Third grade weekly example

This is my hoped-for schedule, but it doesn’t always happen. Here’s what I’m aiming for, though.

• Math - BA, pentominos. We use Beast Academy online for math for first grade and up, depending on where the kiddo is at with their math skills. I try hard to have several fun math sessions per week where we just explore fun mathy stuff - games, hundred chart explorations, making predictions, trying out different ways to do things, etc. Right now, my kid is struggling with area and perimeter. I’m not sure where the disconnect is, since he seems to understand the concepts and can perform the calculations but gets stuck on some seemingly easy problems, so we are doing fun work with pentominos to explore space and working in some casual conversations about area and perimeter while we’re at it. I also have him talk about the area and perimeter of his Minecraft creations, but I am careful to keep these conversations light. If he is frustrated or struggling, we let it go. Eventually, we will move back to the area and perimeter unit and redo it, and maybe we will both find what is holding him back, but we will wait several months before trying this. 
• Science - Blossom and Root - up close look at plant cells, begin learning about moss.  I tried BFSU and liked parts of it but found it to be frustrating to implement. We tried SCI curriculum, but I found that it didn’t have enough explanation for my tired brain - I wanted a little more of a script to guide my science conversations with the kids. I didn’t feel confident enough to just wing it and hope they figured out the key concepts. We use Real Science Odyssey, which I find to be thorough and nicely presented, but which my kids sometimes dig in their heels about. We are trying Blossom and Root right now and I think I might have found my unicorn. It has options for every kind of homeschool family (morning basket people, craft people, outdoor people, just the facts people, etc.), offers the key concepts and enough background info that I feel fine just having conversations with the kids about the topic, encourages them to see science as a wonder, etc. So far, I really love it. It is also easy to involve the whole family in, at whatever their level, and I appreciate that. This year, we are focusing on life science/biology for all of the grade levels. That makes it much easier for me as a teacher. It also helps to remind myself that I am exposing them to concepts and exploring them with the kids, and that this doesn’t have to be all of the science they will ever get.
• History - Hypatia Evans, HQ.  Hypatia Evans is from Torchlight Curriculum. History Quest is the new secular version of the History of the World. TL prefers Curiosity Chronicles, and I do too, but my middle child loathes it, so we moved to HQ, and there is much less fighting now. The goal isn’t to make him hate history. We spent so long trying to make CC work for us that we have accidentally been studying ancient history for quite some time, and everyone is eager to move on to the next stage. I think he was also just too young to care much about ancient history before, and now he is old enough to find it a little intriguing. I use TL as a general guideline for their booklists and projects. I also look at Blossom and Root and Build Your Library. I am not trying to do all three things at once - I pick and choose what works for us. Both older kids are doing ancient history at the same time to make things easier for me as a teacher and also to facilitate discussion. That way, when the middle kid starts talking about ziggurats during his Lego play, his siblings know what he’s talking about and can start adding in Gilgamesh.
• Reading - Alvin Ho. I have a lengthy book list for each grade. I have pulled options from the three literature curriculums mentioned above, plus winners of various awards, plus “best of” lists from every marginalized group I could think of. I’m happy to share my lists if that’s of interest to anyone. They are works in progress, but I have been happy with them so far.
• English - Spelling/Wordfind/Crossword, Essentials. Hypothetically, we are using Logic of English for my middle kid. He finds it tedious, so that might be up for a change. What does seem to help his spelling is the Squeebles spelling app and doing wordfinds and crossword puzzles. We’ve tried a number of English programs and haven’t come up with what I feel is the ideal option, but we are working on it. I also feel that a kid who reads/is read to often will work out the underlying rules for grammar (and maybe spelling, sort of ), so I am holding onto that.
• Handwriting - Spellbook. The Spellbook is from TL. I also make up worksheets with an online worksheet generator. These might be exciting paragraphs from the Hobbit, or lists of Pokemon characters, or fart jokes, or whatever will keep his interest.
• Art - Artistic Pursuits - artists compose. This is a new program that we are starting for art. I also ask them to draw every day. I don’t care what they draw - just that they do.
• Music - Trumpet. The kids both take band classes during the school year. I encourage them to keep going with it in the summer with different levels of success.
• Writing - creative writing - Night Zookeeper. Right now, they love the program Night Zookeeper to get them writing. I don’t know that it is the best ever option, but it is exciting, motivating, and doesn’t need me to push them at all, so for getting fingers to keys, it’s great.
• Coding - Python and JavaScript.  We use a lot of programming options here, and I would be happy to drone on about them if you would like suggestions. CodeCombat was the big favorite for awhile, and is still what my oldest prefers. My middle is all about Bitsbox right now. We also do typing classes, which makes all the online coding programs easier.
• Social Studies - Mongolia.  We recently finished a unit study on Kenya, and are starting up with Mongolia. Since we are just starting, I want the kids to find anything about the country and explore it a little. As my books come in from the library, I will get more intense with it, and will also work on my YouTube playlist. I put a huge focus on learning about what a country is like right now, today, so when we study Greece, for example, I do not want to talk endlessly about ancient Athens. I try to include as much about the indigenous groups for each area as I can.
• Handiwork - crochet. Choose your own handiwork option - knitting, whittling, crochet, knot tying, etc. I just want them to be doing something creative with their hands sometimes.
• Scouts - scout meeting.  The kids love scouts, and I find it to be helpful to work their badge options into their schoolwork. They learn a lot from the programs, and the resulting belt loop is motivating for them.  M's scout leader had a meeting on Zoom every week for three months, and wrangling excited and bored eight-year-olds for free is no joke.  She is really dedicated to giving the kids an amazing experience, and we are grateful for her.

Math project - Newton’s Cradle. I ask the kids to do a weekly project for a few things. One is to do something hands-on and mathy. One is to take a topic that they have been learning about on CNN10 or BrainPop and investigate it further. I don’t do book reports, so this is a chance for reading and research and writing and exploration without the agony. For BrainPop, I ask them to watch any three short videos each day (less than five minutes each) and then they can play 10 minutes of a BrainPop game. It’s like turning them loose with the encyclopedia.

Research project - See above. 

There’s plenty more - PE, citizenship, languages (ESL and French), etc. - but that’s a start. Please let me know if I can help with any questions or anything else!