Language Arts: Elements of grammar; spelling; punctuation; compositions; Greek myths

Science: Botany; introduction to inductive method; continuation of gardening and nature studies

History & Social Studies: Ancient civilizations through Greek times

Geography: American geography as related to vegetation, agriculture, culture and economics

Handwork: Knitting socks using four needles

Woodworking: Convex Surfaces: carved egg, buttons and beads, chopsticks, animal cut-outs

Foreign Language: Continuing Spanish with further bookwork and grammar, cultural appreciation, poetry, beginning reading

Visual & Performing Arts: Calligraphy; painting; clay modeling; woodworking; drama, singing; recorder; choir; instrumental ensemble

Movement/Physical Education/Games: Games exploring strength and strategy; games with multiple props; games with team goals

The fifth grader has grown more accustomed to being an individual; yet, like the third grader, s/he is about to leave another phase of childhood behind and cross the threshold of adolescence. The curriculum must, therefore, not only continue to build on established foundations, but introduce certain new elements to prepare the child for the next step forward.

In the language arts curriculum the fifth grade child journeys back to the dawn of human civilization, in ancient India, Persia, Egypt and Greece. Through mythology and primary textual sources the student experiences how these cultures viewed the world. In his/her written work, the student retells the epics of the Ramayana the Mahabharata, Gilgamesh, the Iliad and the Odyssey. S/he recites quotations from ancient texts, and in his/her dramatic work takes on the characters of Odysseus, Achilles or Helen of Troy.

Fractions and decimals continue to be the chief concern of arithmetic study in the fifth grade. The student learns to move freely between these two numbering systems, and the use of percentage is introduced. The deep mathematical wisdom of ancient Egypt, as embodied in the Great Pyramid of Giza, offers a concrete introduction to the secrets of geometry. The relationship between radius, diameter, circumference and area of a circle is explored, and pi is introduced.

The study of the ancient cultures includes an overview of the lands where these civilizations emerged. In addition the geography of the North American continent is studied. The teacher strives to give the child a sense for the contrasts between the different regions of America in terms of topography, vegetation, animal life and human use of the land from ancient times to the present. The student develops an understanding for the major mountain ranges and river systems, and how these landforms define the rest of the continent.

Ancient history in the fifth grade starts with the "childhood" of civilized humanity in ancient India, Persia, the great cultures of Mesopotamia (the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians) and Egypt. The class then moves on to ancient Greece and the birth of modern civilization: the foundations of philosophy, science, history, drama and art were laid while Athens and Sparta fought for independence against the might Persian empire. The fifth grade year ends with the story of Alexander the Great, who conquered all the ancient peoples previously studied, unifying the east and the west.

The science curriculum for the fifth grade focuses on the plant kingdom. The child learns that the world of plants is made up of many different families, from the simple mushroom to the rose; the scope of the lessons then expands to an investigation of how climate and geography affect plant growth.

Regular choral singing is practiced in the fifth grade, and increasingly complex melodies are played on the soprano recorder. Note reading skills are emphasized. Study of the violin continues, with increasing attention to bowing techniques and part playing.