If you’re here to register for the Fifth Grade MWC pilot test, all the spots are taken and registration is now closed. My sincere apologies. I wish I could include everyone who wants to participate. But if I did, I would spend so much time managing pilot testing that I would never have enough time to actually write the books. If you’d like a reminder e-mail when pilot testing opens for Sixth Grade MWC, subscribe to my newsletter.
I’m very proud of MWC, but children can learn math well with other programs, too. If you need some help picking out a program, I’m not able to give personal curriculum advice, but you’ll find all my best advice on curriculum selection here.
Happy Math!
Kate
What’s Fifth Grade Math with Confidence Like?
Fifth Grade Math with Confidence is a comprehensive fifth-grade math curriculum. It’s a fun, hands-on, and straightforward program that helps kids learn math with confidence and helps parents teach math with confidence. The program includes:
- Complete coverage of all important fifth-grade math topics
- Hands-on, open-and-go, scripted lessons
- Independent workbook practice
- Focus on one concept at a time, with continual review
- Friendly, approachable notes and tips that help you grow as a teacher
- Fun (but optional) enrichment lessons at the end of each unit
How Is the Curriculum Structured?
Fifth Grade Math with Confidence will have approximately 144 lessons, divided into 16 units. If you teach 4 lessons per week, the program will take you 36 weeks. Each unit includes an optional enrichment lesson, with a suggested real-life math project.
How Long Will the Lessons Take?
Plan for about 10-15 minutes for parent-directed teaching and 20-25 minutes for independent practice in the workbook. This varies a lot depending on your kid, though!
What Topics Does the Program Cover?
The Math with Confidence series is a “middle-of-the-road” program in terms of difficulty, with a strong focus on developing kids’ number sense and conceptual understanding. In Fifth Grade Math with Confidence, your child will learn to :
- Review multi-digit multiplication and long division (including multiplication up to three digits times three digits, and long division up to four digits divided by two digits)
- Use order of operations (including parentheses)
- Add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with different denominators
- Multiply fractions by fractions or whole numbers
- Understand the meaning of fraction division and solve fraction division problems
- Read, write, compare, and order decimals (to the thousandths place)
- Add and subtract decimals
- Find simple percentages
- Find the area of triangles and parallelograms
- Reason about angles in triangles and quadrilaterals
- Find the volume of rectangular prisms
- Graph points on the coordinate grid (positive coordinates only)
- Calculate the mean, median, and mode for a data set
What Will I Need? How Much Does It Cost?
You’ll need just a few basic household items to use this program: counters (such as plastic tiles, Legos, blocks, or plastic bears), playing cards, coins, dice, and index cards. The only specialized math material you may need are Fraction Bars or Circles. (I haven’t decided which to use yet, so don’t go out and buy any!)
You’ll also need to print out the worksheets for your child, so make sure to stock enough paper and ink. The workbook pages are in full-color and designed by a graphic illustrator, but you may print them in black-and-white if you don’t have a color printer.
Other that, there’s no cost to you, and I provide all the digital lessons and worksheets completely free.
What Does My Child Need to Know Before Starting?
Here’s what your child should be able to do before beginning Fifth Grade Math with Confidence:
- Understand place value in numbers to 1,000,000
- Solve multiplication problems (up to four-digit times one-digit and two-digit times two-digit)
- Use long division to solve division problems (up to four-digits divided by one-digit)
- Find equivalent fractions and convert improper fractions to mixed numbers (and vice versa)
- Add and subtract fractions or mixed numbers with like denominators
- Read, write, compare, and order decimals to the hundredths place
- Solve measurement problems and convert measurements within a system of measurement (for example, inches to feet, or kilograms to grams)
- Measure, compare, and reason about angles
(Just a note that these skills are the minimum that kids should know before starting Fifth Grade MWC. Much more will be covered in Fourth Grade MWC.)
Fourth-grade math programs generally cover all of these skills, so if your child completed a formal fourth-grade math program, you should be fine.
How Does Pilot Testing Work?
If you participate, you’ll receive a free digital copy of the program, one unit at a time. (At this stage, the manuscript is a Word document, not a final typeset book, so it has only basic formatting.)
You’ll receive a few weeks of lessons at a time, spread over the course of the year. Before you receive each new unit, you’ll first need to provide feedback on the previous unit via an online feedback form. These feedback forms take 10-15 minutes per unit, and they’re invaluable to me as I revise the program to make it as comprehensive, clear, and parent-friendly as possible.
You’ll also be added to a private Facebook group where you can ask me questions and connect with other parents in the pilot program. The feedback forms are the main way I receive feedback, but the conversations on Facebook provide an important way for parents to compare experiences and offer suggestions.
The lessons are sent via email, but most communication happens in this Facebook group. I highly recommend that you have a Facebook account if you want to participate in the pilot test. The answer keys will only be posted in this FB group. You only need to check in on the FB group weekly or so, and you don’t have to use your account for anything else.
The first unit will be available in mid-August. After that, you’re free to move forward at whatever pace works best for your family. If you decide that it’s not a good fit for your family, you may withdraw from the pilot program. I just ask that you send me an email to let me know what didn’t work for you.
Also note: My goal is that if you start the program in mid-August, you will always have 4 lessons per week to teach. I do my best to make that happen, but life happens to me just like it happens to all of you. If your family is speedy and you stay at the leading edge of the unit release schedule, you may occasionally have a few school days without new lessons while I get the new unit finished.
Registration for Fifth Grade MWC pilot program is now closed. Check back in the spring of 2024 to register for the Sixth Grade MWC pilot program. Subscribe for a reminder e-mail and other math tips.
Is the Third Grade Program Available? Can I Participate in the Fourth Grade Pilot Program?
Third Grade MWC will be released June 27. Learn more about Third Grade Math with Confidence here.
The Fourth Grade MWC pilot program is over, and I’m not able to share any of the lessons or workbook pages for it at this time. Fourth Grade MWC will be available in spring of 2024.
How Far Will Math with Confidence Continue?
I plan to continue the series through 6th grade and write one new book per year.
Happy Math!
Kate