Two years of homeschooling under my belt, and I feel like I’ve really found my groove. It wasn’t hard to pick curriculum for this coming year. I knew that we wanted to be literature heavy so Build Your Library and Blossom and Root were obviously choices for us overall. Once I started looking into things, I went on a shopping spree and got my ducks in order. The hard part this coming year will be to balance each child’s individual needs and levels. Arthur will be in 3rd grade and Quentin will be in Kindergarten. I am working on creating a schedule that works for everyone while allowing for flexibility.
As a reminder, we are a pretty eclectic household with a strong literature base. My criteria when looking for curriculum:
secular
rigorous
wide world perspective
not necessarily all-in-one
at least some physical items, not all online
cheap (not necessarily the cheapest, but not expensive)
Let’s take a look at what I have for curriculum for next year!
Arthur - 3rd Grade
Math
We will be continuing with Singapore Math Common Core Edition as our base curriculum. Arthur will be starting with 4A and push through 4B. Beyond the basic text, we will be supplementing with Khan Academy, lots of math games, and random workbooks and packets. We will also be continuing with our logic puzzles.
Multiplication and Division G3-4
Random Target Workbook
Scholastic Math Tests G4
Scholastic Math G4
Five Below Random Workbooks
Language Arts
This is Arthur’s grammar workbook selections for this year. We don’t do every page and question, but bounce around between some of them.
Evan Moor Daily Summer Activities 3rd to 4th Grade
Brainquest Summer 3&4
Brainiest 3rd Grade
Grade 3 Complete Curriculum
Evan Moor Daily Language Review 3rd Grade
Scholastic Grammar 3rd Grade
Scholastic Writing 3rd Grade
Scholastic Reading Comprehension 3rd Grade
Scholastic Grammar 4th Grade
Scholastic Writing 4th Grade
Scholastic Reading Comprehension 4th Grade
Five Below Workbooks
Grade 3 Readiness
Arthur’s readers will be a mix of Blossom and Root’s Grade 3 Language Arts, Build Your Library 5, and our home library selections.
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
The Beast of Buckingham Palace by David Walliams (coop book club selection)
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (coop book club selection)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O’Brien
Tristan Strong Destroys the World by Kwame Mbalia
Wildwood by Colin Meloy
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson
The Secrets of Winterhouse by Ben Guterson
The Winterhouse Mysteries by Ben Guterson
The Secret Garden by France Hodgson Burnett
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Insignificant Events int he Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
Readers continued…
El Deafo by Cece Bell
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Word of Mouse by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein (coop book club selection)
Our language arts selections also include a mini unit on Native America stories and one on Shakespeare. I found some interesting resources for those.
In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton
Bravo Mr. William Shakespeare by Marcia Williams
Tales from Shakespeare by Marica Williams
Between Earth and Sky: Legends of Native American Sacred Places by Joseph Bruchac
The Earth Under Sky Bear’s Feet: Native American Poems of the Land by Joseph Bruchac
They Dance in the Sky: Native American Star Myths by Jean Guard Monroe
Pushing Up the Sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children by Joseph Bruchac
And of course we have a stack of poetry selections.
My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg
Poetry for Young People: Walt Whitman
Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson
Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes
Poetry for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe
Social Studies
Arthur’s social studies will focus on the United States to coincide with our history selection.
License Plates Across the America
Nat Geo Kids U.S. Road Trip Atlas
The Geography Book
Evan Moor Geography Skill Sharpeners Grade 5
Target U.S. Workbook
The 50 States Activity Book
As our history base, Arthur is using Build Your Library Level 5 (U.S. History) combined with History Quest’s new U.S. History release.
DK When on Earth?
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK History
Don’t Know Much About The Presidents by Kenneth C. Davis
DK Timeline of Everything
Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents
What Color is My World? The Lost History of African American Investors by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Inventing America: The Life of Benjamin Franklin by Mark Regan Essig
Remember the Ladies: 100 Great American Women by Cheryl Harness
Evan Moor Native Americans History Pockets
A Kid’s Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis
Lewis and Clark for Kids by
Target U.S. Presidents Workbook
The American Revolution for Kids
A Kid’s Guide to African American History by Nancy I. Sanders
The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton
Our history curriculum has a ton of extra readers. I’m very excited to get to all of these.
Which Way to the Wild West by Steve Sheinkin
Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin
Day of Tears by Julius Lester
Sarah Journey’s West by Nikki Shannon Smith
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Chains by Laurie Halse Andreson
Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson
In the Shadow of Liberty by Kenneth C. Davis
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
A Different Mirror for Young People by Ronald Takaki
Pocahontas by Josephy Bruchac
The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac
Morning Girl by Michael Dorris
A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Sunnie Press Maps
Science
Our science is going to be a combination of Build Your Library Level 8 (history of science), Level 4 (Physics), and RSO Physics. Lots of interesting combinations.
Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia
DK Science Year by Year
The Handy Science Answer Guide
A History of Earth in 100 Groundbreaking Discoveries by Douglas Palmer
Introducing Quantum Theory
In addition to our formal science curriculum, we will be doing a variety of nature science lessons. We still have a ton of leftover lessons and resources from last year.
Art
This is actually all the art books for Quentin and Arthur. I took just one picture. Each one of their Build Your Library levels has a related art book to dip in and out of. Arthur’s selection is Great American Artists for Kids book to go along with U.S. History. Beyond that book, I imagine that we will occasionally do a art lesson on other people and styles. Plus, coop is supposed to be starting an art class. Very excited about this possibility.
