Having a hard time deciding on curriculum for fifth grade

[smg0918]

Hello all --

 

I have mostly been in lurk mode on these forums in recent months. I received a lot of great advice from you wonderful moms last year and made most of my curriculum decisions based on all the wonderful information I found here. Now that I'm looking to the fall I am once again turning to you for some advice.

 

My twins will be in fifth grade this fall and this will be my sixth year of homeschooling. (We brought them home mid-way through their kindergarten year.) I work out of the home three days a week and must be in communication with my office on the other two days, so my homeschooling and prep time is very limited. As a result, I really need an "open and go" type of curriculum that does most of the planning/scheduling for me.

 

 

 

For first and second grade we used Calvert. I loved the ease of use for me, and both of my kids did really well with it, but to be completely honest we were all very burned out by the end of second grade. Looking back I'm not certain whether that was Calvert's fault or mine. As a new homeschooler I felt it was necessary to complete every single thing Calvert set out in the teacher's manual. A few years and a little more confidence later I now know it's OK to leave out what doesn't work for the kids or me, and I think if I had approached Calvert in that manner back then it might have been better for all of us.

 

 

For third and fourth grade we took a much more laid back/eclectic approach. For third I purchased a mish-mash of materials from a supplier in Florida, but it did include lesson plans, which made my life pretty easy. The kids did OK, although they fell terribly behind in math. For fourth grade I pieced together the curriculum entirely on my own, with a LOT of advice from this forum. Again, the kids did great, but it was SO much work for me that more often than not things did not get done. I feel like I did a real disservice to my kids last year and they would have been much better off if I had used a more well planned curriculum.

 

 

 

So now, as I look to next year, I KNOW that an eclectic/laid-back approach is really not an option. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm just not good at the planning/scheduling process. So I'm looking for something that will do it for me. I'm considering going back to Calvert, but this time allowing myself the flexibility to use what I think will be good for my kids and leave out anything that I think is extraneous/boring/whatever. At the same time I'm open to a more "pieced together" approach, but only if each subject comes with a laid-out yearly plan.

 

 

Any advice or suggestions for me? We are not Christian, but I am open to a Christian curriculum as long as I can edit/leave out those things that do not match our beliefs.

 

 

 

The things that have worked really well for us in the past are Spelling Workout, the Maps, Globes and Graphs series and Growing with Grammar. Of the three Spelling Workout was the best because it had clearly set-out weekly lessons and I didn't have to do any planning on my own.

 

 

 

I have purchased SOTW Vol. 1 on CD and the workbook and that will definitely be a part of our curriculum next year (even if we do go back to Calvert).

 

 

 

Many thanks!

[Stacia]

Have you looked at Oak Meadow?

[gingersmom]

A second vote for looking at Oak Meadow. They also have a very active yahoo group.

[smg0918]

I haven't looked at Oak Meadow in a few years. In the earlier years I wasn't thrilled with their offerings, but I will look into it again and see what fifth grade looks like. Thanks for the suggestion!