Hello! Today I’m sharing Tinker Bell’s 3rd grade homeschool schedule with you. Tinker Bell turned 9 in February and is doing great this year.
Here is a sample of her schedule. She often works through her assignments faster than what I scheduled. But I don’t want to over-fill her day, so I still spread it out like this so that she has plenty of time.
Download a copy:
- 3rd Grade Daily Schedule PDF
- 3rd Grade Daily Schedule Word Doc (Editable)
Here is our basic 3rd Grade Schedule:
- 8:30am – Breakfast / Family Devotions
- 9:00am – Daily Learning Notebook
- 9:15am – Bible
- 9:30am – Math
- 10:30am – English
- 11:00am – Handwriting
- 11:20am – Reading
- 11:30am – Spelling
- 11:45am – Vocabulary
- 12:00 – Lunch/PE
- 1:00pm – History / Science
- 1:30pm – Typing/Music/Art/Piano (1x per week)
- 2:00pm – Writing / Literature (2x per week)
- 4:00pm – Swimming & Inline Hockey…Yes, she plays hockey and she’s great at it! Mama was a little nervous, but this girl can hold her own!
Here are our curriculum choices for 3rd grade this year.
- Daily Learning Notebook: She’ll be doing the Cursive Notebook this year.
- Art: World’s Greatest Artists 2 and See the Light Art DVDs
- Bible: Picture Smart Bible & Grapevine Studies
- Spelling: All About Spelling Levels 2 & 3
- Phonics: Abeka Language 3
- Reading: Abeka Reading 3 & Read & Think Skill Sheets 3
- Math: Math U See Gamma
- Handwriting: BJU Handwriting 3
- History: The Middle Ages – Time Traveler Unit & my Colorado State Study
- Literature: Classical Literature Units
- Science: Abeka Science 5 (We do this as a group) & one of my scientist units if we can fit it in!
- P.E.: Family Time Fitness
- Typing: Typing Instructor Platinum (CD Version)
- Vocabulary: Vocabulary Workshop
- Writing: IEW Student Writing Intensive Level A
- Robotics: LEGO Education We’re continuing with our co-op group and the Simple Mechanisms set this year.
Extra-Curricular Activities:
- Keepers of the Faith
- LEGO Education We’re continuing with our co-op group and the Simple Mechanisms set this year.
If you’ve missed my previous posts for our other grades this year, you can see my ‘Daily Homeschool Schedule’ series here.
Happy Homeschooling!
Hi
I am interested in the 3rd grade and a pre k homeschool program…I just wanted to know if there is a complete bundle that can be bought to be used for the curriculum…thanks
Hi Louisa,
I have a complete preschool and kindergarten curriculum set here:
http://store.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=70_71
http://store.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=70_72
I do not have a full 3rd grade bundle, but you can see what we used here:
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2014/07/our-curriculum-choices-2014-2015.html
Hi Erica,
This is my first year homeschooling and your blog has been so much help! I was wondering for the Math U See Gamma which product to buy. There are a few options and I’m not sure which one is the right one. Thank you so much!!
Hi Erica,
Love your blog! I have a few questions!
For Handwriting, is there a huge difference between Abeka and BJU?
Is there a curriculum for music? Would piano lessons cover music?
For your greatest artists and Classical Literature units, is the CD version necessary? Would I be missing anything if I ordered the non-CD versions?
Hopefully that covers it for now. 🙂
Thank you!
Hi Rebekah, not really. The BJU is a little more D’Nealian in type, it’s not quite that curvy, but it’s like a mix between Abeka stick letters and D’Nealian. For the cursive Abeka is more slanty and traditional, while BJU is a bit more upright and easier for kids just starting out in my opinion.
For music we do my World’s Greatest Composers units and they have also done piano lessons on the side. They also do choir/music/guitar through our options program.
And no, the CD isn’t necessary. The download and CD are identical in content. There are links in the curriculum to the listening portions.
Sorry, just thought of another question.
Are you teaching a foreign language in 3rd grade? If so, what curriculum would you recommend?
Thank you!
Right now my kids are doing foreign language through our options program. They’re doing Spanish. I have used PowerSpeak Spanish for my younger kids and that one was fun and we just did it at home. Rosetta Stone is better for older students and more in depth learning.
I love your blog, your suggestions, your encouragement–basically everything about your blog! I have 4 kids also and know the value of structure and schedules. I am currently starting an at home business and wondering where I will fit it in. Where do you find time in the day to work on your blog etc .. Thanks!
I’m new to homeschooling and I’m reviewing your curriculum for 3rd grade. My question is that since I’m starting from square 1 I will need the kits for most of these subjects, right? for example you listed “language 3” for Phonics. I will also need the answer key, testing kit and etc…? I’m just trying to get an rough idea of cost for our first year. I know I may be able to find some of it used but I like to get the highest estimate possible.
Thank you for all the help!!
It kind of depends on which curriculum you choose. If you go with the Abeka Language 3, you can actually get away without the TM if you’d like. I do use the student Tests and Test answer key just to gauge how their doing, but it’s totally up to you, you aren’t required to do the testing.
Hi Erica,
I just watched your youtube video “Tip Tuesday: Homeschooling Kindergarten and Elementary”. It was great! Thank you.
I wanted to ask you about reading progress of my son who is going into grade 3. Though he has progressed a great deal he still gets frustrated when reading and seems to be stuck at a grade 1/2 reading level. We tried using AAR level 2 curriculum at the beginning of the year but this proved too much for him; so we switched to “Teach your child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”. This went better but we still encountered frustration with the longer readings. Do you have any suggestions for what to do to help struggling readers? I have him read to me every school day and we read frequently to him as well. Im just not sure where to go with my planning for the next school year since his reading is slightly behind. Thanks for your input!
HI Jacquelyn,
Have you tested him for any delays like dyslexia? You might check http://www.diannecraft.org/ she has some easy online things you can do to check. If there aren’t any learning delays, then I would say continue with what you’re doing sometimes it just takes time. I’ve found a lot of time the end of 2nd is about when it finally clicks for a lot of kids. He might surprise you over the summer and suddenly start reading. The other thing instead of AAR that you might do is try All About Spelling. They really drill the phonics rules a bit better in that program than in the AAR program and it might work a little better just to go back to the basics. Another suggestion I have would be to let him choose his reading books. Sometimes it’s all a matter of interest. If he’s not interested in what he’s reading, then he won’t try/care as much. I have a whole series of literature units you could use that my son enjoyed. Here’s a video I did on how to make reading more fun as well: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2016/02/tip-tuesday-how-to-make-reading-fun.html
Hi Erica!
I was wondering if i could get your opinion on this: i have 5 children, 8 yr old boy, 6 yr old boy, 5 yr old girl and 18 mth old twins. I am going to do iew writing dvd with my oldest which is in 3rd grade. I also bought the fix it grammar for him, but, am a little concerned the fix it will be too teacher involved and maybe a bit over his head? (Hes adhd) Any thoughts on this and what grammar would u recommend? We have used abeka in the past and it wasn’t a good fit for him. Thanks so much you are such a blessing!!!
Hi Kara,
Actually the Fix It! Grammar is really easy once you get going. On Monday we do the lesson quickly together it only takes a few minutes to review, and then they do the sentences the rest of the week. It really doesn’t take much time on my part at all. If you start with The Nose Tree for Fix It! I think you’ll be pleased with how easy he picks it up. That’s their first level and it explains all of the things they need to look for in each sentence. It also starts off gradually and increases through the year. We found it quite easy to pick up and get going.
Hello, this is my 2nd year homeschooling but last year we just did the A Beka Video homeschool program, since we had some life changes going on and I didn’t feel adequate to jump headfirst into homeschooling the kids myself. 🙂 My question is, I have a very bright 6-almost-7-year-old who is actually going into 3rd grade. (He’s my only homeschooler right now.) Last year we kept it pretty low-key with just doing homeschooling in the afternoon, since it was technically his first year of school. Since he’s still pretty young, would you recommend doing a bit less of a school day and a little more play time? He is a BIG reader and learns a lot that way, but he currently HATES writing (we’ll be working more on that this year), and, honestly, I could do with fewer battles over that. I realize you are a busy lady and will understand if you can’t answer me personally. I’m going to look around your blog a little more. Thanks for a great list of resources here.
HI Karen,
You may want to check your state requirements first. For our state we have to do 4 hours per day starting the school year that they turn 6 in. So you may be required to do a certain amount of work at this stage. That said he is fairly young, and while he may be ready academically for more challenging work, he may not be ready maturity wise. 3rd grade work picks up in intensity and sometimes younger kids just don’t have the patience to sit for that long and do that heavy of a work load. You might want to give him a break and do 1st grade level work with him for some of the subjects, and then have him do 3rd grade work for some so there’s a balance for him. I do suggest IEW for writing as they do a great job, but they don’t suggest starting until 3rd grade and I think some of that is due to the focus/attention span it takes to write and also fine-motor skills development etc. My son hated writing too, he found it difficult to come up with ideas and he didn’t like sitting still and trying to write something. The focus will come as he gets older and so you may want to give him a break in that area for now.
Hi Erica!
I met you at the CHEC homeschooling conference a couple of years back. I bought your 101 book. I wasn’t HS then but now my son is in third grade. I just wanted to say hello and love your positivity. I’m still not as organized as I’d like to be but it makes me feel better that I’m not the only one out there overwhelmed and unsure. Glad to see you are out there helping ppl like me.
Oh yay! Thanks so much for your kind comment, I always love meeting people in person 🙂 Have a great year!