5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

This boy of mine. He's small in stature, but big in mind. To use a phrase from my dad's lexicon, "He's a smart cookie, that one!" And he is. He's 9 and should be in 4th grade, but he's in fifth (or so it says on his annual reporting form that I have to send in to the district office) and he does 6th grade math. He's not a genius. He's just a boy that has been granted permission to learn at his own pace. Since I don't homeschool with grade levels, he's never been held back by common core standards or the local school's scope-and-sequence. 

Here's what he'll be learning this year.

(Items with an asterisk indicate a new-to-us resource. Because we don't homeschool on Tuesdays, all subjects will be completed four times a week unless otherwise indicated.)

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Content-rich subjects

As in year's past, he will do a lot of his content-rich subjects like Morning time, history, world geography, science, art, and composer study with the rest of the family. You can see all of those subjects and curriculum choices here>>>

Personal Devotions- everyday

• The Discoverer's Bible

• Jesus Calling for Kids

Language

• LLATL The Purple Book- I was so impressed with this very book when I did it with my oldest son last year and am looking forward to doing a replay of it with his younger brother this coming school year. (Use coupon code unlikelyhomeschool at checkout to get 15% off your entire purchase from Common Sense Press, the makers of LAHTL.)
• Finish All About Spelling Level 4 and move on to Level 5.
• Read for pleasure every day.
• Read the following books that correspond with the LLATL Purple Book. (He's already read two of the four titles that are recommended in the Book Study sections of the Purple Book. Since the book studies are not necessary elements of the program, I plan to just skip those two books. But he will read these other two...)

Farmer Boy

Caddie Woodlawn  

• If he's not currently working through an LLATL suggested book, he will read a chapter from a book that I assign to him. These will be classics, biographies, or exceptional fiction.

Math

• Teaching Textbooks 6
• Practice math fact flashcards with a sibling for five minutes. 

Handwriting/Copywork

• Character Handwriting Cursive

Electives

World View- 1x a week

• Boyhood & Beyond- One day a week, instead of reading his normal Mom-assigned book, he will read a chapter from this book out loud to me. His older brother read it two years ago and still counts it as one of the best books he's ever read.

Critical Thinking- 1x a week

• Mind Benders Level 4

Typing- 1x a week

• Typing Instructor for Kids

Home Ec.

• He will continue to be a child-of-the-day and help me with lunch and dinner once a week. 
• Sweep the entire house after lunch.
• Empty the dishwasher each day.
• Wash the windows as needed. 
• Sort the laundry with his younger brother as needed.
• Put his own clean laundry away each week.
• Dust the house on big-chore days with his younger brothers.
• Help clean the boys' room and make his bed each day.

Piano

• lesson 1x a week
• practice 5x a week

In the messy middle of the homeschool day, I'll expect to find him surrounded by Legos, making Stop-Motion videos, and racing hot rods around the living room floor. It's who he is. It's what he does.