What would you do if you were starting to homeschool in 3rd grade?

[kentuckymom]

You may remember from my previous posts that my DS is currently in public school in second grade and we're doing some afterschooling to feed his interest in science, as well as after school tutoring to address the weaknesses in reading and math caused by his dyslexia. If I were the only one deciding his educational path, he'd be homeschooled right now, but DH is a big believer in public school, and we haven't managed to sway him yet. That said, despite experiencing a lot of academic growth and enjoying school overall this year, DS is still asking to be homeschooled. There's no guarantee at this point, but DS is slightly more inclined to the idea than he was when pulling him out could have been seen as running away from a difficult situation. With just six weeks left in the school year, I've started to look kind of obsessively at curriculum again. I've looked and read reviews and thought about DS's strengths and weaknesses ad nauseum, and I have some ideas of what I'd use, but I'd still love to have some input.

 

Here are some details about him and about my desires for our hypothetical homeschool.

 

DS:

 

DS recently turned 8 and will be in 3rd grade in the fall.

 

As I said, he's dyslexic, and that affects both reading and arithmetic for him, but he's making steady progress. We'd keep him going through Barton with a tutor even if we homeschooled. He's also going through a math program written for dyslexics with the same tutor.

 

He's currently reading on about a mid first grade level. I'm thinking he'll be solidly on a second grade level by the fall, possibly early 3rd, depending on how much the increased tutoring hours in the summer help him advance.

 

He's done a huge jump in math this year. He's still in the low math group in school, but he now really enjoys math, and, thanks to the tutoring program (which is meant to supplement another program, not stand alone), he's relying less on counting on his fingers and beginning to get some basic math facts down.

 

His conceptual understanding of math is strong, and I think he'd enjoy a program that makes him think. I've looked through a friend's Beast Academy materials, and think they might be a good fit.

 

He's had little science in school, but he adores it. I read a lot of science books out loud to him at his choice, and we're beginning to find some science books at his level that he's reading for reading log. We've also spent a lot of time at science museums.

 

His school uses a decent LA program in terms of content, but he HATES it because it involves a ton of worksheets. At home I'd want to use an LA program that has a CM feel and is not worksheety at all. My current crush is Bravewriter. LA is my strength (I've done some freelance writing, and lots of writing for fun), and I think I could make it work.

 

He says he doesn't like history, but he actually hasn't had much exposure to it. We've touched on bits and pieces of history in Magic Treehouse books, and he loves anything to do with the Titanic. I'd like him to have a thorough grounding in American history (doing in separately from world history for a year or two). I'd also like to get through a world history cycle once before 8th grade.

 

Thoughts I've had:

 

Start a history cycle in 3rd, then do an American focus in 7th and 8th, or maybe in just one and then do some kind of specialized history of his choice the other year.

 

Follow a model like MFW has (maybe using that program, maybe not) of a year of American history in 3rd, world geography in 4th, and then moving into a history cycle in 5th-8th.

 

Do two years of American history in 3rd and 4th, then move into a history cycle in 5th.

 

Don't do any formal history in 3rd or 4th, just do some history related read alouds, then do a history cycle starting in 5th, with a strong focus on American history the last two years.

 

I know ultimately it would be up to me with some input from DS, but, if you had a kid like him, what would you do?

 

Feel free to weigh in on science, math, and LA, but I feel like I have a better feel for them at the moment than I do for history. This especially goes for science, since I've already asked a lot of questions about it :).

 

In case it affects your thoughts, there's one other child in the family. She turned two in January. We don't plan to have any more children.

[lorisuewho]

I love that you have started by thinking about your child's strength and weaknesses. Many people miss this important first step and jump right into researching curriculum. You have gone in the correct order of looking at the child and trying to decided each piece of the puzzle based on what he needs and what type of material and methods with which he would thrive.

 

I think the history plans all sound fine. I don't think there is one right answer. I think you should just pick one of your ideas and dive right into planning that out. Don't obsess over whether your choice was right, wrong, slightly worse, slightly better, or whatever. Perhaps for your first year homeschooling you want to pick what would interest you and your son the most. Would American history be a good fit? I personally like doing American history first because I think it is important to ground the child in their own immediate/touchable situation. Others like to go more in order. Again, don't worry about it. I think you have given a lot of thought to everything and perhaps now are on the verge of overthinking it ;o)

[Incognito]

Well, no experience, but I can bump you.

 

I'd personally start with ancients and cycle through. SOTW1 would still work for a 3rd grader without too much work. If you wait longer, you would likely need to work more to make that easy and fun resource work. Also, ancients are fun. :)

 

I'd plan to just do one year of American history focus, but I'd keep my mind flexible. HSing doesn't all have to be figured out by the first day. Have a plan, but be willing to change it and you'll feel comfort but won't be stuck.

[kentuckymom]

Thanks for the responses so far! I DO have a tendency to overthink things, you're right lorisueswho :). I personally love ancient history, so starting in with SOTW while DS is still in the right age range might make sense. We could then spend an in depth year on American in jr. high if we wanted to.

 

For those that have used SOTW, does it seem at all "workbookish" to you? I think mapwork and notebooking would appeal to DS, but he's likely to run screaming from anything that resembles a school worksheet :). He puts up with them in school, but just barely.

 

I'm pretty sure the local bookstore at which little sis and I attend storytime carrries SOTW. I should take a look at it next time I'm there.

 

In case it makes a difference to anyone's response, I should note that DH and I are evangelical Christians who believe in an old earth.

[Monarch Room]

Follow a model like MFW has (maybe using that program, maybe not) of a year of American history in 3rd, world geography in 4th, and then moving into a history cycle in 5th-8th.

 

Heart of Dakota follows this same cycle. I think Bigger Hearts makes a perfect 3rd grade year in American History. I am doing it this year with a 1st and a 4th grader, and we've had such a fun year :) I really think the sweet spot of Bigger is 3rd grade though. I have blogged the whole year about it if you want to see what it's like. It is not workbookish at all! They have a great emerging reader's set for kids still building up speed in reading. The following year in Preparing Heartsis a world history survey. For 5th and up you start the history cycle until 8th. The new high school guide is currently being competed, and will be a world geography guide.

 

Edited to add...I just noticed what you wrote in your last post. Some of the materials HOD uses are young earth. There is usually a note indicating when a book will take that stance though in the TM. I always explain to my kids both perspectives though.

[Dahliarw]

SOTW does not have worksheets. The comprehension questions are all oral. The activity guide does have coloring sheets if your ds is into that, but they are not required. There are also extra supplemental reading suggestions and project suggestions.

 

One option, if you want, is to go through all 4 years of SOTW more slowly (plan to take 5-6 years total) and then add to it extra (as in expand upon) American history as you come across it in SOTW. Or, youc oudl do any of the options that you thought of. Out of your ideas, I'd probably do SOTW first, because then when you do US after, you'll be able to relate to where it occurred in overall history of the world.

[creekster519]

We started homeschooling when my son was entering 3rd grade as well. We began with SOTW Ancients in 3rd, Middle Ages this year for 4th and I plan to spread out books 3 and 4 over 3 years so that I can add in more American history as it comes up in SOTW. We will use the Time Travelers CDs from Homeschool in the Woods for that along with lots of extra library books. After that, we will have time to do another complete history cycle through high school. I love the SOTW Activity Guide and there are also tests that we use for review.

 

HTH and Good Luck!

[Incognito]

The maps are extremely simple, so he won't be tortured by them if you do them. We use a free lapbook I found online for each chapter (but I put them in the history binder in regular order with the worksheets and whatever other pages we do). That has made things interesting for the kids.

 

It has been really great for us to have the kids listen to the audio book while they color the AG coloring sheet (but an older child could be taking notes or doing something deeper). With a 3rd grader, you could take more time on the narrations and discussing questions. He could read a number of the suggested additional reading himself (and you could read some together too, of course).

 

I think that the "workbookish" ness of SOTW is really dependent upon how you use it. My workbook hating DD counts it her favorite subject. The kids are proud of the binder they are making about ancient history. We've done fun projects and things from the AG (and found stuff going on around us that just fits for field trips too). I even bought a number of the ancient Egyptian playmobil items (I don't know what type of 3rd grader you have - some might still like those). They have acted out so much of what we have learned. The library has been a gold mine of books - picture and longer, fiction and non. It has mostly been really fun and interactive. It COULD be treated as a "get-er-done" type thing, with a map page and a coloring sheet and answer these questions... Then it would be a lot less fun.

[amyrobynne]

This was our first year homeschooling and my oldest was in 3rd grade. As for history, I used a Catholic classical program that splits the 4 year cycle up a little differently and I started with their 2nd volume (66BC to 1000 AD) because both my boys covered ancient Egypt pretty thoroughly in kindergarten. My plan going forward is to mostly use SOTW with some extra Catholic resources and to spread out the history cycle so that we get to modern times when he's in 7th grade. I expect to send them to my husband's Catholic school starting in 9th grade and that school covers Civics in 8th grade, then does the history cycle. So I'd need to get Civics/government in when my older boys are in 8th/6th. Anyway, we're going to reach about 800AD by the end of the school year, so I'll have 4 years to essentially go through the 3 last volumes of SOTW. I plan to spend extra time with American history as we reach it and let them read more on topics that interest them. Twice through the history cycle before graduating works for me. As for how history works for us in 3rd grade, I mostly read a lot. We did some activities learning about Roman culture and I give them extra non-fiction that connects in with our read-alouds. We do some maps and make a timeline occasionally. History has been their favorite subject, which really surprised me. It's the only subject we regularly get through more than I have planned.