Tentative plans for Crayons' Grade Five (repost)

This is an early, tentative, subject-to-change homeschooling plan for fifth-grader Crayons, for the school year starting this September. It is our free adaptation of the Ambleside Online booklist for Year 5, with changes made not because we think these books are necessarily better than those chosen for the AO Curriculum, but for reasons such as the following:

a) we already own a comparable book
b) we've already read the required Year 5 book together (Ponytails did Year 5 only last year, and some of those books we read aloud with both girls)
c) this year I'd like to emphasize Canadian history. The Canadian books (or those with a Canadian connection) are in red.

Asterisks indicate books that are used in the first, second or third term.

CRAYONS' GRADE FIVE BOOKLIST AND SCHEDULE, 2011-2012
ADAPTED FROM AMBLESIDE ONLINE YEAR FIVE


DAILY LESSONS

Penmanship or Copywork

Math: Math Mammoth Light Blue Grade 4/Grade 5. Calculadder drills. Various math supplements and manipulatives. Pocket Posters.

Foreign language: French curriculum to be decided; probably Mission Monde Grade 5.

WEEKLY LESSONS

Art Appreciation: follow AO rotation, possibly incorporating Canadian art as well. Possible artists: Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, Jean-Honoré Fragonard. There are "Artists' Specials" DVDs about Mary Cassatt and Winslow Homer.

Art Instruction: Artistic Pursuits Grade 4-6, Book II. Includes study of American paintings.

Grammar, other English studies: emphasizing more writing this year, transitioning to written narrations and longer dictation. Supplement with dictionary, Thesaurus, spelling resources.

Correspond history readings with a timeline or century book and map.

Handicrafts, homekeeping, life skills. Include books such as All-Girl Crafts by Kathy Ross, or Mothers and Daughters at Home: 35 Projects to Make Together, by Charlotte Lyons.

Music Appreciation: Mozart, Brahms, and Stravinsky.  Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts book and record set; Opal Wheeler series biographies; Igor Stravinsky by Mike Venezia.

Folksongs: Follow AO rotation, using printouts, book of Canadian folksongs

Hymns: Follow AO rotation.  Mennonite Hymnal, printouts from Hymntime.com, You-tube videos.

Plutarch’s Lives: Follow AO rotation, use printouts for Poplicola and Dion. For variety, use Stories of Alexander (Grimal) in Term 3.

Shakespeare plays: Either The Tempest or Two Gentlemen of Verona; Romeo and Juliet; possibly a third.


SPECIFIC SUBJECTS

BIBLE AND CHRISTIAN STUDIES

Bible books to be studied: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Book of Revelation (as recommended in Teaching Children). Lives of David and Solomon.

Memory work: Term 1, Ten Commandments (with questions and answers) from Luther's Small Catechism. Term 2 & 3, passages from the Epistles. Term's Psalm.

Church history: Makers of the English Bible, by Cyril James Davey (8 chapters).

Resources:
Bible
New Testament in Modern English for Schools (Phillips)
Luther’s Small Catechism (section on the Ten Commandments)
Search the Scriptures and/or Prophets and Kings, as reference for O.T. study
Reference books: NIV Bible Dictionary, Bible atlas, Bible Book of Lists
Let’s Hide the Word (family Bible activities)(Gaither/Dobson)

HISTORY (1800-1914)

Canada: The New Nation, by Edith Deyell (covers 1800-1900, incorporates some U.S. history)
***Story of the World Volume 4, by Susan Wise Bauer
*** Story of Canada, by Janet Lunn, chapter on the Laurier era (1896-1914)

Term One: War of 1812 through Lord Durham (approx. 1800-1845). Emphasis on the settlement of Upper Canada (Ontario), including local history.

Term Two: Fur trade through the American Civil War and Confederation (approx. 1845-1870).

Term Three: Opening the West through 1914 (approx. 1870-1914).

Supplements: The Kids Book of Canada's Railway and How the CPR Was Built, by Deborah Hodge. Occasional DVDs from Canada: A People’s History. Professor Noggin’s History/Geography of Canada card games. Everything You Need to Know About Canadian Social Studies Homework, by Anne Zeman and Kate Kelly. Canada map puzzle. Learn the provinces and capitals, and geographic features of Canada (rivers, mountains).


HISTORY TALES AND/OR BIOGRAPHY

* The Trail of the Conestoga, by Mabel Dunham
* "Sisters in the Wilderness" (DVD), about Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill
** *** Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness
***Story of My Life, by Helen Keller

GEOGRAPHY

The Book of Marvels: The Occident and/or Second Book of Marvels: The Orient by Richard Halliburton

NATURAL HISTORY / SCIENCE

The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock; for variety, use How Nature Works, Kids Can nature guides, Canadian Wild Flowers (Catharine Parr Traill).

Supplies for Nature Study:
Nature notebook and pencils or paint for each student
Begin to build a library of regional field guides
Plenty of time to allow Nature Study to be a fun learning experience for both parent and child

* ** Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley, second half of book
*** Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton OR one of the William J. Long books from other AO years, OR The Lovely & the Wild, by Louise de Kiriline Lawrence (about birds of northern Ontario)

All Terms:
The Story of Inventions by Michael J. McHugh and Frank P. Bachman
Physics Lab in a Housewares Store by Robert Friedhoffer


Supplements for study of inventions: Canada Invents, by Susan Hughes; I Wonder Why Zippers Have Teeth, by Barbara Taylor; The Inventors’ Specials DVDs; Switched On, Flushed Down, Tossed Out: Investigating the Hidden Workings of Your Home, by Trudee Romanek.

SCIENCE BIOGRAPHY

* Dr Beaumont and the Man with a Hole in His Stomach, by Sam Epstein, Beryl Epstein and Joseph Scrofani
***Destination Moon, by James Irwin

Choice of other biographies: Michael Faraday, Marie Curie, George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell

HEALTH AND HOME STUDIES

Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Book 5 by Worthington Hooker, edited by Michael J. McHugh (mostly about the human body) (Supplement with relevant sections from How Nature Works)

Nutrition 101: Choose Life!: A Family Nutrition and Health Program, by Debra Raybern, N.D., M.H., C.N.C., I.C.A.; Sera Johnson, B.MU; Laura Hopkins, B.S.; Karen Hopkins, B.S. (selected chapters)

Book on girls’ health

Organized Kidz, by Debbie R. Williams and David P. Williams (we've used this before but it's time to review)


POETRY

Poetry anthology / individual poets: possibly Poetry for Young People: Robert Browning; Poetry for Young People: Walt Whitman.

LITERATURE

* Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, or another Dickens novel

** Little Women (Part One, 23 chapters) plus  Barron's activity kit

*** King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, by Roger Lancelyn Green. For reference: The Search for King Arthur, by Christopher Hibbert.

All terms: stories from My Book House, e.g. Cuculain, Rustem, Song of Roland, Norse legends.

ADDITIONAL BOOKS FOR FREE READING

*Laura’s Choice, by Connie Brummel Cook (about Laura Secord)
**Invincible Louisa (biography of Louisa May Alcott)
** Thee, Hannah! by Marguerite De Angeli, and other books about the Underground Railroad, e.g. Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker, The Last Safe House by Barbara Greenwood
***Pioneer Girl, by Maryanne Caswell
Canadian Crusoes, by Catharine Parr Traill
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, by Rachel Field
Eight Cousins, by Louisa May Alcott
Captains Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Lad: A Dog (or another book in the Lad series; many are online) by Albert Payson Terhune
The Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit
The Wouldbegoods by Edith Nesbit
Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink.
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dodge
Crystal Mountain, by Belle Dorman Rugh
Re-read the Narnia books or The Princess & the Goblin.

FOR FUN:

Kids Cottage Games Book
Alvin's Secret Code, by Clifford B. Hicks, and others in the same series (if available)
The Trolley Car Family, by Eleanor Clymer (if available)
Father's Big Improvements by Caroline D. Emerson (if available)
Stories by Stephen Leacock (how could I forget those?)