Okay, so we don’t do school “years”. We school year-round. Except when we take a break. And really, I don’t try to finish up books in a year. We finish them when we are done, which could be sooner or later than that, depending. But still, people like to talk cirricula and school years, so this is at least what we plan on using, as of now. Until I change it. Or the kids whine. Or the martian death plague visits us.
History for 3rd Grade and Kindergarten will be the same general topics, with activities that vary based on their abilities:
- Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of History – right now it’s our pre-history spine, and will supplement the other books for the next several years.
- Story of the World Volume 1
- History Odyssey level 1 Ancients
- Gombrich’s Little History of the World
- Various history pockets, historical coloring books, streaming videos, lap books!
- Activities from other subjects that have historical content (see below)
- Ancient literature, perhaps kid versions when necessary, such as The Odyssey.
- Kid literature, such as picture books, Timewarp Trio, Magic Treehouse.
- 3rd grade only: online Mythology class
Language Arts 3rd Grade:
- Michael Clay Thompson, Town level — this includes Grammar Town, Practice Town, Paragraph Town, Caesar’s English, Building Poetry.
- All About Spelling 2 and hopefully 3.
- Classic Literature as it comes up.
Language Arts Kindergarten:
- All About Spelling 1 (will probably be done before fall), 2, probably even 3
- Mad Libs
- Reading simple books
- Not much else — she listens to her brother’s lessons and absorbs a lot.
Math 3rd Grade:
- Using a combination of Math-U-See and Singapore Math:
- Continue to work on +, -, X, and division math facts
- Continue to work on independently doing multi-step math problems, including long division
- Continue work on fractions
- Start decimals?
- Logic problems (Logic Safari and other workbooks)
- Living Math books, history, and activities, synchronized with history work
- Read Life of Fred Fractions, The Number Devil, Zaccaro’s Challenge Math
- Using Math-U-See and Singapore Math:
- Continue to work on subtraction and addition
- Continue to work on understanding place value
- Start skip counting
- Living Math books and activities, as she is able to participate
Science 3rd Grade and Kindergarten:
- Nebel’s Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding for K-2 and 3-5
- Prehistory (see history above)
- Science stuff that comes up — nature, farming, space, etc.
- Lots of science videos about space and engineering and nature.
- Hakim’s The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way, synchronized with history lessons
PE 3rd Grade and Kindergarten:
- This is still a little unsure. We have some ideas for classes and such, but many schedules aren’t finalized enough for us to figure out which we can go to. Possibilities include a homeschool PE class, dance, soccer, swimming, and gymnastics.
- Cub scouts – includes activities for the little siblings
Health 3rd Grade and Kindergarten:
- Focus on fitness, stretching, what to do in an emergency, eating well, and staying safe.
- Kidpower coloring books for issues with bullies, socialization, strangers, and emergencies.
- Cub scout book for 3rd grader, deals with cleanliness, character, etc.
Art 3rd Grade and Kindergarten:
- Meet the Masters – introduces a master artist and their style and has activties to try out that artist’s style
- Art history synchronized with history class. May use Gombrich’s History of Art (filtered through me).
- Drawing practice, a lot of practice painting and creating.
Music 3rd Grade and Kindergarten
- Singing class? Unsure, due to schedule
- Music history synchronized with history class
- Trying out various instruments such as piano, violin, voice, recorder, etc.
- Hopefully someone will learn to play something!!
- Various life skills: cooking, cleaning!!, sewing, yardwork, camping
- Foreign language?
Anyway, that seems like a lot. And it probably is. But with more options and variety, everyone is happy!