OLD HOMESCHOOLERS NEVER DIE . . . THEY JUST WRITE CURRICULUM


"Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants."

Deuteronomy 32:2

Courses of Study

To view the Course of Study for each grade level, you can click on the "Course of Study" label
or "Search This Blog" for the specific grade level you wish to see.
To date, I have courses of study completed for kindergarten through fourth grades.

Newsletter Articles

In 2013 the Lord started me producing a newsletter for the homeschool group we are a part of. Every other month I write an article on a topic the Lord has put on my heart. I've decided to add these articles to this blog. I hope you will find encouragement through some of my ramblings. You can click on the label "Newsletter" to find the articles.

Sunday, August 3

Third Grade, Bible, Set Four

Hymns:
  • Living for Jesus
  • The Star-Spangled Banner
  • American the Beautiful
  • My Country 'Tis of Thee
Bible Memory:
  • Romans 12:19b - 21
  • Psalm 91:1 - 4
  • Review a previous passage each week with Verse Strips
Catechism:
  • Learned #38, 39, 40
  • Reviewed previous
Prayer:
  • Countries/Peoples
    • Cuba
    • Dailu
    • Dayak
    • Djibouti
    • Dogon
Read-Aloud:
  • Catching Their Talk in a Box by Betty M. Hockett -- the story of Joy Ridderhof, who went around the world recording the gospel in native languages.
  • K.picked a book each Friday
The Princess and the Kiss
  • Lesson 19 in Life Lessons -- trust God, wait patiently, and pray for your future husband

Third Grade, Math, Set Four

  • Addition and Subtraction Sheets
    • I printed out a sheet of each with 16 problems in them
    • The first four weeks K. solved 4 problems
    • The fifth week we used the sums and differences to
      • compare with < and >
      • show the expanded form (3,547 = 3,000 + 500 + 40 + 7)
      • identify even and odd numbers
      • round to nearest 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000
      • give the number that is 10 more and 10 less
  • Map Skills
    • We continued with the book we started in week five of Set Three
  • Counting
    • by 2 to 50
    • by 5 to 100
    • by 10 to 500
    • by 100 to 1,000
    • by 1,000 to 10,000
    • by 10,000 to 100,000
  • Math Games on the Computer (multiplication.com)
  • Fraction Games (Fabulous Fractions)
  • Skip Count Sheets (from Set Three)
  • Addition and Subtraction Bingo
  • Bedtime Math

Third Grade, Reading, Set Four

I got the book, More Tell and Draw Stories, from the library. Each week we practiced a couple. At our support group's promotion program, K. presented one of the stories from Tell and Draw Stories.

We read The Mystery of Morgan Castle and started reading Long-Ago Stories of California.

Thrid Grade, Grammar, Set Four

We started out this set of weeks by completing her essay on the water slide she invented. K. completed a senses word web and used the thesaurus. This is the final copy:

     The big Silly Slippery Slide is the most thrilling water ride in the world! You will go flying down the 20 foot slide, and water splashes on your face as you zoom over the 6 foot hill round two curves, and float, bob, and splash in the pool you land in.
     If you ride the Silly Slippery Slide, you will find it so thrilling, it's the only water ride you will want to ride!

We completed chapter 4 in Painless Jr. Grammar -- prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Writing Project: Persuasive Letter
  • I wrote a letter to K. from a pretend girl telling her that the book club I was in was going to read A Bear Called Paddington. I told her I thought the book silly and wondered if she thought I should read it.
  • I had K. write three reasons she likes the book.
  • Then she did word webs on two of the ideas.
  • She used them to write a persuasive letter back to the girl.

Third Grade, Writing, Set Four

We are working on learning the upper case cursive letters now. I have found a book of tongue twisters that is fun to copy.

K. wrote business letters to San Diego and Santa Barbara asking for information on places to visit that had to do with California History. On our vacation we spent a few days in San Diego and visited Cabrillo National Monument, the San Diego Mission, and Old Town.

Third Grade, Spelling, Set Four

I am continuing to choose words from her misspells and vocabulary (including her Bible verses) for K. to learn to spell. Sometimes we can find neat vowel/consonant patterns in these words. For instance, sentence has a repeating CVC CVC CV pattern.

Third Grade, Science, Set Four

Here is the poster about the platypus.


We are continuing to read one Nature Friend magazine each week, getting more books from the library to learn more about some animals or subjects. K.'s project after set four was identifying birds on our vacation.

Third Grade, History, Set Four

We read Child's History chapter 78 and Abe Lincoln's World pages 69 - 142.

We added Indiana #19, Mississippi #20, Illinois #21, Alabama #22, Maine #23, Missouri #24 to our notebook.

Two more lessons in California History.

Industrial Revolution chapter 4

Other books we read:

Explorers:
  • On Expedition with Lewis and Clark by Anita Ganeri -- this book has a lot of information. I read the topic paragraph of each page to K., then scanned the rest of the page for information that would be interesting to her.
  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition by John Perritano -- I had K. read this book on her own. It is in the series "A True Book".
  • Zebulon Pike: Soldier and Explorer by Barbara Witteman -- we looked at the route Pike took and compared it to Lewis and Clark's route. I read little bits from the book to K.
War of 1812:
  • Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library by Barb Rosenstock -- this is a picture book that tells how much Jefferson loved to read. The book ends with him sending his books to Washington D.C. to replace the Library of Congress that was burned during the War of 1812.
  • The Invasion of Sandy Bay by Anita Sanchez -- this is a historical fiction book, based on a true event. I read it and enjoyed it.
  • A Picture Book of Dolley and James Madison by David A. Adler -- tells about both of their lives and about the War of 1812
People of Special Interest:
  • Beethoven: (he died in 1827, so fits into this time period)
    • Ludwig Van Beethoven by Mike Venezia -- I had K. read this by herself. The French revolution and Napoleon are even mentioned in this book.
    • Beethoven Lives Upstairs by Barbara Nichol -- fiction letters written between a boy and his uncle about Beethoven living at the boy's house.
    • Ludwig Van Beethoven: Musical Pioneer by Carol Greene -- this is a Rookie Biography, if you can't get the first book, this is a good option
  • Washington Irving
    • Rip Van Winkle retold and illustrated by Will Moses -- this book has wonderful illustrations and is great reading for children
    • If you want to read a Rip Van Winkle that is not retold, there is one which is illustrated by Arthur Rackham that you can try. However, glancing through it, the one above stays very true to the original.
  • Sarah Josepha Hale
    • Sarah Gives Thanks by Mike Allegra -- there were only two books in the library system about Mrs. Hale. We have a copy of the other one, and its emphasis is on Thanksgiving, so we got this one from the library. This book is more about her life with a few pages devoted to her campaign to have Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
  • Queen Victoria
    • Queen Victoria's Diamond by Gerry Bailey -- when I first picked up this book I didn't think it would be very interesting, but it was the only children's book I could find about her. It turned out to be very interesting to me and to K. The format keeps your interest by alternating between kids telling about QV with silly illustrations and more serious short articles with photos and realistic illustrations.
  • Robert E. Lee
    • A Picture Book of Robert E. Lee by David A. Adler -- interesting and informational, it follows his life from birth to death, spending 13 of the 28 pages on the Civil War.
  • Andrew Jackson
    • Andrew Jackson by Megan M. Gunderson -- informative and short with lots of illustrations
  • Simon Bolivar
    • A Picture Book of Simon Bolivar by David A. Adler -- another good book in this series
Railroad
  • The Iron Dragon Never Sleeps by Stephen Krensky -- story of a friendship between a daughter of a mining engineer and a Chinese boy. This is a very good book. K. and I each read it and then we talked about it.
  • The Last Rail by Darice Bailer -- story of the transcontinental railroad. A girl go back in time to the day the golden spike is driven in.
  • Ten Mile Day and the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad by Mary Ann Fraser -- tells how the Central Pacific laid ten miles of track in one day and gives information of the transcontinental railroad and its completion.
  • Building the Transcontinental Railroad by Linda Thompson -- not nearly as many illustrations as the previous two books. Good book for older students.
  • Whistle for the Crossing by Marguerite de Angeli -- I read this one. It is a story about a boy whose father drove the first engine from Philadelphia to Pittsburg.
Erie Canal
  • Erie Canal by Julie Murray -- an easy reader with good information, although it does not explain how locks work

Third Grade, Fine Arts, Set Four

Fairy Tales:
  • Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Germany retold from the Brothers Grimm by Virginia Haviland
    • The Cat and Mouse in Partnership
    • Hansel and Gretel
  • Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale retold by Carmen Agra Deedy
  • The Bossy Gallito retold by Lucia M. Gonzalez
  • Rabbit Wishes by Linda Shute -- why rabbits have long ears
Birthday and Anniversary Cards:
We mixed equal amounts of water, dish soap, and paint in a glass, then used a straw to blow bubbles. Touching the paper to the bubbles made neat designs on the cards. After they dried, we could add decorations. Here are a couple we made.