Third Grade at Logos Christian Academy

I meant to do a post about what we're using in our homeschool way back in September, and it never happened.  I know that lots of homeschoolers are in the process of making choices and looking for ideas for next year, so it seems like now might be an even better time to share what we've been doing for third grade.

Today, I want to share the list of what we have been using this year, and I'll do some follow-up with more details about some subjects and how the Foundations material from Classical Conversations really is the foundation of our study in our home.

Third Grade Resources

Handwriting/Copywork - We started the year off with one of the Classically Cursive books from Veritas Press.  Now I mainly pull copywork from our memory work or Scripture.  I use the StartWrite software to create the pages on handwriting lines to be copied.  There are several of these pages that I have laminated because we've used them over and over throughout the year.

Math - Saxon 3

Language Arts:

Spelling - Spelling Plus/Dictation Plus (I don't use the dictation book much, but it could be a great resource.)

English Grammar - We use the English Grammar trivium tables from CC, and we recently started working with the Quid et Quo table as well.  Basically, we look at parts of speech and parse sentences.  We also work on editing exercises to review and reinforce the basic rules of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

Writing - IEW: All Things Fun and Fascinating

Geography - We use the CC memory work for the current cycle along with the CC maps.  We're working on map drawing with the map of the United States.

Bible - We're working on basic journaling, and Jonathan is working through Proverbs People.

Reading - Books, books, and more books.  We use lots of library books, and we did purchase quite a few books this year that aren't available at our library.  I like to have a stash for when we can't make it to the library.  I like to look at Veritas Press and Sonlight to choose books for our reading list.

This may not be exactly what things looked like when we began the year, but I do think I have felt more comfortable with what we are doing this year than any other year so far.  I think I would say that having a vision for where we are headed has really helped me to think through what we are doing now and set some basic priorities. 

I'm already starting to think through our resources for next year because we'll be winding down soon and end our year in early May.  Have you begun planning and selecting resources for next year?  Do you have something new you would like to try?

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Friday Freebie: Work Heartily Print

Here is a fun little print with Colossians 3:23 on it that I created to hang in our school space.  It seems we can always use this reminder throughout the day.  

Click the pic above to download the file.  Print the PDF onto an 8.5 x 11 sheet of white card stock.  You can cut it down to fit an 8x10 frame or use a document frame.  If green isn't your thing, then you can download a blue version instead.

Friday Freebie - Two Week Meal Planning Page

In my other post I alluded to the fact that my meal planning has been less than stellar lately.  I'm always playing around trying to find a method that fits with the way my brain works.  As a part of that adventure, I made a new two-week meal planning page. 

 I definitely like planning two weeks at a time better than just one week.  I think it helps with variety, plus I get more done in just a little bit more time when I sit down to plan for two weeks.  I know some people who like to plan for the month by planning two weeks and using that menu twice, so this page would work if that's how you like to work.  

Our main weaknesses right now are keeping up with what is on hand for lunches and snacks.  I don't like to plan them so much, but I do need a system to keep track of our options to make sure we are using up produce and other things before they go bad.  This page is my compromise with the whole to plan or not to plan when it comes to lunches. Come to think of it, I should probably add a breakfast category in there as well!

The plan is to make this FRIDAY FREEBIE feature to be a regular thing here at A Well-Feathered Nest.  I'll be sharing all sorts of printable resources that I've been working on for you to download.  Let me know if there is something specific you would like to see!

Click the picture up above to download the free two-week meal planning page.

Pantry Challenge Update - February

I haven't done a very good job of updating for the month of February, but I did a better job of staying on track.  In the end, we spent around $225 on groceries in the month of February.  That isn't quite as good as I had envisioned because it doesn't include household items which are included in this category in our budget.

I have cut myself some slack, though, because we did restock some things that will be used in March and probably well into coming months.  During February, we bought 20 lbs. of rice, new bottles of honey and maple syrup, a huge bar of chocolate for baking, and a big round of apples and oranges that will last us through next week if not longer.  Also, we hosted friends and part of a progressive dinner, and I did spend more than I had planned to make those times easy and fun.  

I hope I don't sound like I'm all excuses.  Life happens, and it is what it is.

If I had been trying to eek out as much savings as possible, then I wouldn't have bought these things.  I decide to stick with real life and restock some things since we don't get by Trader Joe's very often.  Also, even the household supplies we did purchase were similar restocking purchases.  I didn't figure the overall amount, but I know it was still below our typical household and grocery budget. 

All in all, I don't think it was too bad, and we're using the extra cash to work on some gardening projects. I am thinking that I will continue this challenge through the month of March because I still have a way to go in clearing out the freezers.  I also want to focus on cutting down food waste and improved menu planning.  Maybe I'll have some tips to share in the coming weeks!

Five Years

Happy birthday sweet David. It's so hard to believe it's been five years, but it's still amazing how God can use such a tiny person to change our lives in such a big way.