Homeschooling Third Grade
I love using simple workbooks for kids in our homeschool and some of these third-grade workbook titles are the perfect fit!
Not only are workbooks useful tools for simple summer learning, but they also come in super handy throughout the busy school year as well!
Ready to homeschool your third-grader? You can easily tackle that task with a high-quality third-grade homeschool curriculum!
However, additional third-grade worksheets and third-grade workbooks make great fillers for struggling learners and secondary subjects.
Check out all our third-grade workbook recommendations at the bottom of this post!
Why Use Third Grade Workbooks?
Even though I mostly use workbooks and worksheets over the summer with my own kids, we also fit them in from time to time during our homeschool year as well.
While it’s great to lean on activity-based workbooks for little ones, mid/upper elementary truly is the perfect time to start using workbooks as a learning tool — instead of just a fun extra.
Want to know how we incorporate workbooks into our summer learning? Check out Summer Worksheets & Workbooks to get all the details. Plus, get simple tips for turning third-grade worksheets and workbooks into simple summer learning packs for kids!
My go-to option for workbooks is secondary subjects! I lean on great workbooks (such as 180 days of social studies) to fill the gaps in our homeschool and teach subjects like social studies and geography.
Workbooks are also so important for helping older children become independent learners!
Homeschool Skills for Third Graders…
Third grade tends to be the year most children have mastered learning to read and will begin the new adventure of reading to learn!
THIS is a huge deal!
Not only does this mean your children might show interest in reading longer chapter books for fun, but they will likely start the transition over to self-led learning as well! This transition can take some time and likely won’t complete till in their 4th-5th grade years.
With that said third grade is an important year! Like most grades, you can easily homeschool your third grader with a simple curriculum & fun extras! However, there are a few key areas that need to be focused on!
Check out some of the most important areas you should be paying attention to during your child’s third-grade year!
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Reading
As I mentioned above, third grade is an important year for most kiddos when it comes to reading!
Beginning in preschool or kindergarten they learned how to put sounds together to form words and then began using those words to form sentences.
As they grew, so did their vocabulary and understanding of grammar.
Now begins the next important stage of reading.
Reading comprehension tends to explode at this level and kids embark on something totally different.
Since most third-grade kiddos are no longer learning how to read, they begin to experience the brand new adventure of reading longer, more in-depth passages for learning purposes.
If your third-grader is advanced and has already mastered this skill — that’s a huge accomplishment and definitely a reason to celebrate! It also means you likely won’t have to place much pressure on reading growth for the rest of their school years as it will likely happen naturally.
However, if your third-grader struggles with reading comprehension or hasn’t yet entered the stage of reading to learn — now is the time to give it more focus!
**With that said… AGE is just a number — for real though.
Not all children are ready for third-grade skills at the same age! Focus on grade level, maturity, and readiness rather than the age of your child.
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Spelling
Prior to third grade, I don’t put much pressure on correct spelling — I take a much more gentle approach that some love and some hate.
Not going to lie, I’ve pretty much been attacked on social media platforms for preaching my spelling methods and I don’t even care.
Educators put way too much pressure on correct spelling at way too young of an age and I’m totally over it.
Listen to me carefully…
Yes, I still view spelling as an important part of schooling and it is always a present part of our homeschool.
With that said, I truly believe that kindergarteners DO NOT need to know how to spell large or difficult words correctly. Neither do first graders or second graders.
Most kiddos in the K-2 age bracket are still learning how to read and proper spelling shouldn’t be a priority in the least.
While I do go over sight words and encourage correct spelling during those years, I don’t make it the main focus until my learners have reached a 3rd-grade reading comprehension level. WHY?? — because by that point spelling rules begin to click and spelling (almost) makes sense!
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Multiplication
Yes, yes, yes!! Third-grade math is all about mastering new skills!
Your young learner will likely be focusing on things like multiplication and division, which means learning those pesky multiplication facts is a must!
With that said, it’s essential to find what works best for your kiddo!
I grew up in a time when all kids were expected to learn the same thing at the same time in the same way. Because of this mindset in the public school system, I never properly learned my multiplication facts.
As an adult, I’ve learned that I’m a visual & kinaesthetic learner. I simply understand concepts better if I have a visual example or hands-on manipulatives.
If your child falls into a unique learning category, try mixing it up and introducing new things into their homeschool line-up. This year we are using both a multiplication pop it & Musical Multiplication from The Good and the Beautiful!
Ready to find the perfect workbook fit for your third-grader? You can view our entire list of third-grade workbooks below!
