Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Homeschool Easy is a great resource for homeschooling parents. As I mentioned above, it includes all the core subjects. As a parent you will receive a link so you can download the entire year's curriculum. There are nine main files included in this zip file. You then click on each subject's file to bring up the menu for the different topics, either broken down by months or weeks. There is enough material to span the entire school year, 32 weeks or 8 months.
Here are the core subjects:
- Book Reading
- Grammar
- History
- Math
- Reading
- Science
- Writing
The other two main files are instructional files:
- How to Use Homeschool Easy - 3rd Grade
- 3rd Grade Overview
In addition to these downloadable files, you will need a printer to print out the materials, and internet connection to watch the videos. Of course, normal school supplies will be needed, such as pens, pencils, a binder to store the printouts, etc. And you will also need materials for projects in science and history.
When it comes to how to use this curriculum, it is quite simple. You print out as much of the materials as you want to at a time for each subject. Personally, I think a week at a time would work well, which is what the creators of Homeschool Easy recommend. Hole-punch the papers and put them in a binder, or binders. For grammar and math, the parent is to demonstrate the concepts before having the child work on the worksheets. There are also video links included for the students to view. For reading there is a weekly word list to read through plus flashcards, in addition to the worksheet activities. For book reading you need to either obtain a copy of the chapter book or see if the book is available at the online library they link to. Whether the parent or the child reads the book is up to the parent to determine, based on the child's reading level. For science and history there are links to videos to watch, in addition to worksheets to fill out and projects to complete.
Let's take a closer look at each component of the curriculum.
Book Reading
Each month your child will be reading two chapter books at the rate of one or two chapters a day. There are a variety of books that will be read during the year, some of which I've never heard of, while others are classics. For example, the first month children are reading Bad Kitty School Daze by Nick Bruel, plus Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater. Later in the year they are reading Babe the Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald.
There are reading comprehension questions in the form of "What?," "Why," "How?," and "Describe" questions, so children can be looking for details as they read. Each week there are also vocabulary words to define, plus the student is to write a definition. There are about eight words each week, so the student could spread them out by doing a couple a day.
Reading Comprehension:
Vocabulary:
Grammar:
There are 33 files in the Grammar folder. The first file contains the answers to the questions for every week, plus it includes the links to the video lessons. The 32 weekly files contain daily worksheets on various grammar topics, starting with different kinds of sentences at the beginning of the year, and going through lessons on subjects, predicates, run-on sentences, compound sentences, commas, verbs, contractions, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs.
When a new concept is taught, there is a box at the top of the page that explains it. Plus, as I mentioned before, there are video links for further instruction. Then the children will work through different kinds of activities such as labeling, adding punctuation, circling correct answers, and writing sentences showing the concept learned.
History:
Children will be focusing on American History and Patriotism. There are eight separate folders for the school year, each one includes 5 files, a guide, which includes the links to the videos, answers to the worksheet questions, and instructions for each week's project.
The year starts with a month on patriotic symbols, such as the American Flag, the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, and the White House. Then there are lessons on American History that range from Native Americans through the Pilgrims and colonial times, to the Revolutionary War, early America, American inventors, Westward Expansion, the Civil War, the two World Wars and modern history, looking at presidents such as John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter. Children are to watch videos, answer questions, and then do weekly projects on some aspect of what they learned, usually some sort of poster board project or writing project.
Math:
Math focuses on traditional math and number sense. There are worksheets, manipulatives, and flashcards included in the printable section, plus links to the video lessons. Children work their way through place value, reading & writing numbers, expanded form, and then work on comparing numbers and ordering them before moving into addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They have manipulatives to help them work out the problems. Children will also work on fractions, decimals, and measurement. There is simple geometry with lines, angles, triangles, and polygons. Plus they will work on perimeter, area, and volume. The year ends with learning about charts and time.
Here are some examples of the worksheets and the manipulatives that go with them.
Reading:
The reading lessons give children phonics-based wordlists each week. The children are to read the words and then read sentences with the words included in them. There are flashcards included for children to practice reading the words, plus children demonstrate that they understand the meaning of the word by circling the correct word that should go into the sentence on the worksheet. There are also crossword puzzles and word finds each week. Finally, the children are to read a couple of passages and answer reading comprehension questions.
Word List:
Flashcards:
Fill in the Blank/Understanding the meaning of the word
Crossword Puzzle/Spelling
Word Search/Spelling
Science:
As with the history lessons, there are videos for the children to watch on different science topics, and then they are to answer questions on the worksheets. Children will learn about the solar system for three months, then move into lessons on Energy and Light for a month. From there they will focus on Adaptations of different kinds of environments. Then they will look at animals in these environments.
And, as with the history lessons, there are projects to do. Though there aren't always specific details on what they are to do included in the curriculum. They are to get ideas by watching videos.
Writing:
Each week there are two writing prompts for the children to complete. As there are other opportunities for children to practice their writing throughout the curriculum, I would probably allow Harold to choose one each week to work on. I appreciate that their is a teacher guide included that explains what should be expected of third grade children when completing these writing projects. It is good to know that 6-7 on-topic sentences are sufficient and that they should focus on the grammar they have learned.
Here are some examples of the word prompts:
Did you enjoy your summer? Why or why not?
If you could change one thing in your room, what would you change? Why?
Pretend that you are a grown adult. You want to buy a house. Describe what you would want in the house. How would this house look?
What are my thoughts?
I love that Homeschool Easy includes all of the core subjects. However, I did realize that parents might come across the problem that a child isn't always right on grade level in the different subjects. That is one of the benefits of homeschooling, children can work at their level. For our family, I'm looking specifically at the math, and wondering if some of it is going to be way too easy for Harold who, while he is going into third grade, has been working on a lot of these topics already.
Another concern I have is that, even though there is a small amount of work for children to do in each subject each day, if there are multiple children in the family, having to work with each child may get a bit overwhelming. Perhaps this is just a concern for me because I am used to combining my children in our lessons. Due to the fact that the lessons are short, perhaps it won't be a concern for others who are used to using a different level for each child. As I don't have access to the other grade levels, it is hard for me to know how subjects such as science and history will work with multiple children.
I do love that all a parent has to do is open each week's file and print out the week's printables. Children can work independently a bit when they are watching the videos and answering the questions. And having the answers readily available is a great bonus. I can see the value of this curriculum and how it could simplify a parent's homeschool journey.
Don't forget to click on the banner below to see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Homeschool Easy. You will find reviews for all five grade levels: 1st-5th grade.
