These are community run activities. Our homeschool group does not offer sports-based activities. We are in a very rural area. After grade 6, the schools have the only local sports teams (in our area.) Our nearest city is about an hour away and they offer tons of stuff, but it's very competitive after the grade 6 level. My oldest wants to play for fun, not to compete. It's just not her thing, but she does enjoy getting out and playing.

We are in Canada, so maybe it's different here, but we have Overdrive and Hoopla. There might be others, but these are the two offered through our library. The app is a free download. I have used them a lot to check out books to see if they are ones I want to buy. I do not enjoy reading on the iPad, so I seldom borrow a book to read that way. Hoopla is glitchy and often will not allow you to increase the font size and the available size is like a 6... Not fun to read. Overdrive is much better for readability. I love that the books just automatically return and you don't have to worry about it.

My oldest will be classified as grade 7 this fall. She will be 13. It seems like everything around here cuts off at that age. Our soccer, baseball & gymnastics only go from K-6. Even our church Sunday school only offers classes up to grade 6. There is another church we are considering attending that has a much larger congregation and offers classes for all ages. They also have a youth group, but it's tough to attend regularly because we don't have a reliable sitter. We have a homeschool group, but it is quite cliquey and very much centers on activities being held within the city limits, which is a good hour away from us. I only know of a couple other families who have homeschooled past grade 6. Lots of them tend to enroll in public school at this point. I am feeling very lonely and worried about what the 7-12 grades are going to mean for us. :(

sent you a PM

I haven't tried any of the programs you mentioned, but have you considered browsing pinterest for ideas? Maybe even have the kids browse with you to see if anything appeals to them. There are so many ideas on there and it's free... :)

:iagree: I didn't buy the puppet. My daughter picked out a horse puppet and we used that instead. It doesn't have the same "ring" as Ziggy the Zebra, but she didn't care and neither did my son.

Another thread here: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/589387-is-there-a-5th-grade-planning-thread/ :)

That would be great! Thanks! Sent you a PM. :) I was originally going to just use a spread sheet...but all those colored tabs and pretty pages lured me in. I just learnt how to "screen shot" a calendar in and I'm sold. This is like a dream come true for me...lol

I was having a gander at OneNote yesterday! Definitely overwhelming when you first look at it. I've been browsing screen shots, etc to get ideas. This is going to be my spring-break project. :)

I love the Teacher Box idea! With how our homeschool is set up/what we use, it wouldn't work for us...but I still want one. LMBO

We read Easter Story books for kids (various ones) and have done the resurrection eggs. I found a free printable activity for the eggs and we made them ourselves. I've never seen the book before. Will have to check it out. :)

I am getting so many great ideas! I have OneNote, but haven't used it and lots of these others I hadn't even heard of. I am in planning heaven right now. LOL

A lot! It keeps me sane. LOL I keep a running list of programs I like/don't like, etc. I bookmark everything. I hoard samples. I makes notes of what we use, want to use, should use instead. It's quite out of hand, really... lol What I really need is a way to organize all of my rambling thoughts! I honestly enjoy researching curriculum, though. I used to be a bit helter-skelter about purchasing and we've accumulated things we didn't need and haven't used. I consider it a learning experience and try not to berate myself too much. Now I research more and ponder longer before I ever purchase. I have also gotten better about not being distracted by shiny covers. Oh, and I made myself a promise not to replace ANYTHING in the month of January & February. These are freak-out months for me and 99% of the time what I hate turns out to be just fine come March.

This is a spinoff of the "how much time do you spend..." researching curriculum thread. For those who have a knack for planning, how do you organize the curriculum you've researched, plan to use, have on your shelves, need to buy, etc? I am a note-taker...which means I end up with little notes, both on the computer and on my desk. I'd like to figure out a way to have it all in one place for each kid...maybe a spreadsheet? I could really use some guidance! Anyone want to share how they do this?

My almost seven year old still does this, though my girls mastered it around 5, I think? According to speech development milestones, the "th" sound can be mastered anywhere between 3 1/2 & 8 years old. :)

I was going to recommend the Come Look With Me books. LOL Maybe these: https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/picture-study-portfolios/

We do not require extra reading. We do have a daily quiet time though, which is conducive to reading, and the kids also get to stay up a half hour longer (an hour longer for my oldest) if they want to read before bed. I'm sneaky like that. ;)

Spelling: AAS 4/5 Grammar: Winston Grammar Reading: CLE Reading, Mosdos readers & poetry unit Writing: Bravewriter mix Math: BJU 5...I think.... History: MoH - either finishing Vol. 1 or starting vol. 2 Science: Apologia Zoology 3 Art: A mix of my own making... Geography: TFB...and? Other: Swimming, soccer & skating I don't think I've forgotten anything...

I think I've got it sorted! :) Math: Finish TT 7 & start Pre-Alg L.A.: Winston Grammar, Bravewriter mix, CLE Reading, poetry unit, Mosdos Readers (as read alouds), AAS Level 6/7 Science: Apologia Zoology 3 History: MoH -- either finishing vol. 1 or moving on to vol.2 (or a bit of both) Geography: probably using TFB printouts.... Language: Possibly starting ASL Art: probably something I piece together myself Extras: swimming, soccer & skating What am I missing??

:iagree: My middle kiddo is notorious for finishing ahead of schedule. We celebrate every time she finishes something and she gets a week or two off from that subject, then we move on or fill that time with something else. Last year she finished her math a month early. We use BJU for her and it's exactly laid out for a full school year. I didn't want to move on to the next level, so I ended up printing sections from MM for her to do. She liked the change of pace and I think she would have been discouraged if I'd pulled out a new, big ol' BJU workbook. We are using the Pathway readers and workbook this year and she finished last week and promptly asked to use something else for next year. Making her move on to the next reader seems like cruel and unusual punishment. She is an avid reader, so I will not be requiring her to start a new reading program this year. She is very artsy, so I was thinking of having her do a matchbook report on a book of her own choosing....

If you email Mosdos they will send you samples as well and they are different than what is on the website, so it's very helpful. They even made sure to send me a story with corresponding TG/workbook pages so I could really get a feel for what all was there. We ended up going with just the readers, but I haven't received them yet, so I'm hoping this was the right call.

Didn't know this either -- luckily neither do my kids! lol

We downloaded this on the iPad and the kids created their own worlds within the same game...or I guess that's what they did? Until reading this, I didn't even know it should be any different! LOL I have played around in it a bit and - now this is just my opinion - I really don't see any great learning potential. The kids enjoy building, and they prefer creative mode. It's kind of neat the worlds you can create and the things you can make, but I think they gain more from using lego and other types of building toys and tools. We limit their time on it. I have found after playing it myself that the motion of the "camera" angles can be really hard on the eyes. (I am sure this is different for everyone.) I would much rather have them creating and building with lego, then glued to the iPad, honestly. I guess I am old-school, but I just don't think it's all that and a bag of chips. LOL

We start AAS in grade 2. We do one lesson a week. My oldest has needed more review for some lessons. She's finishing level 5 in Grade 6. My middle kiddo is a pretty natural speller and hasn't needed to slow down at all. She just started Level 4 in Grade 4. We pace it slower than most, but it works for us. :)

Yes, please!! I am so encouraged to hear from families who have homeschool graduates!