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Grade 5 and Grade 2 Plan Home Education Learning Plans
Carrie, A Gentle Evolution, March 2022
Here is a copy of our 2022 yearly home education plan using
Christopherous Curriculum.
Firstly I plan our daily rhythm. Once I have this, the upper grade year ahead does not seem overwhelming. Our daily lesson rhythm has increased since Grade 1. But gradually so it seems very doable.
- Get warm
- Breakfast
- Chores
- Movement circle (our exercises)
- Main lesson(9 ish)
- Morning tea (10 ish)
- Math
- Spelling
- Play
- Weekly lesson
- Lunch
- Quiet time/play
- Afternoon tea
- Handwork (3 ish)
- Chapter book (4 ish)
- Dinner prep/play (5 ish)
- Dinner (6 ish)
- Bed time
The "Weekly Lesson" is based on our weekly rhythm: Music Monday, Muse day Tuesday (Painting or modelling), Way back Wednesday (Grade 2 story), Wordsday Thursday (writing), Form Drawing Friday or French Friday. That's how I have "a spot" for the other lessons that fit with the block we are doing.
That seems like a lot but most of those things, meals, chores, etc you have to do in your day anyway. The main lesson is done nice and early, so the main thing to get done for the day is ticked off. Winning!
We started last year doing our math after morning tea. I take my cup of tea to the homeschool room and sit in between them with their lovely workbooks. I have just added daily spelling activities after this. I choose a little practice like word family list which we add to during the week if we notice a word, word sounding, THRASS work, hot words cards, post-it note fun, spelling on each other's backs, sandpit, driveway chalk.
We have our lessons done by lunch. The rest after lunch is lovely. I don't feel like handwork and Chapter book is lessons so it's just lovely afternoons really. The children happily run off and play after their work with a breathe out and I can get things done.
Our blocks for this year look like:
March 1: Ancient Myths and Saints (I tell a Grade 2 Saints table story on Sunday and Wednesday). (We will make a sculpted Indian head pot, an embroidered Indian elephant, henna painting, Sandskrit writing with calligraphy pen, Paper making) - 6 weeks
Easter Break
April 20: Botany 1 and Nature (we will forage and clean and cook with mushrooms) - 1 -1.5 weeks
May 1: Greek Mythology and Celtic stories, (perhaps making an arm band) - 6 weeks
June 13: Grade 2 King of Ireland's Son and General language, math, free study for my Grade 5er, (knitting and weaving project) - 4 weeks
Week off
July 11: Geometry and Animal Fables, (winter star and knitting an animal) - 3 weeks
Aug 1: Botany 2 and Nature - 1 week
Aug 8: Ancient China and Trickster tales - 3 weeks
Aug 29: Botany 3 - 3 weeks
Sept 19: Geography Neighbours and Grade 3 Native Peoples (basket weaving project) - 3-4 weeks
Our first blocks before Easter are nice to get back into it. A warm up.
After Easter we put our heads down as we begin to cosy up for winter. But this year I have added a week break earlier than usual.
Botany is a nice nature and drawing week. Then Greek Myths. I wanted to seperate King Of Ireland's Son on its own so my daughter could be immersed in that. So that doesn't feel too heavy for either of them or myself. My son has some time to consolidate his writing and times tables and some Grammar lessons (I always forget the grammar lessons - because they are in a different section of the folder to the block they go with!)
Then for the later part of winter Geometry will be a good block. I feel Animal fables and Trickster tales will be easy as I have done these before and I have sone good books with new stories for her. A time of enjoying stories and puppet shows. So after the Geometry block, by Aug 1, I will be feeling like the hard/big blocks are done and getting into "cruisey mode".
Ancient China is an extra to me. The curriculum says "you can't do it all so plan carefully". Well I seem to be doing all the blocks, but I'm going to relax a bit with the last ones. The Ancient China stories from the curriculum will add to what we did in my sons Grade 2 Native Peoples block.
Botany is very nature study relaxed. We will be working on our sketching. I am following Charles Kovacs because it has such a good flow. But I will also use Anna Comstock as her love of nature and the personalities she gives each species is lovely. The other two very recommended Waldorf botany books I am just going to use the pictures to help our sketching.
"Geography of neighbouring countries" is just going to be a morning table time when the Spring sunshine comes in on our breakfast table, a time they love. We will look at books and read stories I have collected and I'm sure my son will get out his Atlases. I was going to do these countries for my daughters Grade 3 Native Peoples block so they work well together. Learning about Fiji, Indonesia and Maoris books. My husband is currently studying with people from all these countries so we will look forward to the Christmas break up day at his uni and meeting them. A holiday to Fiji would be awesome. Let's put that out there.
People who have followed me will know how much I have loved our curriculum, especially Grade 1 and 2. One or two blocks each year have taken a lot of planning to put my heart into what I want to bring, but I have loved the blocks.
I am feeling a bit less love toward the curriculum in later years mainly due to a lack in organisation of the content. I was disappointed in the Greek Myths block - we are asked to combine two books to make the stories for the block. Well I don't have time or energy to read two books and then modify daily stories before this block. What I have decided to do is use the De Aulaires book as the main lesson and then read the Charles Kovacs related chapters at night and bring anything historical from it to discussion the next morning.
I now find I use the curriculum for a general overview of the year, to plot out my blocks and activities, and to get references for other books which I then use as my foundation for each block. Usually finding one great book for each block. This is helping me not be overwhelmed with each block but feel very very happy with the lessons I am bringing.
Charles Kovacs is becoming my best buddy. I really like the feel of his stories (although the curriculum does do good versions of the main story for each Ancient culture also, making it a hard choice or the need to insert some paragraphs). Charles Kovacs stories are not overwhelming, he reinforces main learnings so gently and each lesson/story flows nicely from one to the next.
That's our year. It is going well so far. My son is getting his main lesson picture and math workbook done on his own and very early, sometimes even before breakfast. He does his writing summary fairly quickly too now, even a full page. Amazing from the little boy who would daydream out the window for an infinite amount of time before finishing one letter. So that's been great. I am using Chapter book time to tell main lesson stories if I need it to get through them which also works well. So far so good!
I have checked out quite a lot of the well known Waldorf Grade 5 books, (not a cheap exercise!), and the books I have chosen to base my blocks off are in the picture.
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