Do you have a third grader in your homeschool? Are looking for the best third grade curriculum for them? Let me share with you our third grade experiences that may help you with your own choices.
What Is a Typical Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum?
The typical third grade homeschool curriculum includes the following:
- Math: Your child will learn to add and subtract four digit numbers, multiply three and four digit numbers, and divide two or three digit dividends. They will learn decimals, compare fractions, round numbers, etc.
- Language Arts:
- Reading: Third grade is considered to be a year of reading mastery. Children learn to read fluently and accurately on their own and by the end of the year, they are able to read independently without much help from the adults. They are able to read simple chapter books and be comfortable doing so. However, read-aloud practice is still very much needed.
- Writing (includes Spelling and Grammar): Your child will be able to write letters, stories, and research reports, as well as edit their own writings. They will use basic punctuation and understand nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
- Science: Your child’s knowledge of science will depend on the choices you make for your family. Unless your state requires a specific knowledge for third grade, you can determine what you would like your child to learn. Most curricula include using the scientific method, studies of the Earth, weather and climate, states of matter, astronomy, classifying animals, and ecology.
- History: As with science, your choice of a history curriculum will determine what knowledge your child acquires in their third grade. Whether you choose your country’s history, the world’s history, or a combination of both, rest assured that your student will begin to make mental links between various eras, people, and events. Many third grade curricula combine social studies, history, and geography into one package.
Some third grade homeschool programs also include PE, art, and music.
How to Choose the Best Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum?
In How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum we describe the best practices for choosing a curriculum based on your state’s laws, your purposes and goals, how much time you want to spend teaching, etc. I always try to look for curricula that meet the following criteria:
- They are engaging and taught in a clear and fun way.
- They include regular reviews in order to reinforce the material taught.
- They encourage problem-solving skills.
Our Third Grade Curriculum Journey and What We Would Do Differently
As per general statistics, my son became much more independent with his school work in the third grade compared to previous years. Also, as his studies seemed to increase by about an hour each day, we tried to break our week into different sections in order to make it more interesting. For example, we dedicated one morning a week to co-op classes; we spent another morning renting a study room in our local library and enjoyed their large white board for math calculations; also, we opted for half-day field trips at least once or twice a month.
Following are the third grade homeschool curricula that we used:
Note: As I am more of an eclectic homeschooler, we have combined a number of curricula from various resources. However, if you prefer using a complete curriculum set, Abeka and BJU Press are some of the most popular ones (but there are many others!). These packages will provide you with all textbooks, workbooks, tests, teacher’s manuals, etc. so that your only time investment will be familiarizing yourself with the material.
Reading:
We used two main curricula for reading in the third grade:
- New Friends and More New Friends by Pathway Readers, including workbooks: This curriculum presents a child with beautiful, real-life wholesome stories and keeps the reader excited to continue reading.
- God Leads His People and God’s People Follow Him by Rod & Staff Publishers (Grade 2 Reader): This curriculum is a completely Bible based reading program that we used not only as additional reading but also as a Bible program. We didn’t include workbooks with this curriculum.
Note: All these readers can be found for purchase on second-hand sites like Ebay or Thriftbooks for a fraction of their original cost.
RELATED: Third Grade Reading List
Math:
Primary Mathematics 3A & 3B, Standards Edition by Singapore Math: We followed the same curriculum that we used since kindergarten. To learn more about the benefits of Singapore Math, please read a detailed description at Singapore vs. Saxon Math – Which Is Better?. Also, you can read about our personal math journey in Singapore Math? Really?.
English:
Climbing to Good English 3 by Schoolaid: This is a Christian based curriculum, easy to use and very economical. The series takes the student from the first grade all the way to the eighth, but can be joined in any grade. It is very complete and thorough and encourages independent learning. We used it for several years before switching to more hands-on English program in middle school, which became more suitable for us at that time.
Penmanship:
After finishing several penmanship curricula in the previous years, we opted for homemade printout sheets with letters and Bible verses in the third grade. This gave my son flexibility to practice letters that were more difficult for him and at the same time focus on memorizing the Bible while writing.
Spelling:
We built on the second grade knowledge with Spelling by Sound and Structure 3 by Rod & Staff Publishers. It is a very affordable, phonetics based program, however it is not very suitable for children who do not particularly enjoy filling out workbooks or who need more multi-sensory approach. We continued with the same curriculum through the fourth grade, but then we switched to another program that seemed to be more suitable for my son’s needs.
Looking back, we would choose more of a multi-sensory curriculum like All About Spelling by All About Learning Press that provides a variety of teaching approaches to spelling.
Science:
We were recommended Considering God’s Creation by Eagle’s Wings for our third grade science. I have to admit it was my favorite science curriculum ever. I taught it in a co-op class and expanded the lessons in our school at home.
Even though the curriculum may seem to look a little old-fashioned to some, it presents the student with very comprehensive overview of the animal species and keys for their features. The lessons include new vocabulary, effective games, experiments, songs, poems, arts and crafts projects, and related Bible studies. The notebook pages are designed to help the students become true scientists, carefully observing and investigating God’s creation.
My co-op children loved the class. Even after all was said and done, I would receive emails from them asking for additional work pages for their binders. My son on the other hand, could care less. He didn’t like the fact that the book was in black and white and that it came with notebook pages he had to fill out. However, he learned and still remembers many of the lessons till this day. As I mentioned before, even the best curriculum on the market may not be the best option for your child.
History:
Third grade was the year we started with The Mystery of History by Linda Lacour Hobar. It is an outstanding history curriculum that has gained much popularity in the Christian circles. It teaches history from the Creation in a chronological order all the way through 2000s and describes both world and Biblical events in parallel. You learn, for example, that Jonah was in the belly of the fish at the same time as the first Olympic Games were held.
Over the years we completed all four volumes of The Mystery of History, including various projects, time-line on a board, as well as time-line book. Our entire family profited from this curriculum and can highly recommend it to you too.
Geography:
Because we had done much geography in the previous years, it was rather difficult to find any on-grade-level programs that would be able to build upon my son’s already acquired knowledge. Most of the early grades curricula only lightly brush over the world outside of the borders of the U.S.A. Then one day I stumbled upon Around the World in 180 Days by Apologia and really liked the structure of the course. Even though this curriculum combines geography with history, we chose to follow the geography portion only. We had so much fun looking up the highest mountain in Asia, the longest river in South America, and the new name of Mt. McKinley. We also added pictures and videos to spice our lessons. I can’t even tell you how many times we turned back to this wonderful book in the higher grades.
Bible:
We tried a couple of Bible curricula for third grade but didn’t seem to be able to find a flow in any of them for our particular needs. So we put them aside and decided to study the Bible itself, particularly the Book of Acts and later Genesis.
In the second semester we added Day by Day Kid’s Bible by Karyn Henley which provides a young reader an opportunity to go through the entire Bible in one year.
Arts & Crafts:
We continued with Art with a Purpose, this time with Artpack 2. This curriculum includes simple coloring skills, cutting, pasting, simple perspective drawing. I can highly recommend it.
Music:
My son built upon his previous piano skills with Hoffman Academy. This program provides students with basic understanding of music and teaches them to play both classical and other genre. Whether you play a musical instrument or not, Hoffman Academy is very easy to use and will teach your child more than just fundamentals of music. It is the best program I have seen thus far.
PE:
Again, as in second grade, our local Christian co-op provided us with invaluable PE classes. They not only provided gym activities, but also swimming and soccer classes, ice skating, and much more, and all of that for very reasonable prices. I cannot emphasize enough the advantages of a good co-op community as an excellent addition to your homeschooling journey.
In summary:
It has been very inspiring talking to my son (now 16) while writing this article. He still remembers his third grade textbooks and workbooks and can tell me with confidence what he thought of them. In spite of some of our choices at that time not being the best option for his learning style and preferences, he gained a good foundation for the following years. Therefore, when creating a perfect homeschool curriculum for your third grader, rest assured that no matter what book choices you make, they will always include something your child will benefit from.
