Third Grade- Week in Review

Here is a look at some of the things Hailey has been learning:

 Bible:

Hailey loves Grapevine for Bible and says it is one of her favorite subjects.  She drew a picture of her favorite part of the lesson from the week on this page.

Language Arts:

 Hailey is reading Cappyboppy, which we are both enjoying.

She is also working on learning cursive, which she is not enjoying.  I think this is the worst part of our day- she hates it 🙁

We did some dictionary review.

Science:

We are both loving our science curriculum!  There is always a short and easy experiment and we both really liked the one from this day.  We positioned a DVD behind a lit candle and we could see the rainbow.  It was so neat and really taught the lesson of the day (about how white light is made up of all of the colors)!

Here is one of the pages in Hailey’s science journal as she learns about how light works and how we see colors.

We also had a lesson about how when you look at something like a red flower why you only see the color red, so Hailey drew a picture in her journal about that too.  She drew all of the colors of the rainbow coming out of a light source and then the red light being reflected off to the person’s eye.  The rest of the colors are absorbed, so we don’t see them.

Geography:

Hailey learned about Connecticut and used her Little Passports magazine to do some activities.

She also used her USA Sticker book to learn more about Connecticut.

Just for fun:

One day Elsa and Snow White came to school 🙂

Veritas Press Self-Paced History Review

History has been a bit of a struggle for us this past school year. We started out really enjoying it, but then as time went on it seemed like we were spending way too much time on one topic.  Hailey started asking if we could please study something else.  So, for most of the year I came up with our own history curriculum.  It was time consuming and not something I want to do again in the fall, especially since I’ll be busy with a new baby.  So, I have been busily searching for a new history curriculum.

We were given the opportunity to review a history curriculum from Veritas Press.  I checked out what they had to offer and decided that we would just start at the very beginning and review the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt, which one of the Veritas Press Self-Paced History choices.

The self-paced history courses each have 160 lessons, which if you do 5 lessons each week, will take you 32 weeks to complete.  Since the classes are self paced you are able to complete them in the way that works best for your family.  Tuition for each course is $199 which will give you access for one year.  If you have more than one child using the program there is a $100 sibling discount.   The self-paced courses are meant for children in grades 2-6, with the recommendation that your child be at least 7 when starting the class.

There are 5 different courses available:
Old Testament and Ancient Egypt
New Testament, Greece and Rome
Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation
Explorers to 1815
1815 to Present

The courses also have flashcards that are very helpful in learning all of the major events during the time period your child is studying.  We were able to use the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt Flashcards, which cost $19.95.

The courses are completed online, so you will need internet access.  Be sure to check the FAQ to make sure you computer and internet connection will meet the minimum requirements.

The first thing your child has to before starting any of the lessons will be the tutorial.  This is a great way to become familiar with the way the course works.

When your child first logs on each day, she will be able to go to look at her assignments.  This page shows the lessons that have been completed as well as the upcoming lessons.  Your child’s current grade is also displayed at the top.

 The lessons have different actors teaching the information.  It is all very interactive and the students have to answer questions very frequently, which helps to keep them focused where they should be.

 There are also talking characters, which will certainly keep your child interested in the information!

 In addition, there are interactive games, which are educational as well as fun.

Every 5th lesson has a test, which is usually pretty short, but very complete.

 So, how did we use Veritas Press?

Hailey started out using the tutorial.  With these courses you have to complete the tutorial in order to move on to lesson 1.  Then lesson 1 must be completed in order to move to lesson 2, etc.  I had planned to just have her do the tutorial on her first day, but she begged to go on and check out lesson 1.

Each day she completed 1 lesson.  Some of the lessons were longer than others, but I think they average around 20 minutes each.  Of course, that is going to depend on how long it takes your child to complete the questions and interactive games, so it could be more or less.

There is a fun song to help your child remember the 32 major events in the time period being studied.  The first day Hailey heard the song she said, “I’ll never be able to remember all of that.”  But, it’s a catchy little song and before she knew it, she had most of it memorized.  I often heard her singing it when she was taking her tests.

We also used the flashcards- this is the front of the first flashcard.  Each flashcard has a picture on the front…

and some information, as well as resources available on the back.

On the back of the first flashcard the 7 days of creation are listed- so I had Hailey make her own art work to go along with it.

This is her completed version of the 7 days of creation flashcard.

Veritas Press Self-Paced History is an amazing program!  Hailey absolutely loved it and would ask to do it.  Some of the lessons were a little bit shorter than others and on those days she would beg to do just one more lesson.  She learned so much from the time that we used the program- and I did too!  In addition to the online lessons and the flashcards, there are several historical fiction books that are recommended to use along with the program.  I was not able to find them at our local library, but they are available for purchase through Veritas Press.  Hailey asked if we could please keep using this program when we start school back up in the fall.  So, we are definitely planning to continue to learn all about the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt.

Here is what it boils down to for me:

Pros:
Very easy to implement
Fun characters that children enjoy listening to
Very little teacher prep time- most days we just watched the lesson and didn’t have to do anything else.  There are hands on activities that can be done as well, which would involve a little bit of prep time, but not much.  This will be perfect for us since we’ll have a newborn in the fall.
Hailey loved it, learned a lot, and asked to do it every day

Cons:
It is only available online, so you have to meet the minimum requirements in your internet connection
Cost- I think $199 is expensive for one subject

Want to see some more of Veritas Press:

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