What are your goals for 3rd Grade?

[Chrysalis Academy]

I love the threads where we talk about our goals, not just our curricula - so what are your goals for 3rd grade?  I've never taught 3rd grade before, but it seems like a big transition year, potentially.  What do you hope to achieve with your child in 3rd grade? What do you feel like needs to be mastered by the end of 3rd grade? What are your favorite methods to achieve your goals?

 

You can say what curricula you like, too!  ;) I'm just hoping for a little more of a discussion, rather than just curriculum lists.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

OOhhhh.... interesting thread idea!  :bigear:

 

My main goal will be to get the child independently reading most of their texts (We have a relatively book-centric approach). 

 

Fluency in +-x/ math facts

 

I'm sure there will be others, but I'm not there yet to have a good grasp.

[Karen in CO]

My youngest is currently in third grade.  I want her to start the transition from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn which means she needs more confidence and fluency.  I want her to know how and when to multiply.  I want her to understand the basics of the scientific method.  I want her to know and enjoy several poems and songs.  I want her to know a few stories from ancient history.  I want her to know how food is grown and how clothing is made and how that has changed through history. I want her to be able to retell a story through pictures and written words (write and illustrate a story summary).  I tend to start with goals then apply curriculum to them.  

[ondreeuh]

That is a couple years away still, so my goals are theoretical. I have chosen topics and materials to prepare us for those theoretical goals, and this is what I think I will want to ensure my kid can do by the end of 3rd grade:

 

Language Arts/English

Write a solid paragraph in different styles (how-to, narrative, descriptive, and expository)

Describe the story arc of a short story (setting, characters, rising action, conflicts, climax, resolution)

Reading: no specific goals; just interested in and able to read a variety of styles

Summarize a short story

Cursive, maybe

 

Math: solidly master MIF grade 3 with all of the mental math and bar diagram strategies (at this rate we will be past this goal, but you never know if a kid will slow down).

 

Science: master the concepts in My Pals Are Here 3/4 including the Higher Order Thinking Skills

 

History: nothing specific.

 

Art & Music: have familiarity with famous artists and their works

[happypamama]

My goal for my third grader this year was to have him transition to working more independently -- I lay out his work, and he chooses the order but does what he can on his own.  There is still a lot that he needs me for, but just having him start to be responsible for knowing what to do next has been good. 

 

Also, I wanted him to stretch himself a bit in terms of reading, and I've been impressed that he has done so, and happily.

[Shellie]

My son will be in third next year, but coming from a public school system. SO my goals are to get him used to the homeschool approach rather than the hand-raised waiting for me to tell him to do somethign approach. Independent thinking and problem solving; so rather than asking a question and getting and answer, asking a question and getting and answer about how to get the answer and then working on getting the answer together.

 

But more concretely, Math will be multiplication and division, and then more in depth addition, like adding three digit numbers and whatnot.

 

English/grammar will be just beginning. Apparently they don't learn grammar until 5th grade or so in our schools. He still doesn't know the difference between a verb and adjective or even what an adjective is. reading, he's already reading above level so we will focus on comprehension. Being able to tell me the main points of the story and accurately summarize what he read.

 

science will be to learn how to take what is read and apply. we're going to be on botany, so studying leaves and then finding ones and comparing them to see what tree they came from, that sort of deductive reasoning type idea.

 

history will be more about learning how one event ties to another. we'll be in medieval times, but more important than the actual events right now is learning that these events impacted where the world is today. I know it's a lot, but he's my advanced child, so I think he's capable of it. I remember he used to love learning because of things like this, so I want to really play to it.

 

What am i forgetting?

[mommymonster]

I'm hoping third grade is where DS8 comes into himself a bit. Right now we are still working on all of these facts and tidbits and pieces, and I'm hoping that third grade is where things start falling into place. We've also worked most of this school year (2nd grade) on vision processing issues, and we are now increasing our focus on handwriting and hand strength issues. I know it's not going to be an overnight thing that can be "finished," but I am hoping for better days ahead.

 

I'm also hoping (this might be asking too much) for DS8 to develop a bit more maturity and willingness to do work without pitching a fit. 

[twooakharborhicks]

Reading fluency, first and foremost.  I want him to be able to read his books on his own without me sitting there to keep him on task.  We've got a good grasp on addition and subtraction and a good foundation in multiplication, so we'll start working on division and he's been begging to do more in depth geometry so we'll do that.  We'll continue on with science (probably astronomy and geology) and history (Middle Ages and going through the American girls books again) and continue to appreciate beautiful art, music, and poetry.  Most of all I would like him to learn that everything doesn't have to be so hard and if he would just relax life would be a lot simple.  But I'm starting to think that might be a pipe dream :) He is my son after all.

[My3girls]

Math:  master +-x/ facts

Reading: finish ETC and do more independent reading

LA: Be able to write a paragraph, master cursive

History:  finish ancient history and start medieval

Science:  earth science

 

I will be introducing World Geography this year as well.  We have been looking at maps as we study ancient history but haven't truely studied it.  We will, also, continue the Hollings books.

[serendipitous journey]

We are in third grade with A and I didn't have explicit 3rd grade goals when I started.   Really, I want for us to be on target for my 4th grade goals!  which are to have A., who is a quick learner, at or above grade level in his subjects.  So for third grade we're picking up the writing, which is his weakest point.  In second grade we really focused on reading, and that is coming along well, and this year we are working to keep him moving forward in fluency and comprehension. 

 

My biggest hope for 3rd with A., my first child, is to settle down on some homeschool/curriculum "tracks" that work for us.  Our beginning-of-year got totally derailed when Angelicum didn't go smoothly as I'd hoped and we tried to find what would work best.  I do think I've developed a feel for what we'll be using. 

 

ETA:  also this year I have the goal of getting arts curricula running more regularly -- that is related to the general find-a-track goal.  For next year I hope to incorporate a more organized physical component to our homeschool, so that our physical training is at least somewhat rigorous.  At the moment it is tons of play and some hiking too, which is fine for now. 

[Kathryn]

Mostly I'm hoping to develop some more independence in getting his work done since I'll have a newborn and a learning-to-read younger child. I've spent some time this year getting him used to looking at my schedule for him and learning how to figure out what to do for each subject. I'd like to go further with that next year.

[SorrelZG]

I don't know. Ana's post made me think I need to peak back into TWTM to check the grammar stage end goals and compare where DS is compared to that. I'll be following for ideas.

[Peaceful Isle]

My big goal for third grade, is that my little guy would sit still long enough to do his math page. I know, high expectations. ;)

[abacus2]

My biggest goal is improving her spelling ability so that writing sentences isn't such an ordeal. We are about half-way through AAS level 1 after our previous spelling curriculum was a major flop for her (I think her spelling actually got worse.)

 

She generally does well in math. In third grade I would like to see her master her multiplication facts.

[koalaborg]

My dd is a strong reader, but doesn't seem to have the patience to stick with longer chapter books. She gets distracted and moves onto something else. I'd like to push her a little to finish an entire longer chapter book.

I want to work on her writing a bit. We've done handwriting and spelling and phonics, and overall her language arts skills are where I want them to be, but I want to put more effort into her formal writing skills.

[Heidi]

Well I start a lot of things in 3rd grade. Up until 3rd grade the child learns handwriting and reading. Copy work should come easily, preferably already transferred to wide ruled paper. Cursive has been introduced already. They read fluently and can narrate orally, and can write short written narrations.

In third grade everything is written in cursive.

I begin my kids in R&S English 3 doing odds or evens. We work on learning to read and follow directions independently from that book.

Using MP's Greek Myths, they learn to use the dictionary, write their own flash cards, and instead of the comprehension questions they write longer written narrations from their myth readings.

They learn their states and capitals.

Math grade 3 and continue to work on facts.

We start learning Latin if it hasn't been started yet.

I'm using Classical Writing with my 3rd grader, but that is just more written narration practice, learning to outline, adding dialog, and so on. I may hold off on CW with other kids. Writing instruction seems like it is more appropriate for 4th grade.

That's about it for 3rd here.

[alef]

I think my primary goal for third grade is for my son to start taking ownership of his education. This particular child tends to fight external direction, but does some amazing things all on his own. My hope is to involve him in planning and get his buy-in on as much of his schoolwork as possible.

[fourisenough]

Fluency with cursive, multiplication/division facts, and narration/dictation were my big 3rd grade goals. Beginning to learn to type, draw a world map (continents & oceans) to scale by memory, and labeling U. S. states & capitals were secondary goals. BTW, my kids were fluent readers by third grade, or that would have been #1 on the list.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Yeah, writing is my biggie too - trying to figure out exactly where I think she should be by the end of 3rd grade, and the steps we need to get there.  RIght now she's strong on oral narrations, figuring out oral summaries, and copywork is a breeze, but she has a hard time composing in her head and writing it down at the same time.  Partly this is due to spelling issues - if she has to stop and ask how to spell a word it makes her forget what she wanted to say next.  By the end of third grade I would hope that she would be able to fluently write her own summaries and narrations.  I guess we just keep plugging away at the pieces and put them together as she's ready.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Oh, I don't mind discussing curriculum! I just didn't want us to list it all out here, b/c I know there's another thread where we did that.

 

We have done the first 4 lessons of CAP W&R Fable.  I am definitely planning to continue with that program, but I don't want to go too fast and get ahead of ourselves.  Right now she does all her own writing for copywork, dictation, copia, and those sorts of exercises, but I'm scribing for her for the longer summaries and the rewrites of the fables.  I think that's fine for now, she really needed something other than WWE and she loves the program, but I'm hesitant to go too much farther with it till she can do the writing entirely on her own.  I think.  This is what I'm not sure about, at what point should I be cutting off the scribing and having her write entirely on her own?  We're not there yet, but I think that's a goal I have for this time next year.

 

So, I think we'll finish Fable next year, and I think we might start Narrative 1 if it feels right.  And I think we will do some WWE3 too, but probably no more than half of it.  And I think we will read Sentence Island, but I doubt if we'll do much writing from that book.  That's all I got for sure. 

 

I keep flirting with the idea of Write from Ancient History.  I guess it's the other big question - my nebulous goal is to "ramp up" a bit for 3rd grade, but I'm not completely sure what I mean by that.  I think I feel like we should be doing more, somehow?  It's not taking long enough? Or there isn't enough output? Or something?  It's just a feeling, and part of why I wanted to hear what y'all were hoping to achieve in 3rd is that I'm trying to pin down the feeling a bit.

 

Right now we spend 45-60 min on math every day, and I read aloud various things for at least an hour, and she reads independently for at least an hour . . . but the rest of our work doesn't take that long.  Writing, language arts every day, but that doesn't take long at all.  Spanish and cursive most days - only takes a few minutes.  History or Science most days, once in a while both.  Let's just say she seems to have a lot of free time?  That's not a bad thing, I guess.  Just pondering the whole ramping-it-up idea.

[SorrelZG]

I've thought and thought about it and I finally read something in a Brave Writer tip yesterday that put it in words for me. This isn't a goal per se, because I can nurture his writing but I can't make it happen, but I would like to see DS's words start flowing freely onto paper. My original thought was that I would like to see him take greater ownership of his writing but I was hesitant to word it that way just yet. He took to writing so early and then his school days came and soured it for him - the more he *had* to write, the less he chose to. I will be putting aside the WWE workbook this year. I've listened to the lecture and listen to it again but DS is pretty solid in those skills so my means of nurturing him this year will be through the Brave Writer lifestyle, not any curriculum. We might do the occasional CW Aesop-like rewrite as a partnership writing exercise. He is pretty strong in those skills as well - he just frequently doesn't *care* when it's not his own idea and "has" to do it for school, so the quality of his writing vacillates widely.

 

I've already begun my own copywork book and I'm really liking it. Between that, sharing my own (real) enthusiasm for what I'm reading and writing, and giving him control over his own copywork book has made a huge difference already in his attitude and that was just our first baby step.

[Karen in CO]

I'm on a budget this year, but W&R actually seems reasonably priced. The first says grades 3 or 4, or up. How long do you think it will take you to get through the book? How does it compare to WWE? Is it much more exciting? 

 

I'm with you about the "ramping up", but I am not sure what shape that should take either. I have noticed that DD's narrations are becoming increasingly creative, and she is definitely ready for something less boring than WWE. 

 

 

We're dropping spelling. It has become pointless. DD is a natural speller. Instead, we'll either do Latin or some kind of vocab/roots study. Any suggestions? I also need geography and science suggestions. :)

we don't use a curriculum although we follow kind of what WWE would have us doing.  We started the year with her retelling the story then copying about three sentences and illustrating them.  Now, she's retelling the story, talking through a summary, writing a rough draft, writing a final draft and illustrating it.  She still needs more work on her summaries because every detail is still important to her, but she has been making a beautifully illustrated book of her summaries. She does a story a week almost every week.   She uses a.large Waldorf main lesson book for her final drafts.

[Chrysalis Academy]

http://classicalacademicpress.com/beginning-reasoning-reading/#.UzvYAfmSxZo

 

This looks interesting too.

 

It does, though some people were reporting on a recent thread that it's not as good as it looks . . . 

 

I really like the Fable book, and the Narrative 1 looks great to, a definite logical, incremental extension.  It is way more interesting and fun that WWE, because there is so much variety.  There are narration, summaries (and the difference between them is made explicit, which I find really helps), copywork, dictation, amplification, rewrites (w/ changes), copia with a little grammar, and probably more that I'm not thinking of.  Each book only has 12-14 lessons, but each lesson is really packed.  You could easily do a lesson a week, but I'm not worrying about our pace at all since we started Fable in 2nd.  I give her a choice after each lesson if she wants to do the next one, or if she wants to do a week of WWE (she always picks the next one, so far).  

 

I also made her a copywork book, which has an entire story in it that she copies out, paragraph by paragraph.  She find it really fun, and I like that it naturally brings in all the different punctuation marks, all different parts of speech and sentence structures, things I wouldn't necessarily think to include if I were choosing random sentences.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Well, I'd think you would do at least two books a year.  You could do three if you pushed it, but I think two, with some independent writing, would be reasonable.

 

FWIW, I'm not actually using the TMs for anything but the dictation sentences, and it would be easy to make up your own, so if I were you I'd buy just the student manuals and wing it.

 

I would totally use just the first books even if I thought I wouldn't use the others . . . given that the others aren't out yet, I don't know that I will use them, it depends on how good they are, and if they progress in a way that makes sense to me, KWIM?  There are really fat samples on the website, though - I think several lessons worth.  So why not try the sample and see if she likes it, and then decide?

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm also curious what approach to science you're all taking in third grade?

 

Yeah, that makes two of us!  :lol:   I don't really do formal science in the elementary years (apparently  :glare: ).  This year we've done some Magic Schoolbus kits, books, and she watches tons of science videos, and we read science books from the library.  All very informal and fun.  Next year, I'm doing a big Origins study based off of Big History with my 7th grader, so my plan will be to incorporate my 3rd grader as much as possible into that, with library books at her level, and activity books/kits.  The topics we'll be covering are The Big Bang, Stars, Elements, Solar System, Earth, Life/Evolution, and The Brain.  I have found or can get at the library plenty of 3rd grade level books on those topics.  So that's my plan at this point - combine them where it's feasible (like, for McHenry's The Elements) and combine them for videos/discussion for the other topics, with each having books and assignments at her own level.

 

My goal for 3rd grade science is exposure, fun, and love.  For me, systematic coverage can wait till middle/high school.

[Karen in CO]

I'm not big on formal science in elementary.  I much prefer experience so that they have concrete mental images to work from later.  This year we are covering farming, clothing, and habitation which is integrated into our history.  We looked at how farming has changed through time; we planned and planted bulb gardens last fall; we visited organic farms and helped with harvest and saved seeds for next year; we planned and cooked meals based on food we harvested and people we studied.   It isn't really what you think of for science, but it worked.  We did something similar for clothing and visited an alpaca farm and cotton farm, cleaned, carded, etc. Wool then learned about weaving plus learned to crochet.  We're getting ready to start our last unit that will cover homes.  We'll start with making lean-tos in the woods and end with a visit to habitat for humanity. 

[SorrelZG]

You're doing copywork? May I ask why?

A couple of reasons. Firstly, my child's attitude toward doing copywork is entirely different when I'm willing to do it too. It's not just learning grammar and spelling, it's meditating on well expressed ideas and well written English. I enjoy reading my copybook and chewing on those thoughts again and again - which is my second reason. :) When I'm reading I highlight or write down passages that I really enjoy or appreciate in some way and I share that with my children. When I started doing that my 8yo responded to that enthusiasm and began looking at his own reading in the same way and sharing with me in a similar manner at his own level. Copy work transformed from a chore required of him by an adult for reasons he did not appreciate into a relational and bonding experience. It's now becoming more a part of our family culture than a scholastic tool, while maintaining all the educational benefits.

[Desert Strawberry]

Fluent reading, independent writing, basic math facts.

 

There is other stuff, but these are the big ones.

[....]

I currently have a 3rd grader.  Here's our goals this past year:

 

1.  Enjoy reading independently, being able to pick out books from the library that look interesting and read them

2.  Good foundation in phonics and spelling.  Able to write multiple sentences without a bunch of misspellings, etc.

3.  Copywork and simple dictation in cursive.  Also, my 3rd grader is able to write a short story and draw a picture about it.

4.  Taking more responsibility for herself, more independence in doing things without Mommy hovering around like a helicopter...solving problems without someone swooping in to help.  Able to go places without me.  She can ride her bike around the block with her sister or go to the comic book store with her friend's family.

[....]

Just curious — how old are your current or rising third graders? The goal of going places independently triggered that question, though I should probably ask if your neighborhood happens to be really safe instead. :)

 

My current 3rd grader turned 9 a few weeks ago...so she would've been 8 at the start of the school year.  As for safety in our neighborhood...the one we're in now is very safe.  But, we have lived in places where the kids could not play outside at all.  Also, our current neighborhood has kids everywhere - kids riding bikes, kids driving those little pink battery-powered cars, kids playing ball outside and we know our neighbors very well, so the kids go back and forth between houses.  If something is wrong, the neighbors' kids know that they can come to our house and vice versa.  

[Karen in CO]

Just curious — how old are your current or rising third graders? The goal of going places independently triggered that question, though I should probably ask if your neighborhood happens to be really safe instead. :)

We follow our district cutoff for grades, so my third grader turned 9 in third grade. We lived in a reasonably safe neighborhood, but. I don't let her go further than to a friend's house that is less than a block away alone.   We have mountain lions, coyotes, and bears to worry about in a addition to human predators.

[....]

We have mountain lions, coyotes, and bears to worry about 

 

Lol!  We don't have those!!  If we did, no one would leave the house - ever!   :laugh:

[Chrysalis Academy]

I just started planning, but after looking at the Sassafras Science Zoology book I've had for a year, I'm really excited!

 

Ds LOVES animals and has been asking to do animal reports again. This will do that and more for him. I'm thinking I might use the Zoology book as a spine for Geography and Globetrotting with Cinderella. There's 18 chapters, so I can spend a whole 2 weeks per chapter, learning about the geography of the area, folk tales, foreign language, do the suggested demonstrations,  read some living books, do some art projects, and do some Montessori style cards for learning nomenclature. I have a bunch of Scholastic books like Animal Habitat Dioramas and Easy Make and Learn Projects: Animal Habitats along with  Evan-Moor's TFB Giant Science Resource Book which has some really excellent diagram worksheets that I can use that would tie into it. I also have Draw Write Now, so they can learn how to draw animals. 

 

Ds LOVES science and math and needs more from science than EM DS, he's also resistant to writing anything. Meanwhile, dd loves to read, write, color and draw, so I'm hoping that this plan will keep them both interested. *crosses fingers* In fact, I might just start this next month as I need some time to plan, but they will be finishing up science soon. 

 

It sound like you've got it covered, but here is another habitat book, I got it last year but decided it is better for 3rd grade or up:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Janice-VanCleaves-Science-Around-World/dp/0471205478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396536905&sr=8-1&keywords=science+around+the+world

 

I tried to do a study like what you described with my 2nd grader this year, but she was totally not interested.  She was still adjusting to homeschooling though and was flexing her independent muscles a bit.  I bet she'd really enjoy this if we did it now.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I keep eyeballing Sassafras Zoology.  Theoretically, Morgan would love it, but then I read posts about how people find the plot lame and it's poorly written.  You have it right Jen? What do you think?

[5LittleMonkeys]

I really need to sit down and do this for all my dc.  I've slipped back into our goals being curricula based instead of based on the child - I really need to re-structure some things again. 

 

So for ds8 I think my goals for the end of 3rd (just off the top of my head and in no particular order) are going to be:

 

• Throughout the year work on improving reading comprehension and fluency. By the middle of the year I'd like him to be able to read for content knowledge more - be able to read a living book and take away some body of knowledge or list of facts from it without me having to explicitly point those things out.  
• Be able to write out his own concise summary of a short passage, chapter, of fable\short story.  (2 or 3 sentences). 
• Be able to take a series of facts or a body of knowledge and construct a well organized paragraph. (5 to 8 sentences) 
• Memorize multiplication\division math facts.

I'm pretty much finished with using writing curricula as written.  It just doesn't work for me or my dc in the elementary years.  I find my dc are either capable of more, more quickly than the program moves or I find that we need skill work that just doesn't line up with how they are presented in a program.  The more I move away from writing programs the more I see how teaching writing is no where near the complicated mess most programs make it out to be. Same goes for grammar and usage.  I've tried using programs ... when I do our days end up feeling very stiff and un-natural.  Learning those things in context just works better for my young kiddos. 

 

As far as what I'd like to accomplish in content areas:

• Have an understanding of the reasons for the European's exploration and settlement in America and how it effected the native population. 
• Basic knowledge of major people and events of American History. (We will be doing an overview of all Am. History next year but will put more focus on certain people\events that I haven't decided on yet.)
• Basic understanding of how our government was established and how it compares to today. 
• Learn about and explore American art from early Native American to modern times.
•  
• Memorize states and capitals. Continue to increase geographical knowledge of all other continents.
•   
• No specific body of knowledge for science other than understand and be able to apply the scientific method to his own explorations and experiments.  
• Learn how to set up and keep a science journal. 
• Learn how to find resources to support his own interests in science. 

 

That's all I can think of right now.  I'm sure as the year progresses and I watch his development we may add or change goals. 

[Heidi]

I'm also curious what approach to science you're all taking in third grade?

The Circe approach, which is for my grammar age student to "poetically encounter the world he lives in,... experiencing it whole and alive through his senses."

In other words, I take a "go outside and play, Kid" approach. It has actually worked very well.

My children are all in tune to nature. My oldest studies birds on her own, drawing, labeling, memorizing, making artistic models, and bird journals. I have many nature books at home that they study on their own as well.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I have avoided those posts and have not read it yet. :blush: Then again, my kids like the Magic Tree House series, so I don't think they'll care too much about the plot, at least not yet.

:lol:  I understand completely!  Let me know what you think when you do read it, if it occurs to you.

[Runningmom80]

This is such a great question! I think my goals are very similar to others, the big one is writing, the most important part of that being stamina. I'd love to get the output a little bit closer to input.

[Greenmama2]

A couple of reasons. Firstly, my child's attitude toward doing copywork is entirely different when I'm willing to do it too. It's not just learning grammar and spelling, it's meditating on well expressed ideas and well written English. I enjoy reading my copybook and chewing on those thoughts again and again - which is my second reason. :) When I'm reading I highlight or write down passages that I really enjoy or appreciate in some way and I share that with my children. When I started doing that my 8yo responded to that enthusiasm and began looking at his own reading in the same way and sharing with me in a similar manner at his own level. Copy work transformed from a chore required of him by an adult for reasons he did not appreciate into a relational and bonding experience. It's now becoming more a part of our family culture than a scholastic tool, while maintaining all the educational benefits.

This is brilliant & may just be the key to where I'm stuck with my eight year old. Thank you!

[Ameena]

Great question! My dd will be in 3rd this fall & turning 8 in September. Our goals are:

 

1. Work on Attitude. DD has attitude issues about school. She'd much rather go out & play, or play educational PC games :) Our homeschooling has been a bit disjointed in the past which I'm pretty sure is the cause. I want to work on continuity & better school behavior.

2. Math - solidify addition skills & introduce multiplication. Still not sure what book we are going to use - I am strongly considering using the 1st 35 or so lessons from Saxon 54, spread out over the year & worked very slowly with lots of review. Too much of most of the 3rd grade texts I have looked at is review of concepts dd understands well {and when dd is bored it makes the attitude worse} for me to justify spending money & time on them. Working with XtraMath to drill.

3. Reading. DD reads great, but doesn't always have great comprehension. I need to bump up the comprehension. Work on this as a part of SL Core C.

4. Science. Not sure where we are going on this, honestly. I have SL Core C science on the shelf, but it's just not inspiring. I've yet to find a good secular or easily made secular science program with a living book style approach that doesn't cost a ton.

5. Handwriting. I want to work on solidifying dd's manuscript skills. She writes okay, wit the exception of being iffy on a few letters. Not sure if we will add cursive. I'd like dd to be able to read it, but I don't feel learning to write cursive is a needed skill for most folks.

6. English / Grammar. We need to work on things like nouns, verbs, etc & begin writing essays / reports.

[Chrysalis Academy]

My youngest is currently in third grade.  I want her to start the transition from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn which means she needs more confidence and fluency.  I want her to know how and when to multiply.  I want her to understand the basics of the scientific method.  I want her to know and enjoy several poems and songs.  I want her to know a few stories from ancient history.  I want her to know how food is grown and how clothing is made and how that has changed through history. I want her to be able to retell a story through pictures and written words (write and illustrate a story summary).  I tend to start with goals then apply curriculum to them.  

 

BTW, I don't know that I ever officially gave Karen in Co credit for this thread idea . . . it was a wonderful thread she started last year about goals that changed the way I thought and planned my year, shifting to a goal-based rather than a do-curriculum-x based way of thinking about planning.

[Murrayshire]

This year ds has really grown in reading! He can tell back like you wouldn't believe!

 

For 3rd grade our goals will be:

 

- work on fluency in reading

- silent reading

- being able to write his own summaries down.....

 

- to solidify math facts

- work on FOCUS..... especially in math.

- practice more with reading & following instructions so I do not have to constantly stand over him

 

These are our top goals..... But we have plenty more!

[wrzos1]

I've made these goals for my 4th grader for this upcoming year - but as I look at them - they are the same goals I would have had if I were planning to HS 3rd, as I feel this year in public he has been in a 'holding pattern' so-to-speak. 

 

Math: Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication Facts MEMORIZED

Be able to add/subtract/multiply with whole number to the 1000 position

Divide whole numbers with single digit numerator's - with and without remainders

Understand place value, basic fractions (including adding/subtracting fractions), basic geometric shapes

Interpret Data and Charts

Apply Math Reasoning to multi-step word problems

Decimals: to hundredths

 

Language Arts:

Grammer Skills to include: Proper use of Capitalization, Punctuation, identification of the 8 basic parts of speech

Read/Comprehend appropriate Fiction & Non-Fiction books (according to HIS grade level, not 4th grade - he reads at about the 7th grade level)

Practice Narration Techniques (using poetry, fables, folklore, etc.)

Re-introduce cursive as primary writing for handwriting samples.  Copywork of interesting poems/lines

Identify key aspects of informational texts: pictures, graphs, charts, etc and be able to  interpret that information

Write a variety of pieces including: narratives, opinion pieces, summarizations, characterizations - Get HIM to want to write short pieces

 

History:

SOTW Ancients - extend this with research projects on topics he finds interesting as we go thru

 

Science:

Going to just pick interesting topics based on our History program and run with it...

 

He will also take an Artios History/Music/Drama/Art class, PE is covered with competitive gymnastics and he is a piano student as well as taking a foreign language (his dad's native tongue).