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5th Grade
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Tapestry of Grace
When our kids were in grades 1, 4,
and 7 we began using a curriculum called Tapestry of Grace. TOG follows
the “classical method” using a 4-year rotating cycle of Ancients, Middle
Ages/Reformation, Early Modern and Modern. Based on a Christian
worldview, this is the BEST curriculum I have ever used. Having all three
of my girls using the same curriculum means that they all cover the same
topics and subjects, but each grade level has age appropriate activities
and expectations. Each Year Plan can be purchased in digital format (DE)
as well as in print. You purchase the lesson plans (instructions) for
Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4 and then use them over again as you go
through each cycle. If you began this curriculum with your child in 1st
grade you would go through the 4 year cycle 3 times before he graduates
(going through Ancients in grades 1, 5, and 9). The reading books and
reference materials will change with each grade level as you go through
the curriculum, but you only have to purchase the lesson plans once. You
can purchase additional pieces to go along with the curriculum for
subjects like writing/grammar, map work, etc. We added our own math and
science for the older students and the Tapestry lesson plans provided
instructions for everything else...including hands on projects!
At first glance, it can be
intimidating. I honestly looked at it for 3 years and didn’t think I
could do it, but I eventually figured out that each Year Plan has
everything in it for grades 1-12 and I would never “do it all” in one
year. We have now worked with Year Plans 1, 2, and 3 and
I can honestly say that we are solid in our decision to use this
curriculum until our last child graduates from high school. You even have
access to online help including other users and the authors through the
Tapestry Forum on their website. Check it out by clicking here...
- America:
An Integrated Curriculum Year 2 by Chris Roe
www.christiannovelstudies.com/America/america.html
My quick
overview of the America
Year 2 program:
Year 1 of
the America
program is a literature based history program. My girls and I all really
enjoyed Year 1. Year 2 is laid out
a little differently and is not based on children’s novels as Year 1 is.
Mrs. Roe did a great job, but we were not as thrilled with Year 2 as we
were with year 1
We did learn
much about America
from the Civil War through modern times. If you are looking for an in
depth study of America,
we highly suggest the Integrated Curriculum from Mrs. Roe (Christian
Novel Studies).
www.singaporemath.com
Lessons are
done with your child from the Home Educator’s Manual. It tells you what
to say and do. Then parent and child go through the Textbook examples
together. Once the child demonstrates that they understand the concepts,
the Textbook points you to the correct lesson in the workbook.
My thoughts
on how it worked for us:
One word –
fabulous. Singapore Math is
relatively inexpensive compared to some other math programs we checked
out. While my oldest child was using Teaching Textbooks (see below), my
younger 2 used Singapore Math. It is such a thorough program, that we
decided to have the younger two not switch from it until they get to
Pre-Algebra (at which point they will most likely take math at our co-op
and then they will use whatever program the co-op is choosing to teach).
www.rodstaff.com
This is an EXCELLENT
grammar program teaching grammar from the ground up. It is very thorough
and while friends called it “dry” my kids had no problem with the lessons
being at least interesting enough to get through without much fuss. We
chose to use it for all kids through grade 6 and then they can handle
just about anything without formal grammar training.
(Note: we
used Rod and Staff for various kids in grades 4-6. When we began to use
Tapestry of Grace the oldest was in grade 6 and the youngest was in grade
1 - at that time all kids went to the grammar suggest by TOG. For as long
as we have used TOG, we have used the grammar series by Writer's Inc.
Lessons are short and even colorful in the younger grades and all have
learned grammar by using it in their writing rather than studying grammar
for grammar's sake).
www.teachingtextbooks.com
After
hearing a recommendation for this program at a homeschool support group
meeting I had my daughter take the online placement test. Having used Singapore
for the past few years, she breezed through the 5th grade exam
online. I contacted Teaching
Textbooks and asked them what to do; they suggested giving her the 6th
grade placement test. She actually did well on that, but we chose to
start her off with the 6th grade version instead of jumping 2
years ahead to grade 7. This
program comes in both printed text and on CD (although we didn’t even
break the shrink wrap on the printed version). My daughter went from sort
of liking math to loving it. Each lesson had a short animated lecture,
sample problems and then the actual working problems. As the student
works through and checks each answer, he has the opportunity to get a
hint and/or check each answer. When the student checks the answer, the
computer walks them through EACH step of finding the answer. Nothing is
left for the student to wonder or be confused about. The computer also
keeps track of the student’s scores. With a quick glance at the grade
book I knew exactly how my daughter was doing and what we might need to
work on. We worked it out so that
she had to do odd or even problems and if the grade fell below 80 for 3
days in a row she had to do all problems for the next week. We both loved
this program.
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