Grade 5 is Following the Plan.

I have the Usborne and Kingfisher Encyclopedias recommended in the 2nd WTM book. Would one of those still be sufficient to have my child use as outlining this coming year? What are you using?

So, you all would have the 5th grader listen along with SOTW, do narrations on his own and then read and outline the encyclopedia? In the WTM it doesn't have the 5-8th grader doing SOTW anymore, but doing more research and reading on topics read in the encyclopedia. Anyone else have any input?

I'm very interested in doing WTM history, science, literature and the writing SWB recommends with them for 5th grade. Do I just need to have my 5th grader do his own history and science rather than trying to combine them with my 1st and 3rd graders next year? How do you do this? I'm afraid that my 5th grader will feel left out. We will be reading SOTW, coloring pages, maps and narrations together. I think that for him to do all of that plus 5th grade history would be too much for him. How should I transition him to doing more on his own, rather than with us?

Apologia is coming out with Notebooks for younger children this summer/fall. So you may want to wait on those until then, since your children are young! Subscribe to the Yahoo group for more information!

Edited: I deleted my notes. I'm feeling like I'm reproducing SWB's talk without her permission. So, while they were only my notes, I didn't feel comfortable. I'll just say the talk is worth the $3.99!!

I now have a plan for 5th grade writing next year. I cannot say how excited I am to get started! It is going to take a bit more planning than opening up a writing curricula, but this flows so much more with our other readings than a disjointed writing assignment. Thanks again!

So, I could use Atelier for art instruction and then just do a CM type picture and music study. Do you know if there is anywhere to view a sample of the art instruction from Atelier? I can't see anywhere on their site to view a sample. Also, is there site the best place to purchase? And, what do you think I would start with to combine my ages of children?

I have 3 children that will be in 5th, 3rd and 1st grades. I'm looking for an art program for next year. I like idea of Time Travelers because it has more than just art included. Yet, does it teach art techniques and "how to"? Atelier looks good too, but is only art instruction? Can you tell me pros/cons of each curriculum? Is one or the other better for my ages of children? We really haven't done much art instruction at all. We have done some art appreciation, but that is about it! Any help would be appreciated!

Update: The couple really likes our house and is very interested. The realtor said that the couple has one child and is unable to have more, so our house *may* be a bit bigger than they need (2000 sq. ft). They are looking at one more house. The realtor said he would call them by Friday if he hasn't heard anything. The realtor said we had "staged" the home well, and would make wonderful sellers. :D He may say that to everyone, but it made me feel good nonetheless! I think a downer to our home is that all of the bedrooms are on the 2nd floor. The master does have a master bath, but it isn't the big suite that most houses have separate from the other bedrooms, KWIM? It has worked for our family, and I love being close to the kids while they are little, but not everyone may view it that way! Sooooo, just more waiting!!!!! I'm *so* good at that! :tongue_smilie:

Soooo, we had a house showing tonight. Our house isn't for sale though! The Realtor called me Saturday night (we had spoken with him in the fall about possibly selling, but decided not to) and said someone is very interested in moving to our subdivision, is ready to buy and likes our home. Could he show it? Dh and I said yes, thinking this might be God moving. We would, maybe, like to move out on 3-5 acres with a bit bigger home. So, I massively cleaned and purged Monday through today. I even called in my mom and MIL to help. The folks went through the house tonight. The Realtor left a message saying to call him. I'm waiting for dh to get out of church to call. So, what's your guess? They like it? They hate it??????? The waiting is KILLING me!!!!!!!

Wendi - Are you doing an entire year of MC plus grammar? Or, only one semester of MC and adding grammar?

bump (I'm really curious about this and am headed to bed soon.... I'll sleep so much better if I have an answer, lol)

I attended the Cincinnati convention this year and it was *wonderful*. I plan to attend every year!

Thank you for all of your help last week. You all gave me many wonderful suggestions! I have been praying and talking with dh and friends. Here is my plan to make the rest of this year and next year better: This year: just finish our math books, read history and science, ditch Classical Writing (yay!), stop Latin and SWR for the year I'm also starting a weekly retreat - 3 hours or so by MYSELF to pray, look at my schedule, and plan for the coming week. Or, maybe just to chill if that is what I need. :) I had my first one this week and it was great! Next year: move to a 4 day a week schedule, the month of December and June doing a "light" schedule - music, art, games, life skills. That will give me 144 days of core work the rest of the year. I'm also going to drop Classical Writing (leaning towards Meaningful Composition). My other idea is to do history 1 day week, science 1 day week, and geography 1 day week. And, not to cram an entire week's worth of those subjects into a day, but to only do 1 day a week. If we don't get through every. single. page/book in Biblioplan or Apologia that will be OK. Drop SWR for my older boys and go with Simply Spelling dictation. I'm so excited again about school! Thank you, thank you everyone!

I'm a little confused from what is written on their website. If I use only 1 semester of the year I need to add grammar, but I don't if I use an entire year? Is that correct? Or, do I want to do both semesters *and* grammar?

Thank you for this post! I have a lot of new ideas to ponder. :)

Lovedtodeath - LOL that you talked to me about this before!! :) The sad part is that I'm still in the same place. I do take fish oil and Vit. D, and that may help some. Thanks for the information and reminder about the raw cacao powder.

I'm thinking about dropping Spell to Write and Read and Classical Writing. I would switch to Simply Spelling or Spelling Wisdom, marking the words SWR way, and being more relaxed about it. I'm looking at switching writing to IEW's theme based books for my 5th grader next year, and the youngers going to WWE. Will switching really help our day be less teacher intensive? Or, do we just need to keep plugging away at these things? I've done SWR from the beginning, and would keep doing it with my kids when they are K-2nd grade. I just started Classical Writing this year, but it hasn't been easy for me or my son. He can re-write the stories, but I don't know if they are good re-writes or not. The grammar in CW is very confusing to us b/c they're aren't answers. :) It just says "mark all the nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositional phrases..." and so on. I just haven't switched our basic curricula: spelling/phonics, math, and CW is my first writing curriculm. (Well, I did use WWE last year and liked it, it just wasn't out at my oldest ds' level so I switched to CW and next year he will be in 5th and too old for it). I'm not fond of curriculum jumping and can see it can just cause problems. But, could it really be helpful too?

How do you use the raw cacao powder? I've used it in the past, but kind of forgot about it.

If you see my post below, I'm searching for... something. I'm not sure if I need different curricula or a different way to go about what I'm using. What is "relaxed homeschooling"? How does it look? I need to relax and have more fun in school, but it feels hard to do with Spell to Write and Read, Classical Writing and Latin. :)

You can see below what we are trying to do. I'm having a terrible year. We never get to History,Science, Art, Music. We are trying to do the basics and that is it. I'm miserable. My kids aren't behaving well or enjoying school. It is just endured. My house is falling apart and I can't seem to accomplish much of anything. We don't get through the basics every day. Yes, I suffer with depression. I'm exercising, taking vitamins, trying to make healthy eating choices, and talking with a Life Coach that is a strong Christian from my church. I've been on anti-depressants and I'm done with them. I feel that my school day needs to be more fun, more relaxed, but I seriously haven't a clue how to get it like that! Do I need different curricula? Spread school out over the entire day? I just don't know what to do. I would welcome any suggestions or advice. Update: Thank you so much for this wonderful response. I have a lot of ideas in my head. Tonight dh took the kiddos to church for supper and classes and I got to stay home to pray, think and relax. I will be changing some of my curricula for next year. And, I will be dropping some things this year. I'm still not sure where to start tomorrow, but I hope to figure it out soon.

Thanks, JudoMom. :) Soooo, which do I go with for my 5th grader next fall - RS or TMM? Do you have any other pros and cons?

Well, maybe this will help us! Cathy Duffy's review on the curriculum. I won't be buying it b/c it says that it doesn't start from the very beginning of Spanish - it assumes you have about a semester's worth of Spanish before you begin this program. http://cathyduffyreviews.com/foreign-language/tell-me-more.htm

I came here looking for the same information! :) It looks similar to Rosetta Stone, is it? What are the differences those that are looking at it see? Rosetta Stone doesn't do any translating, this does. Anything else that attracts you?