welcome to third grade

with the school year upon us, i thought i would share some of my plans for B's third grade. it will be very different this year with both of the boys away at school. but i am looking forward to having the one-on-one time with B and giving her my undivided attention for a change. in addition to regular school work, i would like to teach her to sew and knit, and i will have her spend more time helping me in the kitchen baking and cooking.



one of the wonderful things about homeschooling is the freedom to pursue a child's special talents and interests. i want our school to include an element of delight driven learning, so i asked B what she wanted to learn about this year. without hesitation, she answered, "HORSES!" i suspected this would be the case, that is why i picked up beautiful feet's literature study on the history of horses.

here are some of the books that are used with our horse study. B has been watching our stack grow as they have been delivered from amazon and ebay over the last few weeks. and as the stack has grown, so has her excitement for school to begin!

i came across a child's geography at the end of last school year and bought it, intending to begin this fall. but when it came in the mail and i read through some of the lessons, i could. not. wait. we dug right in! i love how each lesson gives a spiritual aspect to our world, to the people who live here, and to the Creator. the reader is motivated to action; making this world a better place by loving those around us and taking up our God-given responsibility to tend this earth. this book is a gem!

we have really loved this series of elementary science books put out by apologia! and this year we will be working on zoology 3: land animals of the sixth day.

B started out in latin last year with prima latina, so we will be moving up to latina christiana I this year. now, before you think i am task master, i must say that B requested latin last year...yes, she is a much different student than her brothers! ;o)

we will be using The Phonetic Zoo for our spelling program from the institute for excellence in writing. we will also be using the writing program.

we will continue on with our little house unit studies alternating this with our horse study and beyond five in row unit studies. we will start each day with our veritas press Bible cards and prayer time. don't worry, we will try to find time for math, handwriting, and grammar, too!

i know, i know. this is a lot of curriculum, there is so much good stuff out there! but as much as i love all these great books, our favorite kind of learning is still a nature walk, reading a classic aloud, working side by side on the farm, baking muffins together in the kitchen and sharing them with tea, classical music and a poetry reading. oh, how blessed i am to be a homeschool mom!

everyday gift: learning at home