Daily and Weekly Schedule
Every day the student should spend between 20 and 40 minutes on each of the following:
- Phonics (including reading aloud)
- Mathematics
Every day the student should spend about 1-1/2 hours, divided into two 45-minute morning and afternoon sessions on the following:
- Reading
Every day the student should have two sessions of the following, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, no more than 20 minutes each:
- Copywork and writing
In addition, each of the following subjects should get at least 20 to 40 minutes at some point during the week:
- Art
- Music
- Handicrafts
- Nature Study/Science/Health
Do not neglect the fact that kids need recesses for lunch and in the morning and afternoon!
Subjects
Phonics/Grammar
As kids transition into the third grade, phonics should have been well-mastered, and the emphasis switches to grammar. If your child is still a little hesitant with phonics, use the Word Mastery program for the daily phonics exercises.
Goals:
Parts of Speech: Proper nouns, pronouns, verb tense, singular & plural nouns, singular & plural verbs, and interrogatives
If the parent-educator is having difficulty with these topics, we have included Elementary English Grammar by Reed and Kellogg to help. Cover lessons 1-19.
Reading
In third grade, about half of reading is aloud so that the parent educator can assist as may be required and actively gauge the child’s progress. The remainder of the reading is done silently; but the child should write down any words that are giving difficulty so they can be elucidated later.
Likewise, there is reading in school, and reading during liesure time. Reading during liesure time can be from the liesure reading list below, and from such other appropriate books as the parent educator chooses.
For in-school reading:
Start with McGuffy’s Third Eclectic Reader, two 30-minute sessions daily (one in the morning, one in the afternoon) until completed.
After that:
On Mondays: The Heroes by Kingsley (about one chapter daily) followed by Stories of Great Inventors (about 5 pages daily until complete).
On Tuesdays and Thursdays: Nesbit’s Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare, 1/3rd to 1/2 story per day until complete
On Wednesdays: The Awakening of Europe, two chapters daily followed by A Book of Discovery, one chapter daily.
On Fridays: Free choice from the third grade book list.
Third Grade Book List:
The Bobbsey Twins at Home
A Jungle Book (This text was included in the first grade for the parent to read to the child. In third grade, the students reads it alone.)
Just So Stories (This text was included in the first grade for the parent to read to the child. In third grade, the students reads it alone.)
The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake
Cast Upon the Breakers
Tom Swift and his Airship
Other titles worth considering that aren’t included in the curriculum:
Other Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift and Horatio Alger books
On the Banks of Plum Creek and Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald
Stories of Don Quixote by James Baldwin
Five Litte Peppers Midway by Margaret Sidney
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
The Little Lame Prince by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Writing
At this level, children should be able to compose short stories without assistance. Have children compose a one-page story or report once a week; perhaps involving something from the free reading. There’s no need to be especially critical at this age; but be consistent in grading spelling.
Copywork — in which kids copy something that someone else has written — provides important practice with letter formation along with exposure to correct spelling, good grammar, and important ideas. Practically anything suitable for reading at the child’s level is suitable for copywork. The length of the material should be suited to keep total time spent writing to less than 20 minutes per session. In third grade and beyond, a second session can be added as long as it is at least 3 hours after completion of the first session.
At this age, students can copy directly from books onto lined writing paper.
Penmanship — in third grade, kids need to learn cursive. For this, we have provided The Palmer Method, one of the most famous and efficacious methods ever devised; and used in schools throughout the United States for decades. This book is, of course, for you (the parent educator) to read and use in teaching your child. There is an error in the book in that a few pages are displaced in the scan. Once the student has completed the lessons in this book, all further copywork should be done in cursive!
Spelling
Select 15 words per week, giving preference to words your child spelled incorrectly during writing exercises. If there aren’t fifteen words, supplement with words from McGuffy’s. As part of spelling exercises, have your child use every word in a sentence to make sure the meaning is understood.
In addition, you should assign your child one lesson per week from Word Lessons. (Don’t worry that all the lessons won’t be completed — the remainder are for fourth grade. Only complete lessons 1-36 in third grade.)
Mathematics
Goals:
- Multiplication tables 2 through 12
- Multiplication
- Division without remainders
- Fraction addition with common denominators
- Fraction subtraction with common denominators
Arithmetic, Lower Book by Sutton and Bruce likewise covers first through sixth grade.
School Arithmetic covers everything for grades one through four.
We’d suggest using lessons as needed from both books. Don’t forget that the secret to mastery at this level is practice, practice practice!
Art/Handicrafts/Music
Art can serve a dual purpose — both artistic and educational.
Get creative with collages, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, boxes, construction paper, water colors, scissors and glue! Try to come up with art and handicraft projects that complement a story being read, or that highlight another subject being learned. Don’t neglect a trip to the art museum.
Music is an important part of optimum brain development in children. Shakers, tambourines and bongo drums are appropriate for grades 1-4, after which more formalized study of particular instruments is a good idea. Find appropriate children’s music for kids to play (and sing!).
Science/Nature Study/Health
Now, in third grade, is a good time to get more methodical about science!
Anna Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study is comprehensive, geared toward primary school instruction, and has helpful hints for parent-educators. This book is a REFERENCE, and not intended as primary material. Rather, it is used to further elucidate subjects described more basically in other books.
For the child’s direct study, explore one chapter weekly from Arabella Buckley’s Fairy Land of Science. It would be useful to provide real-world experience to supplement the lessons. Although this book is old (pre-1900) it nevertheless provides perfectly good and useful information. It is also conveniently broken up into weekly lectures.
After this:
- Obtain the chemistry set called Kitchen Table Chemistry from the Wild Goose Science Company. (Current cost $30). This has 21 activities. Do one activity each week.