Our First Quarter, Third Grade

Here is the curriculum we are using for The Girl's Third Grade Year:



We are using A Beka Book Arithmetic 3 this year. It may not be the latest and greatest that is out there for home schoolers, however it works for us. The work sheets are colorful and easy to understand. We have been using A Beka for our arithmetic since first grade, so there is a familiarity with it. I have heard it said that A Beka is little too heavy on the amount of math there is do in their curriculum. We have not found this to be true in K, 1st or 2nd grade. However, after two weeks of 3rd grade I would have to agree with that statement. The Girl is getting rather frustrated with the amount of math problems she is required to do every day, so I am allowing her to skip some problems, as long as I know she is understanding what she is doing, and completing her work neatly.



For penmanship I have chosen to teach The Girl Italic Cursive by Getty & Dubay this year. I just do not feel that The Girl's fine motor skills is ready for traditional cursive. I decided to teach basic italic this year as an intermediary step before teaching her traditional cursive next year however, after reading the authors arguments for teaching italic over traditional cursive I have become convinced that italic cursive is a better approach for our family. The Girl is using Book D this year. This book reviews basic italic and then teaches cursive italic. I have to admit that my penmanship is improving in teaching this course.



First Language Lesson for the Well Trained Mind, Level 3. I love The Well Trained Mind. This is our first year using a grammar curriculum designed for homeschooling. I love that the dialog and teaching seems so natural with this book. The Girl doesn't seem to quite like repeating definitions over and over. However, I am seeing her retention of grammar rules improving over the past two weeks. If a noun ends in s, ch, sh, x, or z add and es to make it plural. Yes, darling daughter I know you know this, I know we covered it last year. However, now I am seeing you actually apply this rule in the writing you do for other subjects.




This year we are study astronomy with Exploring Creation with Astronomy by Apologia, written my Jeannie Fulbright. My husband, The Engineer is an astronomy buff. He is excited about sharing astronomy with the kids and the kids are excited to finally see Daddy's telescope that they've heard about. I am excited that we're studying something Daddy can help Mommy with. I don't have a real good track record for doing labs and being real excited about science.



Writing Strands for Composition. We will also be participating in a local Young Authors Contest again this year.


We are continuing our history studies with Tapestry of Grace this year. I plan to finish Unit Two of Year One (Redemption to Resurrection). I hope to finish Year One's unit three and four. I am using Story of the World for my spine. I may chose to study a little bit of California and US History/Geography for one quarter this year. This would give The Girl some review and Boy #1 an introduction.





The Girl's studies also include Spelling Power for spelling, and withing the next two weeks Prima Latina for Latin. That's all I can remember for the time being. We also have a lot of other books that we are reading aloud to encompass history, science and other stuff I find important. I will post what Boy #1 is using for 1st grade later.