3rd Grade: History, Latin, and Science

In my Overview, I list other things I'm planning on covering (e.g. Cooking, Art, etc.) that will not have specific books. I won't do a separate post for those items. I do want to talk about the three subjects that are MY favorite ones in this post.

History:

History is my A+, #1, all time Favorite subject. We've been following the suggestion from The Well-Trained Mind to present history in chronological order over a four-year period. Then, we'll repeat the time periods in order for the next set of four years, going more deeply into the details. A final time through for the high school years will give opportunity to delve into more details than usually is done.

The "text" that I'm using is Story of the World, Part 3. This will cover the mid-1500s to the mid-1800s. This book will provide the guideline for studying. I will supplement with the gobs of extra books I have for that time period as well as plenty-o library books. Fun, fun, fun!

Science:

Science, however, is lower on the scale for me. I'm not a fan of messes. They have to be cleaned up! Of course, for the "Cause of Education," I have "allowed" them.

When The Well-Trained Mind declared chemistry to be the focus for 3rd grade, I began to worry a bit. The only thing we did in my high school chemistry class was write "chemical equations." I actually liked that part, but it never gave me a grid for actual chemistry as we never did any experiments. (I did, however, watch in fascination as one of the cheerleaders had her hair corn-rowed one day in class a la Bo Derek. But I digress.)

Back to my dilemma. How in the world was I going to make chemistry remotely interesting without a serious chem set so we could blow up things? I researched a bit (a lot) and came up with this: And this:

Both are VERY cool books. The first (Fizz, Bubble, and Flash) is an entertaining yet thorough explanation of the Periodic Table. (Woo Hoo! I'm finally going to understand what all that means!) The second book has 30 chemistry experiments using regular stuff you would find in your home (or easy to find in the store).

NOW I'm excited about Science! (We'll save the chem set for later when J is more able to wield a fire extinguisher.)

Latin:

I began this Latin program this summer. I had tried FOUR other programs but none really fit for us. THIS program, however, is fun, interesting, and J and I are truly "getting" Latin! I cannot say enough good things about it. If you're interested in taking a stab at Latin for yourself, this program would be the way to go. It incorporates Roman history, too. J says he sees Latin words every where now as he recognizes them in English.
This is the last post about our curriculum. I've got all the books lined up, the year generally planned out and the first week's lesson plans ready to go.

Right after Brawn Week, I think J will be VERY happy to get started on all of this!