How We Homeschool 4th & 5th Grade

Are you looking for homeschool curriculum ideas for your 9-11- year-old? We are eclectic homeschoolers and try to pull from the best of each homeschool philosophy as well as the best publishers.  Because homeschoolers often don’t fit into just one grade level at any given time, you may consider the curriculum below for your 4th/5th grader and even 6th grader.

Math

We use two math programs because they are completely different offering my daughter alternative ways to look at arithmetic. She does two pages of Math Mammoth and one page of Horizons Math each day.

Math Mammoth, by Dr. Maria Miller, is a mastery-based curriculum that focuses on conceptual understanding, number sense and mental math. While mastery- based is excellent so the students can explore a concept in-depth, I do not feel comfortable without the repetition of a spiral program.You may consider purchasing the color version for just a few dollars more.

Horizons Math is more traditional. I like that is a spiral curriculum so concepts continue to be reinforced.  Each set of exercises are in short chunks, so it does not feel cumbersome like some other more tedious math programs. Additionally, the colorful pages and puzzles make it very visually appealing.

My daughter uses MobyMax as an online math supplement. About 3 times per year, she cycles through XtraMath to ensure she remains fluent in math facts. She sails through it faster and faster each cycle.

Language Arts

We use IEW’s U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons. While enjoying tea together, I sit down  with my 10 and 11-year-old children and do our IEW. You kill four birds with one stone using this program as it covers history, literature, grammar, and writing composition. IEW develops strong writers. I have spoken to multiple homeschool kids who have found writing in college a breeze, and they attribute that to their IEW training. It is scripted making it easy for parents to teach.

NaNoWriMo Junior Writer’s Program provides resources and encouragement for young authors to pen their own novels. I taught this class at co-op with the free curriculum during our fall semester. This spring, I am using the IEW Student Resources Notebook to help the writers edit their novels.

My kids love to read and spend a great deal of time engaged in pleasure reading. However, I do have a bookshelf from which they can choose for their 25 minutes of daily required reading. I load up on great books at the library, so they always have many choices. After completion, they email me a summary of what they read. It is only about 4-5 sentences. It also serves as a record of what they are reading. 

Daily Grams are an efficient and painless way to learn grammar. It is short and to the point. There is a corresponding text to which you may want to consider alongside your Daily Grams called Easy Grammar. However, my children do not enjoy it. I feel our time is better spent with me editing their writing as well as using IEW.

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is reading aloud to my children. It is a tremendous bonding activity for our family as we go on so many book adventures together. During snack and meal times, I read from a variety of great books. The morning includes most of our non-ficton.  Later in the day, we shift to novels.  

For spelling, we are using Spelling Workout D. However, my kids also love this well-done spelling website.

History

We are big fans of  living books,  field trips and travel for our history studies. We follow the classical method of studying history chronologically. I highly recommend Story of the World audiobooks.  Additionally, I appreciate the many wonderful book lists from Charlotte Mason inspired groups.

Science

We explore science out in the world. We are in a nature group that gets together weekly and learns from experts such as park rangers, naturalists, marine scientists,  and farmers. Additionally, my daughter takes a physics/chemistry class at our co-op, and we all read the material together during the week. Co-ops are great because they can spend the entire class period doing experiments to reinforce what we learned during the week from our reading. My kids also took marine science at a facility on the Pacific Ocean for the fall semester.  Hands-on is best, in my opinion.

 

Extracurricular

We believe music and sports are important aspects of education. My kids race sailboats, and we play basketball together as a family every Saturday morning. They also play woodwinds and piano.  We do other extracurricular activities but believe at least one sport and one instrument are non-negotiable.

I hope you found this post useful if you are homeschooling or considering homeschooling your 4th/5th grader. You can see that you can give your child a quality education spending very little money.

Note: My daughter is actually in 4th grade by her birthday. Due to homeschooling, she has been able to accelerate her learning and use 4th-7th grade curriculum.

You may also like:

Fun Ways to Teach Writing Without Buying a Curriculum

Six Reasons We Homeschool Year-Round

Is it Time to Shake Up Your Homeschool?

The State of California Pays Me to Customize My Kids’ EducationTop Read-Aloud Picks for Your Family

Top Read-Aloud Picks for Your Family

How to Build Your Homeschool Tribe

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