Your curriculum choice in third grade is an important foundational decision for the rest of your homeschooling years. This is the year your child will transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Third graders also transition to more high-level thinking skills, and this may be the year you decide to start standardized testing. You’ll want to find a third grade homeschool curriculum that leads you and your third grader to success!
What to Look for in a Third Grade Curriculum
Biblical Worldview
A homeschool curriculum that starts with the truth of the Bible as foundational to every subject is presenting a biblical worldview. It will present math, science, history, and literature through the lens of God’s creation, mankind’s fall into sin, and God’s redemption. Biblical integration is not just adding Bible verses to secular curriculum.
Age-appropriate Content
Make sure that the curriculum is appropriate for the age and developmental level of your child. It should build on what your child already knows while working towards more advanced material. Look for content that is engaging and interesting for a third grader. This curriculum will be the foundation for many years of learning to come. As such, it should begin to incorporate the critical thinking skills your child will need for the future.
Balanced Approach
A good homeschool curriculum for third graders should offer a balanced approach to learning, including reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. Make sure the curriculum covers all the necessary academic subjects. Nonacademic subjects are equally important for a well-rounded student. A balanced approach also means providing a variety of instructional strategies to appeal to different learning styles. It recognizes that while content knowledge is important, it is equally crucial to foster critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, communication skills, creativity, collaboration, and other skills. The curriculum should provide plenty of assessment and feedback opportunities to monitor progress and provide support where students need it.
Clear Learning Objectives
The curriculum should have clear learning objectives or goals for each subject. This will help your child learn more effectively and be able to track their progress. Clear learning objectives are specific, measurable statements that outline what students should know, understand, or be able to do by the end of a learning experience, lesson, or instructional unit. These objectives provide a clear direction and focus for teaching and learning. They serve as a guide for planning and assessing student progress. Clear objectives allow you to plan instruction effectively by aligning activities, assessments, and instructional strategies to the desired outcomes.
Adaptability
Look for a curriculum that you can customize to your child’s learning style and pace. It should allow you to tailor the lessons to your child’s needs and interests and also to your daily homeschool schedule. An adaptable curriculum is subject to continuous evaluation and revision. Curriculum developers should be identifying areas for improvement, updating content, and refining instructional strategies. Regular evaluation and revision cycles ensure that the curriculum remains relevant, effective, and responsive to the changing needs of learners and educational contexts. A good homeschool curriculum for third graders should be flexible enough to accommodate changes in your child’s interests and learning needs. It should allow you to skip or add lessons as needed.
Support and Resources
A good curriculum offers support and resources for both you and your child, including teacher editions, lesson plans, and assessments while providing access to additional resources. Many homeschool curricula provide access to online communities or support networks where parents can connect with other homeschooling families, ask questions, share experiences, and seek guidance. These communities can provide a sense of belonging and valuable support for parents. A reputable third grade homeschool curriculum should offer customer support channels, such as email, phone, or online chat. This will help to address any questions or concerns that homeschooling parents may have. Responsive and knowledgeable customer support can help parents navigate the curriculum effectively.
Affordable
Finally, consider the cost of the curriculum. While the quality of the third grade homeschool curriculum is important, it will also need to fit your budget. Remember the trade-off of your time and your money. You might be able to homeschool for less if you are willing and able to invest a lot of time into preparing your lessons and activities. Alternatively, you might decide that the monetary investment of letting a curriculum developer like BJU Press do the heavy lifting for you is a better option.
A Complete Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum
Homeschooling elementary school can be rewarding and fun with the right curriculum in place to support your teaching and your child’s learning. It is important to know what you are looking for in a homeschool curriculum. Parent-led options come with a teacher edition and teaching resources. Independent-learning options come with video courses and online instruction.
Grade 3 Online with Books is the BJU Press full third grade homeschool curriculum with video courses for independent student learning. The Grade 3 Complete Kit includes all of the textbooks, teacher editions, and worktexts you need to teach your child third grade without the video courses.
Highlights of the BJU Press Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum
BJU Press offers a robust third grade homeschool curriculum. It includes student editions, worktexts, teacher editions and assessments.
- Teaches core subjects from a biblical worldview
- Encourages critical thinking skills
- Supports multisensory learning
- Structured on educational best practices
- Revised consistently to stay current
Third Grade Subjects
Math 3
Your third grader will use manipulatives to review place value, multiplication, and division and to introduce common fractions, graphs, and other concepts. It also provides the student with a variety of activities in estimating and practical problem-solving.
Reading 3
Your third grader will build on comprehension and critical thinking while expanding literary skills through group activities and discussion. Students are exposed to age-appropriate selections from a variety of genres with a progression of difficulty that promotes success for all achievement levels. Emphasizes reading comprehension skills through discussion questions and silent and oral reading.
English 3
Your third grader will learn language skills as essential tools for oral and written communication in five areas of life, encouraging students to formulate a biblical worldview of communication in their lives. Communication is important to help us maintain friendships, interact properly with others, get work done, celebrate what we enjoy, and connect with people who are different from us.
Heritage Studies 3
Your third grader will learn United States history through the Civil War era, highlighting God’s and humanity’s activity in human history. Good citizenship and the role of government are featured. A student will see how geography, economics, and cultural factors play a role in historical studies.
Science 3
Your third grader will learn about the solar system, soil, rocks, minerals, fossils, and weather and climate. They will also learn about the cells, tissues, organs, and systems that make up our bodies. Your child will see similarities and differences between warm- and cold-blooded animals and what each of them needs to survive and grow. Your student will see God’s plan for the ecosystems that allow organisms to live in well-suited places and learn how he or she can thrive in the universe God has created.
Spelling 3
Your third grader will extend his or her understanding of phonics patterns, suffixes, and syllable patterns. Word sorting and other activities focus on word features and spelling-meaning connections. Dictionary skills include alphabetical order and the features of a dictionary page.
Handwriting 3
Your third grader will continue to learn good handwriting habits and establish a consistent, legible writing style. Handwriting practices include copying poems, paragraphs, Bible verses, and writing personal compositions. Students learn details about punctuation, margins, and spacing.
Bible Truths 3
Your third grader will learn what it means to follow Christ by exploring Bible accounts in the Old and New Testaments. The Bible curriculum encourages solid Bible study skills. Missionary stories and stories from church history are also included to inspire students and help them apply biblical principles to their everyday lives.
Third grade is a pivotal year in a child’s elementary education. Choosing the right homeschool curriculum for your child is important. As parents, we want our children to be successful. Having the right tools and curriculum for them is a step toward helping them achieve that success for the future.
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Valerie is a wife and a mother to a busy elementary school student. In her free time, she enjoys reading all kinds of books. She earned a B.S. in Biology from Bob Jones University, minoring in Mathematics, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Ohio State University. Valerie has 15 years of experience working in research laboratories and has coauthored 8 original research articles. She has also taught several classes and laboratories at the high school and college levels. She currently works as a Data Analyst and a freelance writer.
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