I posted in another 5th grade planning thread, but I've changed some things so I'll post again here. Math: Maybe MM5 and Dreambox. Ds likes McRuffy but I'm tired of the typos and I want something more conceptual. We'll see. LA: Outlining/narration/dictation, TC part 3 Spelling Workout F and G Fix it Grammar Assigned reading and LOTS of discussion, using some of CHOLL ancients and some of DITHOR 4/5 History: WTM-style Ancients Science: Interest led Logic: Building Thinking Skills Some type of typing Morning Group Time: A little creative writing, picture book go-alongs with history and geography, some picture study, whatever else I want to throw in. We do Long Story Short for Bible study when dh is home after dinner

Thanks for the link to the book list. It looks great! I used to have ds do 2 chapters from 1 book and 2 from another book the next, but he asked to do 1 cp of each every day???? Great idea! Hmmm Exactly what we're trying to avoid! Thanks for this! I feel like we spend so much of our school day reading good literature. I guess I just thought he'd just naturally seek it out in his free time as well. Thanks everyone for the comments. i think we've decided to take a combined approach by limiting (but not banning) the junky books that come into our home and making more of an effort to help him pick out good books that will interest HIM, not just ones I want him to read. I love the idea of reading the first part aloud with him and then turning the rest over to him to read on his on, so I think we'll try that too. I'm going to make more of an effort to ask him about the books he's reading (he loves this) and maybe share some of the things I'm reading with him as well. :) I'll have to do some thinking about the stealth dyslexia/vision part too. Thanks again for the help!

Thanks so much for the advice. We're doing WWE3 to help build comprehension. He also does at least 1 written or oral narration (usually written) a day. Right now we are on a week-long break. Next week, his assigned reading will be By the Great Horn Spoon and The Four Story Mistake. He'll read a chapter of each daily until they are finished. I already do add to his library picks. He has a room filled with chapter books we've gotten for him for birthdays, Christmas, etc. We have a huge bookshelf stocked with many non-fiction books. He will glance through these, but does not really read them. Most of the time, when not reading for school, he reads what I'd consider junk. He used to listen to audiobooks at night, but now he says he'd rather read-and guess what he's reading :( As a family, we always have 1 or 2 chapter book read alouds going (right now, they are By the Shores of Silver Lake and Alice and Wonderland). He loves to be read to. I was talking to him a little bit this morning about his reading choices, and he told me he doesn't like the books that I pick because it takes too long to get to the action. Maybe I need to find some books that start out exciting right at the beginning to hook him in. Good idea about getting him out to more interesting activities. It's been hard this year with a toddler. Thanks everyone for all of the wise words!

This is really good advice. I was thinking that we do limit the junk that goes in our kids' mouths and the junk they see on a screen. Should books be any different???? On the other hand, I'm guilty of reading twaddle and I would resent it if someone tried to control what I read. I'm so torn!

Puberty--Noooooo! He's still my baby :)

Thanks. I'll look into this. He does a buddy read time with dh at night. Right now they are reading Redwall. Dh says ds has a hard time with words he's not familiar with. I have no idea what reading level this is. Like I said, I got used to him being so far ahead in reading skills. Reading was his "thing"--math is another story--but now... Anyway, thanks for the perspective!

Hmmmm Maybe my expectations are too high, then. Or maybe half-magic is a bad example. I think my problem is that I felt like he was really ahead for a long time, and now he's...not. Maybe it's Mom that needs to adjust her thinking. Thanks guys!

Ds is 10. He's always read ahead of grade level, started reading pretty fluently at age 5, etc. For school, I assign 2 books at a time--1 that ties in with our history and 1 piece of good literature. I see him struggling when I give him anything to read that is above the level of Half-Magic, for example. I feel like he may even be going backward in his ability to read and understand. i think I can trace it directly to the books he chooses to read in his free time (Star Wars Encyclopedias mainly) and how he reads them (skims, just looks at the pages that interest him, etc). I'm not sure what to do. I hate to restrict what he gets from the library or micromanage his reading style (his free time reading style), yet I really think the junk he's reading is hurting him. Help!

Thanks! I'll check out Mathematical Reasoning!

Thanks. It's not that I resent her needing me for math (of course she does/will. She's 7!) I'm just trying to be realistic about what I can do at this time in our lives. Believe me, I know how important math is! Oh the hours I have spent stressing over math curriculum for all 3 kids!!! :)

Finishing this year: LOE B and part of C Miquon Orange and Red (selected topics) and Kumon Word Problem book and Math Made Easy workbook Copywork from lit and journal on Fridays Narrations from lit History and US geography through readalouds This Summer: We will finish our school year in late June, do 3 days a week in July (reading and math workbook) and then take all of August off 2nd grade: I just posted about my math issues. Options I'm considering are BJU2, McRuffy plus math mammoth topics for the conceptual, or LOF plus math games plus Math Made Easy workbook (she would love option #3 but I'm not sure I could pull it off in this crazy house!) Finish LOE C and then have her just read, along with starting The Sentence Family and MCT Aesop Copywork, narration, dictation (beginning) from history, lit, and science SOtW 1 with siblings Let's Read and Find Out books with younger dd World geography thru readalouds with siblings

I'd really like to be able to teach a lesson then have her do some independent work at my elbow...

Maybe I should look at it again. We spend about 20 minutes of math here for 1st grade, and I expect to increase a bit for 2nd. I just got the impression that RS would be a nightmare to attempt with a toddler running around :) Maybe I meant it's too teacher-intensive :)

Would love to but it's way too time intensive!!

Oh, I forgot about LOF. I wonder what I could add to it that would be conceptual and not too hard to implement. Maybe games from education unboxed? Or Rightstart games??? And a workbook??

Thanks! Those look good! I do have Peggy Kaye's Games With Math--maybe this and a few Kumon books would work...

Planning for next year. dd7 and i have struggled through some of Miquon this year (she does not enjoy the discovery approach AT ALL and I am not good at teaching like this...). She seems to enjoy things like the Math Made Easy workbook and Kumon workbooks--in very short sessions. She has some fine motor delays and sensory issues that are complicating things a bit. She loves to draw and she loves stories. I really want something conceptual for her next year. Suggestions?? Maybe BJU??

Dd will be 5 next week. She finished Essentials a few months ago, and we are now finishing the 2nd chapter of MIF1a. She is doing ok (understands number bonds but has to work through every step with manipulatives, which I know is appropriate for her age, but it seems like 1st grade mif assumes the student will be beyond that.) She can not do any of the challenge problems without lots of help, and I'm feeling like we need to work more on addition and subtraction before we move on. I think this is a fantastic math program, and I don't want to rush it--or her-- at all. Any suggestions for what we can do until I feel she is ready for the 1st grade level? I have Miquon, but honestly it is hard for me to teach. Suggestions??

Thanks everyone. I'm thinking I might just let him follow his interests. I'm thinking about making baskets or boxes with the materials divided by topic and just letting him loose.

Bumping once more in case anyone else wants to chime in. I think the problem may be that I would like to do all (or mostly) books for science, while ds likes more hands-on.

Oh, I love this idea! Our library does have the videos and we actually have the old version of the book. Thanks for the idea!

I am planning for next year and science is giving me trouble. We have TONS of science supplies: 3 kinex kits (bridges, gears, and levers), lots of science books and science encyclopedias, a magnet kit and 2 physical science kits, science videos, snap circuit sets, etc. This year we tried Exploration Education's physical science, but ds didn't get much out of it. We are only a third of the way through and he needs me to sit with him to get anything out of it. One problem is that I am not science-minded at all, so it is very hard for me to lead him in any of this. Can anyone offer suggestions? What would you do if you had lots of stuff but no plan to use it? I also have 3 younger kids, including a toddler, so not a ton of time to devote to science next year (plus, the whole I-am-not-a-science-person thing :) )--I'd love for him to be as independent in this as possible...

dd will be 5 in March. For her official K year, well just continue with what we're doing now. Math: Continue MIF 1 and miquon Phonics: LOE Foundations and buddy reading with big sister Handwriting: HWT K then 1 Science: Let's Read ad Find Out Books with big sister Lots of good books! She will sit in on family read-alouds and SOTW activities with her older siblings if she is interested.

Thanks! That was a great thread! I bought MM on sale at Homeschool Buyers Co-op, and I'm going to go ahead and supplement with that. Thanks everyone!

I've looked at RS before, but it's waaaay too teacher intensive for me to pull off right now... Thanks! That's a good idea too. Maybe too time intensive for me as well...Just trying to be realistic about what I can do. My 1 year old is slightly difficult :) I think there are a few possible options that will work for us. I'd love input on which may be best. 1. Finish out 4th grade with what we have been doing (McRuffy daily with Dreambox twice a week) Then, over the summer, have him start back a few grade levels with MM, hitting the parts that he needs the most help with. Then start McRuffy in 5th with MM as a supplement. 2. Stop McRuffy now and go back through MM until he's up to grade level. I don't think we could use MM long-term as our main program, though, since it's not a good fit for him (He needs spiral! And less crowded pages!) But then, where to go from there? 3. Keep doing McRuffy and Dreambox this year, adding in a page or 2 of MM (a few grade levels behind) daily. The McRuffy lessons are pretty short, so this is doable. But what about next year?? Anyone have any thoughts on this at all? :)