Ever wondered what a real-life 5th grade homeschool day looks like? Step inside our home for a behind-the-scenes peek at our daily rhythm—and the 5th grade homeschool curriculum that’s making it all work!
There’s no one right way to homeschool, but here’s my line up for 5th grade homeschool curriculum picks for my daughter.
5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
Math
We’ve used Saxon math since the beginning and while it can seem a bit much at times, it is very thorough. I love how it spirals the concepts, so my daughter has continuous practice of various math concepts and doesn’t forget!
The typical Saxon book for 5th grade is Saxon 6/5 so that’s the one I will link below, but my kiddo is completing Saxon 7/6. One of the greatest benefits of homeschooling is that you can tailor your child’s instruction to their individual levels. It’s awesome!
Along with that, she uses Nicole the Math Lady for her daily math instruction. She watches the video lessons that correspond directly with the Saxon textbook, completes her work, inputs her answers into the computer, and the program gives her immediate feedback about her work! Yep, it grades her Saxon math problems right away – and also her math tests!
We love using the Nicole the Math Lady so much! Read my full review about it for more info.
I actually do very little in her math instruction, which frees me up to work with other kids. I only come alongside if she gets really stuck!
Language Arts 5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
For language arts, my girl is using The Good and the Beautiful Level 5 this year. She has really enjoyed this lovely 5th grade homeschool curriculum. She can complete most of her work almost independently, too! I like how the curriculum clearly has parent-led portions and independent work portions, so it leads students towards greater independence.
Besides teaching reading and writing, I appreciate that the Good and the Beautiful curriculum also includes grammar, art, and geography, too. She really enjoys the art!
The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Course
The curriculum includes some wholesome literature, but I’m also a fan of assigning other intriguing books that I know my kids would love. Download my complete list of Must-Read 5th Grade books and see what we’re reading! Or grab yourself a free printable of 100 Must-Read Classic Books for kids.
One of our most cherished times of day is reading a book aloud together. Right now, we’ve been finishing up the Anne of Green Gables series with my very favorite – the last book, Rilla of Ingleside. Love it!
Reading out loud is excellent practice for reading fluency, diction, and confidence as well as a memorable way to spend time together. So, we take turns reading to each other and really enjoy the time we share. You can find great book suggestions for read-alouds by choosing something a grade level or so higher, so check out my 6th Grade book list or Binge-worthy Book Series for Middle Schoolers for some ideas.
Handwriting
For handwriting, we use The Good and the Beautiful Level 5 which focuses on cursive. My daughter simply completes one page each day. One day of the week, we try to spend using our handwriting skills to write a card to someone who is sick or needs encouragement. Otherwise, she just knows to do one page daily and is mastering the art of writing beautiful cursive!
I love that this handwriting includes scripture and wholesome content! It’s sweet and simple.
The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting
Spelling
For spelling, All About Spelling is my go-to spelling curriculum. Although The Good and the Beautiful language arts has spelling incorporated into the lessons, I don’t particularly like the way it is introduced. Instead of similar types of word families, they seem to throw random words at the kids that always seem a bit too challenging.
But no worries! We just skip their spelling words and do the spelling concepts from All About Spelling – which is so much better!
All About Spelling is hands-on, interactive, and has similar words grouped together with spelling rules that help kids learn in chunks. We’ve been using it for years and it’s our fav. Read my full review of All About Spelling and see what you think.
History 5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
For history this year, my girl is learning about the ancients! She has two main texts as her primary history 5th grade homeschool curriculum:
- The Story of the World History for the Classical Child: Volume 1 Ancient Times
- Usborne Encyclopedia of World History.
The Story of the World is a wonderful narrative style, story-book type of text that tells the ancient history stories in an engaging way. The chapters are short and interesting! I enjoy reading along and learning history, too!
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child – Volume 1: Ancient Times
From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor, Revised Edition
The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History complements the Story of the World perfectly but shows engaging pictures with vibrant descriptions, bringing the history alive through images. Geography is also mixed in with the history. Also, it has internet links to make it even more interesting!
To go along with our study of ancient times, we pull lots of trade books including biographies, historical fiction, and informative books about the different ancient civilizations. Want to see my list of books about ancient civilizations that she’s reading?
There are so many great books to choose from! Check them out!
We really enjoy watching documentaries and YouTube videos, too, to make learning audio-visual!
Science 5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
In science this year, my daughter is doing an intro to biology and human anatomy. Yep, this is the year for the birds & bees talk as we learn all about life, so we work it naturally into what she is studying throughout the year and it’s smooth sailing!
She has three primary textbooks for her science 5th grade homeschool curriculum:
- DK’s How to Be Good at Science
- DK’s Super Simple Biology
- The Usborne Complete Book of the Human Body
DK’s How to Be Good at Science, Technology, & Engineering
From tiny atoms and minute microchips to monster tractors and jumbo jets, this brilliant book comes packed with eye-catching illustrations to showcase science and technology in action today. You’ll see whizzing waves, zooming rockets, and mighty magnets on this epic journey of discovery.
This book is simple to understand and has great diagrams and pics. My only complaint about it has been that it teaches evolution as fact rather than theory, but that has made for a great discussion!
Super Simple Biology
From reproduction to respiration and from enzymes to ecosystems, every topic is fully illustrated to support the information, make the facts clear, and bring biology to life. For key ideas, “How it works” and “Look closer” boxes explain the theory with the help of simple graphics. And for further studying, a handy “Key facts” box provides a summary you can check back on later.
This book works well as an introduction to biology for middle school kids. As above, we just have to have periodic discussions about the evolution it teaches. Otherwise, it’s a great text!
The Usborne Complete Book of the Human Body
A fabulously illustrated and fact-packed introduction to the human body and how it works. Each topic is explained with engaging and informative text alongside extraordinary photographs and diagrams, plus simple experiments to try. Internet links take readers to selected websites to find out more, and there’s a contents page and an index.
The Usborne book filled in some gaps in out study of human anatomy, rounding out our science curriculum.
Besides that, we supplement frequently with trade books that dive more deeply into some subjects, just like we do for history. But these three texts serve as the primary textbooks.
Bible
This year for Bible, my girl has stopped using Bible story books and graduated to reading straight from the scriptures. She’s been following a daily Bible reading plan to keep her on track and develop the life-long habit of daily reading.
Incorporating Bible time into daily schoolwork is a great way to make Bible study happen every day. But this year, she decided to move her Bible study to the evenings so she can share those moments with her daddy! It’s a special time of day for them both.
Plus, we do family Bible devotionals at lunch time, too. See some of our family Bible devo studies we’ve done in the past for ideas for your own home. Also check out the best Bibles for kids for easy-to-read versions that kids can understand.
Spanish
Finally, she’s also doing Spanish this year as part of her 5th grade homeschool curriculum using the free online Middle School Spanish from Easy Peasy. It’s geared for 6th graders, but it is easy enough for a 5th grader to follow. She enjoys the videos and has been doing really well! Que bueno!
A Typical 5th Grade Homeschool Day
And that wraps up her 5th grade homeschool curriculum! It may seem like a lot of subjects, but the whole curriculum usually takes her about 2-3 hours and she’s done by lunchtime.
We use the workbox system to keep her schoolbooks organized and help her know what to do next. It’s amazing and keeps things so organized.
We just add in some playtime, art time, piano and singing, cooking, and chores to round out the day. Learning life skills is as important as learning academic skills and children ought to have time to imagine, create, and play every day. We make sure she has plenty of free time for an inquisitive childhood!
Altogether, it makes for a simple, lightly structured but rich curriculum and I know she’s learning a ton without spending hours in a desk each day.
Her complete 5th grade homeschool curriculum plan
- Language Arts: The Good and the Beautiful Level 5 Course (includes grammar, art, geography)
- Handwriting: The Good and the Beautiful Level 5 Handwriting
- Spelling: Saxon 6/5 and Nicole the Math Lady
- History: Ancient History using Story of the World and the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History
- Science: Intro to Biology and Human Anatomy using the books listed above
- Spanish: 6th Level Spanish Easy Peasy free online
- Bible: daily Bible reading plan
Disclaimer: This page includes affiliate links where I can earn a small commission if you purchase through my link. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites. If you purchase through my link, I can earn a small commission. Thank you for supporting my family – it helps out a LOT!
