2022-2023 3rd Grade Homeschool Picks
Book work for my 3rd grade girl
Like I said in my post about our family curriculum choices, we read aloud most of our school together as a family. Our seatwork, even for my new 3rd grader, does not take very long (as long as my kids get to work and don’t mess around too much).
I will still read aloud some of my 3rd grader’s work to her, although most of it will be done on her own this year. I also wanted to start implementing “challenge subjects” around this age. Since most of what I pick for my children is very gentle and doesn’t take too much stress to accomplish, I want my children to pick a subject each year to be a challenge in that they do extra work and learn more on their own. My 3rd grader enjoys our sciences, so I have added a couple of science books to her workload this year,
Bible
I want my students to learn about the Bible in several different ways. I want them to learn it as a Book of history, as a Book of theology (through catechism work), and as a living literature Book. My choices reflect these different categories.
God’s Great Covenant Bible Old Testament 1 from Classical Academic Press (this is a Bible history program - I did get the maps and timeline set)
My First Catechism and Workbook (out of print) from Concordia Publishing House (once a week)
Using a reading tracker in her reading journal (see below), she will read through the first half of The Picture Bible on her own
Language Arts
I love language arts and would be fine if our entire homeschool only had these subjects. I had my eye on the Well-Ordered Language series from Classical Academic Press, but my 3rd grader specifically asked to not have something too hard for language studies. And since this is not her chosen “challenge subject” I decided to do what I consider to be the bare minimum for language arts and not live my personal educational dreams vicariously through my poor daughter.
Language Lessons for Today Grade 3 from My Father’s World
Traditional Spelling 1 from Memoria Press (I had intended to start this in 2nd grade, but we needed to do some work on solidifying phonics rules first - which we did using The Writing Road to Reading)
Dyslexia Games Set B (We will be working through these books at the pace my 3rd grader would like to go. She is left-handed and left-eye dominant and gets letters easily mixed up. We had done some eye-convergence exercises for a while that greatly improved her reading and these books take those kinds of exercises and put them into game form that she can work on independently.)
Math and Logical Thinking
We had been using The Good and the Beautiful Math up until this point. It worked really well but my daughter preferred the books from Critical Thinking Co. that I brought in for extra practice (which it turns out she didn’t need; I was just anxious that one curriculum wasn’t “enough” - ha, ha).
Mathematical Reasoning D from Critical Thinking Co.
Building Thinking Skills 1, second half - we did the first half in 2nd grade
Language and Creative Arts
The first official training I ever received was to be a music teacher, so learning music is a big part of our home culture. If any of my children even want to write music for fun or go into music as a career, I want them to have a solid foundation in music theory. So that is why you see that on my curriculum list :).
Keith Snell’s Fundamentals of Music Theory Preparatory
Explorations in Music Level 1 from Kjos
Practice WunderKeys piano and The Recorder Kit (this is what I have from my past music teaching days, but any recorder book is good)
Artpac 2 (I let my children choose from several different art/drawing curricula each year)
Hey Andrew! Greek Level 3
Challenge Subject: Extra Science
I wouldn’t normally schedule out any additional science for seatwork, but that is what my 3rd grader has chosen for her challenge this year!
Come and See from Queen Homeschool (I will pick and choose lessons for her to do 3 times a week)
Nature Reader 2 from Christian Liberty Press (this is below her reading level so she can read independently, she will read this 2 times a week)
Science Detective Beginning from Critical Thinking Co. (she will read this 2 times a week after the Nature Reader is completed)
Reading Journals and Read-aloud Dates
Something I had planned to start in 3rd grade was making reading journals for my children. I want them to love literature as much as I do, and I wanted a way for them to learn to enjoy it on their own but also learn from what they learn. So I have chosen books for them to read in different categories. She will be reading these books throughout the year (purposely below reading level) and filling out a cute reading tracker as she goes:
Helping Hands and Happy Hearts from Christian Light Education
Phyllis Wheatley, Christian Heroes for Young Readers series
Climbing Higher from Milestone Books
Storytime with the Millers from Christian Light Education
Reading list from Heart of Dakota Level 2 (and occasional projects from Drawn into the Heart of Reading)
I compiled journals to guide my children through basic skills and extra information I want them to learn about but may not have the time to teach them directly. So I have typed out and printed journal pages to allow them to work through some of the following concepts on their own. These are for 3rd grade and will be done during afternoon quiet times.
Baking and Making Snacks - using recipes I have printed out
Homeopathy - using booklets I wrote while going through my own homeopathic studies
Herbs - using Herbs for Children’s Health by Rosemary Gladstar
Making Routines - using FlyLady concepts
Independent Bible Study - using John studies from the Discover4Yourself series
Growing Herbs - using The Cook’s Herb Garden
Making Cards - using templates from Lisa’s Stamp Studio
The last category of books will be what I call read-aloud dates. I have been trying to figure out how to get a little more one-on-one time with each of my kids that is meaningful but can also be done at home with little ones underfoot - and weekly read-aloud dates was my solution! I wanted to pick books that would stimulate conversation and help me teach my daughters about life topics that may not come up until it’s too late and emotional damage had taken hold. So here are my read-aloud date books for 3rd grade:
T is for Antonia by Dannah Gresh
A Girl’s Guide to Making Really Good Choices by Elizabeth George
Best Friends and Mean Girls by Dannah Gresh (I will be reading the mom’s version of this as well to help with the conversations while reading this book)
True Girl Bible Study: Ruth (this will be done with any girls I have in 2nd grade and older - during our summer term when it’s harder to get in the one-on-one dates in)
And that’s it for 3rd grade! It seems like a lot when it’s all written out like that. The seatwork will take about 30-40 minutes each day (less during our summer term), the reading journal will take about 15-20 minutes each day, and our read-aloud dates will take 30 minutes each week.
Do you have a 3rd grader this year? What curriculum will you use in your classroom?
Check out all of our 2022-2023 choices here.
