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!

End of Year Curriculum Thoughts - 7th grade

It's so hard to believe that our school year is coming to a close! Silas is finishing up 7th grade, Titus is finishing 5th, and Zeke had a great preschool year. I always like to put down my thoughts on the curriculum that we used and how it worked for us. I'll start with Silas.

Silas - 7th grade 

MATH: Saxon 7/6 with Nicole the Math Lady subscription

I am so thankful we found Nicole the Math Lady! She "teaches" math for me and does such an excellent job! Silas has learned so much this year, and he says that the Nicole the Math Lady videos have really helped him to understand the math concepts this year. It has taken a load off of my shoulders, especially with a new baby in the house. 

I also really like Saxon Math. There are plenty of review problems each lesson so he doesn't get rusty on math concepts. I don't always make him do all 30 problems since it takes him a few hours to do math each day. I will assign him odds or evens, and he loves when I do that! He also inputs all of his answers online and it immediately tells him if it's right or wrong. He gets six attempts for most problems, and the 'grading' gives me the percentage he got right on first attempt and the percentage he got right using all six attempts. 

Verdict: 10/10

We are absolutely using Saxon Math with Nicole the Math Lady videos for all three of my older kids next year!

LITERATURE: Progeny Press Literature Guides

  

This is something we have used year after year because they're really great literature guides! This year Silas used Number the Stars and Where the Red Fern Grows. He enjoys using them and I love how thorough they are! They're also very easy for the boys to use on their own. This is a product that I recommend to others!

Verdict: 10/10

I will assign the boys each two more literature guides next year! It's always fun getting to choose which books to use.

HISTORY: The World's Story by Master Books

There are things I liked about this and things I didn't like. I think what we didn't like the most was the worksheets. The questions were pretty silly sometimes and hard to answer - not because the answer was hard but because they made you imagine you were in certain places or time periods and write a letter or diary entry or story about it. Silas wasn't into all of those question for history. He wanted more questions with concrete answers. He didn't retain as much as I would have liked. We actually dropped history a few weeks ago without finishing the last few chapters. 

Verdict: 4/10

The book was not bad. I should have written my own worksheets and activities and we would have enjoyed it more. 

SCIENCE: God's Design for the Physical World by Master Books

Again, there are things we liked and things we didn't like. For the most part, we enjoyed reading the lessons. Sometimes there was a lot of information presented at a time. At first Silas loved doing the experiments daily, but that got to be too much. We just picked a few a week to do after that. The worksheets were boring and again, I just wish that I would have made my own worksheets for Silas to use. If we use this science again (and we may!) I will create my own worksheets and activities, picking and choosing which experiments to do based on how beneficial and fun they will be. 

Verdict: 8/10

The main problem for us was the worksheets and the abundance of experiments. I would also not let his be done independently as I feel like he would retain much more if we read it together.

GRAMMAR: Even-Moor Language Fundamentals

I really liked this book for Silas! He did one or two pages a day just to keep himself familiar with grammar, punctuation, and usage rules. It took him less than ten minutes to complete. He still has some pages left, so he will probably finish it up over the summer. It was $30, but well worth it. 

Verdict: 10/10

I will order one for Titus to use next year! That's how much I liked it. The short lessons were very thorough and covered so many different topics. It was just the right amount each day!

It's so hard to believe that I will be researching and ordering curriculum again soon. We already know which math and literature we will be using, so science and history are the only things I'm really trying to figure out. I'm also considering if I want to combine them for a subject, since we haven't done Family Style Learning in a few years. I miss doing it that way! 

Have you used any of these before? 

Math Galaxy (TOS Review)

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

I'm always looking for fun ways to reinforce math facts and concepts, so I was excited to review some apps and e-books from Math Galaxy.

We received the Times Tables Balloon Pop app and the 6th Grade Math app. I'll begin with the Times Tables Balloon Pop. My kids loved this app! It's very simple. You choose which multiplication table you want to practice - you can choose individual tables 2-12, a combination of 2-4, 5-7, and 8-10, or you can choose all of the tables.

The screen will appear with a multiplication problem at the top - 9 x 8 in this example. Five balloons will bounce around the screen with different possible answers in them. You must "pop" the correct balloon by tapping it. If you pop the correct answer, you move on to another problem. If you pop the incorrect answer, you keep popping until you get the correct answer.

With each problem, there is a table that will help your child figure out the correct answer if they are having trouble. In this case, there are 9 rows of 8 apples. You could skip count to find the answer.

Times Tables Balloon Pop is a very simple yet effective app. All three of my kids, from 2nd grade to 6th grade, enjoyed playing! They also have an Add and Subtract Balloon Pop app that my 2nd grader would really enjoy.

We also received the 6th Grade Math app. This app is very full! There is quite the variety of 6th grade math concepts to practice. The options are:

• ratios and proportions 
• percents
• fractions
• multi-digit division
• decimals
• factors (greatest common factors and least common multiples)
• signed numbers
• absolute value
• exponents
• expressions and equations
• geometry
• statistics and probability
• labyrinth (which is the game part)
• videos

I'll use the Fractions portion for an example. When you pull up Fractions, you have five options: 

• adding fractions
• subtracting fractions
• multiplying fractions
• dividing fractions
• fraction word problems

You can then choose "Step by Step", which teaches you how to work each problem, step by step. Or you can choose "Final Answer Only", in which you only input the final answer. I chose "Final Answer Only."

I chose "Adding Fractions", which then gives me three more options:

• adding 1/2s, 1/4s, 1/8s
• adding different fractions
• adding mixed numbers

I chose "Adding 1/2s, 1/4s, and 1/8s". Now I'm ready to work some problems!

The screen not only has the problem - 1/2 + 1/8 - it also has fraction circles to help. Your child can work the problem on a whiteboard, scrap paper, or in their head. You'll input the answer on the bottom right screen. Immediately it will say "Correct" or "Try Again." 

If the answer is correct, you will receive 1 Labyrinth Point which can be used in the labyrinth as a "life." You can then choose to get a new problem or quit. 

The Labyrinth is a maze-type game where you have to navigate an avatar through a maze to a treasure chest. This was very difficult to do and I don't think we ever made it through a single maze! Each point you receive from correct answers are used as a "life" in the labyrinth. It's great motivation for the child to earn as many points as possible to use in the labyrinth.

There are a few things we didn't like about the 6th Grade Math app. First, it is really hard to input the answers to the problems because the numbers are so small. My 12 year old daughter and I had difficulty pushing the correct numbers. If we were using this app on an iPad, I'm sure it would  be much easier to see and operate. However, we don't have an Apple iPad so we had to use my iPhone. Second, the labyrinth is so hard! I don't know if it was just us having trouble figuring out what to do and how to do it, or if it really is very difficult to do. Mercie is normally great at video games and apps, but got quite frustrated trying to play this one. Third, the videos are pretty boring to watch. The narrator's voice is monotone and drab and the quality of the videos are not great. 

That said, there are some great things about the 6th Grade Math app! There is a huge variety of math problems to choose from. You can quit each level whenever you want to. It's nice to receive a point for each correct answer instead of for passing levels. I like that you can choose from "Step by Step" or "Final Answer Only" - that way your child doesn't have to sit through a step by step explanation if she knows how to work the problem, but if she doesn't know how she can watch the steps to learn how.

These apps are available on App Store for Apple devices for $4.99. I would love to try a few more of their apps, including Zombie Numbers! Here is a list of the apps that are available:

• 3rd Grade Math
• 4th Grade Math
• 5th Grade Math
• 6th Grade Math
• 7th Grade Math
• 8th Grade Math
• Pre-Algebra Fundamentals
• Algebra Fundamentals
• Fraction & Decimal Riddles
• Whole Number Riddles
• Times Tables Balloon Pop
• Whole Numbers Balloon Pop
• Word Problems Fun
• Zombie Numbers

We also received 4 bundles of e-books to review. We chose to focus on the "Fraction Word Problem Riddles E-Book." This e-book is 43 pages long and contains fun riddles that your child will complete by answering fraction word problems. Here is an example of one of the riddles:

These were fun to do, but I wish the worksheets didn't have quite so much color! It takes a lot of ink to print these out, so I had my daughter look at the computer screen and write her answers on a scrap sheet of paper. These would be great for "fun school", extra work for concepts that were not mastered, or for busy work. She really enjoyed the riddles!

I also printed out some from the "One and Two Digit Multiplication Riddles E-Book" for my 4th grader to do because he thought Mercie was having all the fun! And then I printed out some from the "One to Three Digit Addition and Subtraction Riddles E-Book" for my 2nd grader. I love the variety of these e-books! There is literally something for every one of your children.

The "Fraction Word Problem Riddles E-Book" is offered for $4.00 or as part of the "Fractions Riddles E-Book" for $9.95. The "Fractions Riddles E-book" is 215 pages long and is an internet download. 

Math Galaxy offers e-books on a huge range of topics, including decimals, percents, ratio, geometry, and more. The e-books are a really fun and easy way to review topics and cement those math concepts into your child's head, and I highly recommend them!

Click below to read reviews of some of the different apps and e-books that Math Galaxy has to offer!

Count and Color for Boys Review and Give Away

 

 

 

My son, Silas, had the chance to review this Count and Color for Boys math book from the Thinking Tree. He is 5 years old and doing a mix of preschool and kindergarten work.

This is such a cute book! The pages are beautifully drawn, just asking your child to color them! This book focuses on the numbers 1-10. Your child will color the numbers, write the numbers, draw pictures to represent the numbers, and more!

Silas loves working in this book. In fact, it's the first workbook he pulls off of the shelf in the morning. I allow him to do one or two pages a day, although he would gladly do more!

I believe this workbook has helped him with recognizing the numbers. He has had so much trouble recognizing the numbers 6, 7, 8 and 9, but I have seen some small improvement since using this book.

As he colors the number 6, I ask him, "What number is this?" several times to reinforce it.

He enjoys counting the birds and coloring the correct number.

Silas loves to color! If your child loves to color, they will love this book.

The pages are simple, but the concept is solid.

I am going to give away the Count and Color for Girls workbook to one lucky reader! The workbook is virtually the same, but with more girly drawing to color.

To enter:
Leave me a comment! {1 entry}
Subscribe by email! {2 entries}

I will choose the winner on Tuesday, January 12, 2016!

God's Design for Science: The Human Body {week 1}

Eli wanted {and needed} more science than is offered in Bigger Hearts {Heart of Dakota}. I looked at several different curricula before decided on God's Design for Science: The Human Body. I am so glad I chose it!

I didn't order the CD rom that includes worksheets, so I made my own and found some {mainly from education.com}. I printed out all of the ones he will use, put them in page protectors, and placed them in a yellow, 3-prong folder. I plan to do this with all 3 books in this series.

He drew a self-portrait the first day.

He read an overview of the 8 body systems we will be learning about in this book, and made a "body wheel", which has  brief description of each system.

He drew and wrote the function of 6 kind of cells.

He also read a few pages on Leonardo da Vinci, but we didn't elaborate on that at this time.

Overall, he enjoyed the first 3 lessons in this book, and I am glad he is able to do this independently.

Science in the Ancient World Review

I bought "Science in the Ancient World" by Jay Wiles for my 7th grader, Mikaela. She cannot tell me enough how much she enjoys it! It is an amazing text book. Every lesson has a {simple} science experiment. She reads part of her lesson, performs her experiment, reads the rest of lesson which explains her experiment, and has an activity for her science notebook. She may have to write about her experiment, draw a picture or diagram, or write a paragraph about a person or event at that time in history.

The experiments call for things that most people have around their homes. If it is something you need to purchase, it is usually inexpensive and readily available. The book has a list of supplies you will need for every.single.experiment in the front of the book. There is even a list of supplies that may be hard to come by, so you can get those in plenty of time.

The experiments are simple enough for her to do {mostly} independently, but not so simple that they seem irrelevant or boring. It's her favorite part of science!

She does science Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. It takes her less than 30 minutes, and that is counting experiment prep, clean up, and her lesson review.

{learning about sound waves and pitch}

In this experiment, she took an empty tin can, wrapped plastic wrap around it tightly, and poured pepper on the plastic. Her sister put her mouth right under the can and said "aaaaaah" in a deep pitch, and then a high pitch. We also experimented with volume, and how the pepper "jumps" around the plastic wrap differently with each pitch/volume increase. It was simple, effective, and very interesting {to all of us!}.

We will be using his other books next year!