Z's 5th Grade Evening Fun Book List

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.

1. The Moffats
2. Where the Red Fern Grows
3. The Chronicles of Narnia
4. Hatchet
5. Old Yeller
6. The Wizard of Oz
7. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
   
8. The Trumpet of the Swan
9. Pinocchio
10. Pippi Longstocking
11. Phantom Tollbooth
12. Babe: The Gallant Pig

Z's 5th Grade Independent Morning Reading Book List

These are the challenging morning books that Z will be reading for 45 minutes:

1. Herodotus and the Road to History
   
2. The Children's Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy
3. Archimedes and the Door of Science
4. Cleopatra
5. Galen and the Gateway to Medicine
6. Detectives in Togas
7. The Thieves of Ostia (audio)
   
8. Medieval Tales
9. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

*We're using Memoria Press study guide with King Arthur

Z's 5th Grade Botany

We decided to go with MasterBooks God's Design: Life for biology and started with botany in the first section, The World of Plants.  I added in YT videos, books and we did some of the activities in the curriculum as well.  I also used some lessons from The Good and the Beautiful Kingdoms and Classification and their Flower Study book and game.  We also read corresponding sections from the Smithsonian Visual Encyclopedia of the Plant Kingdom.  I think this is the absolute best book ever on botany for children, even for adults!

I love the 4D models and we thoroughly went over the plant and cell models.  We also did the carnivorous plants kit and it takes months for them to grow, so we are still waiting.  We also have a great place locally to learn about botany.  Since we did botany this past spring, we got to see a lot of the flowers bloom on the trees and seeds everywhere as well.

Z's 5th Grade Curriculum Plans

Here are the plans for Z's 5th grade year:

Bible - Bible Study Guide for All Ages

Reading - Assigned Book List; Fun Book List & Family Read-alouds

 

Math - Saxon Math 7/6

 

 

Grammar - Rod and Staff English 5; Our Mother Tongue

 

Writing - Killgallon's Sentence Composing & Paragraphs for Middle School; Writing and Rhetoric 3; Writing Strands (original edition)

 

Comprehension - Writing With Ease 3 & Abeka Read & Think Skill Sheets 5

 

Spelling - Spelling Workout G & H

 

Vocabulary - Wordly Wise (original edition); Memoria Press Roots of English

Logic - Building Thinking Skills Level 2 CD

 

Latin - Latina Christiana; Ludere Latine; Latin Cursive Copybook 

Greek - Memoria Press Elementary Greek I

 

 

Science - MasterBooks Life (Human body & Animals); Elementary Anatomy; Living Healthy

 

History - The Human Odyssey; Story of the World; The Good and the Beautiful

 

 

Art - Home Art Studio

 

Music - Piano lessons - Hoffman Academy

Z really progressed a lot this past year and he loves foreign language and wants to add in Spanish but I'm not sure I can do another foreign language when we have Latin and Greek going already BUT, he does do both of those by himself.  If I find he can do this next book of Greek by himself successfully, I will go ahead and add in a Spanish program.  He made me a list in order of languages he wants to learn: Latin, Greek, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Hebrew.  We actually have a local lady here that teaches homeschoolers Mandarin Chinese for a cost and I'm considering allowing him to do that in 6th grade.  He has an amazing ability with language and grammar is actually his favorite subject.  So, we will continue to follow his passions as we progress each year.

The Human Odyssey, SOTW and TGAB History

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.

Rush Revere American History Books

I hadn't heard about Rush Limbaugh's books on American history for children until about 2 weeks ago.  There are five books so far and they have challenges, activities, games and more on the http://reverefun.com/ website.

The main website is: http://rushrevere.com/ 

They also have a website for homeschoolers!  It has study guides and activity pages for each book that you can download for free: http://rushreverehomeschool.com/

We are due to the get the first book and audiobook and excited to see what everyone is talking about as many children rave about these books.

Logic Stage Outlining

Starting in the Logic Stage, which is grades 5-8, you will want to teach the child to outline.  The Well-Trained Mind explains why a slow progression of this is best as it prepares the child for high school.  Don't make it any more complicated than you should, it really is quite simple!

5th Grade - Begin to teach the child to outline once a week.  Explain that outlining is simply finding the main point (summary) in the paragraph.  You will want to choose a text from that week's history resources that the child read about the topic they found most interesting.  You will start using a text that contains 5-6 paragraphs, or one page.  Have the child take each paragraph, one at a time, and find the main point by answering the question, "What is the main thing or person and why is it or are they important?"

Example of one-level outline:

I.    Main point of 1st paragraph
II.   Main point of 2nd paragraph
III.  Main point of 3rd paragraph

6th Grade - Same as before but you add in subpoints under each main point, which are lettered A, B and so forth.  Use 2-4 subpoints under each main point it relates to.  Outline up to two pages.  To find the subpoints, simply write the additional information given that correlates with the main point.

Example of two-level outline:

I.    Main point of 1st paragraph
      A.  First supporting point
      B.  Second supporting point
II.  Main point of 2nd paragraph
      A.  First supporting point
      B.  Second supporting point
      C.  Third supporting point

7th Grade - Same as before and when the child has got down the two-level outline well, you can start adding in more supporting points.  These points are numbers (1, 2, etc.) that give details for the letters (A, B, etc.).  If the child isn't ready, they can hold off until the start of 8th grade.  Now the child outlines 2-3 pages.

Example of three-level outline:

I.    Main point of 1st paragraph
      A.  First supporting point
            1.  First subpoint
            2.  Second subpoint
      B.  Second supporting point
            1. First subpoint
            2. Second subpoint
II.  Main point of 2nd paragraph

8th Grade - Same as before but now outlining 3-4 pages and doing three-level outlines.

Example of three-level outline that sums it all up:

I.    Main point
      A.  Additional information about the main point.
            1.  Detail about that additional information

In The Well-Trained Mind, she states a simple question the child can ask themselves as they write the outline for supporting points - "What else is important to know in this paragraph?"  You can read the whole section on how to outline in the book on pages 297-301.

5th Grade History and Literature Read-Aloud List

Some of these are family read-a-louds and some are extra independent reading for K that pertain to what she is studying in history.  They are either factual books or literature.

*These books go along with Story of the World Volume 4

1.  The Visual Dictionary of the Civil War - DK
2.  Life in the West - True book
3.  Wild West - DK
4.  Korean Children's Favorite Stories - Kim
5.  Wagon Train: A Family Goes West in 1865 - Wright
6.  World War I - DK
7.  The Great Migration: An American Story - Lawrence
8.  Theodore Roosevelt: The Adventurous President - TIME
9.  Kids During the Great Depression - Wroble
10.  The 1900s Decade in Photos - Corrigan
11.  Stubby the War Dog - Bausum
12.  Old Yeller - Gipson
13.  Who is Anne Frank - Abramson
14.  

5th Grade Curriculum Index of Posts

Here is an index of posts of what we are using for 5th grade:

• Bible, Logic and Foreign Language
• Math, Writing, English and Spelling
• History and Science

5th Grade History & Science

For history we have took our time and are just now getting to Story of the World Volume 4.  I don't regret it though because we have read a LOT of extra books on all the different historical topics and it has been enjoyable.  I have some extra activities to go with this time of history, like a Civil War fun pack but didn't picture those.  We also plan on adding in a state history study and learning the states and capitals this year.

Science is one of those neglected subjects in our house but we finally made it to the last subject to complete our full-science learning - physics! We are using Elemental Science Physics that includes the Usborne encyclopedia, 2 biography books and some others pictured.  We are using K'nex Gears kit and Snap Circuits Lights as well.

5th Grade Math, Writing, English & Spelling

K is almost finished with Saxon Math 5/4 and will go right on to Saxon Math 6/5 by February and will most likely finish it before 6th grade.  I don't teach math, she loves using the Saxon Teacher and it has been working great for her! 

For writing, most of it is included in our English curriculum and she also writes a lot in history, science and reading but I may also add in Writing Strands Level 3.  For English (grammar), we are using Rod & Staff's English 5 Following the Plan. 

For spelling, we were going to go on to Spelling Workout D and finish it up but decided to buy the next level of All About Spelling - so we are finishing up All About Spelling Level 6 and then also doing Level 7.  Level 7 is high school level but K is ready for it and she loves this spelling program!  I haven't ordered Level 7 yet, so it isn't pictured.

5th Grade Bible, Logic and Foreign Language

For Bible, we are in the middle of Christian Studies II and may make it to the 3rd book before 5th grade ends, but I decided to plan the 3rd one for 6th grade. 

A new subject for 5th grade is Logic and we chose to go with a game, Building Thinking Skills Level 2, to ease K in to adding on another subject and she loves it! 

K is in her 2nd program for Latin - Latina Christiana I and then she is also adding in Spanish this year with La Clase Divertida Level 1.  I added Ludere Latine games that go along with the lessons in Latina Christiana I.

5th Grade Writing

I shared our 5th Grade curriculum choices in this post and you may have noticed that we do not have a writing curriculum.  We were going to do Writing With Ease 4 but after Susan Wise Bauer's updated recommendations, we decided to forego WWE 4.  We were almost done with Writing With Ease 3 and both of us were really done with the dictations but we kept pressing on through the pain of them.  I ended up giving K the evaluation in the back and she passed with flying colors, so I knew that she was ready to move on.  I also didn't see a need to do the next level because it was just more of the dictation but in paragraph lengths and that made us both cringe!  However, K loves reading the little snippets of stories out of WWE 3, so we may still do those.

So, I knew I wasn't going to do the WWE 4 book but what would I do now for writing for 5th grade?  As I was re-reading the Logic Stage section of The Well Trained Mind, that is when I saw it:

"If you choose to use Rod & Staff, the composition exercises provided can fulfill the middle-grade student's need for a writing program."

I think I heard a choir singing the Hallelujah chorus (in my head of course) - little did I know that we already had our writing covered with our grammar book: Rod & Staff English!  I quickly got it out and saw that it taught outlining, paragraph formation and all that good stuff - awesome!  Then, I also realized that K gets dictation in spelling right now anyway and she will be writing narrations from books she reads and in history and science.  Enough - I have to tell myself that IS enough, she doesn't need a fancy, shiny new writing curriculum - we got the bases covered throughout the curriculum we are using.

I do eventually want to use the Institute for Excellence in Writing's program but for 5th grade we got it covered!

5th Grade Curriculum for Logic Stage

I finally finished planning out our 5th grade year and this is the year we start the logic stage of classical education.  There are few new subjects - Logic and Spanish, so I decided to use DVD programs for this to ease into the extra work.  I will do a more detailed post of each subject when we get the materials!

The only subject I'm teaching is Bible!  I will be helping her with history and science if she needs it but for the most part, she will be on her own this year.

*I've updated this since posting with some changes.

Bible - Memoria Press Christian Studies II

Logic - Critical Thinking Company Building Thinking Skills 2 Software

Math - Saxon 6/5 with Saxon Teacher

Language Arts
     Reading - Well Trained Mind book list
     English - Rod and Staff English 5
     Spelling - All About Spelling 6 & 7

Foreign Language
     Latin - Latina Christiana I with DVD teacher
     Spanish - La Clase Divertida 1

History - Story of the World 4 & State history

Science - Elemental Science Physics
  
Extras
     Art - Home Art Studio DVDs; Artistic Pursuits
     Music - Story of the Orchestra; Composer Studies; Beethoven Who
     Home Economics - Pearables Home Economics


You may be wondering where writing is, well according to the recommendations in The Well Trained Mind, if you are doing Rod and Staff English, you don't need an additional writing curriculum as it teaches writing (outlining, paragraphs, etc.).  K will also be writing across the curriculum with her own narrations in literature, history and science.