3rd Grade Curriculum Plans - Seem OK?

[starrbuck12]

Here's my tentative plans for our gifted 3rd grader. Please don't set me on fire or hang me up by my toenails...(keep in mind it's for a smarty-pants who finishes school in 2 hours) But, do I seem to be missing anything obvious? :confused:

Oak Meadow 4th grade - (we're not going to do their math, music or spelling)
Singapore Math (we always use Singapore)
Writing With Ease (whichever one we happen to be on this fall)
FLL 3
Megawords 1
Prima Latina (she's doing this with her brother, the 1st grader)
Sonlight Core 2 History/Read-Alouds (not every single one of them-but we really enjoy them)

I'm worried there isn't enough Spelling/Reading in these plans? Or am I being paranoid? Is there anything I should add for 3rd grade? I'm considering removing FLL3 and WWE...:confused: but I can't make a decision. Have I just had too much caffeine today? Why am I making this so complicated? Do I just need to get out of the house more?

Thank-you for any suggestions! :tongue_smilie:

[LisaDSB]

I have a gifted 3rd grader-to-be as well. We will be switching to MCT Grammar Island next year. I have used FLL 1/2 this year and it has been a huge disappointment. I will not be buying further volumes of that book. It's too easy and too repetitive. I saw a sample of FLL3 and it didn't impress me either.

We have been using WWE2 and might continue with it. I see some value in copying well written sentences, and in being able to synthesize the important parts of a passage (as one would do when taking notes in a university lecture, for example). Otherwise, I don't consider it a complete writing program and will be alternating it with Writing Strands 3. The MCT writing assignments certainly inspire creativity, but at this level I still feel more comfortable supplementing a little bit.

For spelling we use Spelling Power a little bit, but mainly they just prepare for an annual Spelling Bee which uses 400 really hard words. After all the work that goes into learning them over a 3 month period, I'm okay with not being too concerned about spelling the rest of the year.

Reading -- we do a read-aloud together a few times a week with some comprehension discussion and narration (Charlotte Mason style). Otherwise, the kids are pretty voracious readers all by themselves and I make sure that most of the books strewn about for them to "find" are Newberry medalists and the like.

Hope that helps. No offence intended to those who like FLL -- it's just not our cup of tea and I wish I hadn't bought it. C'est la vie!

E.T.A.: Otherwise, it looks like a lovely plan. I don't know Oak Meadow's stuff, but I've heard good things about it.

[starrbuck12]

Thank-you! We did MCT's Grammar Island and Music of the Hemispheres this semester and she really liked it. She learned a ton! You'll have a lot of fun with Grammar Island. Even I learned stuff. :tongue_smilie:

I really am wishy-washy on the FLL deal... I don't want any gaps, but she seems to just go through the motions with grammar. :confused: My son, however...would greatly benefit from FLL...:biggrinjester:

[EKS]

Since I'm not familiar with Oak Meadow, I'll just list what my 3rd grader will be doing next year:

English: MCT Town level, Mosdos 5 and 6, assigned classic literature, Spelling Power, and homegrown writing which incorporates MCT's suggestions
Singapore math
Lively Latin and Minimus
SOTW 3 and A History of US volumes 1-5 + supplemental reading
Science Explorer (various topics)

[starrbuck12]

What's Mosdos? Your Latin sequence looks good too. :) So, maybe I have enough Reading incorporated into our plans...

[abbeyej]

I wouldn't do Prima Latina with a gifted 3rd grader. I might not do it with a mildly bright 3rd grader. And I don't mean to make your life more difficult! I like Prima, but unless you're planning to do it in a month or two (and if the 1st grader is also gifted and reading already, you probably could), I would go ahead and pick something else.

Maybe they could both do Prima Latina in a month or two and then go on to Latina Christiana. Or maybe you could do Lively Latin instead?

[Hausunterricht]

That is plenty. She can always go to the library and get books of her own choosing to do for free reading.

[EKS]

What's Mosdos?

Here's a link: http://www.mosdospress.com/

[starrbuck12]

I wouldn't do Prima Latina with a gifted 3rd grader. I might not do it with a mildly bright 3rd grader. And I don't mean to make your life more difficult! I like Prima, but unless you're planning to do it in a month or two (and if the 1st grader is also gifted and reading already, you probably could), I would go ahead and pick something else.

Maybe they could both do Prima Latina in a month or two and then go on to Latina Christiana. Or maybe you could do Lively Latin instead?


Oh!! :confused: Hmmm... None of us have any Latin under our belts, so I just kinda picked something I thought the two of them could work on together. Thanks for letting me know! I'm going to look at Latina Christiana. The 1st grader - here's what he looks like :biggrinjester: - so far he doesn't seem to fit into the gifted category...:tongue_smilie: Although, he is very handsome and a great baseball player. :D

Thanks again!

[Kuovonne]

We did MCT's Grammar Island and Music of the Hemispheres this semester and she really liked it. She learned a ton!
...
I really am wishy-washy on the FLL deal... I don't want any gaps, but she seems to just go through the motions with grammar.

I'm really curious why you are switching from MCT to FLL, especially since she enjoyed MCT and learned a lot.

Could you also elaborate on what you mean by "just go through the motions with grammar"? That phrase seems at odds with your previous comment about really liking MCT and learning a ton.

Did you do all of MCT (grammar, poetics, writing, vocab, and practice) or just the two books you mentioned?

[kck]

I have a 3rd grader this year and it sounds similar to what we are doing. I don't require much specific from him in terms of reading. He naturally reads 1-2 hours a day. I think next year I might require one "decent" new read a month.

We also used and love MCT. I'm using FLL with my 5 year old right now and it seems fine for her for now. But I'm probably going to switch over to MCT with her at some point. It is nice to have some writing competency with MCT. My 3rd grader this year had almost no grammar before MCT (2 years PS, 1 year of less structured homeschool to recover), and actually it has been totally fine. He had a little further to come and he isn't a grammar lover. But MCT has still been a great fit.

[2smartones]

I don't know about the other subjects, but I can comment on MegaWords. Did you use ETC for reading? If so, ask yourself how it went. How strong and/or motivated is your reader? Doing only 1 MegaWords book in a year seems very light to me, BUT I have one who is an extremely gifted reader (not so hot with math... LOL). The ETC series took 3 months and MW series 6 months, entirely independently, before age 5. I'd consider doing more than one book if you think your 3rd grader is up to the challenge. They're very thin workbooks, just like any from the EPS series. (This is the child who begged for workbooks from about 18 mos.)

[starrbuck12]

I'm really curious why you are switching from MCT to FLL, especially since she enjoyed MCT and learned a lot.

Could you also elaborate on what you mean by "just go through the motions with grammar"? That phrase seems at odds with your previous comment about really liking MCT and learning a ton.

Did you do all of MCT (grammar, poetics, writing, vocab, and practice) or just the two books you mentioned?

Yeah, this takes explaining. We finished Grammar Island and MOTH. But, we've also finished CLE LA 200 (which I think is very similar to FLL, but the lessons are longer) and working through WWE. CLE and FLL have parts of grammar that I want to make sure we work on - like punctuation, sentence diagramming, etc - MCT doesn't seem to cover this at all. Grammar Island was entirely parts of speech. I do plan on going through the other books in the Level 1 series later this year (probably when we finished FLL3).

So, she really liked the MCT - specifically MOTH, but the WWE/CLE LA - she just kinda tolerates it - I don't know if it's too easy or just kinda boring... I'm just trying to make sure we don't leave any gaps...but maybe I'm being paranoid.

Maybe there is a quicker, less painful way to buzz her through the punctuation/sentence diagramming parts of grammar...:confused:

[starrbuck12]

I don't know about the other subjects, but I can comment on MegaWords. Did you use ETC for reading? If so, ask yourself how it went. How strong and/or motivated is your reader? Doing only 1 MegaWords book in a year seems very light to me, BUT I have one who is an extremely gifted reader (not so hot with math... LOL). The ETC series took 3 months and MW series 6 months, entirely independently, before age 5. I'd consider doing more than one book if you think your 3rd grader is up to the challenge. They're very thin workbooks, just like any from the EPS series. (This is the child who begged for workbooks from about 18 mos.)


I understand completely. This kid went through her reading program I bought her last year in 6 weeks. :001_huh:

We're currently using BJU Spelling, but she already knew how to spell all those words before we even started the workbook. It was kind of a waste of a year of spelling... :glare: I looked at the 3rd grade book and it's going to be the same situation, so I don't know what to do.

I thought she could work through the Megawords series because it's written at a 4th/5th grade level. Maybe THAT would challenge her a little. Then again, she might just look at me like I'm an idiot like she did with her BJU Spelling workbook. :tongue_smilie:

I really appreciate everybody's comments. This kid really does not follow the norm and I often can't tell if I'm not pushing her hard enough or if she's OK...

Oh, yeah, and she loves workbooks. :D

[starrbuck12]

You know...maybe it will be easier if I write out what we've worked through in the last year. I'm afraid to put everything in my signature, because people will think I have her locked in an Iron Maiden doing workbooks all day. She just works so darn quickly, I just keep having to buy stuff.

Hooked on Phonics 2nd grade (this was when I pulled her from ps and before I realized what I was dealing with)
CLE LA 200 series
Writing with Ease
Grammar Island
Music of the Hemispheres
BJU Spelling
HWOT Cursive
Sonlight Core 2 Readers Intermediate
Sonlight Core 2 Readers Advanced
Sonlight Core 2 History/Geography
Sonlight Core 2 Read-Alouds (OK, I read these, but they were fun)
Map Skills 2nd grade
Singapore Math
Apologia's Flying Creatures
Apologia's Swimming Creatures
CHOW
selections from Veritas Press
a couple of Kumon workbooks
Mind Benders


OK, when I list all that out, I feel like an idiot. That's a lot of curriculum. She only does school for about 2 hours a day and buzzes through stuff really fast. She also started off the school year appearing to be a normal 2nd grader, but seems to have covertly skipped a grade in development between now and last October.

So, either I am not picking items at a challenging level (and that's why she's going through stuff in 30 seconds) or ...?

Thank-you for taking the time to look at my issues...

[Kuovonne]

.... CLE and FLL have parts of grammar that I want to make sure we work on - like punctuation, sentence diagramming, etc - MCT doesn't seem to cover this at all. Grammar Island was entirely parts of speech. I do plan on going through the other books in the Level 1 series later this year (probably when we finished FLL3).
...
Maybe there is a quicker, less painful way to buzz her through the punctuation/sentence diagramming parts of grammar...:confused:

Thanks for the explaination.

Grammar Island & Parts of Speech:
I'm finding that only half fo Grammar Island is parts of speech. The rest is parts of a sentence, prepositional phrases, and clauses. There's also a lot of grammar info in Sentence Island (subject verb agreement, misplaced modifiers, sentence fragments, etc.)

Sentence Diagramming:
I thought the MCT 4 level analysis was supposed to replace diagramming? Do you feel that it is not enough?

Punctuation:
I have only the Island level books, but I am under the impression that the Town level of books covers punctuation in depth. I was a bit disappointed to put off punctuation until we get to that level, but I can teach the few things that really bug me on my own and leave the rest for later.

[starrbuck12]

Oh my goodness!! Punctuation is covered in the Town Level books?????

I scoured that Royal Fireworks website trying to find a scope and sequence and all I could get was a vague explanation of each book.

Thank-you sooooo much! I had no idea. The last thing I wanted was a gap with something simple like where to put in commas! :tongue_smilie:

Ok, so we will just stick with MCT then this year since she likes it.

[Kuovonne]

Oh my goodness!! Punctuation is covered in the Town Level books?????

Well, don't quote me on it. I've never seen the Town books. I heard about punctuation from this post (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1474909&postcount=20).

[Crimson Wife]

Well, don't quote me on it. I've never seen the Town books. I heard about punctuation from this post (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1474909&postcount=20).

We're doing the "town" level of MCT this semester and there's some punctuation but not a lot.

A series that I would recommend the OP look into is the Paragraph Book (http://intervention.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?series=2671M) series from EPS. It's designed to be remedial for middle school kids but I found it perfect for a gifted elementary student because there's not a lot of physical writing required. It's designed to teach paragraph writing but does a good job incorporating grammar & mechanics as well. I found that the TM isn't really worth the $.

One word of warning is that my DD liked the workbooks so much that she did them for "fun" and blasted through the entire series very quickly. That's how we ended up using MCT this semester.