The Fifth Grade Basket

EP201: Curious about how to make homeschooling fifth graders a harmonious blend of imagination and academics? Join us on the Art of Homeschooling podcast, where we reveal the wonder of the Waldorf curriculum specially tailored for your 10 to 11-year-olds' "golden year." Discover how to nurture independent learning through main lesson blocks and engaging activities like the Greek pentathlon. Hear about the main subjects brought at this age such as ancient cultures, botany, geography, and freehand geometric drawing. Plus, get insights on incorporating mindfulness practices and recommended resources like the Waldorfish botany course.

Don't forget to check out our Ages and Stages guide. You'll find links to all the suggested resources in the Show Notes linked below. And thanks for welcoming us along on your homeschooling journey!

Find the Show Notes Here (www.artofhomeschooling.com/episode201)

Inspired at Home Membership (www.artofhomeschooling.com/inspiredathome)

Chapters

• 0:09 Homeschooling Fifth Grade Curriculum
• 13:07 Creating Homeschool Lessons With Connection

Transcript

Jean: 0:09

You're listening to the Art of Homeschooling podcast, where we help parents cultivate creativity and connection at home. I'm your host, jean Miller, and here on this podcast you'll find stories and inspiration to bring you the confidence you need to make homeschooling work for your family. Let's begin. Are you a homeschool parent with a fifth grader this year? Then let's jump in. This episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast is going to be all about homeschooling your fifth grader Books, resources, supplies, features of a holistic Waldorf curriculum and insights from my own experience of teaching my three kiddos and working with hundreds of homeschooling families. The fifth grade child is generally 10 turning 11 and is right in the middle of what we call the feeling stage of development, which is between the ages of 7 and 14. Rudolph Steiner, the founder of Waldorf Education, observed three stages of development and customized teaching and learning indications to meet the needs of children in each of these three stages, which are often referred to as thinking, feeling and willing, or really the order that matches the development is willing, feeling, thinking, sometimes also known as head, heart, hands. Children in the feeling stage of development between the ages of 7 and 14 learn best through heart-centered teaching, teaching which engages their imaginations and builds connections to people, places, the world and themselves. If these stages of development are new to you, please go listen to episode 126, thinking, feeling, willing Three Ways Children Learn, which is all about crafting a meaningful learning process through intentional, purposeful activity that meets children right where they are developmentally. I'll be sure to put a link to this episode for you in the show notes and I also recommend you pick up our free guide. Ages and Stages Waldorf-inspired Grades at a Glance. Ages and stages Waldorf-inspired grades at a glance. You'll find these all linked in the show notes at artofhomeschoolingcom slash episode 201.

Jean: 2:52

Now back to homeschooling, fifth grade. For the fifth grader, who's rapidly approaching middle school, this year is all about balancing imagination and academics. In many circles, this year is referred to as the golden year, because children are often really enthusiastic about learning and ready for challenges, while experiencing a sense of both inner and outer balance in their bodies. Your kiddos' emotional and intellectual capacities are growing and it's a wonderful year to introduce some independent learning projects and give your children a little more challenge academically. You want to build these into your homeschooling lessons in such a way that gives them some choice and freedom so that they can begin to take ownership of their own learning. Around fifth grade, I started giving my kiddos a specific challenge for some of the blocks. Generally, a main lesson block is about a month, it can be four to six weeks and challenges like researching independently something related to the block topic and then presenting what they discovered, either in writing or with an art project expressing what they've learned in some way. I'd also often assign a book for independent reading. That was often historical fiction related to the topic that we were learning about that month. When I think about my children as fifth graders, I remember their grace and their goodness during this golden age of childhood.

Jean: 4:39

One of my favorite memories from fifth grade was hosting a Greek pentathlon for our eclectic homeschooling group. Initially I thought we would miss out on this tradition that is often a fifth grade activity because we weren't part of a Waldorf school community. But then I decided to create this experience on a smaller scale with a group of homeschooled kiddos. We met at a local park to practice the five sporting activities involved and then we held our special event, complete with an opening ceremony, competitive events and a beautiful closing ceremony. It was a huge success and a lasting memory for our family and our homeschooling community, a lasting memory for our family and our homeschooling community. If you want to do something like this, I highly recommend Kim John Payne's book Games Children Play. There's a section in there for staging your own Greek pentathlon.

Jean: 5:38

Here are some highlights of the fifth grade holistic curriculum the study of ancient cultures, both mythic and historic, from ancient Egypt all the way to classical Greece. Botany, geography, expanding from local and state to country and continent. Decimals and math patterns. Freehand geometric drawing. Decimals and math patterns. Freehand geometric drawing.

Jean: 6:10

In grades five through eight, I liked choosing an opening verse that was related to one of the cultures we were studying, and in these grades we're not really doing circle time anymore. If you ever were. It doesn't always work in a homeschool setting, but it's still a nice idea to do some kind of short warm-up that includes perhaps some movement, verse recitation, even a song, and during your studies of ancient India you may learn and recite the translation of an ancient Sanskrit verse. Look to this day. This is a very full year, poised between the growth and development of the early elementary years and the turbulent emotions of the adolescent years and the gentle introduction of this concept of mindfulness and to live in the present and enjoy one moment at a time is developmentally appropriate for the 10 and 11 year old and a wonderful reminder for us to as parents.

Jean: 7:09

Here's the translation that's most often presented to kiddos. I'll recite it in just a moment, but I'll also include a link to the full poem in the show notes. There are a lot of different translations of this. Look to this day, for it is life, the very life of life. Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision. But today, well-lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day.

Jean: 7:45

Now for some resources for your fifth grade basket. I'll be sure to link to all these in the show notes, which you can find at artofhomeschoolingcom slash episode 201. The botany course from Waldorfish. This is a favorite of a lot of the members in my Inspired at Home community. Geometry Lessons in the Waldorf School is a free ebook from Ernst Schubert that you can find at the Waldorf Online Library. I'll put a link to that in the show notes as well. Charles Kovacs' Ancient Mythologies, dolaire's Book of Greek Myths, Key to Fractions and Key to Decimals those are workbooks. I really like these because they're inexpensive, they have a simple, non-distracting layout, and they're good not only for teaching topics but also practicing the concepts learned. And finally, sing a song of seasons, a nature poem for every day of the year. This is a sweet collection of poetry that could become a part of your morning routine.

Jean: 8:52

Now a little note here about curriculum and choosing topics of study. Last week on the podcast for episode number 200, I had a great conversation with my friend Robin at Waldorfish all about ditching the dogma. I want to mention that a lot of block topics that we're familiar with are what's become custom in Waldorf schools. But we get to choose. These are not necessarily what Rudolf Steiner talked to the teachers in that very first school about, because he didn't write a curriculum. He never wrote down a curriculum and he didn't talk about what we should study in each grade in a whole lot of detail. He mentioned ideas in a variety of lectures. But I just want you to keep this in mind as you look at your fifth grader and choose the topics of study that you think will best meet their needs. There's a lot more room for choice than you may think and if you haven't had a chance to listen to episode 200 on Ditching the Dogma, please go find that episode and have a listen. I think you'll find it very freeing.

Jean: 10:07

All right, one more little pause for a moment here, because I want to remind you that you can find a free printable guide with an overview of the ages and stages of a Waldorf-inspired homeschool curriculum, including kindergarten and grades one through eight. You can find it over on my website. I'll link to that in the show notes. But I also want to mention that this episode, the Fifth Grade Basket, is one of a series featuring these ages and stages. So go get yourself a copy of the Ages and Stages Guide and then check the show notes if you have a younger child and would like to visit our past episodes in this series for kindergarten, grades one, two, three and four. And please stay tuned for future episodes because we will be recording one for each grade all the way up to grade eight. We release a new grades episode every month and my mailing list is the best way to get new episodes delivered directly to your inbox.

Jean: 11:10

Now for some suggested supplies for your fifth grade basket. We had a lot of fun with the Make your Own Papyrus Kit from Rainbow Resources. I'll give you a link to that in the show notes. You'll want to have main lesson books. It can help to have them with lined pages for the increased writing demands of the curriculum, or your child can write on loose leaf paper and paste those into a main lesson book. Some people like to switch to binders at this stage. Just be sure that you have plenty of space for drawing wonderful pictures and maps. Sticky notes are great to have on hand, or index cards to help with outlining and organizing longer pieces of writing. A fountain pen or an erasable pen if your kiddo is ready to graduate from writing with colored pencil. And there you have it. I hope this fifth grade basket has helped you picture what homeschooling fifth grade might look like at your house, with an overview of the curriculum, topics studied, suggested resources and supplies to have on hand.

Jean: 12:20

Fifth grade is a magical year when you can go deeper into history, scientific observation, problem solving, research and writing skills. I loved seeing my children begin to embrace the learning in new ways. It was like you could almost see it happening inside their brains. I remember my oldest researching hieroglyphics and meticulously writing his name over and over again. My middle son loved drawing maps of the ancient civilizations and my youngest was fascinated by the history of the Olympics. Looking back, fifth grade is a time when you really begin to see your child's unique personality blossoming. And that's a wrap.

Jean: 13:07

Be sure to check out the show notes for this episode for links to the recommended tools and resources, along with links to previous episodes in this series and the Ages and Stages Guide. Find those show notes at artofhomeschoolingcom slash, episode 201. And be sure to subscribe to the Art of Homeschooling podcast wherever you like to listen to podcasts, so you don't miss any of the upcoming episodes on how you can create homeschooling lessons you love that are simple, inspiring and doable. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you next time. Bye for now. That's all for today, my friend, but here's what I want you to remember Rather than perfection, let's focus on connection. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you on the next episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast.