End of Year Curriculum Thoughts - 5th Grade

I'm putting down my thoughts on our curriculum from this past school year as we are bringing it to a close. I wrote about Silas's 7th grade curriculum last week, and today I'm going to write about Titus's 5th grade curriculum. 

Titus - 5th grade

MATH: Math Lessons for a Living Education 5 by Master Books

Titus has used this series from Book 1, and it's been a great fit for him. The lessons are short yet thorough with plenty of review thrown in here and there. The series starts off pretty slow, but the speed picks up around Book 3. This was perfect for Titus, as he didn't need any rigorous math until then. Titus enjoyed using this except for the copywork! (For the record, I liked the copywork because I feel like it helps to cement the rules in your memory.) He also didn't read the stories at the beginning of each unit because he thought they were boring.

That said, we have decided to forgo Book 6 and jump straight into Saxon Math with Nicole the Math Lady. Silas had such a good experience that I feel like Titus needs to go ahead and start with Saxon 6/5 next year. He has also been asking to go ahead and use "the Math Lady"!

Verdict: 9/10

I will continue to use Math Lessons for a Living Education with Zeke and Zoey when they get old enough. I like the gentle introduction to math and the short lessons, and the series has proven to be effective since I've used this with several of my children. 

LITERATURE: Progeny Press Literature Guides

As I said with Silas, we love these literature guides from Progeny Press! Titus used Charlotte's Web and The Sword in the Tree this year. I like everything about these guides, although we don't always do the extra activities. If something catches Titus's eye, he will do it, but otherwise we stick to the main sections. The guides give vocabulary lessons, critical thinking, reading comprehension, and "Dig Deeper" questions that go into Biblical lessons. They really cover so much and do it well.

Verdict: 10/10

I'm excited to choose two more books and guides for Titus to use next year! I plan to do two literature guides with the kids each year through high school.

GRAMMAR: Language Lessons for a Living Education 5 by Master Books

This was a pretty solid language arts curriculum that followed a predictable routine each week. Monday was reading comprehension and writing skills, Tuesday and Wednesday were grammar practice, Thursday was reading a Bible story with copywork and drawing, and Friday was spelling. At first, we did all lessons each week, but then I started just doing Tuesday through Thursday, skipping Monday and Friday lessons. I felt like they weren't beneficial to Titus, although he did enjoy reading the Bible stories.

Verdict: 6/10

We won't be using this again next year. I don't like it enough to continue the series.

GRAMMAR: Language Smarts E by Critical Thinking Co.

This was a book we used for a review, and I continued using it with Titus because it's a fantastic book. The activities are fun and engaging, and it covers such a wide variety of topics. He's finished more than half of the book, and we will continue using it over the summer to finish it up. For around $40, it's a great bargain!

Verdict: 10/10

We're going to continue with this book until he completes it.

SCIENCE: God's Design for Heaven and Earth by Master Books

These textbooks are great, full of beautiful, full-color pictures and tons of information. Most of the activities Titus really enjoyed doing. He wanted to do them all! The worksheets that go along with it are not that great. I think I could use these books and create my own worksheets and it would be a much more engaging experience. I'm not sure what we are doing for science next year, but I don't see us using this series. Although we started off loving it, we would up skipping the last few chapters.

Verdict: 7/10

The textbook is really nice, but the worksheets are lacking.

HISTORY: America's Story Volume 1 by Master Books

Again, the textbook is pretty nice, but the worksheets are boring. The activities are silly sometimes, and most of the writing exercises included writing letters or diary entries. Titus tired of those quickly. Some of the reading was boring, but most of it was interesting. He did enjoy finding the locations on maps and globes. Titus remembered a few things, but not as much as I hoped he would. We didn't finish this curriculum, but we got over 3/4 completed!

Verdict: 6/10

Exactly how I feel about the science. We will be going with something different next year.

I really feel like Titus had a great 5th grade year overall, considering I had a new baby in September and a four year old tagging along with us. I feel like he had a lot of growth in his handwriting, math skills, reading, and learning to work independently. I haven't decided what we are going to be using next year, but I'm deep in the "research" mindset right now!