What Our Home-Schooled 3rd Grader is Learning This Year

Our oldest child, Olivia will be entering into 3rd grade this year. Curious about what homeschool curriculum we are using and what her schedule will look like? Then please keep reading to see what our Home- Schooled 3rd Grader is learning this year.

Bible + Memory Verse

Bible reading is something we have done as a family for many years. This school year we will start out by working our way through the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We only read a chapter a day, sometimes less if the passage is lengthy because my wiggly boys lose interest quick.

We also memorize a new Bible Verse monthly. Last year I purchased these beautiful ABC Scripture Memorization Cards by Pip & J Papery and we will continue to work through them this year.

Catechism

The book we use is the Westminster Shorter Catechism for Kids. We focus on one question a day to discuss with the kids and will rotate back to the beginning once we get through all 100+ questions. It is amazing what the kids pick up on as we discuss these questions and what they are curious to learn more about as we talk about certain topics.

Sometimes a kid will ask a tough theological question based on something we just learned. There are many times when I have to admit I don’t know the answer and we will have to ask Sam when he gets home 🙂

Character Building

Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from Lives of Christian Heros Series by Dave and Neta Jackson. There are four volumes to this series. I don’t skip around in this book; we just go in order and read about one Christian Hero each week. We can get through one volume a season.

We also watch The Torch Lighters Heros of the Faith TV Series if they have an episode on the Christian Hero we have just read about.

Poetry

Poetry Teatime Companion: A Brave Writer Sampler of British and American Poems by Julie Bogart.
A Year of Poetry Tea Time: The Essential Guide to Everything Poetry and Tea by Christine Lynn Owens.

Poetry is something we added in a few years ago. During that time, these are the two poetry books we have worked though. The Kids and I have enjoyed them both. The Poetry Teatime Companion has pictures which appeals to younger kiddos and the other does not. We read through one poem daily.

Sing a Hymn

Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories by Robert J. Morgan. This is something rather new that we have included in our Morning Time, and the Kids love it! We pick a new hymn to learn each month and sing it every day. Throughout the week we will also practice other hymns we have already learned. While we may be a bit offkey, it if fun to see the Kids really get into singing their favorite hymns when we review them. It is also so special to hear your Kids singing these hymns to themselves as they are playing throughout the day.

Chores + Home Economics + Habits.

Chores or Contributions as we have started calling them around the House is something that is completed every day. We refer to them as Contributions because as a Family we all need to contribute to the running and cleanliness of our home. Besides when the Kids are always asking me if they can help with whatever task I am working on why would I turn down the help??? In the morning, I make a list of what needs to be done such as Wipe Down the Table, Sweep, Fold Laundry, etc. The Kids will pick the task they would like to do and that is their Contribution for the day. They will complete them after Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. After their Contribution is complete Olivia must also clean her room. Make her bed and feed her cat.

Some Home Economics things we will be working on this year for all the Kids will be Pour and Mix Ingredients. Usually when I am Baking OR Cooking there is always a child that wants to help so they can lick the spoon and bowl when we are done. Wash and Prepare Fruit and Vegetables. I purchased Kid Cutting Boards and Toddler Knives for them to use under my supervision. Crack Eggs. The Boys have been BEGGING to learn how to do this. Olivia can already do most of these things, but I will be working on teaching her to slow down and not rush through them.

I also recently purchased Laying Down the Rails for Children: A Habit-Training Companion by Lanaya Gore and am planning on working through one Habit a month with the Kids. We will begin with the basic three habits, Obedience, Attention, and Truthfulness that Charlotte Mason suggests starting with.

1000 Hours Outside + Nature Study

We will be attempting the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge by Ginny Yurich. This breaks down to about 2 hours outside a day. Which is very doable for us if we do an hour outside in the morning and then again in the evening.

We will also be doing a few of The Good + The Beautiful Science and Health Units such as Safety and Birds. I am hoping to complete one a semester, and if we do then I will pick another Unit in the Spring. Olivia is also subscribed to the KiwiCo Kiwi Crate which she receives once a month with a STEAM project to complete.

Family Read Aloud

I recently selected a few books off The Good + The Beautiful Booklist for us to read through over the coming months. If you are looking for some Read Aloud ideas for your family, then check out my list of Fun Read Alouds for Kids Ages 10 and Younger.

Independent Work

Olivia is one of my kids that needs to be challenged, or she can become very disruptive and get herself into unnecessary trouble. She will do one lesson a day from either The Good + The Beautiful Level 3 Math Course Set OR Level 3 Language Arts Course Set Curriculum. She will also complete one page from the Level 3 Handwriting Workbook and read a few pages aloud to me from the Pathway Publishers 4th Grade Building Our Lives book.

Arts + Crafts

Olivia is an artsy girl, so we keep her happy in this area with The Good + The Beautiful Craft Book. We also subscribed her to the KiwiCo Doodle Crate which she receives once a month. She also never lacks for crayons, markers, and coloring books. 🙂 She will do Arts + Crafts in some capacity everyday whether that be during Free Time once School Work is completed or during Quiet Time after lunch.

Daily Routine

We plan on doing schoolwork four days a week in addition to having a Fun Day once a week. This Fun Day is where we venture out for a Field Trip. Have a Holiday Party depending on the time of year. Or attend a scheduled Appointment much to the kids’ dismay, but we do get a sweet treat after! I also want to point out I am more of a routine Mama than a schedule person. This allows for flexibility and shifting things around if need be. Below I brake things down into Time Blocks to give you an idea of when we get things completed. Last year I wrote A Week in the Life of Our Homeschool Family if you are curious for a glimpse into what our schedule looked like then.

AM Block

This AM Block usually takes place from about 8a until 12p.

Bible + Memory Verse
Catechism
Character Building
Poetry
Hymns

PM Block

This PM Block takes place from 2- 4p.

Once the Kids have completed everything, we need to do in a day then they get more Free Play, or they can choose to watch some TV and relax.

What is Your Home- Schooled Third Grader Learning This Year?

Share with us in the comments.