So it’s homeschool curriculum week here at Mama’s Learning Corner! I’m sharing what curriculum and projects I’m using with all 4 of my kiddos during this school year.
Today, I’m sharing what my 3rd grader and I will be working on during the 2015-2016 school year.
As I said in my son’s 5th Grade post, I’ll share how I plan for our school year in another post, which includes how I set goals for my children.
One of my goals for my 3rd grader is to encourage her love of reading and provide her with excellent historical fiction, which she adores!
She’s been an average to later reader, and I am beyond thrilled that she sees reading historical fiction as fun. *insert happy mama heart here*
So considering that is one of my main goals for her, here are the subjects and topics we will work on together.
3rd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Plans
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I’m very excited about everything my 8 year old and I will work on this year! She’s just a precious girl, and it’s such a gift to be her mama and teacher.
→ Rod & Staff Grade 3 English – Last year, my daughter worked through most of Rod & Staff Grade 2, however we took a small break to work through a Little House in the Big Woods Lapbook. It was well worth the break, as we both loved it!
Even though she didn’t complete Grade 2 English because of our lapbook detour, I’m going to go ahead and start her in Grade 3. Last year was our first year with Rod & Staff, and I am amazed at how much Clara learned. She enjoys more formal workbook/textbook type work, so this is a great fit for her for many reasons.
→ All About Spelling Level 2 – My daughter needs lots of spelling reinforcement, so we work on spelling 5 days a week. I’d rather go slow and steady with her to make sure she understands the concepts, rather than speed through.
I have a brand new method for using All About Spelling so it’s not quite so teacher-intensive. I do have 4 children to school, after all. I can’t wait to share it with y’all!’
My 3rd grader will not yet use a formal writing program. She’ll work on each of the writing exercises provided in Rod & Staff English.
→ Handwriting and Copywork – Through the first half of the school year, I am going to pull sentences and paragraphs from our science or history studies so she can continue practicing her printing.
After Christmas, she’ll start cursive using Handwriting Without Tears’ Cursive Handwriting.
→ Singapore Math 3A and 3B – We continue to use Singapore Math each year because it teaches my children how to think about solving mathematical equations. It’s not just rote memorization.
Clara has about half of Singapore Math 2B to finish up, and then she’ll complete 3A and 3B before the school year is over.
The Home Instructor’s Guide is a must, so if you’re considering Singapore Math, make sure you add that to your cart. It has a tremendous amount of teaching helps, math games, and other ideas to solidify the concepts.
Subjects We Will Study Together – Bible, History, Science
As I mentioned in my post about 5th Grade Curriculum, we study history together using Tapestry of Grace. This year, we will cycle back through Year 1: Creation to Ancient Rome.
Tapestry can be difficult for a homeschool mama to wrap her brain around, as there’s a big learning curve. But once you do, it’s such a blessing to study the same time period of history on different learning levels.
My 3rd grader is going to work on a mix of Upper and Lower Grammar Levels and complete a hands-on project every 1-2 weeks. She’ll also complete the written literature assignment.
I am so exited about the Bible curriculum I found for us to work through this year: Explorer’s Bible Study! We will be working through Luke and the Book of Acts.
Each day, we will read the Scripture together in our Bible time and discuss it. My 10 and 8 year old both have ESV Bibles, and we take turns reading aloud.
After we discuss, every one asks questions, etc., my 3rd grader will work on the application questions found in her Explorer’s Bible Study guide.
Answering the questions is also a great way to work on her writing skills.
Lastly, comes Science!
I want to combine all three of my girls (8, 6, and 4 1/2) for science, but I can’t quite find what I want for our studies.
I want to use living books, have an occasional hands-on activity or experiment, learn vocabulary, and do a small amount of writing.
Finding this type of curriculum has proven to be a difficult task, since most are written for independent 2nd graders and up. But I still have a 1st grader and K4 child that want to study with us.
Because I can’t find exactly what I want, I’m creating a science curriculum for us – what an endeavor! It’s been very time consuming, but I’m thrilled with what the girls and I are going to learn this year.
The girls want to study animals (especially my 6 year old!), so I’m putting together an animal study based on the biomes in which those animals live.
I absolutely can’t wait! My girls are going to LOVE it!
What is your 3rd grader studying this year? What are her interests?
I’ll update the curriculum choices for each of the following grades as I publish them:
♥ 5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
♥ 1st Grade Homeschool Curriculum
♥ K4 Early Kindergarten Curriculum
Interested in curriculum we’ve used in the past?
♥ Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2014-2015 – 4th Grade, 2nd Grade, Kindergarten, and Preschool
♥ Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2012-2013 – 2nd Grade and Kindergarten
♥ 3rd Grade Curriculum (2013-2014)
♥ First Grade Curriculum (2013-2014)
♥ Preschool and Kindergarten Curriculum (2013-2014)
5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Plans for 2015-2016
We too are finishing up 2B for Singapore before we jump into the rest. I am not sure if we’ll keep using Singapore but we may! That’s all we had the same. Sounds like a good year for you, though! Best of luck.
Thank you, Rebecca, for stopping by! I hope you and your 3rd grader enjoy your year together! 🙂
Wow! I too have a 3rd grader and was so surprised to see we are using some of the exact same resources and that you are using some I have been looking at and debating about. Thank you for sharing. I encourage you to stay with Singapore Primary Mathematics. I have been through to 6B with my oldest. A public school teacher cousin of ours looked at this and was surprised that it was ahead of the PS grade. Finishing 6B last year, we have looked at others now only to find he has aleady covered 1/3 of the material already. Love Rod and Staff, simple but solid retention. We use Heart of Dakota for our main lead for history and I love how she ties everything to the Bible. Have you looked at Apologia science? They have an elementary line with notebooking journals and junior notebooking journals that look fun and a way for different levels to follow. Wonderful to see thank you for sharing. You may look at Heart of Dakota for some great historical fiction titles.
D, thank you so much for that great feedback!
What did you go to after your child completed Singapore Math 6B?
My oldest will complete 5A and 5B this year, so I’ll quickly have to figure out where to go next. I’d love to hear your suggestions!
Thank you! 🙂
About how much time a week do you plan on working with your student with Rod & Staff English? I’m curious to know how student led it is to see if it will work with my 3rd grader. Thanks!
Angie, I used Rod & Staff with both of my older children (they were 2nd and 4th grades at the time), so I have a pretty good feel for how it’s going to go this year.
I have a Morning Meeting with my 3rd grader where we go over her work for the day. Almost always, there is new teaching in English. I spend 15 minutes or so going over the new material she needs to know. That includes going over some of the questions orally (so I’m certain she understands) and going over the directions for her independent work.
Thankfully, Rod & Staff is broken up into small enough sections that teaching new content each day isn’t laborious at all. I love the pace at which it progresses and that it’s now super teacher-intensive for me!
Thanks so much for your input!
Sure! Enjoy 3rd grade this year! 🙂
I have a 3rd grade student this year too, so it’s great for me to see what other people are using! We’re adding in Beast Academy this term to help my “little” guy stretch his thought processes in math, as well as a standard math text to make sure we don’t miss anything.
I’d forgotten the One Small Square books; thanks for the reminder! I’m going to dig mine out of their box before we kick off the year, to enhance out use of Sassafras Science: Zoology. I look forward to seeing how you’re planning to use them!
Oooh – I’ve never heard of Beast Academy! I’ll check it out.
We used Sassafras Science last year to study the human body. It was great! I’m writing the curriculum for the One Small Square books and I’m having a hard time getting it completed. My kiddos are just barely one step ahead of me in the curriculum. If I can’t make some big strides in getting it completed in the next week or so, I’m going to look back at Sassafras, as it was a pretty good fit for us!
Yes, I love seeing what other people use, too! 🙂