Saturday, August 1, 2009 - Third Grade Here We Come
I use the Ambleside Online pattern for our curriculum. This follows the teaching philosophies of Charlotte Mason. So far, this has been a very good fit for us. While we are still struggling with the mechanics of reading, both Cameron and I love books and CM is very literature based.
Here is an overview of what we will be studying for third grade. This was the first year I had to write official objectives.
English
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To continue the study of English through reading of literature and grammar lessons including the sentence, parts of speech, verb tenses and agreement
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To improve spelling through word lists taken from weekly readings
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To improve reading skills and independent reading
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To improve printing through copywork
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To introduce cursive handwriting
So far we really haven't formally studied grammar. We have worked on learning to read, penmanship, punctuation as it became pertinent to copywork, and narration. We will be starting formal grammar lessons with Simply Grammar by Karen Andreola.
Our selection for literature this year includes:
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The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. We started this book last year but were not able to finish it.
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The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
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Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry
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Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
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American Tall Tales by Adrien Stoutenburg
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Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty
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as well as classic children's poem
Math: A Beka Arithmetic 3
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To recognize the place value of numbers up to the 100,000s
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To review and strengthen addition and subtraction facts
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To learn 0-12 multiplication and division tables and be able to work
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To solve story problems with up to four steps
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To know fraction terminology and have a basic understanding of fractions
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To work with different mathematic operations and concepts such as greater than (>) and less than (<), English and metric measurements, Roman numerals, telling time, money, average numbers, reading a thermometer, and recognize geometric shapes
Science
- To study a variety of inventors and their inventions
- To study zoology, focusing on flying animals: birds, bats, and insects
- To perform various scientific experiments learning about physical science
I'm really excited about Science this year! We will be reading through The Story of Inventions by Michael J. McHugh and Frank P. Bachman. I think Cameron will really learning about inventors and their inventions.
We will also be doing one of Jeannie Fulbright's Exploring Creation books. We will start with Zoology 1, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. As I leafed through the book I got very excited about the things that we will be learning. I know Cameorn will enjoy this study very much.
I also plan to do some experiments from a few experiment books I have. Although, Exploring Creation has experiments and projects too.
We will also continue to study nature with weekly nautre walks.
Geography
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To study the overall geography of Earth including but not limited to atmosphere, the continents and oceans, and the structure of Earth.
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To understand how to read and use maps and an Atlas
This is another subject about which I'm very excited too. My very generous friend, LindaI, is not only lending me her Exploring Creation books, but she is also lending me a geography book. A Child's Geography: Exploring His World by Ann Voskamp is written in the same style as Fulbright's books and is very Charlotte Mason.
History
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To study American and World History from Columbus to Pocahontas and Charles I (late 1400’s to 1650)
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To study Pennsylvania history and geography
We will be using several books to study history.
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A Child's History of the World by Hillyer
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This Country of Ours by Marshall
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An Island Story by Marshall.
We will also be reading several biographies:
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Leonardo da Vinci
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Galileo
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John Wesley
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Sharkespeare
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Elizabeth I
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and selections for Trial and Triumph.
Civics
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To recognize and study the importance of government in the community, Pennsylvania and the United States of America
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To study different symbols and practices of America
Civics is one of the requirements of PA law. I found an online program here.
Safety Education
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To continue to discuss and practice safety inside and outside the home.
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To learn kitchen safety
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To review fire prevention and safety including home fire drills
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To reinforce his ability to call 911 and review situations when the action would be necessary
Another PA requirement. It's funny to me because I think as a mother this is just second nature to "teach" your child safety. We have even had mock fire drills at our house so this shouldn't be hard to include.
Health
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To study human body parts, systems and functions
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To study and apply personal health with nutrition, fitness and hygiene
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To discuss certain health problems focusing on asthma and diabetes
Another PA requirement. I found free health downloads to use as well as printouts from Enchanted Learning.
Physical Education
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To study different forms of sports and games through weekly group participation
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To improve on skills and knowledge of soccer by participation in the Fall and Spring seasons
We will also be using our Wii Fit.
Music Appreciation
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To experience selections of music of 20th Century British, Edvard Grieg and Jean Sibelius, and Maurice Ravel
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To participate in weekly singing with a group and monthly performances in front of a mixed audience of adults and children
We follow the Ambleside Online rotation of music appreciation. I can find the music selection on YouTube and we listen to it a few times that week.
The weekly singing would be at Master Clubs on Wednesdays. We sing once a month for the church.
We do not follow the rotation at Ambleside for hymns and folk songs. Last year, I would select a hymn that I knew we would be singing on the last Sunday night of the month. This year, I decided to focus on one hymn writer all year round. I chose the hymns of Charles Wesley to go with our biography of John Wesley.
This year for folk songs, I'm going to focus on patriotic songs. This will go along with our civics and American history subjects as well.
Art
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To study the works of Raphael, John Singer Sargent, and Monet and to reproduce, with colored pencil, one work of choice from each artist
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To participate in different woodwork projects with grandfather and by participating in the bi-monthly Kids Clinics provided by Lowe’s ®
Again, we follow the Ambleside Online rotation for artists. Some of our projects for geography and science will also fall into the art category.
Bible
Last but definitely not least is Bible. Since Bible is not a requirement for PA law, I did not include it in our objectives.
This year we will be reading through the Gospels and Acts. I also made a map on poster board of Judea. My church did "Passport to the Promised Land" for VBS this year and the room decorations included a transparencey map. I just didn't trace all the "extas" and have a really nice map. I think as we read we will mark the different locations on our map. Right now, I think I'm way more excited about the map than Cameron is, but hopefully as we go along and are able to fill in more and more places, he will catch my enthusiasm.
Comments
Sunday, August 2, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Prncsstefy
Sounds like a fantastic year. I have to say that I'm so glad that I don't have to write all that out. LOL
Oh and I've moved my blog. It's now at www.prncsstefy.blogspot.com
Sunday, August 2, 2009 - Bible as Literature
Posted by jennybell
You could always list the books of the Bible you are reading under the Literature section. I'm one of those that think this ought to be taught in public school anyway :-)
http://onlychildadventures.blogspot.com/
