What are some living books you have used for earth and space science? Also, what science encyclopedia would you recommend for this age group? I am not interested in a boxed curriculum such Elemental Science, NOEO, etc. I want to put together my own but need some ideas and recommendations for living books and an encyclopedia to use as a spine. Edit to add...we are very conservative Christians. We will teach that some people believe in evolution but we teach young earth creationism. Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone, I thought I had everything set for next year and then......I didn't. Right now I'm flip-flopping back and forth between History Odyssey Level 2 Ancients and Oak Meadow's fifth grade English/History. I'm looking for opinions on both, please. English hasn't been a focus the past two years because my daughter was very advanced in this area. But as a result, writing hasn't been a focus either and needs to be brought up to snuff. She isn't very excited about doing ancients, but most of the books in OM's program have already been read multiple times. Nothing is really lighting my fire. We tried HO level 1 ancients a few years ago, but she really hated SOTW and CHOW. Any thoughts on these programs, or even suggestions for others would be greatly appreciated! rowan

First some background info: Ds9 is going to be 10 when he starts 5th grade. In fact, we start school the day after his birthday. He is imaginative, a dreamer, builds xyz with Lego once and leaves it like that for playing as a toy, talks about building and creating things nonstop but doesn't care to actually provide the blueprints, etc. Most things he wants to build are not grounded in reality. He doesn't enjoy school very much, but he's ok with it most days. Other days he actually enjoys it. He has a happy nature in general, and extremely enthusiastic about the stuff he's imagining or wants to build or he's seen on TV or wants to have. History is his favorite subject, but he has trouble remembering names and dates. He gravitates towards the most exciting part of the story, regardless whether it is important to the whole. We've been using and enjoying SOTW. Ds is also a reluctant writer. He's been a touch argumentative for some time now, enjoys watching videos and learns from them, loves video games, and would rather play than work. In fact, he has imagined several times a world where weekends are five days long and lessons are only two days a week. He tells me this with a big grin on his face :) He likes reading and doesn't have a problem with assigned reading. He loves comic books. He devoured the whole local library's selection of Calvin and Hobbes, and he enjoys Tintin too. He is fond of cuddling up with me on the couch and listening to me read. We use the Charlotte Mason method, this year doing approx. 30 min. per lesson, with a few exceptions. We may go 40 min. with Science this year, and Poetry is about 15 min daily. Here are my planned resources and materials (BTW, I've been asking for his input in his studies since third grade and he's very nonchalant about it, hurrying up so he can go back to playing with his sister, imagining, whatever): Grammar - Grammarland, Emma Serl's Intermediate Language Lessons (Hillside Education), and BBC Bitesize English Spelling and Grammar games http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/spelling_grammar/ Spelling - once a week, reinforcing during week Phonics review using Noah Webster's Reading Handbook, then cull word lists from Natural Speller and upload to Spelling City. Vocabulary - once a week Vocabulary Cartoons - read it together, have him write down, memorize, use. Writing - once a week Wordsmith Apprentice - excited about this, as it is written to the reluctant writer, and it looks fun, perfect for ds Math - daily Math Mammoth (MM) 4B and 5A and a some living books in Math, such as Famous Mathematicians and the Sir Cumference series. Also Fridays, online math games listed in MM. History - 4X a week Mondays through Thursdays: SOTW 4 Modern Times with AG and Usborne Encyclopedia (ds and I love this program, and the mapwork - not to forget the Usborne Quicklinks) with readings culled from Complete Book of United States History, Children's Encyclopedia of American History, a few Landmark Books, and a wide selection of biographies (both historical figures as well as scientists) and relevant historical fiction (see literature). We're focusing on the Civil War and World War I. I'm also including some lovely picture books, mostly fiction, but including the nonfiction World War I scrapbook Where Poppies Grow. We're also watching America: The Story of US. This year I'm excited to include Graphic History Library titles (History in comics) for ds to enjoy. Natural Science - 4X a week Mondays through Wednesdays: BFSU2 (we're finishing this up this year) and Usborne Science Encyclopedia (Quicklinks again) with plenty of living books and a topical study of Rivers, Oceans, Marine Life on Thursdays. On Fridays he joins dd6 in Nature Studies. I'm also making it a point to watch videos on NeoK12. We all enjoy them. Literature Readings - daily Read, narrate, and discuss. This is a kid who loves to share what he reads. The Black Stallion, The In-Between Days, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The House of Sixty Fathers, The Hobbit, Swallows and Amazons, The Moffats, Twenty and Ten, There's an Owl in the Shower, Snow Treasure, Miracles on Maple Hill, Island of the Blue Dolphins Literature Read-Alouds - daily I read aloud, we discuss. I'm going to pick two classics for Literature Analysis. I have Critical Conditioning as a resource for this. Heidi, Across Five Aprils, The Secret Garden, Little Britches, Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Black Beauty In Nonfiction dh is reading aloud Bully For You, Teddy Roosevelt and I am reading The Flying Scotsman, a Biography Culture, Myths, and Legends (part of read-alouds) 100 Best Children's Stories from China and the audio collection Shakespeare's Greatest Hits Retold by Bruce Coville. Geography - once a week The 7 Continents: Asia by Evan Moor (got this for free one year) Usborne Peoples of the World The Kingfisher Children's Atlas Spanish - 4X a week He's had a few years of Spanish under his belt, but this year we're definitely starting to write and use it more. I speak fluent Spanish. Rosetta Stone Spanish Homeschool Edition and So You Really Want to Learn Spanish - Student and Teacher's Book Usborne Spanish Dictionary for Beginners Poetry - daily We focus on one poet per semester, reading his or her short biography, and enjoying one poem per week, memorizing at least 4 per poet. Some poems are discussed and analyzed more than others. Poetry for Young People Series Carl Sandburg and Maya Angelou Music - once a week The Story of the Orchestra with websites to reinforce learning, plus Piano lessons chez moi on Saturdays Art - once a week Dh is teaching again, this time dd and ds are learning about the Impressionists - Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso. Dd5 excels at art, and is right there with ds. She'll be six then. Dh is also building his own art program around them. I'm intrigued. He's always done a stellar job. Getting To Know the World's Greatest Artists Series, Linnea in Monet's Garden, The First Starry Night, Pablo Picasso (Artists in Their Time), Laurence Anholt's lively picture books (I know ds will enjoy as well), Picasso and Minou, Katie Meets the Impressionists, Katie and the Sunflowers Online Resources I'm making it a point of including online videos and games more often, as I can see ds really likes them and learns from them. Here is a selection of our resources: Math Mammoth Videos (thank you, Maria!) NeoK12 BBC Games Nitro Typing Usborne Quicklinks (History, Science) Sheppard Software (Geography) Khan Academy Art of Problem Solving videos (math) National Geographic Geography Coursera The Jason Project After school, ds has swimming 3X a week, Taekwondo 2X a week, basketball (one season, putting Taekwondo and maybe swimming on hold), and possibly dance. Thank you if you have read thus far. I really appreciate your input. It does look like a lot, but remember I'm doing it CM-style, meaning I have shorter lessons than many, and I'm clustering the Music, Nature Study, Art, etc. on Fridays. What do you think? Am I forgetting anything? Do I have time to teach my dd too? She's going to be in first, using a tweaked Living Books Curriculum 1st Grade. I can't believe I have a fifth grader already! :willy_nilly:

Well, I am not doing so great with my curriculum choices this year. My DD is really only happy with IEW. Math, Latin, Spanish are ok. BUT- she is not enjoying this year. Breaks my heart. This is only my second year. UGH. Choices are hard. I keep going back to Oak Meadow. My DD is a gifted VSL who is crazy creative. Would she like it? Also, when I am looking at the lesson plan samples, when they show "Lesson 4" is that the lesson for the week? So, are all the books broken into 36 lessons? Thanks!!! :)

It's a retelling for children. My library has it, and I'm assigning it to my rising fifth grader. But I don't have it in yet, and I want to get these lesson plans made. If anyone can tell me the number of chapters (including prologue and afterword if there is one), I'd greatly appreciate it!

I have a fidgety boy with the attention span of a flea, but very bright, tactile (a real mover) and auditory. What Grammar and Language Arts program will work best for him? He did well with Saxon Math, but that may be because dad taught it (dad is visual and rigid and comfortable with math). My son is dramatic, moves a LOT, sings, fidgets and smart. Help? I have looked at SO many... and again, I need grammar AND language arts. Can anyone give me direction?

Looking at the list of 5th grade curriculas, nothing I am looking at is being used! Egad. I'm looking at Winston for grammar, LLATL for enhancing Language Arts, Lively Latin (although do I need it? My DS is learning Spanish); Saxon Math, and Possibly enhancing with Magic Lens and Word within a Word. Any feedback on any of these is appreciated!