Before I dive in to our first Gather Round unit that we recently finished (space!), I realized I hadn’t yet shared our homeschool line up for 5th Grade and 3rd Grade homeschool years for both of our girls.
As is usually the case every new year, I am very pleased with our lineup. Each year I experiment and find what works for our family – something has stuck around though as you will see below – let’s dive right in!
Hailey (10 Years Old / 5th Grade)
Strengths: Creativity, Writing and Completing Tasks
Math: E-Singapore. I began looking online for solutions to help with teaching math as soon as we started our schoolyear last year – I felt ineffective at it and required extensive prep work on my end. E-Singapore has been an incredible help! My children no longer fight math and actually enjoy it sometimes! With short and easy lessons available at our own pace, we can stop and practice concepts as long as necessary before moving forward with learning more. I would advocate this program more strongly; however, I’m unsure it is suitable for everyone as there may still be issues (we sometimes find errors) and it doesn’t seem engaging enough – yet. We like it because for us a steady 10 minute dose of math each day works better than trying harder but for shorter amounts of time on less days.
Language Arts include IEP SSS, Fix It Grammar and Gather Round Units as well as various activities incorporated into them; Science includes Co-op, Mystery Science and Tinker Crates while Geography covers Beautiful Feet Around the World in Picture Books Part 2.
Kaitlyn (8 Years Old/3rd Grade) shows strengths in mathematical reasoning, science and dramatics; E-Singapore math classes provide her with excellent training to enhance these areas.
Language Arts include All About Spelling, mom-based writing/reading and incorporating language arts into Gather Round Units; Science involves co-op science classes as well as Mystery Science boxes and Tinker Crates; Geography involves Beautiful Feet Around the World in Picture Books Part 2.
Extras: Handwriting Without Tears, Typing, Piano Lessons and Spanish Art at Co-op