Help me with 3rd grade curriculum choices

[Elizabeth86]

I posted a while back about 3rd grade language arts suggestions.  I appreciate that by the way.  I know just what I like for all subjects, but I cannot decide on language arts. Let me warn you, I am ALL OVER THE PLACE with language arts.

I warned you.  lol

 

For second grade we did Abeka for phonics.  Loved it.  I heard it was great for learning to read and I agree, but I also am quite sure I don't want to use Abeka for anything except phonics. For 2nd, we have been using Abeka for spelling.  DS is a great speller and I am looking at Spelling Power for next year because he just doesn't need lots of practice with spelling it doesn't seem.  I see this cuts out what he already knows, so he doesn't waste time there.  So, for third, this is what I'm thinking...

I don't see he will need anymore phonics.

 

For third  I think we will work through the literature guides of either Memoria Press, Progeny Press or Veritas Press.  We may work through them together verbally to cut out the written busy work of them.

Spelling - I'm thinking Spelling Power

Handwriting - I think we will try out Zaner-Bloser Cursive

Now, I'm down to grammar and writing.  I tried out BJU 2 this year and dropped it.  I didn't enjoy teaching it. I like the student side of it, but the teacher's guide wasn't my favorite.  I'm not a strong writer and even on a second grade level, it made me nervous teaching him to write.  Dh is a great writer, so I told him if we do BJU English 3, he must teach the writing chapters or we might do DL, but I hate spending so much money on DL.

I have finally looked at the not so "school-y" curriculum (I love the curriculum that looks like school, but am finally seeing how this kind of sucks the life out of our homeschool).  I finally have looked at FLL and WWE and am considering this.  He will be a third grader, would he start on level 3 or would he need to start from the beginning of level 1?

I have always craved an all in one and have had homeschool friends lately suggest CLE and Lifepacs. I was always told these were really light and not thorough. Thoughts on this? 

What do I want?  I do not know?  I want to make his 3rd grade year to be gentle and enjoyable.  School has not been super fun for us this year.  He is super smart and capable of anything I have him do, but if it is not needed, I don't want a lot of busy work for him. I want to make 3rd grade enjoyable for both of us.  I want to keep him up to grade level.  I want it to be that if he enrolls in public or private school at any time he wouldn't be severely behind.  I don't have plans for this anytime soon, but I just want him to keep up.  He is also a very young kid for his grade level.  His birthday is our state's cut-off date, September 30th.  So, he will be 7 for the first 2 months of our school year and then 8 for the rest of third grade, if this affects your suggestions any. If he had been born 22 hours later he would be a second grader for next school year.  I really wish I hadn't jumped into school right away with him at 4.  Sigh. 

Now, that was me rambling and I'm quite distracted at the moment, so if you need clarification on anything or have any questions for me, let me know.

 

ALso, I will have a 1at grader, 3 year old and 1 year old so the less I have to do to teach, the better it is for me.

 

Edited January 19, 2019 by Elizabeth86

[LynnS]

Have you looked at Writing & Rhetoric and Well-Ordered Language, both from Classical Academic Press? My third grader is enjoying both, both are pretty much open and go, and I would consider them to be on the gentle side (but thorough and building up good base skills). My son finds the songs/chants in Well-Ordered Language to be a bit eye-rolly, so we skip those, but I don't think we're missing a lot by doing that. Just Write is another gentle writing curriculum to look at which is also very open and go. 

[Elizabeth86]

20 minutes ago, LynnS said:

Have you looked at Writing & Rhetoric and Well-Ordered Language, both from Classical Academic Press? My third grader is enjoying both, both are pretty much open and go, and I would consider them to be on the gentle side (but thorough and building up good base skills). My son finds the songs/chants in Well-Ordered Language to be a bit eye-rolly, so we skip those, but I don't think we're missing a lot by doing that. Just Write is another gentle writing curriculum to look at which is also very open and go. 

I Will take a look at it!

[HomeAgain]

6 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Since he's good on phonics and a strong speller, how would you feel about just using narration and copywork, and maybe some dictation using material from your other studies? Would it freak you out to not have a formal LA curriculum and workbooks? That would help you trim down what you need time wise, but it would still be an age appropriate Language Arts experience, assuming you don't have to have something more formal for state requirements? If it's something you are interested in I would recommend Karen Glass's book Know and Tell. 

This is what I would do.  If necessary, I'd buy something like ELTL level B, where it's still gentle and easy but has the copywork and narration planned for you along with learning the parts of speech.

[Elizabeth86]

58 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Since he's good on phonics and a strong speller, how would you feel about just using narration and copywork, and maybe some dictation using material from your other studies? Would it freak you out to not have a formal LA curriculum and workbooks? That would help you trim down what you need time wise, but it would still be an age appropriate Language Arts experience, assuming you don't have to have something more formal for state requirements? If it's something you are interested in I would recommend Karen Glass's book Know and Tell. 

I would freak out without formal curriculum.  lol

[Elizabeth86]

51 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

This is what I would do.  If necessary, I'd buy something like ELTL level B, where it's still gentle and easy but has the copywork and narration planned for you along with learning the parts of speech.

I am taking a look at this.  Thank you.

[Vernal2]

I’ve glanced at Master Books 3rd grade LA. It’s short lessons and pretty gentle.  I haven’t used it myself, but a friend does and raves about it. 

DD did CLE LA 3 for 3rd. It was not gentle or light. Pretty hard core grammar for a 3rd grader. We did WWE 2 alongside. While they did learn how to write a paragraph, the writing is lacking in CLE.  The one of the positives about CLE is it written to the student.  With that and the tight spiral, she could do it mostly by herself. 

[nixpix5]

20 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

This is what I would do.  If necessary, I'd buy something like ELTL level B, where it's still gentle and easy but has the copywork and narration planned for you along with learning the parts of speech.

This is great advice. ELTL is really lovely and fun! 

[nixpix5]

I will say, BJU 2 makes me crazy but BJU English 3 is fabulous. There is a big difference for me between those two levels. 

I really like the ELTL suggestion because it feels painless but is a solid choice. 

I also will second Writing and Rhetoric suggestion. My current 2nd grader is doing level I Fable and he loves it to bits. 

You might also enjoy IEW All Things Fun and Fascinating since it breaks down classical writing basics into steps and adds more instruction for "dressing up" writing. I have found it a breeze to teach and not overwhelming for the child. MP also assigns it in their own 3rd grade core.

[Meadowlark]

3 hours ago, nixpix5 said:

I will say, BJU 2 makes me crazy but BJU English 3 is fabulous. There is a big difference for me between those two levels. 

I really like the ELTL suggestion because it feels painless but is a solid choice. 

I also will second Writing and Rhetoric suggestion. My current 2nd grader is doing level I Fable and he loves it to bits. 

You might also enjoy IEW All Things Fun and Fascinating since it breaks down classical writing basics into steps and adds more instruction for "dressing up" writing. I have found it a breeze to teach and not overwhelming for the child. MP also assigns it in their own 3rd grade core.

I don't want to hijack the post, so I'm going to pm you about this post!

[Meadowlark]

I've done quite a few of your choices, so I'll put my 2 cents in.

CLE-not light, very workbookish. Well, it IS a workbook. Like all CLE, very organized and independent but imo, very boring.

WWE-Didn't feel like "writing" to me. I also felt like after level 1, if got pretty difficult for my kids. We dropped it after part of level 2.

BJU 2-We did this with the DL option. I LOVED having someone else teach it, and it got my kids to write, but we didn't stick with BJU. Now, I'm considering it for the next kid. I would recommend the DL though (and they're having a $99 sale right now)

 

[nixpix5]

49 minutes ago, Meadowlark said:

I don't want to hijack the post, so I'm going to pm you about this post!

You bet 🙂

[Ellie]

Well, if you want something with a little independence (and only a little, because he's just eight years old 🙂 ), there's always Rod and Staff Publishers for English and spelling.

The third grade English is still pretty gentle, but it is a complete grammar and composition course. It is a textbook; that means he'll write his assignments on actual paper, which is a good thing; it addresses penmanship, and everything counts as *writing,* even if it isn't an official composition lesson. Everything he needs to know is *right there* in his book; you can go over things with him a little bit (in fact, many lesson begin with an oral review), but then you give him his assignments and let him work.  Some people do all the assignments orally, but IMHO, doing them in writing is more valuable.

Spelling by Sound and Structure at this level is still addressing phonics, but it is a workbook, and he can do it independently (with just a little face time from you, because you still want to have some warm fuzzies).

[Susan in TX]

My focus for 3rd grade language arts is reading, spelling, and penmanship. Grammar is simply not necessary for 3rd grade. I start English Grammar in 4th grade and start my kids in 4th grade Rod and Staff. There is nothing taught in 3rd grade grammar that won't be covered again in 4th.

Susan in TX

[Hallyv]

Well, For grade 3 we have been using Writing & Rhetoric Fables - we love it!!! 

I have also used EIW- Essentials in Writing. Its focus is only grammar & writing. It is very easy for me to use because it is pretty independent with step by step instructions in the student’s workbook or they can watch the short 10 min lessons by Mr Stephen if u get the dvd. 

[Elizabeth86]

On 1/19/2019 at 5:23 PM, LynnS said:

Have you looked at Writing & Rhetoric and Well-Ordered Language, both from Classical Academic Press? My third grader is enjoying both, both are pretty much open and go, and I would consider them to be on the gentle side (but thorough and building up good base skills). My son finds the songs/chants in Well-Ordered Language to be a bit eye-rolly, so we skip those, but I don't think we're missing a lot by doing that. Just Write is another gentle writing curriculum to look at which is also very open and go. 

I took a look at writing and rhetoric.  I don't  know if it will work for us, but it really appealed to me! Thanks for suggesting it.  I may give it a try!