Last time, I covered my 1st grade curriculum picks for the 2024-2025 academic year. Today, we're moving onto 3rd grade! My 3rd grader has three subjects that are separate from his brother: Latin, language arts, and math.
Here we go!
Latin
Let's start with Latin. I've written another post on Why I Teach Latin in My Homeschool. I encourage you to check it out if you're curious on the matter. We use Memoria Press' Latin program. Last year, my son started with Prima Latina. This year, he is working through Latina Christiana. I purchased the streaming videos and audio mp3. I also purchased the main teacher guide and two of the student workbooks. We do Latin three times a week. For each lesson, we watch the accompanying video. This usually happens during lunch on Mondays. Then we review pronunciations and slowly make our way through the workbook on Monday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons. We spend about 20 minutes on each of those afternoons on Latin. I am learning Latin alongside my son, so I have my own copy of the student book that I do alongside him. I have photocopied the review lesson pages. (Every five lessons, there is a review. These lessons include all of the vocabulary, verb conjugations, and noun declensions learned in the previous five lessons.) I've also photocopied the Latin phrases and sayings in the appendix. I keep these in our morning bin so we can also review during our memory work time in the mornings.
Latina Christiana is recommended to be taught over the course of two years. I will say that language is an area in which Hudson shines. He could probably complete the course in a year. I have been adding in extra review weeks, however, to make sure he knows everything thoroughly. At our current pace, he'll likely complete it in a year and a half.
Language Arts
For language arts, we piece several things together. My reason for this. is that my older son does not like to write. Copywork, worksheets, you name it — he doesn't like to write. However, he is an amazing reader. Not only does he read well at even a middle school level, he retains information and comprehends what he ready very well. Honestly, I'm a little jealous!
So because of this, I have him working a little more slowly through a few curriculum choices, at grade level for a few, and above grade level for others. It's simply where he is.
Spelling
My son is using Memoria Press' Traditional Spelling II. I only purchased the main teacher guide and student workbook. My son completes one lesson each week. He completes the first three word lists in a lesson over three days on his own. Then I dictate his spelling test to him. I have him copy any word he misspells in his test three times.
This is much less than what is included in each lesson, but it has worked well for my son. It has kept spelling short and sweet but still effective. The reason I stated using this curriculum with my son last year was because this is a phonics-based curriculum. Last year, each lesson was based on a phoneme. In this level, each lesson is based on a sound. For example, most of the words in a given lesson might include the long "a" sound. In this level, however, a single lesson will include words that make that sound using different rules — like the vowel teams "ai" and "ay", and magic "e." So not only is it phonics-based, but I can also see the progression from one level in this curriculum to the next. There are a few sight words in each lesson as well.
Writing
Like my younger son, my older son is using the Building Writers curriculum. This is he first year using it and I've started him with Level C. This curriculum is by the same group who makes Handwriting without Tears. Technically, this is aimed toward 2nd grade. I felt like it was a good starting place for my son, however. He is not fond of the act of writing. So going down a grade does help with that. This level also has a bit of an ocean theme too. My son loves the ocean, so I felt that might be encouragement for him. So far, this curriculum has gone very smoothly. I'm actually quite surprised (based on my son's usual dislike for writing).
In addition to this, I should add that my son gives me oral narrations on literature, history, science, church history, and Bible. While this is not "writing" per say, it does build skills needed for writing later on.
Grammar
Ah, grammar! This is often looked at as a boring subject. Personally, I really enjoy grammar. I majored in English in college and worked as an editor for many years. I think my older son may share my love for grammar. This year, we are using IEW's Fix It! Grammar as our main grammar component. Last year, we used Memoria Press' English Grammar Practice. It included grade-appropriate sentence editing as one of the exercises. My son seemed to really enjoy marking up sentences. Memoria Press' next level is English Grammar Recitation I. While this is great for memorizing capitalization and grammar rules, it lacked the same sentence editing that my son really loved in the previous level. I've found Fix It! Grammar to be more similar in style. It's very engaging for my son and he seems to really enjoy Fix-it Grammar. He is using the Nose Tree book. This is their first level.
We do also supplement with Memoria Press' English Grammar Recitation I. Because memorization comes so much easier to children in the elementary years, I felt it just makes sense to include recitation when it comes to grammar. My hope is, these rules will stick with him for years to come. Once a week, my son copies the capitalization or grammar rule and does a few exercises in the workbook that correlate with the rule. Then, the rule goes into our morning memory work rotation. This isn't quite how the curriculum is laid out, but it has been working well for my son!
Supplemental
Before we move onto literature, I wanted to note that I do pull from The Good and the Beautiful's Language Arts Level 3 as well. I have downloaded the PDF and print off what I think would supplement my son's learning well as we go. I particularly like their creative writing exercises. They are short and simple and my son really enjoys them. (Anything relating to writing that he enjoys, I'll take!) I also like that they teach sentence diagraming, which I think is helpful to my son. We also use the images for a Charlotte Mason-style picture study. Finally, I will print out grammar-related pages for some additional practice, if it seems to be something my son needs.
Why don't we simply use The Good and the Beautiful for language arts? For my son, the grammar was too light and skipped around too much. I've found a small amount of grammar almost daily to work best for my son. I also wanted a phonics-based spelling curriculum. Finally, I want my son to read classic literature. He has plenty of choice reading time and doesn't always read what I would consider "classic" during that time. But for our "literature" learning time, I want him to read the classics. Because of that, we don't use The Good and the Beautiful for literature either.
Literature
We are finally onto literature! I should mention that while this seems like a lot of language arts, most of these lessons are short. Building Writers takes less than five minutes. The same goes with a lesson of Fix It! Grammar and spelling. Literature can take a little bit longer, depending on what we are reading. I've been using literature guides from Memoria Press and Veritas Press.
Here's how I use them. First, we go through vocabulary words. I'll read the words and their definitions. Then, I'll take turns reading the novel aloud with my older son. My younger son tends to listen in too. When he does I'll include him on what's next. I'll ask for an oral narration. Then I'll pick a few discussion questions to ask. We do literature this way three times a week. Once a week, I will also try to include some kind of literature enrichment activity to bring the story to life.
Starting in January, we'll be using Wisdom & Wonder Schoolhouse's Tales & Treasures Book Club for our literature!
Math
While my younger son loves math, this subject has not been a favorite of my older son. I have tried quite a few math curricula with him over the years and this year we have landed on one that actually sticks! He is using Teaching Textbooks' Math 3 for math this year. So far, he has really enjoyed it. Honestly, I think it's because he gets to complete it on the iPad. But he is learning and I've seen his knowledge of math facts improve. It's something he can do independently. I also like that I can log into my parent account and see what problems he has done correctly and what he has missed. This way, I can help him when he needs help.
Whew! There are my homeschool curriculum picks for my 3rd grader this year. I'm really excited for this year because I think we've finally fine-tuned what works for him in terms of curricula choices and how we use those choices. Remember, you don't have to use curricula exactly as they are written. Of course, please do have a reason for veering away from how a curriculum is meant to be used. But remember, homeschooling gives you the freedom to personalize your child's learning.