My son, (whom his younger sister refers to as "Bubby") is currently in the 3rd grade. He's not exactly thrilled to do school ~ he'd be much happier to play basketball, run around outside or play Wii. Needless to say, it's a bit of a challenge to get him going each day & keep him on task. I'll be sharing my hints on these issues in a later post.
For Bible, we use Bob Jones. I really like the one-on-one instruction. The teacher's edition has the Bible lesson as well as an application story each week. The workbooks are colorful, fun, and informative. These include Bible lessons, hymnology, and studies on "Heroes of the Faith". This curriculum also includes 2 application readers (purchased separately) with worksheets to correlate.
In my opinion, the best math curriculum out there is Horizons math by Alpha Omega publishing. My son loves the colorful workbook pages ~ I love the teacher's editions. Grading is easy, and the TE includes printable worksheets to go along with the lesson. There are 160 lessons and 16 tests. I can't say enough positive things about this math!
For Language Arts, we have what my son calls his "L.A.N." ~ Language Arts Notebook. Original, right? :) I just bought him a 3-ring binder and divider tabs. I divided his weekly English, Spelling, Handwriting, and Reading workbook assignments into the labeled sections. I also included the English handbook and glossary from the back of his English workbook, as well as the Skill Stations from his reading workbook. This keeps his work neat & organized. It also gives him more of a feeling of accomplishment that he's completing a goal when he sees the number pages decreasing in each section.
In my opinion, the best math curriculum out there is Horizons math by Alpha Omega publishing. My son loves the colorful workbook pages ~ I love the teacher's editions. Grading is easy, and the TE includes printable worksheets to go along with the lesson. There are 160 lessons and 16 tests. I can't say enough positive things about this math!
For Language Arts, we have what my son calls his "L.A.N." ~ Language Arts Notebook. Original, right? :) I just bought him a 3-ring binder and divider tabs. I divided his weekly English, Spelling, Handwriting, and Reading workbook assignments into the labeled sections. I also included the English handbook and glossary from the back of his English workbook, as well as the Skill Stations from his reading workbook. This keeps his work neat & organized. It also gives him more of a feeling of accomplishment that he's completing a goal when he sees the number pages decreasing in each section.
Bubby with his L.A.N.
Our English and reading curriculum is Bob Jones. I like them both! The TE are very informative and help with easy grading.
For handwriting, we use "A Reason for Handwriting". I like this a lot because the goal is to write out a scripture verse on the 4th day. They include lined paper with pictures that the child colors. It makes a lovely presentation. He's in the transistion book, which includes both manuscript and cursive handwriting.
For spelling, we use Horizons. I really love this, too! Every Monday, the child is given a pretest, and any words missed have a practice area at the bottom of the pretest page. There is daily work, a Wednesday post-test and a Friday final test. My son likes this a lot, and his spelling has improved immensely!
I must admit, Geography and Science have always been a bit of a struggle for me. I purchased a map skills book for him and we're working on states & capitals. I have a Mailbox book for that. I've seen some great ideas on Carissa's site (1+1+1=1) and on "Musings of Me". Erica (Confessions of a Homeschooler) will be introducing a unit on the USA as well.
For science, I'm using Real Science 4 Kids. It was written by a Christian, homeschooling mom who happens to be a scientist. We're doing biology right now. He's doing pre-level 1. This is age-appropriate reading, and the experiments are fairly simple. You can buy the experiment kit at Home Science Tools.
History is Winter Promises' "American Story 1". They have age-appropriate readers (purchased seperately through the Language Arts section) to go along with what you're studying. This curriculum uses the Charlotte Mason method, which is using "living books" to teach. However, the readers are very advanced! Although I like WP, I'm not sure if I'll purchase the American Story 2 next year. I do have their "Quest for the Ancient World", so I feel as if I must use it in the future. However, if I do choose to buy American 2, I won't purchase from them any more. It's on the pricey side, and takes a LOT of prep work for mom. I've supplemented with "Liberty's Kids" videos (downloaded through the Wii) as well as History Pockets (also photocopy prep work).
My son is involved in the Upward b-ball program at this time for his PE. He's in the children's choir at church for his music. I'm planning on teaching him piano next quarter. (Isn't it sad that I'm a piano teacher but haven't gotten around to teaching my own kids yet?)
Bubby during a game
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