How does this look for next year, and what grade does it look like?

[Ravin]

Math: Either Fred Ice Cream to Mineshaft then Fractions+Process Skills workbooks/Key to workbooks/MM Blue series workbooks

OR Fred + Continuing Saxon 5/4 then start 6/5

Which math route depends upon whether DD continues to loathe/detest Saxon as much as she has the first couple of weeks since we started it.

 

Geography: Mapping the World with Art OR Geography Through Art + home-made continent units + National Geographic Young Explorers’ Atlas, Library and Internet resources and MBTP units

 

Lit/Writing: Moving Beyond the Page units

1. Communities and Cultures (Lit) and Communities Change Over Time (social Studies) (7-9 level)

2. Charlotte’s Web (Lit) (7-9 level)

3. Little House in the Big Woods (Lit) (8-10 level)

4. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (lit) (8-10 level)

5. The BFG (lit) (8-10 level)

6. Africa and Asia (Social Studies) and Akimbo and Sadako (Lit) (8-10 level)

7. Holes (Lit) (8-10 level)

8. Europe (Social Studies) and Charlotte in Giverny (Lit) (8-10 level)

9. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NiMH (lit) (8-10 level)

 

Latin: Lively Latin Book One, continued from this year

 

Spelling: Spelling Workout C and maybe start D

 

Grammar: Simply Grammar, continued, plus Diagramming Sentences

 

History: Tie-ins with Geography and Literature, maybe start a timeline or Book of Centuries if DD shows an iota of enthusiasm.

 

Science: "Gardening and Saving Our Planet," "Oceanography," and "I'm An Astronaut" classes at her enrichment program

 

Foreign Language: "Conversational Spanish" and "Sign Language" classes at the enrichment program

 

Music: Show Choir and Band at the enrichment program

 

All the enrichment classes are for 4th-8th graders, except for "I'm An Astronaut" which is for 3rd-6th and Band which is 3rd-8th. The enrichment program is Tu/Th all day, an option necessitated by my own class/work schedule (I do all the instructing, though DH supervises ensuring DD finishes independent seat work some days)..

 

Also, I'll be changing plans if the first two MBTP units are a bust with DD, as we'll be trying it out for the first time.

[Soror]

Well, my first thought was 4-5th grade.

[Crimson Wife]

Place her in the grade that corresponds with her age and use whatever level materials she's ready for. :)

[Melissa B]

It looks fine and well rounded for elementary. If I had to place a grade on the materials as used in our homeschool it would be 3rd/4th.

 

ETA: Although some of the literature we do in 2nd grade, but we don't use MBTP which likely goes more in depth with the novels.

[Ravin]

I went ahead and registered DD as 5th with the enrichment program next year, but we're debating holding her back because of standardized testing, her learning difficulties, and the likelihood that we've only got one or two more years of homeschooling left before we'll have to put her in PS for career/family reasons. There's a couple of charter arts schools she's interested in, and we don't want to set her up for failure by putting her in 6th grade when she's not ready for it. Age-wise, 5th is a grade ahead (she started K early with October birthday based on readiness then), but she still isn't keen about being "held back," even though she'd be continuing to progress along the same trajectory (not repeating anything except a standardized test) and have the same peers at her enrichment program, etc.

 

Within our homeschool, grade level matters far more to DD than it does to me. If it wasn't for the enrichment program, I'd never have given her a grade level "label" to begin with.

[JessieC]

We use MBTP and I plan to do the 8-10 level next year with my advanced third-grader-to-be. We're doing 7-9 this year and love most of the book units, though I should say we skimmed over Communities and Culture just because I wanted to take more time with the ancients and middle ages (we're doing SOTW Vol. 1 as a side reading). My dd gobbled up the books with that unit--we just didn't do much of the work! Just wanted to let you know not to judge the MBTP as a whole on this particular unit--we're really looking forward to Holes and some of the other lit units you listed. It's a great program.

[Crimson Wife]

I would call it a "transition" year between two grades rather than repeating a grade. It is very common where I live for B&M schools to have a formal "transition" class between K & 1, 5 & 6, or 8 & 9 for kids who aren't quite ready to move on to the next stage.

 

My DS has a fall birthday and while he was ready to start K at not-quite-5, he wasn't ready to move on to 1st at not-quite-6 so he did "transition" between K & 1st. For the purposes of our cover school, it was technically considered repeating K, but I just continued on where he was.

[thebacabunch]

I would tell your kiddo that according to your school district she is in 4th grade and ahead. Tell her that she will be ahead of the game when she goes back. "That's it. End of story. I don't have any control over how the schools decide it, dear." Don't bring up the "started early because of readiness" again because it will make her feel bad that she hasn't kept up. It is always better to blame it on something else that you have no control over. :tongue_smilie:

 

She will be more than adequately prepared!

[Ravin]

The issue comes down to the enrichment program, in which while the students are in multiage classes beyond third grade, they are organized within classes for certain thing by grade, so the kids are aware of grade levels.

 

Why it matters any time but when they go to administer the standardized testing is beyond me. I've pointed this out to her many times.

 

I've also told her that if she steps up her game and spends more time working and less complaining, she can catch up (which is true; she struggles but with "step one of solving the problem is calm down and don't freak out", she's gotten more efficient lately.