First Quarterly Report for 5th Grade

Homeschooling New York State can be a challenge and that's mainly due to the paperwork we must send it. Its not difficult once you become used to the process but it is time consuming. First we must send a letter of intent to homeschool annually followed by an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP) that is followed up with quarterly reports and a final evaluation. I have made the process easier over the years by keeping all our reports and letters on a file in the computer. If I get stuck I can go back and see what I did last time. This year I've also started a binder that will become a 5th grade portfolio. Copies of the paperwork are in the binder along with lists of books read, documentaries watched and projects completed. I just sent in our first quarterly report and thought I would follow up with one on the blog as well. A more detailed one with photos! If you are interested in the curriculum we are using you can look back to this post.

History
We've done quite a bit of history reading. We've read about the early civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and Europe. Maddie has done very well at reading the World History Encyclopedia taking notes then making an outline and creating a short essay (paragraph really!). Our goal for the coming months is to make longer essay. She has also worked on history pockets for Ancient Egypt. Maddie enjoys creating these pocket portfolios and it helps her remember information she might otherwise forget.

 



Brian is working on geography with Maddie. They hung up a world map and have been marking items of importance on it from her history studies and other things she is interested in.

 

They are also working on geography terms. Brian located a book that my Great Aunt Elsie sent to us quite a while ago called Exercises in Geography with a copy write date of 1889! He has been pulling some questions out of the book for Maddie to answer. Its amazing how something written so long ago can still be used today. They have also started a map of the house and yard.

 

English

English has caused some problems for us at the start of the year. We thought we had chosen a good program to replace the program we finished for grammar and writing at the end of last year. The grammar part of the book has been OK but the writing was not great at all. So after some more research we decided to purchase Writing with Skill which was written by the same person as our old program and use that for writing while continuing with the grammar in Voyages in English. It was disappointing but we have learned in the last few years that if something isn't working no amount of effort on our part will make it better. The best solution is to stop, re-evaluate it and make any necessary changes. Its been over a month since we changed and the writing program is going much better. Its challenging Maddie but makes sense to all of us.

We are still doing some spelling lists here and there. However she is doing so much writing in all her subjects that we are constantly working on spelling.

We read The Golden Goblet and I created a "story door" about the book which included some information on Ancient Egypt, vocabulary words and Maddie's "quilt" explaining the symbols in the book. She really impressed me with her ability to pull out the symbols. She found one or two I had not even thought about.

 

She is constantly reading on her own and we set aside time each day for that after lunch. In fact the habit is so ingrained that she even plopped down in the tent after lunch with her book when we were camping! She is currently working on Tales from Ancient Egypt. She is enjoying that one as well since her favorite series of books, The Kane Chronicles is about modern day kids working with the gods of Ancient Egypt. Now she can read the "real" stories.

 

Math

Teaching Textbooks is going really well. Maddie is able to complete the lessons on her own. The computer grades her and those are always good.

We are really glad that we had her work on Life of Fred fractions. She completed the first 10 chapters and we ran into a brick wall. She had a really hard time and we just couldn't get past it. Brian tried after I had tried several times then we decided to go back a bit to the intermediate set of books. So now she is working on Life of Fred Kidneys. It is a bit of review but its good. She needs it! Once we are done with these 3 books we will go back to fractions and give it another whirl.

 

Science and Nature Study

We are flying through science. I love our science program. It blends so well with our other subjects and goals. We've done the introduction to biology and almost completed the section on plants. One of the coolest things we were able to do is look at fern spores under the microscope. We risked life and limb to acquire some back water from the river but we didn't get algae to grow in it. We have to give it another try with some real pond water! Currently we are trying to grow some seeds to see if they will be monocots or dicots. Hopefully they sprout in October! Maddie has spent a ton of time outside this fall on hikes and camping and even a canoe trip!

 

Latin

Latin is also going really well this year. The program is very complete. Maddie has studied not only the language but Rome and some of its history as well. We are really pleased with this one!

 

Logic

Once Maddie got the idea of the logic puzzles in the book we got her there was no holding her back! She completed that first book and is looking for more. So that is on the to do list for Momma! Find some logic books to keep the kid occupied.

 

Art and Music

We started Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I need to take a bit of time and go through it. It seems to be a lot of reading and not a lot of drawing. Maddie is always experimenting with art however! We also started a photography project from 4H and she is really enjoying that. You saw some of her camping pictures in my last post. Here is are a few more!

 

 

We continue to practice handwriting and typing often! She is doing really well so far! We have a new system this year for completing her work. Since she has so much to do on her own we cleaned up her desk and made room. Now I load up a bin and give her a list of projects. She works at her own pace and order through the morning to complete it.

 

We are proud of her! Its been a hard transition to 5th grade and the Logic Stage but she has handled it really well. Things are shaping up to be a good year!