Hi Friends! I’m back today (…finally) with our third grade homeschool curriculum choices for 2017-2018!
I spent many hours during our 6 week summer break evaluating every single aspect of our homeschool – the way our day runs, my goals for each of my children, and especially our curriculum choices for each child.
It can be difficult to look at our day-to-day homeschool with a critical eye since I’m so entrenched in it on a daily basis.
So after much prayer, thought, and analysis, here’s what we’re using for my #3 child’s 3rd grade homeschool year!
Have a 1st grader? Read our First Grade Homeschool Curriculum Plans for this year!
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Third Grade Goals
Each year, I start my planning session with goals for each of my children. I evaluate gaps and holes, look at material that was covered in the previous year, and brainstorm on paper our goals for the coming school year.
Those goals always include all aspects of my kiddos – spiritual, physical, emotional, and educational.
My educational goals for my third grader this school year: improve oral reading skills through lots of read aloud practice, see steady and consistent growth in math, spelling, and grammar, to learn cursive, and learn to read music.
Of course we will be doing history, science, and other subjects besides the 3 R’s, but these will be secondary. I have to remind myself each week as I plan that these are the goals for this particular child this year.
I write down goals each year because I so easily lose sight of them. For example, it’s natural for us to spend w-a-y too much time on history (because it’s so incredibly fascinating!), but I have to remember that math and spelling and grammar are our main goals for the year.
Third Grade Bible Study
As I mentioned in the post about our first grade homeschool curriculum choices, we are using Bible Study Guide for All Ages together each morning during our Bible time.
We are only using the Teacher’s Guide this year, and it’s going beautifully! While we’ve used the Activity Pages in the past, I decided to keep it super simple this year, and I’m so glad I did.
My kiddos are totally engaged in our lesson each day, which requires pretty minimal prep from me.
I require my children that are able to read to take turns reading the Scripture aloud, so this definitely helps improve my 3rd grader’s oral reading skills. She’s already improving and we’re only a month or so into our new school year.
Third Grade Grammar, Spelling, and Writing
Although it can be dry at times, I’m a huge fan of Rod & Staff English. I’ve used it for many years (my oldest is using Grade 7 this year), and I can see the beautiful, strong foundation of grammar that Rod & Staff provides.
My third grader will work through Rod & Staff English Grade 3. We did a large portion of Grade 2 orally last year, so we’re consistently working towards Sadie writing her answers to a section of the questions I assign each day.
♥ Side note: Make sure you watch my Homeschool Splurges video to see the paper that she’s using. It’s magnificent and has given her so much confidence! I wish I’d purchased it for her 2nd grade year.
We’re also working our way through All About Spelling Level 2 pretty quickly, and she’ll head straight into All About Spelling Level 3. She’s a more natural speller, and I imagine we will be in Level 3 by Christmas at least.
Since we lean very classically in our homeschooling, my third grader will learn to narrate well this year. We’re starting with Writing With Ease 1 and are doing it double time. We’ll start with Writing With Ease 2 if we progress fairly quickly.
Third Grade Math
Last year, I switched most of my children over to Math Mammoth and are definitely using that again this year! It has been such a natural fit for our homeschool.
My third grader is half way through Math Mammoth 2, and will head straight into Math Mammoth 3 when the time comes.
** Don’t miss: Why Math Mammoth is a good fit for our homeschool
Third Grade Logic and Latin
My third grader is so excited to start Latin this year! She is using Prima Latina from Memoria Press.
My older two also started their Latin studies with Prima Latina, so I know from experience the Memoria Press curriculum is top-notch. In fact, my oldest son is going into Second Form this year.
My daughter is using the workbook and audio CD along with the Prima Latina DVDs (we love Leigh Lowe!).
I have failed to do much logic with my oldest girls, so we’re slowly adding in just a couple of pages of Building Thinking Skills this year.
My third grader is using Building Thinking Skills Level 1 and absolutely loves it! She enjoys this new challenge!
I do think she could have gone straight into Level 2, however. I’m choosing the more challenging of the pages for her to complete.
The directions are clear and there aren’t too many problems on the page, so she’s mostly completing these pages independently.
Third Grade History and Science
In the younger elementary grades, I consider history and science to be secondary. My kiddos love the change of pace these studies bring, but they take a back burner once I remember my goals for the year. 🙂
Two days a week after our Bible time, my 5th, 3rd, and 1st graders sit together for our history time. Tapestry of Grace often uses Story of the World as the spine of the reading and I also supplement with the Activity Guide.
This year, we are working through the second half of Tapestry of Grace Year 2 and will complete the first half of Tapestry of Grace Year 3.
Yes, I would love to work through only 1 year of Tapestry this school year, but we got super behind last year when I had all-day morning sickness. It is what it is, as they say.
In addition to our Altogether History Lessons, my third grader will have her own history and literature selections to read independently each week.
Science is super fun this year! I’m so excited about our decision to use Elemental Science Biology for the Grammar Stage. It is 20 (twenty!) weeks of animals, which thrills them to pieces.
Science is almost always the first thing to fall by the wayside when the weeks get tough, and I’m determined to plug along with it this year.
So far, so good!
My third grader will do 1-2 written narrations in science each week and a few other tasks in the Biology Student Guide pages.
Third Grade Extras
Every once in awhile, I throw in a few extras for my kiddos. We all need a change of pace now and then! Most of these are done independently.
Sporadically, my third grader will work on these things:
— Word Searches (there’s one for each month!)
— Interest-led mini-unit studies – we check out a few books from the library on topics that she’s interested in, and completes a couple of pages each day. First up: Clouds and the Water Cycle. This was a beautiful segue into our biomes study in science!
— Melissa & Doug Third Grade Smarty Pants Card set
— The Academy Books – Topics include engineering, vet (this one looks so neat for my animal loving girls!), astronaut, scientist, and architect. These books are amazing!! My husband or I will work with both my 1st and 3rd graders on these.
— Cut and Color Playbook: Seasons
What are your 3rd graders working on this year? I’d love to read all about it, so feel free to leave a comment!
Want to take a peek at Third Grade in previous years? You might be interested in these:
♥ Third Grade Curriculum Plans for 2013-2014
♥ Third Grade Homeschool Curriuclum Plans for 2015-2016
Summer Color By Number Worksheets with Simple Numbers Plus Addition and Subtraction
I will have my first 3rd grader next year, so I appreciated the ideas!