Monday, August 26, 2013

First Day of Fifth Grade

Meet Steamboat Willie, our newest classroom pet!
adopted from Rockingham County Animal Shelter

The MacTavish School has officially opened for the 2013-2014 year! This morning I reviewed and updated our information with the NC Department of Non-Public Education and introduced George to his new textbooks.

The basics of our schoolday remain the same: yoga, news Read & React, math, reading, journal, science, large project time.

However this year we're using a new science curriculum. Last year's felt disjointed to me; it seemed to leap from subject to subject on an almost daily basis. For fifth grade George will study Biology using ClassiQuest (Logic Stage), which complements science with a historical perspective. So for example not only would it present how antibiotics work, but also when they were discovered and how that discovery changed the course of history. Over the course of the year George will build a timeline placing these scientific advances in order and context. He'll also learn to begin to recognize Latin and Greek roots in scientific terms. Needless to say I'm pretty excited to have found a solid curriculum so "George-ish".

For George's first special area of study this year he requested the history of movies. This is not completely surprising, given that he likes to write and direct us in his own small films* and his second favorite attraction at Disney is "The Great Movie Ride".

Currently reading: The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett

* He is considering allowing me to upload some. Stay tuned.

4 comments:

Yarddawg said...

The Dixie Classic Fair starts one month from today. Will the MacTavish School have a field trip.

Lucy said...

Two, actually!

One for science (Biology: biodiversity) and one for history.

Yarddawg said...

I'll being doing a nutrition study there.

wstachour said...

Have a fabulous year! And I LOVE Steamboat Willie!!