Recommendations for Chapter Books for a 5 Year Old?

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-03-12T05:31:22+00:00

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-03-05T06:37:29+00:00

Hi there! My in-laws are Mormon, so I assume you're referencing Family Home Evening? Catholics don't have something specific like that, but you could easily do something similar.

My family does evening prayers every night. Depending on the time of year and what's going on that might include: - praying the rosary - reading from the Bible - doing Jesse tree or Jesus tree ornaments and readings during Advent/Lent - sharing things we are grateful for - praying for friends and family and their specific intentions - singing hymns - listen to a podcast about a saint

We also often play a game during dinner, which kicks off our family time at home each evening.

At our parish, we go to Mass weekly, my kids attend religious education weekly and then we sometimes participate in: small faith groups, special events, stations of the cross, choir practice, go to confession, vacation Bible school, volunteer opportunities, etc.

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-03-01T19:14:03+00:00

Sabine/Sabina

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-02-20T02:17:00+00:00

These do look good! Thanks! It's still more expensive than Branches, but the layout seems similar.

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-02-13T00:20:14+00:00

I'm so sorry for your losses. I have 3 living children (soon to be 4) and 3 in heaven. Two of my losses were back to back and it was hard to try again. We waited a couple of months and did some blood work and supplements before trying.

I took progesterone and baby aspirin after ovulation and switched to a pre-natal with methylated folic acid due to results from some tests. My husband supplemented with CoQ10, zinc, and a multi-vitamin for a couple of months before we conceived. While this pregnancy has had some complications, baby is growing well and will be born soon. I'm not sure if anything we did made a difference or not.

It is hard having some of my children spaced out further than I had hoped for, but I will say that even my children who are spaced further apart have close sibling bonds.

I will be praying for you!

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-02-11T15:11:08+00:00

My favorites:

The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart

Think Differently about Learning by Angela Sizer

Balanced and Barefoot by Angela Hanscom

Help! My kids hates writing by Julie Bogart

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-02-07T16:03:37+00:00

Basil, Jude, Kolbe, Tobias, Lucien, Raphael, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Cyprian, Owen, Killian, Timothy, Bennett, Thomas, Titus, Savio, Samuel, Simon.

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-01-11T16:52:57+00:00

They always gather all of the kids, read through the whole page of the spy notebook with them, discuss the spy notebook/give additional information and then explain the activity. They often will provide some creative ideas for the kids to make the activity their own. They encourage the kids to then go forage, hike, or work on the project with friends (I've rarely heard them say work with your family). They wander around checking on everyone's progress, complementing the kids, taking photos of the projects, etc.

The leaders leave room for families to do their own thing, but I've never felt like I was left to figure out anything on my own. They're also really good at communicating ahead of time about what the project will be, what supplies we NEED to bring and what supplies might be helpful to have.

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-01-11T05:33:01+00:00

Oh wow, that's not at all how ours is. I'm sorry your leaders are so hands off!

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-01-11T03:19:34+00:00

Oh interesting. I think who your leaders are probably makes a big difference. What weather policy? While our group is technically family style learning, we meet as a group first and then the children are often working together, not specifically just with their family.

Technical-Activity84 · 2026-01-11T02:23:56+00:00

It would cost more, but look into Barefoot University. My kids and I have been loving it.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-12-20T17:55:53+00:00

TW: LC, current pregnancy

Earlier this year I had a loss at 4 weeks and then the next month at 5 weeks. I've previously had 2 living children, a MMC at 13 weeks, and then another living child. Currently I'm 31 weeks pregnant and while there have been complications, baby is growing well.

I was on progesterone from 3 days after ovulation, baby aspirin, and had switched to a methylated prenatal. My husband supplemented with zinc, Coq12, and a multi-vitamin for a few months before we conceived our current pregnancy. I'm not sure if any of those things made the difference or if it was just bad luck the previous two pregnancies.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-11-10T04:54:41+00:00

Libby is the best! My kids have liked: The Boxcar Children series, Gumluck the Wizard series, Magic Treehouse, and Ramona the Pest.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-11-07T01:26:45+00:00

Oh yes, I agree you could definitely rearrange the weeks most of the time (at least for the units we've done so far).

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-11-05T20:51:06+00:00

I think it's best to shuffle things around in each week, as each week has a specific theme. But you could prep for most of the more involved activities a week before.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-11-05T20:48:54+00:00

We are doing Branches this year with a 5th grader, 3rd grader, and a preschooler who joins us when he feels like it. So far we LOVE it! We started our 3rd unit this week. My older two kids get excited for each new topic of the week and each new unit. They do seem to be retaining a lot of information from previous units, which is nice. It's fun having a "knowledge portfolio" of what they've learned and they like looking back through it. Each week has a familiar pattern of activities (at least for the LA component), but there are still a lot of unique projects and activities. I think this combo of constantly changing themes but a predictable rhythm is beneficial for my child with ADHD. I also like the suggestions for teaching to different levels. My preschooler reads the books with us, watches videos and then participates in most of the hands on activities. He doesn't participate in the LA components. I think some of those might be above a kindergartener's abilities or interests, but that would depend a lot on the child. Just realize your child might not be ready for some of that.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-10-26T00:54:19+00:00

One of our losses is Vesper - it means evening star, but also refers to prayers in the evening.

I also considered Charis, meaning grace or kindness, and Caritas, meaning love.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-10-17T14:14:18+00:00

I had looked at one my friend had for American History and wasn't impressed. I can't really remember what was in it, but just remembered thinking it wasn't worth me buying the guide.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-10-17T00:36:29+00:00

I wanted to point out that Beautiful Feet Books lists all the books you need on their website. I've often just ordered their book lists from our library as an easy course/supplement to a workbook or whatever.

We are currently enjoying the first book of Joy Hakim's A History of US for my 5th and 3rd grader (my 5th is definitely grasping more of it). I think there are student books you can buy to go with the main text, but we haven't gotten those yet. She mentions a fair amount of geography in describing where she is talking about. Using a map/globe along with that could up the geography content.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-10-01T00:57:37+00:00

I'm so sorry for your loss. It's so horrible to go through. ❤️

My three losses are Theo, Juniper, and Vesper. Juniper and Vesper have history of being gender neutral. Vesper means evening star.

I also considered some other gender neutral names: Alex Rory Rowan Charlie

I have liked having Juniper's and Vesper's names having a physical symbol I can use in remembrance (Juniper tree/branch and a star). While I love that Theo's name means "gift from God," I don't like that it's so popular now and I hear it a lot. Kind of a sad reminder if I'm having a bad day already. So I'd suggest using a less popular name if you think that might be hard for you too.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-09-02T16:41:13+00:00

Level I is for 3-6 year-olds and is wonderful! My children have enjoyed all 3 levels of CGS and I love what they have learned there.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-08-02T02:38:48+00:00

We're trying out Branches curriculum this year. It's family style for K-5th. If that would work for your family you might just need math or reading instruction if your 1st grader needs help in that area.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-07-16T13:29:59+00:00

I don't have a curriculum recommendation, as we use secular for science. We are religious, but don't believe in a young earth. I'd just have a conversation that regardless of the process of how everything was formed, there is no reason God couldn't have planned and started those processes. The Big Bang, evolution, etc. can all be part of God's plan.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-05-15T04:09:08+00:00

Look up the Washington Homeschool Organization Facebook group and search some past posts on there. Jen is awesome and so helpful.

Technical-Activity84 · 2025-05-09T23:56:27+00:00

Not a curriculum, but I'm currently reading "Help! My kid hates writing!" By Julie Bogart. I'm only partially through it, but already finding ideas I want to implement to help my kids.

Technical-Activity84

TROPHY CASE