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Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices {4th, 5th, and 7th grade}

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Here it is, homeschool friends. Our 2020-21 gifted homeschool curriculum choices post. I can’t believe I am writing this, but this year I have a 4th, 5th, and 7th grader.

How did they get so big, you guys?!

Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices {4th, 5th, and 7th grade} | My Little Poppies

This year’s piano recital looked a little different! We recorded, barefoot, from our living room and our amazing teacher hosted a zoom recital with videos of each child. Family members tuned in from all over! I love this little photo of my mini No Shoes Nation.

Before we chat about this year’s gifted homeschool curriculum choices, a quick note: 

This is not a typical summer and I almost scrapped this post entirely. We are still in summer mode, and we are trying to make lemons out of lemonade. I’m not sure what this fall will look like. I haven’t included any of our seasonal extra-curricular activities (art, Scouts, nature group, gymnastics, ski, soccer, etc.) because I just don’t know the status of those right now. 

If you’re still focused on watermelon, rootbeer popsicles, and running through the sprinkler, you might enjoy these summer posts:

You can also find all of our pandemic-related resources here:

So without further ado, this is what I am planning for the homeschool year 2020-2021. If things majorly change due to the pandemic, I’ll try to pop back in and update.

Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices {4th, 5th, and 7th grade}

Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices: 4th, 5th and 7th Grade | My Little Poppies

If you’re new here, you must know that we are gifted homeschool curriculum ‘dabblers’

If you haven’t already, I invite you to read our posts from past years. You can find all previous homeschool curriculum and resource posts on this landing page:

Homeschool resource landing pages:

Check out My Little Poppies Course Offerings:

This homeschool year is an election year

Here are some resources:

How to Gameschool Through an Election Year | My Little Poppies

Election Night! is a great option for those interested in gameschooling through an election year.

Our Homeschool Routine for 2020-21

Our family has some scheduled activities, as in past years. These include piano and art lessons, athletics, science courses, farm school, and Story Club. This year has been an odd one, so we shall see how all of those extracurriculars pan out this year. You can read more about how we opt for a routine over a strict homeschool schedule here.

As always, I will start each morning with Coffee and Books.

Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices {4th, 5th, and 7th grade} | My Little Poppies

I love this simple tradition for two major reasons:

  1. I can accomplish the most important part of your homeschool day (reading aloud) right off the bat, first thing in the morning. That feels good!
  2. With Coffee and Books, you can cover any academic or non-academic topic and children of all ages can consume the content regardless of reading level.

To learn more about implementing a simple Coffee and Books routine in your home, you can check out this post:

And be sure to check out our favorite picture books by academic subject here:

A huge part of our gifted homeschool routine and curriculum choices include Lazy Unit Studies

In our homeschool, we love to embrace those rabbit holes and surrender to delight-driven learning. I love to follow my child’s lead, embrace their interests, and model how to find information.

Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices {4th, 5th, and 7th grade} | My Little Poppies

This type of learning helps children to maintain joyful curiosity and lifelong learning.  

I layer on the learning in the form of books, documentaries, field trips, games until we are all ready to move on.

Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices {4th, 5th, and 7th grade} | My Little Poppies

Check out My Little Poppies Course Offerings:

Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices, By Subject

Math | Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices

I receive the most emails about math resources, so I figured I’d start with this academic subject! If you are looking for more specific math resources, you can check out these four math resource landing pages:

My 7th-grader will start the year with:

Last year, my oldest enjoyed three math courses through AoPS (Algebra A, Introduction to Counting and Probability, and Introduction to Number Theory).

My 5th grader will use the following:

This is a switch from previous years. We have always used (and loved!) Beast Academy and Beast Academy Online but, sometimes, you need to call in a third party and that is exactly what happened here. My daughter has been doing math with Nicole the Math Lady since the spring and she loves it! 

Interesting side note- I called in a third party in 5th grade for my oldest, too! He took pre-algebra with Mr. D Math that year and it decreased power struggles immediately! I would highly recommend both Nicole the Math Lady and Mr. D Math if you are facing power struggles and need a third party. Both were wonderful experiences! I don’t have a review for Nicole the Math Lady (yet), but you can read our review of Mr. D Math Live here.

My 4th grader will use the following:

Language Arts | Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices

If you are looking for specific science resources, you can check out these resource landing pages:

Last year, we used a patchwork of creative educational resources for language arts and we will continue to do so with one big change. My oldest has requested more structure and grammar and so we are diving into the land of IEW for the first time. Right now, my younger two are taking IEW along with their big brother at their request. It’s working well now, but if it changes we will go back to Writing with Ease. We have used Writing with Ease for years and love its simplicity. 

My 7th grader will use the following:

My 5th grader will use the following:

My 4th grader will use the following:

All three kiddos will dabble in:

Science | Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices

If you are looking for specific science resources, you can check out these resource landing pages:

How to Take a Structured Summer Break this Year | My Little Poppies

We have loved our live No Sweat Nature Study classes this year!

My 7th grader will use the following:

Last year, my oldest enjoyed a Biology course through Athena’s Advanced Academy during the fall. In the winter, he took Astrobiology through Art of Inquiry. Later, we jumped on a MasterClass two-for-one deal and the entire family has been enjoying those. 

My 5th grader will use:

My 4th grader will use:

Everyone will dabble in:

Geography | Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices

If you are looking for specific geography resources, you can check out these resource landing pages:

This summer, we enjoyed a structured summer break that included Draw the World and Story of the World (volume 1). Draw the World is an easy way to gain a basic understanding of geography and is a great springboard for more learning. We used this in conjunction with SQUILT Live’s summer of world music, Around the World Stories, and Story of the World. We used Story of the World many years ago but the kids requested to start it over again this summer. 

Everyone will use:

History | Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Everyone will use:

Last year, we enjoyed Big History (plus lots of supplemental CuriosityStream documentaries) and we loved it. This summer, the kids asked to revisit Story of the World (volume 1), an old favorite from years ago. This year, I think we will continue with SOTW because that’s what the kids are interested in, but I would love to continue with Big History too!

Art | Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices

All three kiddos typically take an art class outside of our home. I am not sure what will be happening with that this year.

Everyone will use:

Language | Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices

We are excited to explore ASL through Mr. D.’s program.

Everyone will use:

Music | Gifted Homeschool Curriculum Choices

All three kiddos participate in piano lessons (right now they are via zoom!).

Everyone will use:

Other resources we are thrilled to continue with include:

Now, it’s your turn. Tell me: What resources are you excited about this year? Do you have a favorite gifted homeschool curriculum or resource? Share here!

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  • We are newly homeschooling next year, but are very excited to be trying out the Math for Love curriculum, Blossom and Root History & Language Arts, and Exploring Nature with Children. We also can’t wait to dig in to some exciting Lazy Unit studies!♥️

    Reply

  • Hi lovely Human!
    I’m sorry if confused. Do you guys school on a different schedule than is typical? Your post talks about summer like it’s already over, but it hasn’t even begun! The first day of Summer is on Saturday! I don’t recall ever reading about the start date of your school year before, so I’m just curious,

    Reply

    • Hi, Megan!

      We school year-round over here. I have a post up about “structured” summer breaks. So we are enjoying that right now. In that sense, we have transitioned to the next school year even though it’s summer. This post shows what we will be using this year. I try to get my curric posts up at the start of summer because that is when people are looking for them, as they plan for fall. Sorry for the confusion!

      Reply

  • Thank you for listing your resources/curriculum for the year! I love to know what others are doing! We will be doing Virtual Distance Learning from our public school this fall for the core subjects, but I believe we will use some of the these links for some enrichment! Blessings!

    Reply

  • Hey Caitlyn,

    I really appreciate all of the information you openly share to all regarding your homeschool journey. I’m looking into AoPS for my seventh grader & am curious if you selected live instruction classes or self-paced? Your feedback is much appreciated.

    Thank you!

    Reply

  • Hi Cait,

    I am curious if you would provide feedback on how you/your kids are doing with IEW? Is this something you think any of them will continue?

    Reply

    • Hi, Becky.

      Great question. To be honest, this entire post needs to be tweaked because 2020. We did IEW for a bit, but this year was hard and so we’ve been winging it. 🙂 I do think we would continue in a normal year. That said, we don’t use it as prescribed. We dip in and dip out, if that makes sense.

      Reply

    • Qries

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