Year 3 (2012-13)

July and August:

• We will finish up our 2nd grade math workbook and play lots of games.
• Cursive handwriting will be introduced with Zaner-Bloser Handwriting Grade 3.
• We will continue exploring science with Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding.
• Read, read, read.

September through June (taking breaks whenever needed for travel, etc.):

• We are going to try an all-in-one curriculum this year:  Trail Guide to Learning--Paths of Exploration (POE).  This includes American history, geography, science, reading, art, nature study, spelling, and handwriting practice.  We'll see how it goes and make adjustments as needed. 
• In addition to everyday, real-life math, we are going to continue with Life of Fred Elementary Series and Super Math and possibly Polywogs to Polygons: The Metamorphosis of Numbers to Art.
• Between each 6-week POE unit, I plan to take a week off from the main curriculum and focus more on science with lots of activities inspired by Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. 

Year-Round:

• We'll continue to start our mornings with prayer and poetry (A Child's Introduction to Poetry).  We will read/listen to one or two poems daily, strictly for enjoyment.  This works as a beautiful transition into our focused lesson time.
• Artist Studies (a new one every 4 months, TBD--separate post later)
• Composer Studies (a new one every 4 months, TBD--separate post later)
• Homeschool Park Days
• Homeschool History Club
• Regular nature walks
• Numerous field trips to theaters, museums, etc.
• As Gerrick reads new books throughout the year, whether they are suggestions or selections of his own, we will continue to list them on his LibraryThing.  Here are a few beyond the POE curriculum that I may suggest to him; he may not choose to read any of them, but at least there will always be some quality offerings on hand:

            ~ Any Thornton Burgess books, most of which are free for kindle
            ~ Clara Dillingham Pierson's Among the People series*
            ~ Seed Babies*
            ~ Rollo at Work*
            ~ Rollo at Play*
            ~ The Book of Fables and Folk Stories*
            ~ The Book of Nature Myths*
            ~ William J. Hopkins' The Sandman series* 
            ~ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Additional Read-Alouds--These are the books I read upon request in the afternoons and/or Rick reads at bedtime (in addition to the NIV Bible). Many were chosen from the Ambleside Online Year 3 literature and additional reading lists and the Yesterday's Classics eBook Collection. Often several books are read concurrently. Once they've been read, the text will be changed to bold.  This list will be frequently updated as we choose additional books or delete any that we don't enjoy and stop reading.

            Mama:
            ~ Five Little Peppers and How They Grew*
            ~ Pied Piper of Hamlin*
            ~ The Princess and the Goblin
            ~ The Fairy Book*
            ~ A Little Princess*
            ~ The Water-Babies*
            ~ At the Back of the North Wind
            ~ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
            ~ Through the Looking Glass
            ~ The Bears of Blue River
            ~ Swallows and Amazons
            ~ Caddie Woodlawn
            ~ The Little White Horse
            ~ The Wheel on the School
                       
            Daddy:
            ~ Hurlbut's Story of the Bible* (note: I have not previewed this one yet!)
             ~ A Child's Introduction to the World: Geography, Cultures, and People - From the  Grand Canyon to the Great Wall of China
            ~ A History of US--11 volume set
            ~ The Jungle Book*
            ~ Men of Iron* 
            ~ King of the Wind 
            ~ Viking Tales* 
            ~ King Arthur and His Knights*
            ~ The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus*
            ~ The Christmas Porringer*


* We have a Kindle version of these books.