This is what I want to do for 5th but need some input please (m)

[dorothy]

In an tempt to simplify, I want to

do this:

 

Daily:

Writing/Composition - 1 hour

Math - 1 hour

Latin - 1 hour

History/Geography - 1 hour

 

 

On-going:

For science dd will keep a Nature Journal on animals and plant life in our region. We will collect, photograph, read about, sketch, write about this throughout the year.

 

Activities throughout the year (outside of the home):

Art

Piano

Tennis

Gymnastics

 

 

My questions:

 

Can it be this simple?

 

What to use for writing? DD is a VERY RELUCTANT writer. Do I try SWB's new book? Writing Tales? Other?

What about history? Do I redo SOTW? Or, use FMR, FMG, FMMM? Or, follow WTM Kingfisher outlining? I want to keep it simple. I will tie in the geo to the history. I will also have narrations from history I think.

 

I want my Latin program to cover all Language Arts/Grammar.

 

Recommendations, comments, advice, etc. will all be appreciated.

 

I will also be hs grades 3 and K.

 

THANKS!

[Mama Lynx]

Yes, it can be that simple! :)

 

My oldest is a very reluctant writer. By the time he hit 5th grade, I realized that the only cure is to make him write. Often. He learned to type, and does most of his writing on the computer.

 

What is it about writing that she does not like to do? If it's the physical act of writing, see if typing helps that. If it's coming up with what to write, try Classical Writing or Writing Tales.

 

As for history, the sky's the limit. What have you done so far? What are your goals? FMR/FMG/FMoMA is a fine way to do history for the year, and simple, too. My 6th grader is using Kingfisher, but is only outlining occasionally.

 

Have you chosen a Latin program yet?

 

What about literature?

[dorothy]

In history we have done one rotation of SOTW and CHOW with A LOT of additional reading.

 

In Latin we have done: PL, Elementary Latin, Rosetta Stone Latin and are using Getting Started with Latin. We are considering Latin Prep 1 next.

 

Writing is surprisingly painful. DD is very well read, gets grammar and spelling and is very verbal. She is also free to type or write as she pleases. The second she "has" to write something - she blanks.

 

As far as literature, we are working our way through all of the recommended readin in WTM per grade. We are all BIG readers of classic literature. I am not doing anything more than discussing it with her. Should I?

 

Thanks.

[mcconnellboys]

Okay, I'm doing fifth next year, too, but I only do about a half hour to 45 minutes for math. Now, if language arts is to cover writing, grammar and spelling, then I can see it taking an hour all together, but I wouldn't try to make a reluctant writer write for an hour, I don't think. With Latin, I guess it depends on the programming your using, but again, I try to keep that to about a half hour, rather than going so long. Remember, even in high school, most classes are just 45-50 minutes. Some schools have gone to block scheduling of about 75-90 minutes, but that's every other day....

 

"Daily:

Writing/Composition - 1 hour

Math - 1 hour

Latin - 1 hour

History/Geography - 1 hour"

 

I think science sounds like great fun! We're doing biology next year, too....

 

"On-going:

For science dd will keep a Nature Journal on animals and plant life in our region. We will collect, photograph, read about, sketch, write about this throughout the year."

 

We also try to add in arts and PE throughout the year and do most of these as outside classes....

 

"Activities throughout the year (outside of the home):

Art

Piano

Tennis

Gymnastics"

 

 

"Can it be this simple?"

 

Sure, I think your plan sounds good.

 

"What to use for writing? DD is a VERY RELUCTANT writer. Do I try SWB's new book? Writing Tales? Other?"

 

Look at what SWB said in our post to her about her new writing book. I think she says that if they can make sentences and get them on paper, then they don't need her level one book. So, in other words, if she still needs to do copywork and dictation, then I think you could use Susan's book. Otherwise, for a reluctant writer, I might use some of the Spectrum workbooks, even dipping down to a lower grade level to start. WriteShop is supposed to be good for reluctant writers, I think, too.

 

"What about history? Do I redo SOTW? Or, use FMR, FMG, FMMM? Or, follow WTM Kingfisher outlining? I want to keep it simple. I will tie in the geo to the history. I will also have narrations from history I think."

 

I am using Kingfisher and SOTW together for next year. I'm letting him read SOTW alone, since it's much more simplistically written for ancients. He may do some outlining from it or another book that I have which is written in paragraph form - but NOT from Kingfisher, which is too compressed to allow for decent outlining.

 

"I want my Latin program to cover all Language Arts/Grammar."

 

Okay, so I'm not sure which program you're using. Would that then mean that you are doing an hour of solely writing? Then an hour of grammar,spelling,latin? I can see the latter, but I'm just not sure that an hour of just writing for a reluctant writer will not be pure torture....

 

Hope this helps,

 

Regena

[Mama Lynx]

I agree with Regena, but it depends on what you mean by the times you listed. Do you literally do those subject for an hour a day? We don't do them for that long in 5th grade, either.

 

One of the strengths of Classical Writing and Writing Tales is that the student doesn't have to come up with *what* to write. They retell a story. That way they can work on the process of writing without having to worry about the content just yet.

 

Classical Writing also includes a great deal of grammar (I do not know how much grammar Writing Tales includes).

 

I use Galore Park, and love it. Between that and Classical Writing, my kids get *plenty* of grammar.''

 

No, in 5th grade I don't think you need to do more with literature than to read and discuss. That's just fine!

[Wendy in ME]

We are doing 5th this year in a very LCC way and it does work for us. We also use an hour as length of time for our daily subjects. I give a short lesson for math and then he works for about 45 minutes on the exercises but he is slow. He is also a reluctant writer. We are doing WT2 and it is great. He HATES to have to come up with what to write so this works great for us. I have an hour set aside for writing but that includes the WT discussions with me as well as some work in Remedia's Outlining workbook and 1 written narration about either history or science reading from the week. In other words, that hour everyday is for all writing that we do. I have finally figured out that less is more for our family and it is working great. The stress is reduced and we are getting everything done. LA for us is WT and Latin with LCC lit suggestions.

[dorothy]

she takes a long time to do the work. It is probably 30 minutes worth of work but not done in 30 minutes.

[Herding Cats in NC]

I just wanted to say that we also love WT2 here. My ds10 (4th grade) is a good writer, but doesn't really enjoy it. I think what he hates most is having to think up everything on top of writing. Writing Tales lets him focus on the writing and not worry about the rest. We've also used the Remedia Outlining books. They're very straight forward and I think they'll really help us as we transition to more outlining (esp. in history) next year. Good luck!