Language Arts: IEW Wonders of Science, AAS 7, MCT Caesar’s English II, BYL 4 Lit Mathematics: BA 5D, Athena’s Money Sense, Didax Pentominoes (?), second half of Algebra Lab Gear (?), AOPS PreAlgebra History: BYL 4 (1850-WWI) Science: RSO Earth & Environment, BYL 4 (Engineering) Extracurriculars: Scouts BSA, Violin, Tennis, Art, FIRST Lego League

You can always pull your own sentences to analyze in the same way, or have your students select sentences that interest them from whatever they are currently reading. It can be nice sometimes to see the sentences in their original context & to dissect not only what the sentence is built from, but the impact the chosen structure has upon the reader.

@SilverMoon @cintinative Would you say that all pieces are necessary to use Art of Argument well? From the samples it appears that it could be implemented strongly with the Teacher’s Manual alone, with further examples of each argument collected by the instructor en lieu of the video component.

I don’t have a novel / reference text recommendation, but Anatomicum by Welcome to the Museum is a gorgeous medical-model-style overview of all the body systems.

I feel like every single homeschooler I’ve spoken to who is dealing with the 4th-5th grade age group is concerned they’re doing either too much or too little composition. 😅

Caesar’s English only appears in Levels 2 & 3. There is a much shorter, simpler Intro to Latin-based vocabulary in Level 1 called Building Language & in later levels the vocabulary books are titled Vocabulary of Literature & Word Within the Word.

I agree wholeheartedly with @caffeineandbooks’s synopsis, though my DS enjoyed the series precisely because of the open-endedness that hers struggled with. He found W&R “okay” but overly restrictive. Having a solid grammar background definitely makes discussion of the sentences more valuable - at least parts of a sentence & parts of speech, ideally familiarity with a variety of phrase & clause types. Also agree with @Farrar that I think I’ve seen evidence of these exercises cropping up in his other compositions, but with so many components involved in language arts instruction it’s not clearly attributable.

I second these - they are great! Logic Countdown: Grades 3-4 Logic Liftoff: Grades 4-6 Orbiting With Logic: Grades 5-7

We’re spending this year, 4th grade with a 9-turning-10yr old, “writing across the curriculum”. History: Every alternate week he takes written notes from our reading on 3-4 days. Once a month he selects a day’s notes & writes a paragraph from them. Science: The other weeks he fills in science lab sheets & once a month completes a related writing prompt. Throughout the year he will also complete half a dozen scientist tri-fold biographies. Literature: Quarterly, he is spending ~2wks writing & illustrating daily chapter summaries (a few sentences each) from our literature selections. The summaries are completed on small flaps & compiled into “matchbook summary” posters. He also participated in NaNoWriMo, 30min/day of creative writing through November & half of December. We complete one unit of each of spelling, grammar, vocabulary, & poetics annually. Spelling lasts 6-8wks & involves writing a paragraph daily. Poetics lasts a month or so & typically involves a daily poem. The other two round out the year & range from no writing to a few sentences.

Proof! & Pharaoh Code are both excellent. We tend to play them cooperatively, rather than competitively. Equate or S’Math if they like Scrabble-type games.

I think the positive association with the term “challenge” for many stems from contrast with their own experience. Challenge is equated with engagement because, as you noted, easy is boring. When I say that I want my DS to be challenged, it’s not that I want him unprepared or overwhelmed - it’s that I want him to be deeply engaged. I want him to be excited to tackle novel tasks, rather than daunted because he’s never been asked to do that before. I was woefully under-challenged in school & as a result I spent a lot of time disengaged from learning; I want a different experience for DS!

I grew up in poverty with a widowed single parent. Academic challenge wasn’t even on her radar. I took high-level courses & performed decently, but struggled to heal from trauma. I am anxious & extremely hard on myself. Pushing probably would have made me implode. Double-majored in college & graduated early with honors. Given the opportunity, DS tends to middle in whatever environment he’s placed into. He has ADHD, so “what’s hard is easy, what’s easy is hard” is especially true. Boredom is painful, so he is motivated enough to get to a level where he’s not - but he needs a push to go any further. It is a major balancing act to keep him challenged, but not overwhelmed. He’s very much a Renaissance kid, so it’s also difficult to get him to prioritize - he wants to do all the things, but none of them too seriously. I have no idea if I’m doing right by him. I certainly hope so.

Reported

These are aimed a bit older, but good to keep in mind: Math & Magic in Wonderland Math & Magic in Camelot Solving for M * All of the Above The Number Devil * Deals with divorce & parental illness.

Yes, Supernova! Honestly, if they aren’t enthusiastic I wouldn’t push it - Supernova is a lot of work & is intended for Scouts who want to actively seek out additional Achievements. Their Mentor needs special certification & technically has to be involved before any of the work is begun. It’s a whole thing. 🙃

Our year (4th grade) is going well, overall. Composition: I feel like we ought to be doing more writing across the curriculum, but we just can’t seem to get it in. Biweekly he takes notes in history (5ish “key facts” per reading ) while I read aloud. He was completing a paragraph 2x/mo based on either history notes or our science studies, but since Nov he’s been working on NaNoWriMo, writing for 30-45min daily. He’s written Matchbook chapter summaries (2-3 sentences each), which we assembled into posters, for two novels. He has just begun reading biographies & filling in tri-fold reports as part of a Scouting assignment, which also works well as essay prep, so that’s getting us back to practicing nonfiction writing a bit. Latin: I was expecting Caesar’s English to be rocky, because it was a big jump in intensity - but it’s gone really well! We paused in November & will re-start in January. Spelling: Tackling AAS6 in the spring, once we complete Latin. DS doesn’t love it, but it gets the job done. We typically cover a lesson a day. Math: DS got a little burnt out partway through BA 5C, so we’ve gone sideways into Algebra Lab Gear for a bit. We’ll start back in January & hopefully still finish off the series by the end of the school year. History: Chugging along. We both are glad to be back to History Odyssey; Quest just wasn’t a good fit here. We still won’t finish the level in one year, as I’m expanding coverage of the early US, but we should be able to cover all but a few chapters. Science: RSO Physics is going well. For once I’m not having to modify much, both because this level took a step up in content & because it’s an area he doesn’t really have any background knowledge of. Extracurriculars: This will be DS’ last year in competitive soccer. He likes it, but not enough to dedicate 3d/wk to it year-round; he’ll return to Rec in the fall. Violin seems to be an ideal mix of challenge & reward; he’s very happy there. He likes his art classes & group tennis lessons. Scouting is where he’s choosing to dedicate the most time going forward - he’ll cross over to BSA next spring & is adamant he wants to become an Eagle Scout.

The winter doldrums are no joke - I was feeling the exact same way last week! Totally normal this time of year. Select a formal “end date” if you haven’t already. Reassess your plans to see if anything can be cut / scaled back. Resist the urge to add anything - now is not the time. One foot in front of the other until time’s up, then enjoy the break! As for things to help in the future… Definitely agree with breaking things up a bit. DS participates in NaNoWriMo every year & continues that until school stops in December. It’s something he looks forward to all year, is motivated to work on, & can do independently. Having composition taken off my plate for 6wks is great! When we get to a stopping point in other subjects (math, etc) we replace that time with games or holiday crafts. We have a smattering of special events & field trips planned throughout the month: an arcade day, a parade, a museum tour, a holiday play, a crafting party, a charity event. Despite keeping our schedule busier (while our instinct would be laziness), the activities give us something to look forward to & help to keep spirits up! We make a point of reconnecting with friends during this time, too. Labor Day through Thanksgiving are so busy! We hardly see or hear from anyone for weeks. In December things tend to slow down a bit, so we reach out. Invite friends along to our activities. Schedule a play date. Get together for tea or a meal.

We found the RS math games ”okay”. The bulk were pretty simple & were repetitive from one topic to the next, but a few were genuinely fun to play (not just “fun for a school game”) & the materials are high-quality. My hesitation with a Chemistry games kit from RS is that there are several fabulous chemistry board games already in production: Periodic, Valence Plus, Subatomic, etc. These are entertaining games with solid mechanics that really dig into chemistry in engaging ways. I did find a sample of the Chemistry games book that gives more details on the included decks & games: http://rightstartmath.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Chemistry-Card-Games-Sampler.pdf The RS chemistry games set appears to be a rebranding, which addresses chemistry exclusively from the frame of arithmetic needed to succeed in class. From the sample: “… without a good mathematics foundation, many students find chemistry challenging to learn… Chemistry students of all ages benefit from a review of basic mathematical operations...”

I strongly recommend the Singapore Intensive Practice books to go along with (or en lieu of) the standard text / workbook once he is done zooming through familiar material & settles to a steadier pace. They take everything from the main texts *just a step* farther - a good middle ground between Singapore’s main text & Beast Academy. 📚

The blog American Indians in Children’s Literature has many recommendations. It is run by Native scholars. The Birchbark House series is quite good & would be a quick read at that age. A Kid's Guide to Native American History Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories An Indigenous Peoples' History of the US Blossom & Root’s River of Voices. The “advanced” pathway is aimed at 7th grade & up. This is a Google Doc of books & documentaries comprised by Kelly Reagan Tudor, a member of the Lipan Apache tribe. Items broken down by age & most are written by indigenous authors. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xsZ_ZSTfZDAHq-jgXJTVag00wYX_h791gjQuLcHKm1k/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR3MGwV_VhCn3QUyDNvtXs8LUKPt-fIGVsaMGBThCrcMuUiC45Ake9vg7gU&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

@HomeAgain’s list is excellent for getting started with a young, active child - as are several of the other ideas mentioned. That said, there is a difference in how successful those interventions will be in making the homeschool environment work for a highly-active neurotypical child vs a child with untreated sensory issues &/or ADHD. That’s where @PeterPan’s recommendations come in. If you find yourself doing all the aforementioned things & more, have checked your expectations to ensure they are reasonable, & find that you are still struggling to get through the school day then it‘a time to seek outside diagnostic help. All of those techniques helped my DS9, but none of them even came close to helping as much as diagnosis & treatment for his ADHD!

When my DS was 5, we lived overseas & frequented public transportation. In order to keep him from distractedly wandering off or climbing the shelters, we would have him hold our hands & jump - routinely to 1,000 or more. He had a mini trampoline at home, which he would bounce so hard it lifted off the floor even when weighted, until at age 3 he discovered the safety bar could be used to do flips. By 5 we had a full-sized trampoline. He would go to sports practices - arrive an hour early for the playground, buzz through practice, then beg to stay afterwards for an hour or more. He could wear out three separate groups of friends back-to-back without breaking a sweat! We lived in a village house with 3 flights of stairs & during lessons I’d regularly have to send him to run flights so he could focus - 3, 6, 9, 12 sprinted flights of stairs just to settle a bit. He touched all the things. His hands were everywhere. His face was rubbed on everything. He would climb people like playground equipment - all pointy knees & elbows. His body was absolutely never still unless he was sick, to the point where (guiltily) I actually kind of enjoyed him catching the occasional illness because it was the only time we could just… snuggle. His mouth moved as much as his body. He began speaking very early & had hundreds of words by 18mo old. We never dealt with frustration tantrums, because he could clearly articulate what he wanted. Stream-of-consciousness talking. Perseveration. Interrupting. Just *so much talking*! Impulsivity was just starting to rear its head. He pulled a mat right out from under a classmate during gymnastics - not maliciously, but simply because he noticed the handle. Yanked a trolley brake around the same age, with a crosswalk full of pedestrians, because he saw it. Just totally unaware. This sort of “dangerous to others” impulsivity peaked at age seven or so.

I agree with @8filltheheart DS began learning violin back in May or June & there are *so many tiny details* involved very early on with violin. Bow hold, bow pressure, bow tilt, how you move your shoulder/ elbow / wrist, which “lane” on the string your bow travels in, violin hand position, thumb position, where each note is along the strings, bow pull speed… it is a DIFFICULT instrument in the beginning! 🎻

I believe I’ve heard that the AOPS Academy classes, whether in-person or virtual, are less demanding than AOPS Online. Not sure if that is purely on account of the pacing or if the actual problem sets are notably different. I’ve also heard that the book’s star problems are more challenging than Alcumus “Insanely Hard” questions. Based off of this, my assumption would be: Alcumus Easy / Normal AOPS Academy (in-person or virtual) Alcumus Moderate / Hard Book Standard Problems AOPS Online (if only due to pacing) Alcumus Insanely Hard Book Star Problems / AOPS Online Proofs

Scholastic has this simple Greek & Latin roots workbook, which my DS found enjoyable last year: Vocabulary Packets: Greek & Latin Roots https://a.co/d/8U66XNb As well as a second book focused on prefixes / suffixes: Vocabulary Packets: Prefixes & Suffixes https://a.co/d/gBpTvjB