Our 5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Wow! I just blinked and now my middle baby is in 5th grade. Around here, that’s middle school! It’s crazy to think that she would be starting at a new school in a nearby town, if she were in public school. Thank God, we are able to homeschool her and enjoy each precious moment beside her.

There’s just something about my middle child. She’s an old soul, spunky and a hands-on learner. She’s willing to try new things, learn about any and everything and can give you facts about things that will blow your mind. She loves YouTube but not the videos that turn your mind to mush. At the ripe old age of 10, she’s traveled to half of the states and is hoping to check off a few more in the coming year.
But this girl, who loves to do and see and learn, she just doesn’t like to read. She’ll read books like National Geographic and Vet Academy. But to sit down and read a chapter book is like pulling teeth.

This year, we’re working on helping her fall in love with reading. Will she ever? Perhaps. Or maybe not. I don’t know for sure, but I’m going to introduce her to different literature and pray she finds a love for books like Ms. Bookworm has.

Our 5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

The Good and The Beautiful:

I was so happy when I discovered The Good and The Beautiful. It has eased our days and brought forth a love for learning “the boring stuff” that Miss Manners hated. We’ve already begun to ease into her 5th grade homeschool curriculum because she’s actually eager to do so.

The ever-popular curriculum covers several subjects, including:

Reading
Writing
Spelling
Grammar & Punctuation
Literature
Art
Vocab
Geography

We will also be adding in their science (beginning with Meteorology) and the history. We may add in typing in a few months, but for now, I’m just hoping to spark that love of literature.

CTC Math:

CTC Math is something that we’ve tried off and on, mostly for reinforcing skills learned using Teaching Textbooks. I’ve been leery of making the leap to using it entirely because I have an unnatural fear of leaving gaps in my kids’ math education. But with the price being so stinkin’ affordable and the ease of having it all online is too hard to pass up. This year, the entire family will begin using CTC Math. If it doesn’t work out for us, we’ll head back to Teaching Textbooks, but I don’t think that will be necessary.

Books To Read:

We’ll be reading easy, fun books that I think she’ll enjoy. Again, these may not all be on grade-level, but if they make her want to read, they’ve done their job. 😉

My Side of the Mountain
The Tripod Trilogy
Bridge to Terabithia
Hatchet
The Secret Garden
Summer of the Monkeys
Old Yeller
Dear Mr. Henshaw
The Mouse on the Motorcycle
Vet Academy
The Magic Treehouse The whole family will be enjoying these during our family read-aloud time.

Skills to Learn:

As I mentioned, Miss Manners doesn’t need any nudging when it comes to learning a new skill. She can already crochet, sew, garden, build simple wood projects, care for her pets (a dwarf Nigerian goat, 2 rats and a dog), cook and keep the house running fairly smoothly. This year, we’ll focus on auto maintenance and care. She’s recently expressed interest in learning how a car works, so we’ll run with her desire to learn until she loses interest. (Isn’t homeschooling great!?!)