1st time homeschooling 3rd grade

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  • I thought I was a homeschool veteran, because my mother homeschooled me my whole life (until college). I have 3 kids, 8, 7, 2 and one on the way. My 2 eldest have been in a liberal arts charter school since kindergarten, which overall I have been very pleased with. However, last year my 8 year old, who was in 2nd grade was feeling frustrated with the amount of time he spent doing homework outside of school. We limited ourselves to 2 extracurricular activities (soccer and piano lessons), but still felt like we were rushing everywhere and he never had time for “kid stuff”. I prayed about it and discussed it with my husband and we decided to experiment with homeschooling over the summer and if it went well we would keep him home in the fall. My second son had no interest in homeschooling and wanted to go back, so I decided to send him back to school and focus on homeschooling my older son. If all goes well this year I would like to take my younger son out of school next year. Maybe I fill have things more figured out by then! The summer went well. I was blessed to be given tons of school books and resources from some veteran homeschool mommas whose children are all grown. So many books that I was a little overwhelmed and had way more than I could use. We muddled through the summer as I continued to read and research. Let me tell you that even though I was homeschooled for 12 years, I had no idea how many different options were out there and how many different philosophies! I had never heard of Charlotte Mason until a month ago when a friend heard what my goals were and how I was hoping to structure my school day. She suggested looking into Charlotte Mason. A week later someone else suggested the same thing and gave me this website. I have been reading everything on here, watching the videos and studying the curriculum guides. I would like to continue to using a lot of the resources I already have, but try to follow Charlotte Mason methods, if possible. So… (I am excited, which makes me longwinded!) here is what I am trying to do:

    Math: Life of Fred elementary series (I think we will get through the whole series this year, because my son LOVES it and often does extra lessons for fun). I am supplementing it with addition and subtraction table practice both written and some computer games and using manipulatives for learning mulitplication.

    Copywork: Classical Writing Primer http://www.classicalwriting.com/Primer.htm which was given to me, but seems to fit well with Charlotte Mason copywork. Each week there is a short story or poem and several lines are copied daily. It also includes nature study once a week and a picture study once a week. 

    Music: Piano lessons and daily practice, music theory lessons twice a week. Would like to add listening to a composer for music appreciation, but haven’t done so yet.

    History: History of the World. We have it read aloud on CD, so we are listening to a chapter twice a week and doing narration and he illustrates what he has narrated.

    Reading Aloud: He reads a book of his choice (I ensure it is on his level) aloud to me for 15 minutes each day) I read aloud to him from something above his own reading level for half an hour each day while he plays with legos or other building/manipulative toys. We started with Chronicles of Narnia, but I am also going to try to add in living books that supplement the time period we are listening to in Story of the World. If I don’t have time to read to him he listens to books on CD from the library.

    Spelling: We have been using the Writing Road to Reading for spelling and phonics, but I have not been enjoying it and I don’t think I am doing it properly. I was very relieved to watch Sonja’s video about how Charlotte Mason uses dictation to teach spelling and I think I am going to wait until next year and do that instead.

    Handwriting: for handwriting I had just been putting his spelling words into spellingcity.com and then printing a sheet with them in d’nealian style for him to trace and copy. But now that we were given the classical writing primer, maybe the copywork in there is enough as long as it is in his best penmanship? Not sure. I am considering getting the Print to Cursive Proverbs.

    Religion: morning prayer, then one day a week we study bible and read lives of the saints from living books.

    Science: don’t have much here yet. Before his brother went back to school we spent a lot of time researching bats and their lives and habitats and even took a trip to the largest urban bat colony to watch them take flight. But I haven’t picked anything for this yet…

     

    So, does this sound compatible with doing things Charlotte Mason-like? Any suggestions? I don’t know any homeschoolers locally and haven’t had anyone to bounce ideas off of. I would love some feedback from some moms who have been doing this a while! Thanks!

     

    JenniferM
    Participant

    It sounds like you have a great plan!  My second grader began using the Print to Cursive Proverbs this past week.  I do like it.  I particularly like how she learns one new cursive letter at a time, practices it alone, then practices it within words (the other letters are on the page and she adds in the new letter).  That was not a clear explanation – You may want to look at the sample online!  If your son already knows how to write in cursive, this would not be a good choice for him.  It is intended to teach cursive, but SCM does sell some books to practice cursive.  

    If you want to add in composer study without a lot of hassle, you may like this website:

    http://classicalmusicnartcharlottemasonstyle.blogspot.com/

    The blog owner, posts a new piece each week (usually Thursday).  She features each composer for about 6 weeks.  

    You can see suggestions for science and read alouds on the SCM Curriculum Guide.  Just click on those subjects then look to see what is suggested for your son’s level.

    Enjoy your time with your son!

    HollyS
    Participant

    I think your plan looks great!  My plans are very similar (I’ll be teaching 10,8, and 5yos).  You mentioned science–We are using Apologia Zoology II (sea creatures) which is CM based, but I think how you’ve been teaching it is great too!  You may also want to add in a weekly poetry reading and some handicrafts if you aren’t already.  Ambleside Online has wonderful poetry selections organzied by month.  We will just be using dictation (and reading good books) to cover spelling…I think it’s plenty for most children.  

    It sounds like you are off to a great start!  

     

     

    Thanks, ladies! He is not doing cursive yet, but we would like to learn that this year.

    I have heard about apologia science from another mom and need to look into it more. Are are there a lot of experiments? My son really loves experiments, although they intimidate me a little bit. But it’s good to be stretched, right?

    HollyS
    Participant

    There are lots of experiments and notebooking assigments.  When we used the astronomy book, we skipped some of them (my oldest was only 6).  

    It’s a little pricey, but there are kits that have put together all the harder-to-find supplies you need…I know Rainbow Resource carries them.  I’ve heard they are well worth the cost, but I’ve never used them.  Also, the Apologia website has sample pages of each book plus some free notebooking pages…I think you can also see a list of the experiment supplies needed.    

    Carolyn
    Participant

    Another option for science could be 106 Days of Creation with Considering God’s Creation under the science section of the curriculum guide.  You can also download a sample.  HTH!

    Jen
    Participant

    I too was homeschooled as a child. I found that being homeschooled is a lot easier then homeschooling my own children! But being a homeschooling mom is really rewarding in it’s own way. When I started homeschooling, 6yrs ago, I was amazed at how the homeschool world had changed. When I was a kids we didn’t even go outside during school hours because my mom was afraid of being reported for truancy…now when we are out during the week we see many homeschooler and it’s so normal. I really love that!

    I agree with Apologia for science, the books are really great, very good as a read aloud and I found that a lot of the materials you need for the experiments are things we have around the house or can buy at the grocery store. I am not a science person but I have a couple kids that really enjoy the subject and I have found that they can use these books to self-teach too. Plus they are so full of information and awesome pictures- well worth the money.

    Happy Homeschooling!

    I am happy to hear so many good things about apologia. I am going to research it more to see if it is a good fit for us. 

    I am about to make a new and improved schedule for us incorporating some of the things I have been learning and reading about. When I get it finished, I am going to post it for some feedback.

    Okay, so here is my weekly plan. We spent about 15 minutes on each subject, except for literature, which because he enjoys listening so much we spend anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on how long Dd2 will be nice and quiet.

     

    Every day:

    Bible

    Holey Card (math tables)

    Life of Fred

    Piano

    Classical Writing (fables)

    Journal (or letter writing)

    read aloud to mom

    Literature (mom reads or book on CD)

     

    Monday Specials:

    Music Theory

    spellingcity.com (to take a few trouble words from our copy work to practice in game format)

     

    Tuesday specials:

    Drawing

    Composer study

    handwriting 

     

    Wednesday Specials:

    Music Theory

    Catechism

    spellingcity.com

     

    Thursday specials:

    Artist study

    Drawing

    Story of the World

    handwriting

     

    Friday Specials:

    Hymn study

    Science

     

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