Third Grade
You're really making some headway now!! That little developing person is more fluent in their speech now. Their reading abilities are continuing to improve and grow. Sometimes you may wish that they had not just read that sign or other words over there... =) However, that little person is growing and maturing. So much knowledge has already been infused into that growing brain, and now you're ready for yet another year!
As of right now, we have not covered Third Grade yet. We are still finishing out Second Grade. However, I have already picked out and begun accumulating next year's curriculum, with the aid of my little boy. Many things are staying the same as Second Grade. Music will change over to lessons on piano. We may find a theory book or two, but that will extra-curricular. My son has also decided to change course in his Bible study, as new options have opened up with a new level in schooling. So, I will give you a run-down of what we have settled on for our next year in education, and by the end of the year, I will be able to confidently review our choices! =)
I'm not sure which order we will go in next year just yet, so I will follow last year's order for our list here*.
First up, Bible. My son really loves the whys and hows of things, and wanted something deeper this year. For third grade, the option of Memoria Press' Christian Studies I came into view. He quickly chose this one. There are MAPS! There are more Bible references! There is more study! I know. It is not likely my son is quite the "normal" child according to public school standards, but I'm OK with that! =) From my perspective, I really like this study! It goes in-depth in study of the who's and the how's of Old Testament Bible stories. It reinforces our geography we get through history. I very much look forward to this program! It is based upon a classic Bible storybook, so you'll need to get one of those to really make the most of it.
As of right now, we have not covered Third Grade yet. We are still finishing out Second Grade. However, I have already picked out and begun accumulating next year's curriculum, with the aid of my little boy. Many things are staying the same as Second Grade. Music will change over to lessons on piano. We may find a theory book or two, but that will extra-curricular. My son has also decided to change course in his Bible study, as new options have opened up with a new level in schooling. So, I will give you a run-down of what we have settled on for our next year in education, and by the end of the year, I will be able to confidently review our choices! =)
I'm not sure which order we will go in next year just yet, so I will follow last year's order for our list here*.
First up, Bible. My son really loves the whys and hows of things, and wanted something deeper this year. For third grade, the option of Memoria Press' Christian Studies I came into view. He quickly chose this one. There are MAPS! There are more Bible references! There is more study! I know. It is not likely my son is quite the "normal" child according to public school standards, but I'm OK with that! =) From my perspective, I really like this study! It goes in-depth in study of the who's and the how's of Old Testament Bible stories. It reinforces our geography we get through history. I very much look forward to this program! It is based upon a classic Bible storybook, so you'll need to get one of those to really make the most of it.
For reading, I plan to stay the course with the Pathways Publisher's reading program for Grade 3. He has loved the stories, and the workbooks really teach a lot of vocabulary and phonics. I also love the values taught.
As referenced above, music will no longer be a scheduled part of our school day, unless it is to be used for practice time while I work with my daughter on her Kindergarten lessons.
For grammar, we will continue First Language Lessons, of course in Level 3 this go-round. For this year, I have purchased the PDF teacher's manual (Mama got a new tablet, and wants to put it to use for homeschooling!), and the print workbook for my son. We will also continue using Primary Language Lessons. My son also really likes these books. =)
Math-U-See remains our math of choice! We have enjoyed the lessons in the first two levels, and I look forward to watching his progress as he continues to grow in his math abilities. This year, we are tackling multiplication in the Gamma level, possibly starting Delta by year's end. =)
Writing will continue through Writing with Ease Level 3. For this year, I have purchased the PDF for the teacher's manual. The student sheets are a part of the manual, so that was our only purchase! Of course, you can get it in print, too. However, I hope that simply printing from PDF will work better than copying the student pages that have to be torn out from the manual.
Once again we find ourselves with a new volume of Story of the World. It works, and it is wonderful, and we have no plans of changing until after next year, when we've exhausted the series!!! =) So, Volume 3 of Story of the World will be our history text for this grade. Again, I purchased the PDF Activity book/manual, in hopes to reduce the copying, and put my pretty little tablet to work for me! =)
For Latin, we will pick up where we left of in Latina Christiana I. Once again, with the way we work our lessons, it will run its course in 30 weeks. Having already done 6 weeks last year, this will leave us with an extra 12 weeks to fill. So, we will likely move on to the next level, with First Form Latin, from Memoria Press. There is a possibility we will go ahead and accomplish Latina Christiana II, for the history side (see Second Grade for notes on that). However, we may just read the history and move on in our Latin studies! My son absolutely loves learning the language of the Romans, and he's looking forward to continuing this education! =)
Just a quick note about choosing between Latina Christiana II and First Form Latin: I contacted the company after doing some searching on their website, to find out why they recommend following Latina Christiana I with First Form Latin instead of Latina Christiana II. They responded, letting me know that when Latina Christiana II was first produced, First Form Latin was not yet available. Since then, obviously, First Form Latin has been produced, and a child who has completed Latina Christiana I should be ready for First Form Latin. However, on their website, they also note First Form Latin as being for fourth grade and up. Since we will be starting about 2/3 of the way into our Third Grade year, Latina Christiana II is still not ruled out! =)
This year, science brings Zoology I from Apologia's Exploring Creation series. Bring on the flying creatures of the fifth day!! My son can't wait until we study bats. =)
I look for this year to take roughly the same amount of time as last year, possibly edging up a bit closer to 5 hours, if we keep music time in with practice time. =) We're really coming along in finding our way through homeschooling, and finding what we like and what works for us. I'll try to keep everyone updated through my blog as we work through it! =)
**Update as of 8/27/14**
This year seems to be the charm so far with my little man, as he now seems to have more days at 3 1/2 hours instead of 5! Latin's time has extended, as the lessons are more in-depth, and we tend to get into discussions on the vocabulary and/or history. This still fits in that 3 1/2 hours, though! We have not added in music and practice time just yet, as this mama is still getting ready for the new little one soon to join us! I am VERY pleased with our school year thus far.
We have also changed up the order of subjects in our schedule, which goes as follows (times given are maximum allotted times per subject):
Bible: 30 minutes
Writing: 30 minutes
Math: 45 minutes
Reading: 45 minutes
Science: 45 minutes
**Here we take a break if subjects are actually taking near their full times for lunch and recess. If things are speeding along, we press on to finish!**
Grammar: 30 minutes
Latin: 45 minutes
History: 45 minutes
Check on the blog for updates on our adventures throughout the year!
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