Week 7 of 3rd grade

Do I even call it week 7? I mean he has been working on 3rd grade Math and other lessons for more than 7 weeks. So we are in Lesson 7 in our Language book...

Time is flying by it seems. I feel like Summer just started and now Summer is coming to a close. We haven't even been able to go to the pool much the last couple of weeks because of how HOT it is here in Texas. I figure we can stay indoors now and when Fall hits we can spend several hours outside enjoying the nice weather.

This week has been pretty easy.

In Language Arts, we are working on Lesson 7 in the yellow book. Most of it had to do with contractions which he is already familiar with. His Spelling words have all been pretty easy for him as well. He usually gets them all correct every week.

In Math this week he learned all about Decimals. I was a little nervous going into this lesson. His lessons are all done online with the instructions and questions. I sat with him to make sure he knew and understood both the lesson and the questions. He got 100% on everything. I added in some extra review worksheets this week over multiplication, division and decimals. Just to make sure he is retaining the information.

In History this week, we started the Who Was/Who Is series last week. Last week we studied Leonardo Da Vinci and this week Monster wanted to study Stan Lee. He is reading the book during the week and then creating a timeline to go along with each persons life. Next week he will read Who was Jesus. I am letting him pick each book he reads for this.

For Handwriting this week I am trying something new with him. Another blogger I follow posted on her Instagram her daughter using a salt tray to practice cursive letters. Monster gets frustrated easily when he tries to write out the letter and they don't turn out the exact way they should. So I made him a salt tray and printed out just a few letters for him to practice. Over the next few weeks I will add more and more letters. I will also add in blank handwriting paper for him to practice the letters on when he feels like he is ok with writing them. We have used other booklets in the past and they have worked some but I don't want him to get frustrated when his don't look just like the books. So we are trying it this way for now.

Since out Language Arts did not include Reading this week, Monster has had free reading time. Plus we are reading together at bedtime. We started book 4 in The Magic Treehouse Series.

We have skipped Science this week. I am looking for some new fun experiments to do with him.

I love watching him work out problems.

He also helped me cook dinner last night. He is usually not a fan of getting anything on his hands. He did really well, but as soon as he was done he ran to wash his hands. 

Public School here starts on the 24th of August. We are planning a field trip that week. Haven't decided which day yet, but we are looking forward to getting out and about with less crowds! 

Full Force Mode (week 4 of year round homeschool)

We are in our 4th week of year round homeschooling. Things have been going great so far.

This week Monster has been flying through Division on CTCMath.com and I have been throwing in some extra worksheets from math-aids.com

I am so happy that so far Monster has had no issues with Math. This was never my strong suit in school. Hopefully, Monster got his Math skills from his Dad and his English/Science skills for his Momma! 

Language Arts has been wonderful so far. We are on lesson 4 in the yellow book of Learning Language Arts through Literature. Monster has done fantastic as we have moved along. After next week ( lesson 5) Monster will get a one week vacation and then we will start with Lesson 6 which will then include reading assignments. 

Science we are doing a couple days a week. Last week we made slime/goop whatever you call it. Monster played with it for a short time and then wanted to wash his hands. 

We also made slime that you roll around in your hand till it hardens and it makes a bouncy ball. Well, I think something went wrong cause by the next day it was hard as a rock! 

Monster enjoyed making it though, so that is all that mattered! 

We have been working on Ancient Egypt in History and I will be sharing that with you in a separate post. Be watching for it! 

We have also had some fun P.E time.

Monster is like a fish! He loves to swim and would stay all day if I would let him. 

Stay tuned. More post and new reviews coming very soon! 

Homeschooling Year Round

We made the decision to homeschool year round for the first time. Monster and I have been going at it for 2 weeks now. Our plan is to go for 5 weeks and then take 1 week off. We will see how it works.

So far he is doing great and it is taking us around 2 hours to get all of the work done.

For Math he is currently using CTCMath. He is working in 3rd grade. He just finished up with times tables and patterns. He will be moving onto division and fractions next. Monster should be done with 3rd grade Math hopefully before Christmas break.

For Language Arts we started our Yellow book from Learning Language Arts through Literature. So far Monster has really enjoyed this. We will start reading books and doing the lessons on them when we get to lesson 6. Right now it seems like review over compound words, suffix, nouns and all the basic things. This usually takes us 20 mins or so to get through. I think once we hit the books it will take us a little longer, but we are ok with that. 

Daddy went to Vegas this week for a convention and brought him back this hat. He loves it. 

For Science, we were working in the Apologia book: Animals of the 6th day. We did one week of it so far and then this week we started an activity that I had gotten and forgotten about. I pulled the Coal lesson out instead and Monster really enjoyed it. You can see some of what we did here

We might go back and forth in Science. I feel like the Apologia books have so much reading in them and words that seem better for older grades. We haven't officially decided yet, but we may be saving the Science book for later and finding other projects to do for now! Great thing about homeschooling, being able to change up curriculum for what works and doesn't work! 

For History this week, we are studying about the United States of America Flag. We are studying the meaning behind the flag, what the colors represent, and why we have the flag. We are also learning the full Star Spangled Banner poem. I got a free unit from SchoolExpress. 

We also learned how to correctly fold a flag. Using a blanket of course :) 

For Reading, I am allowing Monster free reading time during the summer. We will begin our chapter books in a few weeks during our Language Arts time. 

We have also been getting in some swim time and some art time. So far the first two weeks have been pretty smooth. Lets just hope it stays this way till the end of 3rd grade! 

CTC Math Review

    We were recently given the chance to review the 12 month family plan from CTC Math.    CTC Math was created by well know Australian Math teacher Pat Murray.    Pat presents each lesson in a friendly, step by step way. The lessons are very logical so that they are easy to understand and retain. One of the greatest things about CTC Math is you can learn at your own pace. You can start in your child's level and if you need to move them down or up you can easily do so. CTC Math is available for grades Kindergarten through high school levels. Pat Murray writes and teaches each lesson online. You can use CTC Math alone or even as a review for your children who you think may need extra practice.   

 

Monster has been using the 3rd grade CTC Math. Each lesson is anywhere between 4-9 minutes long. All of his so far have not been over 4 minutes. A great thing about the videos are if he doesn't understand the concept he can review the video until he understands it. Monster is also about to pause the videos as needed to take notes in his Math notebook. This is great so that he has something to look back on if he needs help as well. 

Another great thing about this program is it is available 24/7. Which means we can use this program whenever and wherever we wish. Monster and I like to do school work when we feel ready for it for the day. Sometimes we do school work in the evenings and sometimes in the morning. Using this program gives us the option to do Math whenever we feel it is time for Math. 

When using the program, I have noticed that it lets you decide what lesson you do next. Monster was over doing Adding and Subtracting. So, for now, we skipped over it and went straight into multiplying.  He has almost finished up with those lessons and will be moving right into Division. After you feel like your child has completed what they need to know in that level or they have completed the whole level you can move to the next. Monster and I have looked over some of the 4th grade Math and he is very excited about trying it out, but we have stuck with 3rd for the time being.

After each lesson and questions it gives you the option to print out their questions and answers with their grade. It also keeps track of their grade on their dashboard. After the student completes each topic you are given the choice to print out an award which gives their grade for the whole topic all together. For those of you needing to keep track of records this is a great added bonus. Since we are in Texas we are not required to keep records, however, I like the print out the awards at the end of the whole topic with his grade to keep track myself of how he is doing. 

This program also sends out a weekly email on how your student is doing and which lessons they have completed. This is another great way to keep track of what your student is doing each week. I can sit down with Monster at the beginning of the week and tell him which lessons need to be completed during the week or how many lessons ( if I let him choose which ones) and then I can see through the email if he is completing what he needs to complete each week.   I think CTC Math is a great math program and would recommend it to others. If you would like to order CTC Math click here
Homeschoolers get 60% off the price! If you are a homeschooling family order HERE   Prices are: (Single student) Monthly: $11.97 6 Months: $50.80 12 months: $78.80 ( best plan, savings of $118.20) (Family plan 2 or more students)  Monthly: $15.97 6 months: $78.80 12 months: $118.80n ( best plan, savings of $178.20) You can also find CTC Math on their Facebook   If you would like to see what others thought of this program, please click on the banner below: