So I'm about to start third grade and am needing to know before getting curriculum online (as it seems cheapest) what the curriculum actually teaches and if it's a good curriculum or not. I'm looking into ACSI curriculum for Math and science (Purposeful Design), Harcourt trophies-Changing patterns and On your Mark, Houghton Mifflin English, Scott Foresman Math and Science books, and Harcourt Social Studies. Can anyone tell me what any of these books cover? I just want to know general topics because I can't seem to find them online, and what your experience with these curriculum has been. Did you find then lacking anything? This is for third grade.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and take a guess...total guess, mind you....Most of those are public school curricula. I would check the state standards for your state, and I'd bet that's what they cover!
I agree with Emily. I haven't used any of those, so I can't really comment, but they all sound more like school system curricula to me, too.
I've seen those publishers a lot (except ACSI, which is a Christian publisher, I believe), but only in used bookstores. They were donations from public schools, and I was very unimpressed. Like most PS curricula, they teach kids how to pass a multiple choice test. They scratch the surface with a very broad range of topics (too broad), and they're intended for use by classrooms (which means there's a lot of busy work built in). If cost is an issue, you could use those for a jumping off point and supplement with library or online resources, but (and this is my own personal opinion) I wouldn't use them as your entire curriculum. *edit* I just looked up ACSI's math & science. The math says that "teaching addition & subtraction facts & procedures is the major goal", which tells me it's teaching the bare minimum. I would expect a 3rd grader to already know addition & subtraction and be moving into multiplication, division, and an intro to fractions. The science says that students will learn through collaboration with other students, which tells me it's meant for classroom use, and you'll have to modify the lessons. I wouldn't get those if I were you.
Christian Book Distributors says this about ACSI 3rd grade math: Each year in elementary school brings new concepts to learn; ACSI's math textbook will introduce your 3rd graders to addition, subtraction, place value, multiplication, division, time, money geometry, measurement, fractions, decimals and graphing. Lessons include interdisciplinary facts connected to units on this textbook's theme: Life on the Land. Colorful examples give students a brief introduction to the problem with objective illustrations to help children visualize each step; practice and review questions follow. 362 indexed pages, softcover. The student book is only about $20, but the TM is over $100!!! For ACSI science, CBD says: Level Three Science looks at life science, physical science, the human body, and earth and space science. 313 semi-glossy pages with glossary; softcover. Grade 3. The prices are similar, about $20 and over $100. Trophies is a 2003 edition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt readers. According to their catalog, each reader is $60 and the TMs (6 of them!) cost $565!!! Here's their catalog: http://vihmh.impelsys.com/hmhcatalog_updated/index.php?catalog=0/0/0 I'm going to hazard a guess and say that these books (except ACSI) are what your local school has chosen, and you don't want your homeschooled child to end up "behind"? You can do SO much better than ps textbooks! Take our word for it, you really don't want to go with public school books (unless you can get them for free or on loan from your local school, but IF you do, don't count on getting TM, tests, or anything BUT a student text). Since you mentioned ACSI, I'm going to suggest that you look up a couple of my favorite curriculum sellers: www.clp.org Mennonite, VERY good, diagnostic (placement) tests free online, mostly workbooks www.rodandstaffbooks.com Also Mennonite, also VERY good, more teacher-directed, textbooks not workbooks; this vendor also sells Pathways and other "plain" publishers. www.christianbook.com Tons of different publishers to choose from. www.rainbowresource.com TONS of different things to choose from - their catalog is like a New York City phone book! This is a Christian family business, but they stock all kinds of stuff, Christian and secular. Take your time and research some more. A lot of first-time homeschoolers are most comfortable their first year starting with a "boxed curriculum" at least for the 3Rs, and then branch out more later.
ACSI science is pretty good. We use it off and on. We don't do the "paperwork" in it, but use it more as a spine. The boys really like the pictures in the book and the topics are broad, but give us plenty of wiggle room to where we can go explore more on our own as questions and interests arise based on what was in the book. I also like that it is very God centered with a creationist point of view. I don't use the teacher's book and I got the student book from homeschool classifieds el cheapo. Scott Foresman and Houghton Mifflin have some of their stuff free online that we use sometimes like if we are on the road or as a supplement. They hold the boys' attention and are pretty short/sweet lessons when needing to do so. Even though they are short/sweet though, the boys do remember what they learned, which is something for 2 little active boys who can be told something and 2 minutes later, can't tell you what it was (especially if not related to being outside playing). We really like Rod & Staff, Christian Light, ACE, and BJU Press, all of which are God centered and can bought farely cheap if you shop around and don't buy the teacher guides, which in the 3rd grade is often not needed except for Christian Light. Blessings to you in your search.
I also like Rod & Staff, BJU, etc. I don't use TM for R&S. For a hands-on approach to creation-based science, take a look at Apologia or Answers in Genesis. I use Apologia and love it.
I've used the Scott Foresman stuff - well the free writing & grammar stuff that's online. It's very straight forward. Contemplating doing it with my 2nd grader next year. Pain in the behind to print it out....but....it's very thorough.
Back years ago, Scott-Foresman Math was supposedly "good old fashioned math" in a day when "tree hugging rainforest fuzzy math" was taking over the schools, and homeschoolers were eager to get those books. However, after they joined up with Addison-Wesley, the Math they were putting out became the very same "tree hugging rainforest fuzzy math" and it sucked eggs big time. So be careful which you're thinking about using! Definitely NOT Scott-Foresman-Addison-Wesley! Here's a review: it's long, but hilarious! and true. http://www.illinoisloop.org/sf.html It's old, and I hope the newer SF Math is "real, old-fashioned math". This is an interesting site. http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/#contents It's pretty old, and hasn't been updated in quite awhile. I wish it had been!
Following some rabbit trails, I found this interesting article, written in 2004. http://www.lewrockwell.com/taylor/taylor75.html And a related article from 2005, same author. http://www.lewrockwell.com/taylor/taylor86.html
I, myself avoid all types of public school curriculum. I didn't like it when my son was at school, so I have tried something different. Because cost is a factor in our household, I try to find resources that are free or low cost as possible. I found www.AmblesideOnline.org and love it. It really fits our family. I love that most of the books that we use for Ambleside Online are free and can be read online, or downloaded to a Kindle or laptop. For Math, we use MEP (http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm). It too is a free resource, and there are yahoo support groups for both resources. Good luck with your search. You have got to find what works best for you and your family. I know you will enjoy your homeschool journey together!
I don't have any experience with those particular books, but I picked up a science book last year at a yard sale. It was a third-grade Harcourt. Honestly, my daughter was quite bored with the brief descriptions and explanations. I am on a tight budget, also, so I often utilize Homeschool Classifieds, or e-Bay and Amazon used books. Also, like Koko Academy, I use various online free curriculum, such as Ambleside or Old-Fashioned Education. You can get free homeschool catalogs to look through. My two favorites are CBD (Christian Book Distributors) and Rainbow Resource. Rainbow Resource is a catalog stuffed with good material, some of which is expensive, but alot of it is affordably and fairly priced. Also, Christian Liberty Press (CLP) has very inexpensive books. Since I can't buy all the reading books I'd like, we go to all the local libraries often. lol
Acsi is a great curricuum for younger years it is colorful and very explainitory, we had been given some when ds1 needed extra math stuff I gave him that, it helped all three kids and I gave away a 5th grade level one to a friend whose son was failing at public school it was great!
A friendly dissenting opinion: I have used materials meant for public schools over the years. Mainly, I've used them as a spine. In the third grade a science chapter will be pretty short. You could read the chapter aloud, look at the pictures, discuss concepts you already know about, discuss what you'd like to learn more about, and take a trip to the library to check out books and movies about those topics. Mostly it is the assignments that are so boring. Speaking of boring, I was given a lot of Abeka materials one year. We found Abeka very boring! Personally, I think BJU textbooks are more interesting. You can find public school texts used at Amazon very cheap. Maybe the Original Poster needs to find the least expensive way to do school for next year. If you need some written assignments for a portfolio or grades, you can find worksheets to print off the internet. You can also use Quizlet to type in vocabulary words or questions to make a test. I've got more ideas on using public school materials at home. Pam
