Fifth grade - getting ready to order. Can you share your thoughts?

[Amy loves Bud]

Bible - Kay Arthur studies

Math - Finish MUS Epsilon, move into Zeta (also some Key To... books)

Latina Christiana II

Growing with Grammar 5

Writing Tales 2

Spelling Power

History as per TWTM, using Kingfisher, a timeline and maps

NOEO Chemistry

Mindbenders and Red Herrings

Handle on the Arts

Various literature for both independent reading and read alouds

[Marie in Oh]

Math-U-See Epsilon/Zeta

Latin for Children B

Shurley Grammar 6

Writing Tales 2 and IEW

Spelling Power

A Reason For Handwriting

Mystery of History

Apologia Zoo I and II

 

Holding off on Logic till 6th or 7th

[cornopean]

Bible - Kay Arthur studies

Math - Finish MUS Epsilon, move into Zeta (also some Key To... books)

Latina Christiana II

Growing with Grammar 5

Writing Tales 2

Spelling Power

History as per TWTM, using Kingfisher, a timeline and maps

NOEO Chemistry

Mindbenders and Red Herrings

Handle on the Arts

Various literature for both independent reading and read alouds

Is price an issue?

[Amy loves Bud]

Math-U-See Epsilon/Zeta

Latin for Children B

Shurley Grammar 6

Writing Tales 2 and IEW

Spelling Power

A Reason For Handwriting

Mystery of History

Apologia Zoo I and II

 

Holding off on Logic till 6th or 7th

 

Marie,

 

How are you combining WT and IEW? I've always kind of eyeballed IEW, but can't quite see myself making it work. WT1 has really brought DS9 along this year, so I'm happy to be continuing it. You're the first I've seen doing this combo and it has me curious.

[Amy loves Bud]

Is price an issue?

 

Fortunately not. I do try to gather as much used as I can, but I can buy new if I need to.

 

I do try to always buy any PHP products directly from them, because they have helped me so much in my journey. I'll be buying some things for my DD7 from them this year, including the new writing program which I am very excited about.

[Janis in DE]

We did the Kay Arthur Bible studies this year in 5th and my daughter really liked these.

Janis in DE

[Sunshine State Sue]

Mindbenders and Red Herrings

 

I found Red Herrings unsuitable for homeschool. It really needs a (big - my opinion) group to pull it off. They are mysteries that the kids have to figure out, but they use vocabulary that I had never heard of - like a word that had 2 meanings - one was common and one was part of a ship I had never heard of.

 

We've used MindBenders, Perplexors (similar but more problems for your money), and the DandyLion Logic Liftoff series.

 

HTH!

[Amy loves Bud]

I found Red Herrings unsuitable for homeschool. It really needs a (big - my opinion) group to pull it off. They are mysteries that the kids have to figure out, but they use vocabulary that I had never heard of - like a word that had 2 meanings - one was common and one was part of a ship I had never heard of.

 

We've used MindBenders, Perplexors (similar but more problems for your money), and the DandyLion Logic Liftoff series.

 

HTH!

 

Thank you for the input. I'll have to dig in a little deeper on that one.

 

I appreciate the help!

[Langhaven]

Mine schedule is a bit different...

 

Saxon Math 76

Shurley Grammar 5

Penmanship Mastery 2

Wordly Wise 3000-2

Spelling Power Level I

Tapestry of Grace Year 3 Redesigned Upper Grammar Level

BJU Science 5

Mind Benders

Debating about Latin still

Explorers Bible Study

Piano Instruction Year 4

AWANA Bible Club

 

Blessings, Pam

[runningirl71]

I found Red Herrings unsuitable for homeschool. It really needs a (big - my opinion) group to pull it off.

 

This was my experience too! I felt they were complicated and hard for my then 6th grader to figure out. They are meant to be a group activity where kids can bounce ideas off one another. These books would probably work better in a co-op type setting. I'm glad to hear others didn't like them too. We lived overseas for 10 years, and I thought that maybe our living outside the US contributed to us not catching the clues, but, maybe not! :)

[Pensguys]

Bible - Kay Arthur studies

Math - Finish MUS Epsilon, move into Zeta (also some Key To... books)

Latina Christiana II

Growing with Grammar 5

Writing Tales 2

Spelling Power

History as per TWTM, using Kingfisher, a timeline and maps

NOEO Chemistry

Mindbenders and Red Herrings

Handle on the Arts

Various literature for both independent reading and read alouds

 

I really liked History Odyssey Level 2 this year because it pulled in the Kingfisher, timeline and maps for me (as well as some lit). You can do all assignments or cut them back or work them as much/little as you want.

[Storm Bay]

We used Noeo Chemistry this year for Gr. 5. While I love the experiment set and The Mystery of the Periodic Table, (the experiment set was the selling point for me so I wouldn't have to organize this myself) we were disappointed in it. Too boring for my dd in Gr. 5 (she doesn't care for science but the Encyclopedia format isn't her bag.) Not enough meat for my older dd, but she is too old for it.

 

Next year we're going with Real-Science for Kids and not trying to have one science all year for my rising Gr. 6 student. My 13 yo will do the Real-Science-4-Kids Chemistry II (she saw it at a convention, and it incorporates math, etc) before she moves into high school Chemistry.

 

In our house the hits for Gr. 5 this year were:

 

SOTW

All American History (but she LOVES history)

R&S English

The Phonics of Drawing

A course from the How Great Thou Art art series.

 

The other materials were fine, but she doesn't particularly like those subjects. Not that she loves English, but it works well for her.

[Sunshine State Sue]

We used Noeo Chemistry this year for Gr. 5. While I love the experiment set and The Mystery of the Periodic Table, (the experiment set was the selling point for me so I wouldn't have to organize this myself) we were disappointed in it. Too boring for my dd in Gr. 5 (she doesn't care for science but the Encyclopedia format isn't her bag.)

 

:iagree:

We used Noeo Biology 2 for 5th grade and found it boring as well. I don't know that I have an alternative though. We used RS4K for 4th grade Physics and the bottom line was that it was very expensive for a 10 week long program. I have heard that Chemistry is the author's specialty however.

[Storm Bay]

:iagree:

We used Noeo Biology 2 for 5th grade and found it boring as well. I don't know that I have an alternative though. We used RS4K for 4th grade Physics and the bottom line was that it was very expensive for a 10 week long program. I have heard that Chemistry is the author's specialty however.

 

There's a lot more to her Chemistry 2 book. It is pricey, but I have 3 kids who will use it. Plus, I really loved hearing Dr. Keller speak, which biased me a LOT, to be perfectly honest. She really knows her stuff and is passionate about teaching balanced science. She's a Christian but keeps the texts neutral. So in biology you won't see evolution or creationism. In addition, My eldest dd is fussy and since she was there, she took a good look at the text. She won't get to choose all her science texts.

 

As for the younger program, I plan to use it twice. I will augment and stretch it out a bit, too. I'm going to get the entire 3 course set as it is sold as a discount that way. But we've tried various things for science, and this really looks like a better fit. The author thinks that most young kids get bored doing one science all year, and this is definitely the case with my second dd who'd rather study only history and art, although not necessarily the history of art. This program wasn't written with classical homeschooling in mind, but by a homeschooling mom with a Ph.D. in science who didn't like any of the science curricula for young children she could find. She thinks math should be tied in with science and has a new series coming out which ties science into other subject areas, including history, social studies, etc.

[Sunshine State Sue]

I'm going to get the entire 3 course set as it is sold as a discount that way. But we've tried various things for science, and this really looks like a better fit. The author thinks that most young kids get bored doing one science all year, and this is definitely the case with my second dd who'd rather study only history and art, although not necessarily the history of art. This program wasn't written with classical homeschooling in mind, but by a homeschooling mom with a Ph.D. in science who didn't like any of the science curricula for young children she could find. She thinks math should be tied in with science and has a new series coming out which ties science into other subject areas, including history, social studies, etc.

 

I will say that the RS4K student text was EXCELLENT, and I loved (being a math major) how she tied in math with physics. Have fun! :bigear:

[Amy loves Bud]

I'm interested in this because it was a toss up between RS4k and Noeo. I chose Noeo because RS4k will give me one year...then what? I thought Noeo would be a great choice to go through 7th grade, then start in on the typical science track.

 

So what will you two do after RS4k?

[Sunshine State Sue]

I'm interested in this because it was a toss up between RS4k and Noeo. I chose Noeo because RS4k will give me one year...then what? I thought Noeo would be a great choice to go through 7th grade, then start in on the typical science track.

 

So what will you two do after RS4k?

 

For 6th-8th grade, we are using Prentice Hall Science Explorer series. If you search the boards, you will see good reviews. We are combining it with TOPS for more hands-on learning.

[PeterPan]

Amy, after you do WT2, I think you'll see very clearly how to transition over to IEW. See the WT2 sentence beginnings you're going to focus on 2nd semester (we just finished, yeah!) are like the IEW dress-ups. So you could do WT2 for 5th, do the sentence outlining per WTM in your history, and then in 6th do IEW, which would carry over the skills you did in WT2 into non-fiction writing. Make sense? I'm just saying I had a lightbulb moment about IEW after I got into 2nd semester WT2. It just all came to me and I could see how I wanted to teach it, that IEW wasn't so bad (gets maligned occasionally, hehe), etc. I plan to do some IEW-type writing with dd this summer. I think that's a really good progression going from WT2 into IEW. If your dc struggles with writing or is on the young side, I wouldn't do IEW on top of WT2. The models are quite long in WT2 and take a lot of time to really work through. Nuts, even the outlining of some of them takes a long time! No need to do more on top of that for a struggling/budding writer, kwim? If you really want to do more and feel your dd can handle it, then what I'd do is alternate. On the week you have your rough draft for WT2, do a final draft or no IEW. On the week you do your final draft for WT2, which I assume you'll be typing, takes less time, etc., do a new IEW model. Make sense? But keep it light and easy. Honestly, I think she could comfortably go right into IEW SWI B, no problem, after finishing WT2. If you look at the skills in WT2 (see the appendix for the list of sentence beginnings) and compare that to the dress-ups and scope & sequence for IEW, you'll see this. I wouldn't feel compelled to rush. I'd just do that history outlining, let her write those into summaries, develop the skills in WT2, and then NEXT year (6th) carry those skills over into her non-fiction. Make sense?

[Storm Bay]

I'm interested in this because it was a toss up between RS4k and Noeo. I chose Noeo because RS4k will give me one year...then what? I thought Noeo would be a great choice to go through 7th grade, then start in on the typical science track.

 

So what will you two do after RS4k?

 

Knowing us, RS4K will last 3 semesters for my 10 yo. Then she'll be ready for Chemistry II witih RS4K. By then, ds, who will have heard it once, will be ready to do it himself. We have so many various sorts of science encyclopedias and books around (mostly gifts) that we'll fill in some of the time with those.

 

Also, I'm going to give one of the KOGS a try with my dd when it comes out--it ties Chemistry to History, her favourite subject. Hopefully the Biology and Physics KOGS will come out and I can get the ones for history on those. Those books are too expensive for me to buy them for every subject, but I could also use those to help fill in the other time with ds, too.

 

I'm a whole to parts learner and love the idea of the KOGS she has just come up with. I enjoy the idea of how this could work. There is some info on this on the Gravitas Publications website.