Done With Fifth Grade!
As of today, Friday Feb 19, Kara is done with 5th grade! I am so proud of her!
We are just dipping our toes into the arena of grading, but if I had to grade her, I'd give her straight As. :-) Maybe I'd give her a B in cursive. Of course, if she doesn't get something, we work on it until she does. Homeschool is different than public school. Public school says keep up with everyone else and you'll be tested, so be ready. Homeschool says we are going at your pace and you need to learn this, so let's spend as long or as little on this as you need.
This year she made it through grammar, which was super boring! We did all her grammar at the beginning of the school year so we could get it over with. Besides parts of speech (gag!), she diagrammed sentences - something I never did in school - maybe because I moved around a bit and missed the year(s) they taught that. When grammar was over, we started writing. Kara is a great creative writer and this year it was my goal to make sure she learned structure in her writing. One day she will need to write reports, informative writing, persuasive writing, instructional writing, etc, and she will need to outline it all on her own and organize it into a piece of art! She is blessed to be able to fill all that in with great writing (something I always wished I could do), she just needed to learn the formula. This year she did learn it and her writing shows it. Meanwhile, we are switching curriculum next year to BJU grammar and writing, in hopes that she continues to learn AND doesn't dread it.
We stopped Abeka's spelling 4 just shy of two spelling lists. I am going to send those lists to Florida with her. Kara's spelling is phenomenal and her spelling words are too hard for me, which means I'm just going to push her harder! Next year we are doing Abeka's spelling 5. I think this is the right course since we've been on it this whole time. I've thought about switching to another curriculum just so we could be in the same grade level as everything else, but their words are so much easier. The point is learning, so we're sticking with it.
Kara learned all lower case cursive letters this year and can recognize them all and write them all - just not perfectly.
We did Rod & Staff reading this year, which Kara adored. She also read several books for fun and books I assigned her:
This list is from August 2015 - February 2016. Kara is a great reader and I am fostering that. It helps her spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and opens her mind. We're getting into books that make her think about life outside of her sweet, comfy bubble she lives in. We read a book about a boy whose parents got divorced. We've imagined ourselves as animals. We've read what it's like to not have a mom and be the woman of the house at age 12. We read about being brave, about being afraid, about how not everyone has it as good as she does. We love reading. Next year we are going to start reading Harry Potter. I know there are many opinions in the Christian world about the subject of magic and all of that. Michael and my opinion/belief is that magic is in the same realm of science fiction and fantasy. We believe it's an interesting genre of make believe and it encourages you to think outside the box. We do not believe it to be real and never have. I never, ever told Kara, even at age 2, that magic was real. I said it's fun to believe in Santa, but he doesn't exist. I said disney movies are fun, but not real. Kara is a pretty logical kid, so it was never an issue for her and we never had to be very sensitive about it. I am going to read Harry Potter with her - together we will discover this world that everyone thinks is fun and we'll enjoy the fun, without putting any belief in it. I hope, like everything, this will give her even more information in her arsenal to witness to others. I, personally, think keeping your head buried in the sand and living in a Christians-only bubble makes you difficult/impossible for non-Christians to relate to. I also believe there is an appropriate line for everyone and crossing over into a place of temptation is not okay. We'll take the series one book at a time! (For those wondering, I plan to continue introducing other religions to Kara too. We have been talking about this for at least a year now. We constantly come back to why we believe what we do instead of the other religion and I remind her that she has to decide to follow Jesus on her own, not because I told her to.)
This year in Math Kara sharpened her skills and went beyond introduction to fractions and decimals into hard core add/sub/mult/divide all fractions and decimals. She also dove into geometry with circles, triangles, lines, etc. She took a baby step into negative numbers at the end of the year and I'm looking forward to next year. Like I said, we are skipping straight to pre-algebra. Which may or may not be the right thing to do! I'm making this up as we go and I'm fine with constantly correcting.
BJU Science 5 taught Kara (and me) so many things. Here is a copy of all the chapters we learned:
My favorite lessons are earth science and biology, but Kara seems to like physics. She is so thirsty for knowledge, she seems to generally love learning the way things work, and why. Every time we read science, she finds real world examples throughout the week to apply to what we learned. She genuinely likes it and is interested.
History is boring, but we spent this time learning American History. There is so much to it, we are taking our time. Last year we did Ancient History, which was way more fun and interesting! This year (from August to February) we made it from Leif Ericsson to colonists in the 1600s. We are taking some time to learn about native americans right now and trying to put ourselves in their position - living in this beautiful country, and thinking about how we would deal with new people coming and taking our land from us (and bringing diseases that wipe us out). It's a pretty yucky part of history, but we need to talk about it! We also started talking about slavery since the first ship of slaves arrived recently in our studies. Awful.
Music, art, and PE are easy for my 9 year old. Abeka's 5th grade health taught her all about her circulatory system, digestive system, and her skin. (Of course, food, exercise, first aid, and other stuff were in there.) Kara's conclusion: organs are gross. But miraculous. And gross. I concur. The Body Book for younger girls was very informative and she thinks more of the same - gross. lol.
This year for Bible Kara read a devotional for girls and brushed up on the 13 most important things kids need to know about God. Next year we will try a real curriculum and see how it goes. Regular church attendance helps tremendously - she always has her scripture memorized and even has her own little ministry helping the teachers. Kara has made the decision to follow Christ, as much as a 9 year old can (meaning, she is a believer), but has not been baptized. We taught her the Bible says that's not the way to be saved, but it is important. We taught her it's her decision and we will not rush/push her into doing it.
We kept up with geography and moved beyond all the workbooks I have right now. We also made it through the entire 5th grade test prep workbook I bought earlier in the year (just to have more ideas what kids are learning in public school to make sure we are keeping up).
And I think that's it!
It feels good to be done. I know Kara feels good too. Now, we are taking a week or two off. Ahhh.
We are just dipping our toes into the arena of grading, but if I had to grade her, I'd give her straight As. :-) Maybe I'd give her a B in cursive. Of course, if she doesn't get something, we work on it until she does. Homeschool is different than public school. Public school says keep up with everyone else and you'll be tested, so be ready. Homeschool says we are going at your pace and you need to learn this, so let's spend as long or as little on this as you need.
This year she made it through grammar, which was super boring! We did all her grammar at the beginning of the school year so we could get it over with. Besides parts of speech (gag!), she diagrammed sentences - something I never did in school - maybe because I moved around a bit and missed the year(s) they taught that. When grammar was over, we started writing. Kara is a great creative writer and this year it was my goal to make sure she learned structure in her writing. One day she will need to write reports, informative writing, persuasive writing, instructional writing, etc, and she will need to outline it all on her own and organize it into a piece of art! She is blessed to be able to fill all that in with great writing (something I always wished I could do), she just needed to learn the formula. This year she did learn it and her writing shows it. Meanwhile, we are switching curriculum next year to BJU grammar and writing, in hopes that she continues to learn AND doesn't dread it.
We stopped Abeka's spelling 4 just shy of two spelling lists. I am going to send those lists to Florida with her. Kara's spelling is phenomenal and her spelling words are too hard for me, which means I'm just going to push her harder! Next year we are doing Abeka's spelling 5. I think this is the right course since we've been on it this whole time. I've thought about switching to another curriculum just so we could be in the same grade level as everything else, but their words are so much easier. The point is learning, so we're sticking with it.
Kara learned all lower case cursive letters this year and can recognize them all and write them all - just not perfectly.
We did Rod & Staff reading this year, which Kara adored. She also read several books for fun and books I assigned her:
| Title |
Author
|
| The Borrowers |
Mary Norton
|
| Charlotte’s Web |
E.B. White
|
| Matilda |
Roald Dohl
|
| Yellowfang’s Secret |
Erin Hunter
|
| Because of Winn Dixie |
Kate DiCamillo
|
| Pilgrims |
Mary Pope Osborne
|
| Clan in need |
Erin Hunter
|
| Shattered Peace |
Erin Hunter
|
| Heart of a warrior |
Erin Hunter
|
| Tigerstar & Sasha |
Erin Hunter
|
| The Story of Jamestown |
Eric Braun
|
| The Voyage of the Mayflower |
Allison Lassieur
|
| Squanto and the First Thanksgiving |
Joyce Kessel
|
| Rise of Scourge |
Erin Hunter
|
| Roanoke: The Lost Colony: An Unsolved Mystery from History |
Jane Yolen
|
| Skyclan’s destiny |
Erin Hunter
|
| Bluestar’s Prophecy |
Erin Hunter
|
| The Cricket in Times Square |
George Selden
|
| Dear Mr. Henshaw |
Beverly Cleary
|
| Caddie Woodlawn |
Carol Ryrie Brink
|
| Heidi (adapted from original) |
Johanna Spyri
|
| How to Eat Fried Worms |
Thomas Rockwell
|
| Island of the Blue Dolphins |
Scott O’Dell
|
| Indians |
Teri Martini
|
| You Wouldn’t Want To Be An American Colonist |
Jacqueline Morley
|
| Growing Up in Colonial America |
Tracy Barrett
|
| Inkheart |
Cornelia Funke
|
| Block City How to Build Incredible Worlds in Minecraft |
Kristen Kearney
|
| Invasion for the Overworld |
Mark Cheverton
|
| Battle for the Nether |
Mark Cheverton
|
This list is from August 2015 - February 2016. Kara is a great reader and I am fostering that. It helps her spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and opens her mind. We're getting into books that make her think about life outside of her sweet, comfy bubble she lives in. We read a book about a boy whose parents got divorced. We've imagined ourselves as animals. We've read what it's like to not have a mom and be the woman of the house at age 12. We read about being brave, about being afraid, about how not everyone has it as good as she does. We love reading. Next year we are going to start reading Harry Potter. I know there are many opinions in the Christian world about the subject of magic and all of that. Michael and my opinion/belief is that magic is in the same realm of science fiction and fantasy. We believe it's an interesting genre of make believe and it encourages you to think outside the box. We do not believe it to be real and never have. I never, ever told Kara, even at age 2, that magic was real. I said it's fun to believe in Santa, but he doesn't exist. I said disney movies are fun, but not real. Kara is a pretty logical kid, so it was never an issue for her and we never had to be very sensitive about it. I am going to read Harry Potter with her - together we will discover this world that everyone thinks is fun and we'll enjoy the fun, without putting any belief in it. I hope, like everything, this will give her even more information in her arsenal to witness to others. I, personally, think keeping your head buried in the sand and living in a Christians-only bubble makes you difficult/impossible for non-Christians to relate to. I also believe there is an appropriate line for everyone and crossing over into a place of temptation is not okay. We'll take the series one book at a time! (For those wondering, I plan to continue introducing other religions to Kara too. We have been talking about this for at least a year now. We constantly come back to why we believe what we do instead of the other religion and I remind her that she has to decide to follow Jesus on her own, not because I told her to.)
This year in Math Kara sharpened her skills and went beyond introduction to fractions and decimals into hard core add/sub/mult/divide all fractions and decimals. She also dove into geometry with circles, triangles, lines, etc. She took a baby step into negative numbers at the end of the year and I'm looking forward to next year. Like I said, we are skipping straight to pre-algebra. Which may or may not be the right thing to do! I'm making this up as we go and I'm fine with constantly correcting.
BJU Science 5 taught Kara (and me) so many things. Here is a copy of all the chapters we learned:
History is boring, but we spent this time learning American History. There is so much to it, we are taking our time. Last year we did Ancient History, which was way more fun and interesting! This year (from August to February) we made it from Leif Ericsson to colonists in the 1600s. We are taking some time to learn about native americans right now and trying to put ourselves in their position - living in this beautiful country, and thinking about how we would deal with new people coming and taking our land from us (and bringing diseases that wipe us out). It's a pretty yucky part of history, but we need to talk about it! We also started talking about slavery since the first ship of slaves arrived recently in our studies. Awful.
Music, art, and PE are easy for my 9 year old. Abeka's 5th grade health taught her all about her circulatory system, digestive system, and her skin. (Of course, food, exercise, first aid, and other stuff were in there.) Kara's conclusion: organs are gross. But miraculous. And gross. I concur. The Body Book for younger girls was very informative and she thinks more of the same - gross. lol.
This year for Bible Kara read a devotional for girls and brushed up on the 13 most important things kids need to know about God. Next year we will try a real curriculum and see how it goes. Regular church attendance helps tremendously - she always has her scripture memorized and even has her own little ministry helping the teachers. Kara has made the decision to follow Christ, as much as a 9 year old can (meaning, she is a believer), but has not been baptized. We taught her the Bible says that's not the way to be saved, but it is important. We taught her it's her decision and we will not rush/push her into doing it.
We kept up with geography and moved beyond all the workbooks I have right now. We also made it through the entire 5th grade test prep workbook I bought earlier in the year (just to have more ideas what kids are learning in public school to make sure we are keeping up).
And I think that's it!
It feels good to be done. I know Kara feels good too. Now, we are taking a week or two off. Ahhh.
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