Today I’m here with my curriculum recommendations for first, second, and third grade. I realize that I haven’t done curriculum recommendations for kindergarten yet, and I will do a post for that soon, but I didn’t use nearly as much curricula for kindergarten as for these other grades, so I’m going to start here.
I’ve said this before, but I have to say it again–I love all of our curricula!!! I don’t have anything that requires a lot of planning and prep work, and what we’ve used has not only taught my kids so many things, but it has also made them love learning. I can’t say enough good things about these books, which is why I’m here recommending them. (I haven’t been given anything free or paid anything to say this.) Also, these books don’t break the bank. I’ve been able to stick to a budget of right around $500 for my shopping for third grade this year (that’s for all books for the whole school year), and that includes things that I’ll use for multiple years and multiple kids. Plus, for third grade I’m using more books (and adding more subjects) than in previous years.
I’m not including all of our supplementary resources in this post (timeline song, library books, math manipulatives, etc.). This is just our main “texts.” I’ve also included links to where I’ve found the best prices. (If you’ve found better prices, please leave a comment letting us know where!) In some cases I’ll give two recommendations because we used two different things and loved both.
So, without further ado, here’s what I recommend for first grade, second grade, and third grade. (There are other great choices out there, of course, but this is what we’ve used and loved.)
- History: Story of the World, Vol. 1 (Ancient Times) mixed with Mystery of History, Vol. 1 (Creation to the Resurrection)–Read here why we use these together.
- Bible: Bible memory, catechism, and Bible stories (We do this during our in the evening.)
- Phonics: The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading (We’ve also used All About Reading, which we really enjoyed, but I don’t think the price is worth it because children move too quickly through learning to read and it doesn’t have to be fancy.)
- Spelling: All About Spelling Level 1 (I do think the price is worth it for spelling! This program makes kids love spelling and teaches spelling, as well as the phonics rules, so much better than traditional “spelling list” programs!)
- Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears My Printing Book and Printing Power (use a coupon or watch for sale)
- Math: Singapore Math 1A Home Instructor’s Guide, Textbook, and Workbook and 1B Home Instructor’s Guide, Textbook, and Workbook (use a coupon or watch for sale)
- Recitation: poems chosen from Ambleside Online
- Music: Suzuki string lessons and Alfred Music Flashcards
- History: Story of the World, Vol. 2 (The Middle Ages) mixed with Mystery of History, Vol. 2 (Early Church and The Middle Ages)
- Bible: Bible memory, catechism, and Bible stories during
- Spelling: All About Spelling Level 2
- Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears and Cursive Success (use a coupon or watch for sale)
- Literature: Memoria Press Literature Guides for Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Little House in the Big Woods, and Tales from Beatrix Potter (This is not all we read, but these are the books they studied in depth.)
- Math: Singapore Math 2A Home Instructor’s Guide, Textbook, and Workbook and 2B Home Instructor’s Guide, Textbook, and Workbook (use a coupon or watch for sale)
- Recitation: poems chosen from Ambleside Online
- Art: Drawing with Children (continued from first grade)
- History: Story of the World, Vol. 3 (Early Modern Times) mixed with BJU Press American Republic as a supplement (This is pricey as a supplement, but I had a free copy that a family member had given me, and we will use it over several years.)
- Bible: Memoria Press Christian Studies I (This is in addition to what we do during ; I chose to begin this curriculum because I wanted a very basic Bible program that would put the Bible stories into historical and geographical perspective, integrating with our other studies. This will be the first we’ve used it, but since the curriculum starts in third grade, I thought we’d give it a try this year. I’ll let you know how we like it.)
- Grammar: and
- Spelling: All About Spelling Level 3
- Handwriting: StartWrite worksheets (search the internet for a current coupon code)
- Literature: Memoria Press Literature Guides for The Moffats, Charlotte’s Web, and Farmer Boy as well as beginning Poetry for the Grammar Stage (Again, this is not all we read, but the guides provide questions helping them to see the plot development, literary devices, themes, vocabulary words, etc.)
- Writing/Composition: Memoria Introduction to Composition
- Math: Singapore Math 3A Home Instructor’s Guide, Textbook, and Workbook and 3B Home Instructor’s Guide, Textbook, and Workbook (use a coupon or watch for sale)
- Science: Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space and Memoria Press’ Book of Astronomy (Prior to 3rd grade, my kids read Christian Liberty Press Nature Readers and science encyclopedias, etc. independently.)
- Recitation: poems chosen from Poetry for the Grammar Stage (above)
- Music: Suzuki string lessons, Alfred Music Flashcards, piano lessons using Faber books, and An Introduction to the Classics CD’s for music appreciation (We got the whole set years ago with some deal, but I’m going to just choose some composers to study this year that go with our time period.)
- Art: Drawing with Children (continued from first and second grade), Discovering Great Artists, and Art (for art appreciation combined with Discovering Great Artists; please note that Art will need parental supervision as not all pictures will be appropriate for all ages)
- Lesson Plans: Third Grade Curriculum Lesson Plans (use coupon or watch for sale; I will have to adapt these for a few subjects, but it was worth my time to buy these for third grade since they’re very detailed)