Homeschooling Grade School, 3rd to 6th Grade
GRADE SCHOOL UNIT STUDY PROGRAM
3rd Through 6th Grade
Introduction
Welcome to the Grade School Unit Study Program for 3rd through 6th grade students — designed to simplify and streamline your home education experience. Through an integrated literature-based curriculum, your family receives clearly laid out directions for the parent(s), hands-on project-based activities for students, and a once-a-week touch-base LIVE class where discussion, sharing, and learning takes place.
How it Works
Each full year is segmented into three parts occurring in the fall, winter, and spring — incorporating History, Science, Language Arts, Art, and Religion — to learn all subjects together in a unit that coordinates and dovetails into one harmonized year of learning.
The Four-Year Sequence
The entire program spans a four-year sequence based on the four volumes of TAN Books’ History series, The Story of Civilization. The four years of study include…
Ancient History (Volume 1, Year One)
Medieval History (Volume 2, Year Two)
The Making of the Modern World (Volume 3, Year Three)
US History (Volume 4, Year Four)
Year One, Ancient History, is Available in Recording
All three parts of the Ancient History year will be available in recording as an independent-learning unit beginning on June 15, 2020, for 24/7 Unlimited Access.
This School Year: Medieval History
Your 2020/2021 Grade School Unit Study Program focuses on Medieval History.
The 2021/2022 school year will cover the Making of the Modern World, and the 2022/2023 school year will be built around US History.
Coordination with the Middle and High School Programs
Coordinate Learning, Simplify Teaching
Your older students can also get both LIVE, interactive courses and/or recorded, independent-learning courses here at Homeschool Connections — courses that cover the same historical era as this program, so your elementary through high school students can study the same four-year historical sequence together.
All Students, Same Subjects
Follow the resources provided here to make learning more concise, focused, and unified across all of your family’s learning experience. When you give your middle and high school students courses in the same areas of History, Literature, Science, and more, you create a full, multi-grade study of the same era in your homeschool. For choosing middle and high school courses, guidance is given for what courses “match” and what courses are available in both LIVE and recorded formats.
Visit “The Four Year Cycle” article for more information on matching courses here: http://homeschoolconnections.com/search/label/4-Year%20Cycle.
Your Year-Long, Three-Part Program
The yearlong program is taught in three parts: Part One in the Fall Semester (13 weeks); Part Two in the Spring Semester (12 weeks); and a short Part Three in May, 2021 (4 weeks). Sign your children up for all three parts, to create a complete year of learning.
The Grade School Unit Study Program uses a “flipped classroom” approach in a four-day-week course of study: families watch teacher-created videos and work together on interactive lessons (guided materials and instruction). In addition to home learning, the once-a-week LIVE online class “becomes the place to work through problems, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning” (The Flipped Classroom, https://www.educationnext.org/the-flipped-classroom/).
Daily Activities
Families are provided with daily lessons, checklists, videos, and other resources and learning materials. Each week starts with a LIVE, twenty-five-minute online class meeting for parents and students together with the instructor.
Class Meetings
During each weekly class meeting, students discuss the past week’s readings, play games to reinforce the week’s learning, and have the opportunity to share project work and poetry recitation on camera.
Choosing Your LIVE Class Time
Your Class Times and Schedule (choose one)
All LIVE, interactive classes meet on Mondays. Parents choose from one of the three LIVE time segments offered:
1:00 PM Eastern (Noon Central; 11:00 Mountain; 10:00 Pacific)
Fall 2020 — Medieval History Unit Study (Part 1 of 3)
Class Dates: Classes begin September 14, 2020, and continue through December 14, 2020;
No class November 23, 2020
Mandatory Parent Meeting: September 14, 2020
Spring 2021 — Medieval History Unit Study (Part 2 of 3)
Class Dates: Classes begin January 25, 2021, and continue through April 26, 2021
Multiple students per family: Siblings can watch the sessions and complete the automated quizzes FREE. However, only enrolled students may submit and receive teacher grading on select assignments. To receive teacher grading for additional students, enroll each additional student independently.
May 2021 — Medieval History Unit Study (Part 3 of 3)
Class Dates: Classes begin May 3, 2021, and continue through May 24, 2021
Jackie de Laveaga, M.Ed.
Your instructor for the Grade School Unit Study program is Mrs. Jackie de Laveaga. Mrs. de Laveaga holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English and Secondary Education and a Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree with an emphasis in Language Arts Instruction. Her career and her experience include teaching online middle school and high school courses in writing, journalism, and humanities – as well as teaching live courses in literature, history, composition, and drama to students in grades 1 through college. Mrs. de Laveaga loves homeschooling and learning alongside her five children; two have graduated from college and married, one is in college, and two of her children are at home. You can reach Mrs. de Laveaga by email at [email protected].
Your List of Subjects Scheduled for the Four School Days (per week for 19 weeks)
* Project Work (time varies per family choice; suggested 60-90 minutes per week)
Getting Your Texts/Books
The same texts are used for all three parts of the series.
Purchase or borrow the following books for the school year (required):
- The Story of Civilization (TSoC), Volume 2: The Medieval World, by Phillip Campbell (ISBN-10: 1505105749; ISBN-13: 978-1505105742) (All Year) ($10-$22).
- The Story Book of Science, by Jean Henri Fabre (ISBN-10: 1599150255; ISBN-13: 978-1599150253) (All Year) ($0 [Kindle] to $15).
- Insect Adventures, by Jean Henri Fabre (ISBN-10: 1500196452; ISBN-13: 978-1500196455) (All Year) ($2-$12)Note: For an advanced reader in the family, consider adding Fabre’s Book of Insects to the family reading (optional and will not be on the schedule).
- Once Upon a Time Saints, by Ethel Pochocki (ISBN-10: 1883937159; ISBN-13: 978-1883937) (All Year) ($5-$12).
- More Once Upon a Time Saints, by Ethel Pochocki (ISBN-10: 1883937345; ISBN-13: 978-1883937348) (All Year) ($5-$12).
- English from the Roots Up, Volume 2, by Joegil Lundquist (ASIN: B00E322V94). Any new or used volume works. Families will also buy or make the study flashcards for this book. (All Year) ($15+).
- Saint Benedict, by Mary Fabyan Windeatt (ISBN-10: 0895554275; ISBN-13: 978-0895554277) (Fall 2020) ($6-$12).
- If All the Swords in England: A Story of Thomas Becket, by Barbara Willard (ISBN-10: 1883937493; ISBN-13: 978-1883937492) (Spring 2021) ($6-$15).
- Son of Charlemagne, by Barbara Willard (ISBN: 9781883937300; ISBN-10:1883937302 (Fall 2020) ($5-$15).
- Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Story of “The Dumb Ox,” by Mary Fabyan Windeatt (ISBN: 9780895554208) (Spring 2021-Part 3) ($5-$9).
- Francis and Clare, Saints of Assisi, by Helen Walker Homan (ISBN-10: 0898705177
ISBN-13: 978-0898705171) (Spring 2021) ($2-$9).
Pictorial Encyclopedias
Families will use pictorial encyclopedias throughout the year that include plants, animals, and insects. Because students will be pulling out key facts from the encyclopedias for their work, and they will need ample facts from which to choose, please avoid using primary level books and choose books at a reading level above the 6th grade. We recommend the following three books, as low cost, high interest options:
- Reader’s Digest North American Wildlife (ISBN-13: 978-0895771025; ISBN-10: 9780895771025) (All Year) ($5-$35).
- Animals: A Visual Encyclopedia (ISBN-10: 0756691702; ISBN-13: 978-0756691707) Any used volume will work. (All Year) ($6-$16).
- Smithsonian Handbooks: Insects (ISBN-10: 0789493926; ISBN-13: 978-0789493927) Any used volume will work. (All Year) ($6-$16).
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