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Electives

We're not exactly sure who determines what are electives and what are "core" subjects, or why. Okay, maybe math is more useful than tracing your family tree because you can't balance your checkbook using scions and second cousins. But what about your family history, and the history of, say, Guam or Haiti? Is there something inherently better about reading "the classics" than learning Mandarin Chinese? Why are physics part of the main coursework for high school students, while robotics is optional?

Unfortunately, we aren't qualified to answer those questions, but we can defend electives on another level. Electives are essentially those subjects best suited to a student's personal interests, talents and abilities. In that sense, they're almost more important than core subjects, though we aren't going to make an argument that you should learn French before mastering English grammar (as long as you live in an English-speaking area, that is). We are arguing for advances beyond the necessary "standards," however, and for a broad curriculum that is child-specific.

Some electives are more important than others. Learning to manage one's money, how to interpret the Bible, and (these days) how to operate and understand computers are all more important than taking an acting class (though the acting class will be very important for some on a different level altogether). Technically, none of these are required courses, though for Christians particularly the first two are essential for a proper education. There are plenty of similarly important topics as well, though each family will need to prioritize.

There seems to be a move toward less specialized education. As our society becomes increasingly homogeneous, we spend less time focusing and more time absorbing "the big picture." We ignore either one at our own risk. We must have a larger framework in which to fit the smaller pieces, but take away the framework and you're left with relativity and chaos; the smaller pieces, and you have only an impersonal and meaningless ideology. Electives are a way to assert the need for both, and to have fun doing it.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.
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Active Filters: 5th grade (Ages 10-11)
24 Exciting Plays for Ancient History Classes
by Dean R. Bowman
from Walch Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids
by Nancy Smith & Lynda Milligan
1st edition from Possibilities
for 4th-8th grade
in Sewing, Knitting & Crocheting (Location: SS-SEW)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Better Than a Lemonade Stand!
by Daryl Bernstein
from Aladdin Books
for 4th-8th grade
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Botanical Gardens - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Dot Barlowe
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$4.99
Child Star
by Lydia Weaver
from Viking Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Coding for Beginners Using Scratch
First Edition from Usborne
for 3rd-7th grade
in Computer Literacy (Location: ELE-COMP)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Coding Games in Scratch 3.0
by Jon Woodcock
from Penguin Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Computer Literacy (Location: ELE-COMP)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Common Weeds - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Stefen Bernath
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$4.99
DK Eyewitness: Film
DK Eyewitness Series
by Richard Platt
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Theater, Drama & Film (Location: ELE-THEAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Ready Set Grow!
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Gardening for Kids (Location: SS-GAR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Favorite Roses - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Ilil Arbel
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$4.99
Favorite Wildflowers - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Ilil Arbel
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$4.99
Five in a Row Cookbook
by Becky Jane Lambert
2nd edition from Five in a Row
for 2nd-6th grade
in Five in a Row (Location: LITCUR-FIAR)
Floral Bouquets - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Charlene Tarbox
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$3.99
Flower Garden - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Ruth Soffer
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$4.99
Garden Flowers - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Stefen Bernath
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$5.99
Gardening With Children
from Brooklyn Botanic Garden
for 3rd-8th grade
in Gardening for Kids (Location: SS-GAR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gardening Wizardry for Kids
by L. Patricia Kite
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Gardening for Kids (Location: SS-GAR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
by Laura Amy Schlitz
from Candlewick Press
for 5th-9th grade
2008 Newbery Medal Winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.99
Great Ancestor Hunt
by Lila Perl
from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Genealogy (Location: XFA-GEN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
First Edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
2008 Caldecott Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$29.99
Jesus of Nazareth
by William Barclay
from Collins
for 3rd-7th grade
in Theater, Drama & Film (Location: ELE-THEAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers
by Kate Greenaway
from Gramercy Books
for all ages
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
Keyboarding Skills
from Educators Publishing Service
for 3rd-6th grade
in EPS Writing (Location: WRI-EPS)
$32.39
Language of Flowers
by Kate Greenaway
from Dover Publications
for all ages
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
$6.95
Language of Flowers - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by John Green
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$3.99
Lifepac: Art - Boxed Set
LIFEPAC Electives
from Alpha Omega Publications
for 4th-12th grade
in AOP Art & Drawing (Location: ELEDRA-AOP)
$108.00
Lifepac: Drawing Basics with Thomas Kinkade - Boxed Set
by Thomas Kinkade
from Alpha Omega Publications
for 3rd-8th grade
in AOP Art & Drawing (Location: ELEDRA-AOP)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Lifepac: Family & Consumer Science - Boxed Set
LIFEPAC Electives
from Alpha Omega Publications
for 4th-12th grade
in Home Economics Curriculum (Location: SS-HOMEC)
$108.00
Little House Cookbook
by Barbara Walker
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-8th grade
in Little House Materials (Location: LIR-LHM)
$14.99
Mary Frances Garden Book
by Jane E. Fryer
from Lacis Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
in Purposeful Homemaking (Location: SS-HOM)
Mary Frances Sewing Book
by Jane Eayre Fryer
from Lacis Publications
for 4th-8th grade
in Purposeful Homemaking (Location: SS-HOM)
Money Matters Family Night Tool Chest
by Allen Burkett, Jim Weidmann, Kurt Bruner, Larry Burkett
1st edition from Chariot Victor Publishing
for Kindergarten-Adult
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Money Matters for Teens - Workbook (Ages 11-14)
by Larry Burkett
from Moody Press
for 5th-8th grade
$14.99
My Family Tree Workbook
by Rosemary A. Chorzempa
from Dover Publications
for 4th grade-adult
in Genealogy (Location: XFA-GEN)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Nanook of the North
by Robert Flaherty, edited from the film by Robert Kraus
First Printing from Windmill Books
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Official Scratch Coding Cards (Scratch 3.0)
from No Starch Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Computer Literacy (Location: ELE-COMP)
$12.50 (1 in stock)
Pearables Home Economics for Home Schoolers Level 1
from Pearables
for 2nd-6th grade
in Home Economics Curriculum (Location: SS-HOMEC)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Pearables Home Economics for Home Schoolers Level 2
from Pearables
for 2nd-6th grade
in Home Economics Curriculum (Location: SS-HOMEC)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Pearables Home Economics for Home Schoolers Level 3
from Pearables
for 2nd-6th grade
in Home Economics Curriculum (Location: SS-HOMEC)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Preparing Your Hope Chest
Hope Chest Series - Volume 2
from Pearables
for 5th-9th grade
in Pearables Character Curriculum (Location: BIB-CHPCC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Pure and Simple Computer Science Curriculum
by Phyllis Wheeler, Don Sleeth, Virginia Sparks, Laura Breidenbach
3rd edition from Motherboard Books
for 5th-12th grade
in Computer Literacy (Location: ELE-COMP)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Redoute Flowers - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Charlene Tarbox
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$3.99
Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future
by Kathy Ceceri
from Nomad Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dangerous Books for Kids (Location: SS-DAN)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Saint George
by Katherine Miller, illustrated by Wallace Tripp
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Stewardship Street
by Pam Forster
from Doorposts
for 1st-6th grade
Sunflower Houses
from Workman Publishing
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Gardening for Kids (Location: SS-GAR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Tempest for Kids
Shakespeare Can Be Fun
by Lois Burdett
from Firefly Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Three Cups
by Mark St Germain
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 1st-6th grade
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Tropical Flowers of the World - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Lynda E. Chandler
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$4.99
Usborne Starting Gardening
Usborne Internet-Linked
by Cheryl Evans, Sue Johnson
from Usborne
for 3rd-6th grade
in Gardening for Kids (Location: SS-GAR)
$2.70 (1 in stock)
Walt Disney
History's All-Stars
by Marie Hammontree
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$6.99
Who Was Walt Disney?
Who Was?...Series
by Whitney Stewart
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
World of Theater
by Scholastic Books
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: Art & Music (Location: ZCLE-ART)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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