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The Best Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum | Tips and Recommendations

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You may find by the time you are putting together your third grade homeschool curriculum you may have found what you are using is a perfect fit for your child’s learning style. Also, you’ll love my page Homeschool Curriculum for more ideas and grade level curriculum. Too, look at my page How To Homeschool Elementary Students Like A Pro.

Orr you may need to change some or all of your curriculum up.

I have a few unique suggestions for every subject as well as a handful of extras and some tips for choosing and using a third-grade curriculum.

By third grade your child can be a bit more independent in his work.

The Best Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum | Tips and Recommendations

He can understand more complicated math concepts and read at a higher level which means you may have to dig a little deeper to challenge them.

This is a transitional year that moves them from the most basic of learning to more complex topics and challenges like perfecting their cursive and preparation for higher math like double digit multiplication.

At this age children should be learning about the six areas of geography.

The Best Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum | Tips and Recommendations

The 6 areas include the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and how geography is used.

Third Grade Homeschool Tips and Recommendations

  • Read to them every day with fantastic classic books, fairy tales, and new engaging chapter books to help develop language, vocabulary, and of course imagination.
  • Also include quiet reading time. Add anytime of day including right before bed.
  • Create a schedule that works for your family, if you work during the day, start school in the afternoon and finish up in the evening or dive right into learning in the morning right after breakfast.
  • You can begin to challenge them with more involved projects like dioramas, and expect more details in their writing.
  • Practice parts of speech in silly and memorable ways like with mad libs in addition to or instead of worksheets for a learning experience that feels more like fun.
  • Purchase or check out a wide variety of beautiful science picture books to naturally incorporate reading and science into the day.

Next, look at more curriculum recommendations.

Best Homeschool Curriculum For All Grades

3rd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Recommendations

The Best Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum | Tips and Recommendations.

The Best First Grade Homeschool Curriculum | 7 Tips And Recommendations

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Let’s look at first grade homeschool curriculum recommendations that work for different types of learners and fit different budgets. Also, you’ll love my page Homeschool Curriculum for more ideas.

Also, look at my page How To Homeschool Elementary Students Like A Pro.

First grade is such a fun and exciting time when your sweet little baby starts to lose those squeezable cheeks as they get taller and are ready for a bit more structured learning in the important subjects.

The Best First Grade Homeschool Curriculum | 7 Tips And Recommendations

They are also usually working on reading and writing and it’s amazing to watch those little neurons fire in their brains as they’re absorbing and processing so much new information.

They may be learning to read or may be moving from picture books to simple chapter books.

As you know kids learn and grow at different levels not only physically but cognitively as well.

First grade typically brings about learning addition, subtraction, place value, skipping counting, time, shapes, geometry, and multiplication, upper and lowercase letters, storytelling, and punctuation.

I have 7 tips for putting together your own.

We will cover the main subjects, and touch on a few fun extras to make it special.

7 Tips and Recommendations

  1. Find your child’s learning style so that you can help them learn and grow to their greatest potential.
  2. While print can already be challenging it is a good idea to begin cursive instruction early. Even children with writing challenges like dysgraphia find this to be easier than print and they are really ready to pick up new skills at this age.
  3. Stay organized and have materials ready ahead of time, if you are spending 30 minutes scrambling around to find materials while your child waits at the table they will get bored very quickly.
  4. Continue to keep lessons short, extending them just a little longer than their Kindergarten year to make the most of their attention spans- 15 minutes per lesson is generally a good rule of thumb.
  5. Include lots of movement into your day, kids this age have a lot of energy and need to get moving to develop fine and gross motor skills but also it helps with brain function.
  6. If you haven’t started with chapter books for reading aloud incorporate them now, a chapter a day is a wonderful way to begin your morning snuggled up on the couch.
  7. Be sure that you have established a flexible daily routine/schedule so that your child begins to learn what is expected each day but allow for a change of plans when the weather is extra nice or someone is under the weather.
The Best First Grade Homeschool Curriculum | 7 Tips And Recommendations

More First Grade Curriculum Tips

Best Homeschool Curriculum By Grade

Finally, look at these recommendations.

1st Grade Homeschool Curriculum Recommendations

The main focus at this age is math and reading along with social and important social-emotional skills.

The Best Homeschool Preschool Curriculum | Tips And Recommendations

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Choosing the best homeschool preschool curriculum can be really easily. Also, you’ll love my page Homeschool Curriculum for more ideas and grade level curriculum. And my page How to Homeschool Preschool.

You don’t need to buy a box or prepared curriculum but rather learn through play. 

Learning through play can be easily directed by the parent (but not forced) to create a rich learning environment.

It should be more like fun and naturally being introduced to math, science, history, language arts, and more.

The Best Homeschool Preschool Curriculum | Tips And Recommendations

Preschoolers don’t need to worry about writing yet.

It is more important to build up their fine motor skills.

And this is easily done by building with blocks, playing with playdough, buttoning and unbuttoning their clothing, and digging in the dirt.

This can be as simple as putting letters in a sensory bin and asking them to find the letter that their name starts with or counting out crackers for a snack.

Common Household Items for Play Based Learning

You can use much of what you already have in your own home to teach preschoolers.

For example look at these items:

  • inexpensive craft supplies,
  • blunt scissors,
  • measuring cups/spoons,
  • beans for manipulatives,
  • toys for practicing beginning letter sounds,
  • cooking utensils for pouring and measuring,
  • mini scale,
  • crayons,
  • seeds,
  • analog clocks with hands and minutes,
  • maps, and anything else you can think of.

But for some structure that is still enjoyable, I have recommendations for each subject to help you facilitate a wonderful early learning environment.

Themes are especially fun in preschool and can be used to create a homeschool preschool curriculum with all the subjects.

Some favorites for us were farm, construction, space, dinosaurs, winter, and pets.

Focus on letter and number recognition, simple counting, read-aloud, and lots of play for little ones. 

The Best Homeschool Preschool Curriculum | Tips And Recommendations

Also, look at more tips for teaching preschoolers.

More Homeschool Preschool Curriculum Tips

Best Homeschool Curriculum By Grade

Finally, look at these recommendations.

13 Preschool Homeschool Curriculum Options

Look at what your homeschool preschool curriculum might look like with some suggestions for activities, books, and learning ideas.

6 Resources for Making Homeschool High School Science Easy

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 6 resources for making homeschool high school science easy. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

Science has been a subject that we have always tried to add naturally into our day.

Too, I folded it into our unit studies even at the high school level.

However, we do love spending our time reading about history and geography.

So, I wanted to be sure as the boys entered high school that they received more formal training in science.

6 Resources for Making Homeschool High School Science Easy

It didn’t mean we had to give up our hands-on things we were doing with our unit studies, but I wanted to be sure our activities were high school level because I wanted our transcript to reflect that.

Like history, science is a subject that you and your teen need to determine how in depth to cover it.

Though my boys loved science, like me, they had a bent toward history and geography so that did affect their choice as to curriculum.

If you’re a science minded family, its important which science track your teens takes.

Even if your teen is not choosing a career in science, the advantages of covering science at the high school level go far beyond just college or career.

5 Questions Before Purchasing A High School Science Program

Before I mention those advantages for us, look at these things to mull over before you pull the trigger on a high school science program.

  • Do you want to only cover the  major sciences like biology, chemistry and physics?
  • Do you want to cover subjects outside the traditional subjects, like astronomy or botany? Having homeschooled from the beginning, this is what appealed to my sons. They could feed their minds on subjects they were passionate about. So not only does science stir up a deep appreciation for creation, but the logical thought process that science teaches sticks with your child lifelong.
  • Does a Christian or secular view matter?
  • Is any teacher prep involved?
  • What kind of costs are involved for hands-on and lab? We stuck to curriculum that just used items we could find around the house and purchased a few other things like microscopes and lab things, but for the most part, we just used what we had.

Mr. Senior 2013, enjoyed the textbook approach of Apologia during his junior years but when it came to high school, he wanted a change.

He was pursuing some electives like public speaking that he wanted to focus on and writing.

But first, look at some of these how to homeschool high school books.

How to Homeschool High School Books & Resources

How to homeschool high school can be daunting at first. With a little help and these great resources, you’ll be a homeschool pro in no time.

Too, Apologia had advanced courses like Advanced Physics that I knew we could come back to later if he wanted to pursue science in more depth.

So after reading about the interactive content Switched-on Schoolhouse used, he decided to use SOS Integrated Physics & Chemistry.He enjoyed the video clips, animations and games.

He ended up really liking their courses because they had courses that were outside of the traditional approach and kept science fun for him.

That program was discontinued but I find that 1) Glencoe Science Integrated Physics and Chemistry was similar and used with my second son.

Too, courses like 2) family consumer science are offered. Such practical courses in preparation for adulthood are sometimes not easy to find.

So, my next son didn’t follow a traditional approach either.

Random Efforts Can Pay Off

He liked more of a simplified approach to science and wanted to study only subjects that interested him like the stars.

So we used 3) Lift Up Your Eyes On High: Understanding the Stars (Christian Liberty Press High School Curriculum) .

And he also liked 4) Biology: A Search For Order in Complexity, 2nd Edition.

Too, Christian Liberty Press borrows some of their books from A Beka and Bob Jones.

Then for Mr. Awesome 2015 we also used part of 5) Biology by Bob Jones and then back to Christian Liberty Press for part of Chemistry or it was really by Bob Jones.

Lastly, we loved the straightforward approach of 6) Lifepacs. They are like worktexts which are good for independent learners. We loved Lifepac Biology.

Mr. Senior 2015 stayed on just one or two science providers.

Mr. Awesome 2015 was all over the place on subjects but liked the combinations.

Too, the process of scientific investigation is critical to higher thinking skills and logical thinking ability is a lost art not just among teens, but among adults too.

These are skill sets my boys should have.

So we didn’t follow a traditional approach by a family that would be pursuing a science career.

But we enjoyed having the variety of topics that fed my sons’ curiosity at the high school level,

However, it kept their passion for science.

What has worked for your family or what are you mulling over?

More High School Science Tips

6 Resources for Making Homeschool High School Science Easy @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

16 Beautiful Picture Science Books for Kindergarteners

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Let’s fill up those bookshelves with quality beautiful picture science books for kindergarteners. Also, grab my other tips, ideas, and crafts for kindergarten on my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum.

You want to choose books that will last and be treasured for years to come as reference books, read aloud, and even inspiration for art.

These books should be a combination of nonfiction and fiction, biographies, nature study, and living books.

16 Beautiful Picture Science Books for Kindergarteners

And I also like to make sure some have real life images as well as beautiful illustrations.

But for the most part you want to selectively choose books that follow a few guidelines to make sure that you are getting 3 things.

They are the most bang for your buck-quality and content, books that will last for more than one quick lesson, and most important books that will engage and teach your kids in a fun way.

Gail Gibbons is always a go to, as are Julia Rothmans Anatomy series, The Big Book of series, as well as the Over and Under books. 

They create a lovely library of reference and read aloud books which will give your child more science knowledge than daily worksheets will.

I have 5 tips to help you choose your books and then an expansive list of 16 of my favorite picture science books for Kindergarteners.

5 Tips for Choosing Picture Science Books For Kindergarteners

  1. Choose beautifully illustrated oversized picture books that have small bits of information. Most children of this age only will be able to sit for small amounts of time and this is a great way to present the information by reading a bit while you look at the images. Eye catching illustrations will invite questions, investigation, and interest.
  2. Try to choose books that will have use far beyond the kindergarten years,books like the Nature Anatomy series and The Big Book of series have value that will last in my opinion at least through middle school for some reference and definitely as art inspiration when painting, putting together dioramas and more.
  3. Gather a variety to cover all the sciences in the early years. There are typically 3 types of science covered in kindergarten- physical, earth/space, and life science. Choose interesting books for each topic and theme. Concentrate more heavily on your child’s favorites like dinosaurs or bees.
  4. Select a mix of nonfiction, wordless picture books, read aloud, as well as books your child can read independently. Give them variety and make them accessible to your child, teaching them to care for their books.
  5. There are plenty of books out there now about the people of science-Ada Twist Scientist, Temple Grandin, and Eugenie Clark to name a few, don’t forget to choose some of these as well to inspire your child and highlight the contributions they made.
16 Beautiful Picture Science Books for Kindergarteners

Next, look at some kindergarten science activities to pair with the books.

Kindergarten Science Activities

16 Beautiful Picture Science Books for Kindergarteners

 I have done my best to give you a variety of topics, styles, and prices to help you create a wonderful science library made up of beautiful picture science books. Let’s dig in!