[Science curriculum for 3rd and 5th grade]

Hi!  I am on the hunt for a great science curriculum for both my 3rd and 5th grade students that we can do together (if possible).  I recently purchased Chemistry for the Logic Stage, but it looks way too hard for their ages.  Any recommendations?  We are starting our 3rd year of homeschooling, so I am still trying to figure it out a bit (especially with the logic stage thrown into it now).  Thank you so much!  Heather

[Treating literature as read-aloud time]

10 hours ago, Lori D. said:

In fact, reading aloud for as long as possible is the very OPPOSITE of "harm" -- it is one of the best ways to develop a child's brain, esp. listening, processing, memory, and critical thinking skills. We read our literature along through high school -- and even a few books when DSs were in college. You're NEVER too old for family read aloud of good books! 😄

Also -- the WTM is meant as a very general *guide*, with the expectation that each person *adapts* to fit THEIR unique children and circumstances. The author, Susan Wise-Bauer, has often said this, to free people up from feeling they must do everything the way she suggests in the book, or for as long, or with the materials mentioned in her book.

 🧚‍♀️ ::ting!:: <--- homeschooling fairy has just tapped you on the head with her magic wand, freeing you to go forth and homeschool in the way that works for YOU! 😄

I love the homeschooling fairy!!  🙂  Thank you!!

[Treating literature as read-aloud time]

9 hours ago, royspeed said:

Middleton07:

I wouldn't recommend relying exclusively on read-aloud. — Your kids are still quite young, so there's absolutely nothing to feel alarmed about. Still, there are benefits to your kids' doing significant amounts of reading on their own, and even during your read-aloud sessions, it helps if they can see the page, follow the words as you read. 

I've been teaching writing and literature for many years, and my wife and I have reared/homeschooled two children of our own. For what it's worth, here's my take on this issue:

It's about their future as writers.
Children learn their first, most important writing lessons not in a writing class — not through conscious attention to writing skills — but through the act of reading. — The act of listening and processing sounds into meaning is useful, but I would recommend that you distinguish in your own mind 

1. listening to a text;
2. reading to oneself — and I mean the solo, visual act of engaging with black text on a white page and silently translating those characters into words and sounds, thence into images and ideas and events and people and personalities.

Processing words in audio form is just not the same challenge and doesn't yield the same benefits, some of which I'll explain below.

"Written English" is a slightly different language than "Spoken English."
To illustrate: Reading is our only exposure to punctuation. Without reading, in other words, we would have no concept of commas, periods, colons, and so on. In your kids' solo reading, they become accustomed to seeing punctuation used correctly, and they will begin the years-long process of internalizing the complex rules of punctuation. 

A similar thing is true for capitalization, which doesn't exist in audio-English, and for the correct use and placement of apostrophes. Remember that apostrophes are used in two ways:

• To show possession. Bear in mind that in the purely audio version of English, there is no distinction among words like countries, country’s, or countries’; in sound, all three words are identical. It is only through encountering such distinctions over and over, thousands and thousands of times, that children begin to internalize the logic of the apostrophe and possession.
• To form contractions. In audio-English, there is no distinction between who’s and whose, it’s and its, they’re and their, and so on; kids first learn these distinctions not in a grammar class, but through the simple act of reading the written word. 
      Also, have you noticed that students today will frequently write things like: I would of been there if I'd been invited...? — Ever wonder how a construction like "would of" gets started? — I suspect that it comes about through a dearth of reading; in other words, it sounds right, and most important, it doesn't look wrong.  

I could go on — as a teacher of writing and as a homeschooling dad, I have a lot to say on this subject — but I've already written a lot. Suffice to say that our kids, through their reading, get accustomed to ingesting information in the form of complete, written sentences, with all the right punctuation in the right places, all the capital letters in the right places, correct use of apostrophes, and much more. And I'm a firm believer that a steady diet of complete, written sentences (through reading) results in our kids' internalizing the written version of the language. That internalizing of Written English is a big part of enabling them to produce Written English themselves—that is, write. 

Hope this is helpful, Middleton07.

—Roy Speed

 

Hi, Roy!  

Thank you for your thoughtful response.  I couldn't agree with you more!  Independent reading is crucial.  I have a writing background, as well (majored in English, wrote for a living as a lawyer, taught legal writing in law school).  I definitely agree with you that it is important for kids to read.  Absolutely.  Thankfully, my kids read a ton.  They each read at least 120 books over this school year, and collectively we read over 450 books.  I just wanted to see if other's would agree with me that continuing to read our literature-time books out loud would be ok, since we enjoy our read-alouds so much.  It is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling.  We just finished our 2nd year of homeschooling, and I have really relied on the WTM for recommendations.  I am happy to see that others on here think it is fine to continue to do it this way.  🙂  Thanks again for taking the time to respond.  Have a great day!

[Treating literature as read-aloud time]

Thank you all so much!  This makes my heart happy!  🙂  

[Treating literature as read-aloud time]

4 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

No, there isn't. 🙂
 

Thank  you!!  🙂 

[Treating literature as read-aloud time]

Hello!  

I have a rising 3rd and 5th grader.  Over the last 2 years, I have treated our literature time as read-aloud time.  Basically, I would use the literature recommendations in our history activity book  and read them aloud to our children during "literature" time.  Honestly, these are some of our favorite times during the school day.  The kids ask for it, even when it is not "literature" time.  According to the Well-Trained Mind book (that I am going through again to prepare for next year), both 3rd and 5th graders should be reading their literature books themselves.  They will already be having 3 periods of other "fun" independent reading throughout the week, in addition to history books, science books, etc.  I am wondering if it is ok to keep reading our literature selections out loud together, since we enjoy it so much.  Is there any harm?  Thank you!      

[Starting in the middle with 4th grader]

Hello, friends,

We just finished our first year of homeschooling with our 1st and 3rd grader.  For history, I started at the beginning for both of them by studying the ancients.  For next year (well, next month), we are moving on to the middle ages.  I am planning on having my 4th grader learn about the middle ages, along with my younger one (with some extra work, of course).  My question is about memorization and geography.  We do not have the requirement in our state that he learn a particular subject in history for 4th grade.  Would you have your 4th grader stick with memorization work relating to the historical period that we are learning (middle ages), or have him learn the memorization work recommended in the book (which relate to the modern era) - learn the 50 states, Preamble to the Constitution, etc.  What about geography?  Should we start geography this year and count it as part of his 3 hours of history, or make it an additional time?  I noticed that it recommended that 4th graders spend several weeks studying the history of our state.  Is this still recommended, even if we have not made it to the modern era, yet?  I know this is a lot of questions!  Hahaha!  In a nutshell, how would you tailor this 4th grader's history time?  Thank you!!  

[Advice for teaching gifted child]

Thank you all so very much for your advice.  My plan is to continue to teach him the way that we have - moving at his pace.  It has been great.  Although he started with 3rd grade level books, we moved on to 4th grade level when he was ready this year.  I thoroughly believe that homeschooling is the best option for him.  My real question, I guess, is if anyone has used any programs like Duke TIP, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, or another such program that really helped them in giving their gifted little ones some extra fun challenges with kids similar to them.  I think programs like this may be a helpful supplement to homeschooling for a lot of reasons.  Does anyone have any experience with a particular program?  Any that you would recommend?  Thank you, everyone!!  

[Advice for teaching gifted child]

Hello, fellow homeschoolers,

I just finished testing my first year of homeschooling (using the Well-Trained Mind), and we decided to give our children a standardized test to see how they were progressing.  Our rising 4th grader took the IOWA and CogAT.  He tested in the top 4% on the IOWA and in the top 1% on the CogAT.  I was floored, but not shocked.  I feel that I now have a new challenge to figure out how to teach this gifted child in a way that will challenge him the way that he needs.  We live in the Atlanta area, but I am looking for programs here or online that may give him some new challenges (like Duke TIP).  Does anyone have any advice?