Wooh! Things have been BUSY over here! We finished our Underground Railroad unit and took a week off of school. We're raring to go again next week, but I thought I'd share our 3rd grade plans for 2021-2022 before the weekend takes over.
3rd Grade Plans for 2021-2022
3rd Grade Core Curriculum
As I mentioned in my 7th Grade Plans and High School Plans articles, we are using Gather Round Homeschool curriculum as our family core curriculum. Last year, Little Miss used the Early Reader Student Notebooks. This year, we're moving her up to the Early Elementary Student Notebook.
We purchase the Family Bundle (Digital) so if I find that the work is too much for her, I'll bump her back to Early Reader. I only print one unit at a time, so I can gauge it as we go.
I allowed the kids to each pick two units for our upcoming school year. The units we're hoping to complete for 2021-2022, including their choices, include:
- Underground to Canada (a mini unit)
- Artists (Little Miss' choice)
- Africa
- Ancients
- Christmas Around the World (a mini unit)
- Australia
- Transport (Little Miss' choice)
- South America
Our first unit this year was the Underground to Canada unit.
It was ah-maz-ing! As part of our unit, we went on an Underground Railroad Tour in our area. Mr. Robinson is an amazing tour guide, and I would highly recommend his tour to anyone visiting the Alton, Illinois area!
Our next unit will the the Artists unit, which Little Miss chose. We're only planning to finish 6 full units and 2 mini units for 2021-2022. That's one less full unit than we completed last year, but each kiddo has a full schedule at our homeschool co-op.
3rd Grade Math
Little Miss will continue using Teaching Textbooks online math program for Math this year. She'll be using Math 4.
Little Miss started Math 3 mid-semester last fall, and worked really hard to be able to move to Math 4 this year. I am so incredibly proud of her. I love that Teaching Textbooks is math for struggling or gifted learners, and everyone in between!
Teaching Textbooks 4.0 is a totally self-directed homeschool math curriculum.
Check out a free trial of Teaching Textbooks 4.0 today and see for yourself how well it fits into your homeschool plans!
While I do offer a little more oversight with her math than I do my older two, she's typically pretty independent.
I'm really excited to be able to host a Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Giveaway for readers for one student for Teaching Textbooks 4.0. Check it out!
3rd Grade Science
Little Miss loves to experiment in the kitchen, so we're going to check out the Introduction to Food Science for Kids course.
Introduction to Food Science For Kids! is written for children as young as 6. The book contains 15 sections with fun experiments including Soft and Fresh to Stale and Old: Bread, Plus Egg Men Attack!, Fun with Cows and Whipping Cream!, Gluey, Gooey Gluten…in our Food? and more!
She says she wants to learn all about candy. While I'm certain she just wants candy at the end of the day, we are going to take some time to learn about the history of candy, what “candy” means in different cultures, how to make candy, etc. We'll watch a few fun films, like Willy Wonka. We're going to do some fun projects from the candy experiments book I bought, and if I can find them, some candy tours.
Candy Experiments contains 70 science experiments, 29 of which have never been previously published. Chapter themes include secret ingredients, blow it up, sink and float, squash it, and other fun experiments about color, density, and heat.
I'll also be snagging some candy kits from Home Science Tools to explore with her. I'm looking at these kits and trying to decide which to do first…
- Make Your Own Chocolate Kit
- Make Your Own Gum Kit
- Make Your Own Make Your Own Gummies Kit
- Thames & Kosmos Rainbow Gummy Candy Lab
- Thames & Kosmos Candy Chemistry
- Fizz Wizard & Jammin' Jelly Kit
- Rock Candy Crystal Growing Experiment Kit
I'm sure we'll end up doing several, and she'll be an expert on candy by the end of the year. LOL. Homeschool Share also has a fun chocolate unit study we may check out, too.
She is very much my hands on, feel it learn it, kid, so we'll also be using a Four Pack Bundle of science kits from Yellow Scope throughout the year.
- Foundation Chemistry: Beakers & Bubbles
- Acids, Bases & pH: Cabbage Chemistry
- Paper Chromatography: The Art & Science of Color
- DNA & Traits: From Codes to Creatures
I'll add whatever hands on experiments and projects I can throughout the year, in order to keep her busy and engaged. She's the kid that will get herself into trouble if she doesn't have plenty of things to do.
3rd Grade Language Arts
My goal for language arts this year is to instill a love for reading like her love for candy. With that in mind, she'll be using Lightsail for Homeschoolers.
LightSail for Homeschoolers is a platform with tens of thousands of books and multimedia resources from leading publishers such as World Book and Lerner Publishing, as well as trusted homeschool and faith-based publishers.
Read more about it in my LightSail for Homeschoolers article.
3rd Grade Reading Books
She has a stack of reading books that she's excited to plow through. Here are a few that are in her stack.
Meet Fiona the Hippo: Level 1 (I Can Read! / A Fiona the Hippo Book)
Fiona Saves the Day: Level 1 (I Can Read! / A Fiona the Hippo Book)Fiona and the Rainy Day: Level 1 (I Can Read! / A Fiona the Hippo Book)Fantastic Fiona: Level 1 (I Can Read! / A Fiona the Hippo Book)Fiona, It's Bedtime (A Fiona the Hippo Book)SHARP EYE: The Eagle Who Thought He Was a Chicken (Sharp Eye Series)SHARP EYE and the Greedy Bear (Sharp Eye Series)SHARP EYE and the Chimp Who Was Glued to a Screen (Sharp Eye Series)SHARP EYE and the Falcon Who Was TrappedSHARP EYE and the Peacock Who Was Full of Himself (Sharp Eye Series)SHARP EYE and the Rabbit Who Wanted to Be Someone Else (Sharp Eye Series)SHARP EYE and the Elephants Who Didn't Know They Were Strong (Sharp Eye Series)Summer LifeguardsSummer Lifeguards: Jenna Tests the Waters (Summer Lifeguards, 2)Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad: Absolute Hero (Book 1)Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret (Book 1) (Explorer Academy, 1)Explorer Academy: The Falcon's Feather (Book 2) (Explorer Academy, 2)Explorer Academy: The Double Helix (Book 3) (Explorer Academy, 3)Explorer Academy: The Star Dunes (Book 4) (Explorer Academy, 4)Explorer Academy: The Tiger's Nest (Book 5) (Explorer Academy, 5)Explorer Academy: The Dragon's Blood (Book 6)
The Explorer Academy series she keeps re-appropriating from her brother's room, and I'm sure there's going to be squabbles over them. It's such a fun series. Enter to win the first book, Explorer Academy – The Nebula Secret today!
Author Elizabeth Doyle Carey has graciously agreed to give one lucky reader the Summer Lifeguards series, books 1-4, all signed by herself. Enter in the giveaway widget below!
3rd Grade Social Studies
Little Miss is taking an “I survived” class at co-op that will use some of the beloved I Survived series of books. In this class, she will travel back in time to learn about famous historical natural disasters! She’ll learn about the country where the disaster took place, all about the disasters themselves, and what it was like to live through it. Her co-op class will be focused mostly on hands on projects and activities with a little bit of reading comprehension thrown in. The reading will be done as homework each week before going to class. I'm looking forward to reading these with her!
I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 (I Survived #7) (7)I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 [I SURVIVED I SURVIVED THE SINK] [Paperback]I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005
![I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 [I SURVIVED I SURVIVED THE SINK] [Paperback]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51uEP9MZwyL._SL500_.jpg)
3rd Grade Electives
Intro to Dance
Little Miss took an Intro to Dance class at co-op last year and absolutely loved it. She'll be taking the upper elementary class this year. Each class will consist of 25 minutes of stretching and technical classical training to ensure safety and a decent knowledge base for each student. A short dance piece will be taught and performed each semester.
We may also look at dance classes at a local studio.
Etiquette
Little Miss will be taking at Etiquette class the first semester at co-op.
Using one of the programs from The Etiquette Factory, she will be taught etiquette skills in short lessons. Then, she'll have a chance to discuss the skills and ask questions. Finally, the class will complete activities to reinforce the skills. We will discuss what she has learned each week, she'll have opportunity to be practicing some of the skills at home, like properly setting the dinner table.
Tinkering
Little Miss is very creative, so I signed her up for a Tinkering class. She will explore stem concepts with hands on learning using supplies that are up-cycled. Every week she will create something new! In this fun class, she will have the freedom to work on projects given the supplies we have on hand that week. She will get to explore, create and tinker and she'll have so much fun doing it with friends.
Gramma in a Box
While it won't count toward her science hours, she'll also be using
Singing Made Easy Level 1 course from Music in Our Homeschool. 
We'll also be using the A Year of Charlotte Mason Music Lessons or the Great Hymns of Faith study for all the kiddos.
