I have hesitated to post our curriculum choices for this school year until we had all of the kinks ironed out.

Are you ever guilty of planning TOO MUCH for your homeschooler?

(That's me.)

After four full weeks of school I believe we are in an excellent groove, so I am ready to share our official PLAN for Fifth Grade!

Homeschool Curriculum Choices - 5th Grade

I'll be sharing this in collage format (since it IS Collage Friday here on the blog).

*The book, Teaching From Rest, has greatly influenced how I planned for and approached this school year. I think it is a MUST READ for all homeschool moms. I also am using a loop schedule this year - you can learn more about that by watching this FREE webinar: The Quickstart Guide to Loop Scheduling for Homeschoolers)

Our Homeschool "Spine" - Classical Conversations

We happily use Classical Conversations as the spine for our learning.

(If you are interested as to how we arrived at this decision, you can read about why we chose Classical Conversations.)

My fifth grader attends Foundations class each Tuesday morning from 9-12, and then attends Essentials class from 1-3 that afternoon.

Foundations consists of six areas of memory work (English Grammar, Latin, Geography, History, Science, Math, and Timeline). There is also a time for art and music instruction, as well as presentation skills and science experiments.

I believe the memory work is enough and rest in the fact that in these early years Grant is getting just what he needs.

Essentials consists of formal grammar instruction, and writing lessons (using IEW materials), followed by math games.

Each morning our family starts the day together at breakfast. I created a simple morning basket, which is working SO WELL! We have devotions, memory work review, a music or art lesson, and CNN Student News. It all takes about 30-45 minutes and is my favorite part of the day.

(In case you are wondering, I created the flipbook in the collage about using files on CC Connected from users melodystroud and TiernyTribe. The maps for tracing also come from TierneyTribe. To see more about our organizing for CC - check out my Cycle 1 Organization post.)

Starting the Day with a Simple Homeschool Morning Routine

More Curriculum Choices

Grant was ready this year to branch out on his own a bit. He watches his sister (who is quite independent in Challenge I) and longs to do more himself this year.

The Veritas Self-Paced History Course - Old Testament and Ancient Egypt - has been a SUPERB addition to our homeschool!

It has lessons, quizzes, games, maps, a timeline, and suggested readings at different levels. I purchased the suggested chapter books, so Grant is getting a lot of great reading this year!

We are reading Pages of History, Volume 1 - Secrets of the Ancients (also from Veritas Press) together as a family this year. We had always been big Story of the World fans, but wanted a change this year.

Homeschool Curriculum Choies - 5th Grade

D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Mythology

We are reading through this lovely book together, and also using the study guide from Memoria Press. Mythology is of great interest to Grant right now, hence this choice!

Grant also LOVES art, so we use a lot of the tutorials from Art for Kids Hub.

We have plans to also start the Art of Fall: Mixed Media Workshop for Kids (we used the winter mixed media last year and it was EXCELLENT!)

Also pictured in the collage above is Grant typing. I am a FIRM BELIEVER in teaching kids to type. We have used Dance Mat Typing and Typing Instructor for Kids along the way.

Saxon Math

Grant is finishing Saxon 6/5 and will be moving into 7/6 soon.

Math isn't anything fancy in our house. Grant completes a lesson each day and we occasionally will play a math game. I am lucky because he's a math kid and enjoys math!

We are a house divided in math this year. Saxon still works very well for Grant, but Anna is doing Algebra I with Mr. D Math online (and we couldn't be happier!).

Enrichment/Extras

I'm very happy with the Classical curriculum we have in place this year.

We've added in a couple of extracurriculars to round it all out.

My guy is a ball player - baseball in the fall and spring and basketball in the winter. I think EVERYONE needs a physical outlet, don't you?

Piano lessons are a big part of our homeschool, too. Grant's been playing for two years now.

I also try to leave ample down time so both of my children can read the books they love, play LEGOS, games, or craft. Part of the beauty of homeschool is that my children are learning to schedule their OWN time and if they use their time wisely they have more time to pursue FUN.

Join Collage Friday!

How was YOUR homeschool week? Are you happy with your curriculum choices for this year, or are you still making adjustments and/or changes?

Join me each Friday for a wrap up of the week - or just to share pertinent thoughts that have been rambling in your head during the past week.

Be sure to include your photo collages!

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An InLinkz Link-up

I have spent the past couple of years feeling guilty about leaving our interest led, whimsical schooling behind us. The deeply creative part of me has been mourning the learning "tangents" that so often captured our focus.

The Diligent Homeschool - Collage Friday 1.2

This year, however, - even though we are only three weeks into the school year - those feelings of guilt and mourning are beginning to fade. I am seeing so clearly what a beautiful, solid Classical education my children are receiving, and it brings me great joy and PEACE.

As I watch my ninth grader so competently schedule and complete her own work, it shows me the disciplined approach of our schooling in the past two years is WORTH IT.

When I see my fifth grader flourish with large amounts of memory work, and thirst for yet ANOTHER book, it affirms my choice to educate him in this way.

In short, we now have a DILIGENT homeschool, and I am taking great joy and rest in that fact.

In Teaching From Rest (my new favorite book!), Sarah Mackenzie tells us,

“I spent some of my early homeschooling years parked in an overly relaxed mode of teaching. It wasn’t laziness, exactly — I went in quite intentionally and thought it to be a great gift to my students to allow them to bloom on their own terms. What I found, however, was that the nature of my children was not nurtured by my best intentions. My neglect in their formation repaed exactly what one might expect — laziness, carelessness, and a self-centered view of learning. I thought I was meeting my kids where they were. I wrongly figured that if wisdom began with wonder, than I as a teacher outght to step out of the way completely. In an effort not to stand between my student and his learning, I failed to build a bridge at all between the child in front of me and the man God intended him to become.”

Friends, these words hit me - HARD.

Hopefully this year I will continue to up my teaching game and offer my children a rigorous education that creates diligence and a love of God's people and His Word.

Increasing Independence in Challenge I

Anna's week now requires consultation from me - along with suggestions here and there about scheduling, editing papers, and general encouragement.

Each week she schedules all of her assignments and is very diligent about completing them. (That's not to say we don't have some bumps in the road, but for the most part I have been so pleased.)

I remember being in high school - we simply followed a schedule and did what the teachers told us. There was little room for true OWNERSHIP and DECISION MAKING.

A typical week in Challenge I...

Anna does much of her work on her Google Chromebook (I need to write a post about what a great machine this is for a high schooler). She has a dedicated work area in her bedroom and it's quite pleasant. Many times during the day I will pop in, sit on her bed, and just get a status update.

She had her Henle I Latin Open House - through Memoria Press - and will begin that class after Labor Day. The teacher has lived in several countries and is a Latin scholar - just listening to her chat with the students today was quite exciting.

American Government is a lot of work right now - the students annotate original American documents and share with the class.

She has already read The Call of the Wild, The Sign of the Beaver, and J ohnny Tremain.

She has completed the first chapter in her physical science text and has taken the first test.

In Challenge I, the workload is intense, but these young people are so CAPABLE and are meeting the challenge!

It's not all academics, though -- we are still taking music lessons, playing tennis, and doing other things she enjoys.

She made a Ham, Broccoli, Cheese Quiche for us this week.. so yummy!

I love that school and home blend together. We can talk about the novel she is reading while cooking - I can watch her online class while I'm folding laundry. We can share a read aloud together at lunchtime.

My husband works from home, and I love the atmosphere in our house: we are ALL working hard during the day. Each person has their own "job" to do, but we are all interested in each other and support each other's work. I love that we aren't separated all day into separate classrooms and workplaces.

I think back on the days when everyone scattered at 7:30 a.m. to different schools and workplaces and don't miss it one bit!

Myths, Maps, Memory Work (& More!)

My fifth grader was a hard worker this week, too. It was our first official Classical Conversations community day, and he was so excited to see friends, learn new memory work, and even review the sentence patterns in Essentials!

A few things pictured above:

Copying Essentials grammar charts is done daily. I would have thought this would be boring, but I never hear a complaint - in fact I think he LIKES it.
Map Tracing (of course!) - this week it was the Fertile Crescent - which led to some scientific discoveries about the Mediterranean Sea - FUN!
Writing a rough draft and then typing his IEW paragraph - I am a firm believer in teaching kids to type!
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths has completely captured his attention. Add this to his ongoing obsession with the Percy Jackson series (he started The Mark of Athena this week), and he's learning so much about mythology.

Grant also started fall baseball this week and is THRILLED about that!

Community Day - Classical Conversations

It was back to Classical Conversations this week... my two students are both looking so grown up, don't you agree?

Grant's Foundations class is ALL BOYS. His tutor is wonderful and she had the boys out on the field doing memory work DRILLS, complete with a bullhorn and pushups! It was GREAT!

Our Essentials tutor is also a man, so it's nice to have that influence this year... another guy who thinks grammar is cool? Awesome!

Grant's favorite part of Essentials is the math game that is played at the end. This week it was Board Slam. I just sit back and watch him come up with the math problems, because he's faster than I am!

Oh, and I had to sneak in a picture of my SunButter. We have a nut-free community, so I decided to try SunButter in lieu of Peanut Butter. It is VERY good. In fact, today at home I made myself a SunButter and Honey Sandwich for lunch. MMMMMM......