I began homeschooling my oldest daughter in the fall of 2014. I started homeschool preschool with her when she was 2.5 years old. After two years of preschool work, she started kindergarten in September when she was 4.5 years old. She completed all her kindergarten level work in May, so I graduated her to first grade when she was 5.5 years old. She then moved onto second grade when she was a little older than 7. When she finished her second grade work, I moved her onto third grade. My son will start his third grade work in October of this year when he is 8 years old. My second and third daughters will start grade 3 around age 8 as well. If you are interested in any of the materials, easily find copies on Amazon via my affiliate links.
Originally published on February 11, 2019. Updated on July 19, 2022.
Reading
After my daughter completed the second level of the McGraw-Hill Reading series, I moved her on to the third level (Book 1, Book 2). Each lesson begins with a “Stories in Art” reading passage for the child to read and then a read-together section on the author and/or illustrator of the subsequent reading. At the end of the reading are questions for the child to answer and some additional language arts activities. The reading become a little more difficult with each lesson and book. I also purchased the accompanying practice book for additional practice on vocabulary, story comprehension, and other related language arts topics.
Grammar
Because of the many errors and problems in the grammar books for third grade currently available, I wrote my own third grade grammar workbook for my children. A Form-Function English Grammar: Level 3 is the third workbook in the elementary series that builds up to A Form-Function Description of the Grammar of the Modern English Language, a textbook and workbook that provides a descriptive grammar that strives to provide an objective description of English as used without value judgements.
The goal of Level 3 is to reinforce the word classes (parts of speech, grammatical forms) of English taught in Level 1 and Level 2. Level 3 includes nouns, determiners, pronouns, verbs, modal verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and interjections. Level 3 introduces additional pronouns and also introduces adjective phrases, determiner phrases, subject complements, gerunds, present participles as noun phrase modifiers, past participles, perfect aspect, adverb phrases and adverb phrase modifiers, functions of prepositional phrases, verb phrase complements, adjective phrase complements, adverbials, subordinating conjunctions (adverbializers), adverb clauses, main clauses, and sentence fragments.
Level 3 is recommended for ages 7 to 8 in second grade through third grade.
The answers to all the activities are located at the end of the workbook.
Writing
For writing, I chose The Grammar & Writing Book: Grade 3, which is a 266-page grammar and writing book that expands on the information learned in the second grade edition through grammar instruction and practice, writing craft and models, and writing and grammar test preparation. The 30 lessons cover a variety of grammar and writing topics appropriate for third grade students including sentences, word order, parts of speech, punctuation, and paragraphs.
I also included Grammar and Punctuation, Grade 3 in our writing lessons as supplement practice on important grammar and punctuation rules. The black-and-white workbook covers 25 grammatical and punctuation topics including conjunctions, parts of speech, subject-verb agreement, present and past tenses, commas, and quotation marks that build on the topics learned in the second grade edition. Each section includes four pages of instruction and activities for a total of 25 instructional pages and 75 practice pages. I use the workbook as extra practice for concepts covered in The Grammar & Writing Book.
I heavily modify The Grammar & Writing Book and Grammar and Punctuation because of the errors in the grammar sections.
I am also continuing lessons on handwriting within our writing lessons. My daughter continues to learn cursive writing using the second half of The Brainy Book of Handwriting as well as Cursive Writing (Practice Makes Perfect), Learning to Write Cursive, and Cursive Writing. I also created my own handwriting worksheets with the Startwrite program.
Spelling
Rather than continuing with word lists for spelling, my daughter and I began doing word study using Structured Word Inquiry. Each week she and I chose a base word or two to study. I am also using the InSight Words (Volume 1, Volume 2, Supplement, and Inflections) from Linguist-Educator Exchange.
I also created the Teach a Student to Spell: Level 3 workbook for spelling lessons. Teach a Student to Spell: Level 3 is the third follow-up workbook to the Teach a Student to Read reading program, which strives to teach students accurate and complete information about the English spelling system. Level 3 consists of 36 spelling lists of 12 words each. The spelling lists are based on the most common words in English and various sight word lists. The first goal of Level 3 is to teach more spellings of the most common English words and common English bases. Each list reinforces the graphemes taught in Teach a Student to Read. Some complex words are also introduced. Related words are noted. The second goal of Level 3 is to teach more English suffixes and spelling rules. Level 3 also introduces prefixes and connecting vowels. Words from Level 1 and Level 2 sometimes appear in Level 3 to reinforce spelling rules with prefixes and suffixes. Level 3 introduces word sums that contain three or more morphemes.
Vocabulary
My children began using McGraw-Hill Education Vocabulary Grades 3-5 to expand their vocabulary.
Math
For third grade math lessons, I selected Singapore Math Level 3 (US Edition) including the Home Instructor’s Guide (3A, 3B). The two textbooks in Level 3 teach mathematical concepts, and the workbooks provide additional independent practice. The US Edition has been minimally modified from the original Singapore edition to teach American money and include American English spellings. The textbooks follow a unique pattern of moving from hands-on demonstrations to picture drawings (concrete examples with pictures) and finally to the abstract (numbers and symbols) in a natural, easy-to-understand progression. The program aims to teach children to learn to think mathematically rather than just being able to solve math problems.
- Brainy Book of Time and Money
- DK Workbooks: Money Math, Third Grade
- Common Core Third Grade Workbook: Multiplication
- Common Core Third Grade Workbook: Division
Science
For science lessons, I selected the textbook Harcourt Science: Grade 3 and the accompanying workbook. The 720-page textbook contains six units that cover the topics of plants and animals, environments, Earth science, weather and space, matter and energy, and forces and motion. Each unit is broken down into smaller chapters and lessons. I especially like the questions at the end of each lesson, which allow my daughter to reflect on the information learned. consumable workbook reinforces the information from each lesson through vocabulary sheets, quick study guides, and writing practice.
After finishing the grade 2 social studies textbook and workbook, my daughter moved on to the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Our Communities Grade 3 textbook and the accompanying workbook. The 295-page hardback book covers various social studies topics such as community, geography, history, and culture. The text is easy enough for my daughter to read on her own but engaging enough to keep her attention and provide adequate information on each topic. The accompanying 72-page workbook is essential for reinforcing the lessons in the textbook and covers vocabulary, writing, and other activities.
After completing the Ancient Civilizations activity book during first grade and Native Americans during second grade, my daughter and I moved on to History Pockets: Life in Plymouth Colonies, Grades 1-3. The activity book covers the Voyage to the New World, The New World, Building a Village, Home Sweet Home, The Family, Working in Plymouth Colony, Going to School, and What Did the Pilgrims Give Us. Each reproducible section contains words to know, information booklet complete with illustrations, arts and crafts projects, and writing activities. My daughter and I again completed each section over one or two days with a culminating portfolio to show her study of the Plymouth Colony.
Health/Life Skills
For health lessons, I opted to continue using the same textbook series, Harcourt Health & Fitness: Grade 3 and the accompanying workbook. The 344-page hardback book covers health topics including your growing body, caring for your body, caring for your teeth, food for fitness, keeping fit and active, avoiding danger, staying safe, staying well, medicines and drugs, your feelings, your family, and caring for your neighborhood. The accompanying workbook provides practice that reinforces the information from each lesson. Most of the worksheet pages cover two or three lessons per page.
For art lessons, I continued using the 13 Children Should Know series of books. For third grade, I used 13 Artists Children Should Know, Impressionism: 13 Artists Children Should Know, and 13 Art Inventions Children Should Know. We also used YouTube and Facebook Live to learn more about various artists, artworks, and art styles.
Spanish
I continued to incorporate The Complete Book of Spanish, Grades 1-3 into our third grade curriculum. Recommended for students in first through third grade, the 416-page full-color workbook covers topics such as numbers, letters, parts of speech, expressions, days of the week, months of the year, family terms, and community terms.
My children also continued using Rosetta Stone in second grade to continue developing Spanish as their foreign language.
Image Credits
All images via Amazon
