted to do 5/4 and 6/5 books, so we decided to do them. He rarely misses anything but he is enjoying going through the 5/4 book and should start the 6/5 book soon, so I'm thinking he can finish up the 6/5 and possibly the 7/6 book in 4th grade and start Algebra 1/2 in 5th grade.We made lapbooks for each continent, then Z read books about each, watched videos from Travel with Kids series using Amazon Prime and any we could find on YouTube and he also did a Geo-Puzzle of each continent. You can see Africa and Europe lapbooks and puzzles here.
These are books that Z reads for fun in the evening that are below his reading level. I will be adding to this list throughout the year. We are using the 1000 Good Books List and others we come across and like.
These are the books that Z is reading during his morning reading time, he'll be reading Classic Starts, Stepping Stones or Step Into Classics versions of some of the following:
We're utilizing Christian Kid's Explore Chemistry as our spine and fleshing it out with various books, videos and resources. I also have Adventures with Atoms and Molecules books for experiments and many library experiment books we will be trying out (not pictured).
Chemistry Outline of Categories
We are at the finish line! K is starting her last year of school and I can't believe we made it through all the challenges that came at us but with God, we made it! K has some things to finish up leftover from 11th, along with the following:
English IV - Writing exercises with Jump-In Writing; Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind; Book list
Honors Geometry/Trigonometry - Saxon Advanced Math first 90 lessons; Saxon Teacher CDs; Art Reed DVDs
Personal Finance - Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal finance high school course
Science - Chemistry/Physics 101 DVDs with required supplements for credits
Constitutional Law - Michael Farris' Constitutional Literacy DVD and workbook
Latin - Henle Latin
We decided to study countries by continent and Z chose Africa to learn about first. We made an African lapbook, then he read books about Africa, watched videos from Travel with Kids series using Amazon Prime and did a Geo-Puzzle of Africa and then we did Europe the same way.
We have found some awesome new books lately! It seems that more publishers are realizing that homeschooling is growing substantially and they're accommodating by coming out with some great materials.
Smithsonian has these Super Simple books and I got all 3. They are laid out very well and of course super simple. I find that these can work in any grade, though they are advertised as for grades 6-12. Adults will even find these valuable!
Z really loves these Ultimate pop-up books, he has looked through them countless times since getting them a few months ago:
Here are the plans for Z's 3rd grade year. We are adding in a lot this year - Latin, cursive, piano lessons, archery, architecture, woodworking and chess.
Bible - Bible Study Guide for All Ages
After finishing up Earth Science, we are moving on to Astronomy. I'm using 2 encyclopedias as my main spine and then fleshing them out with numerous books, videos, games and other fun extras! The spines are Usborne's First Encyclopedia of Space and DK's First Space Encyclopedia (my favorite one). I also have Christian Kid's Explore Earth & Space but it didn't have enough for Z.
I created an outline using the 2 spines (USB and DK) and divided the subject material into categories. Some of these are short and some are packed full of material, like space exploration and the solar system.
Astronomy Outline of Categories
 |
