Year 3 Wrap Up for Kid Uno
Average weekly time: Together (3 hours), Kid Uno independently (13), total 16 hours
Rate each book (like, neutral, dislike).
Add a few comments.
Any changes for next child?
[My answers are italicized]
Bible/Saints
New Testament AO Selections
Dislike. I don’t really like reading the Bible. The thing picks out a lot of stories that I don’t like.
Like. She narrated well.
Old Testament AO Selections
Dislike. It’s very boring.
Dislike. The AO schedule was so confusing. I need to change it for coming years.
Saints
Like. It’s very fun, it has good stories.
Like. I think Kid Uno mostly liked the beautiful girl martyrs, but they were all good. I thought the level might be too easy for her, but it wasn’t.
History/Bios
Child’s History of the World
Neutral. Some parts I like, and some I don’t. Sometimes it’s fun and sometimes it’s boring.
Like. I love this book—I have learned so much. The last chapter about world peace was fluffy and skippable…I think I might read the Matthew passage about wars and rumors of war instead.
Our Island Story
Dislike. It has a lot of dates I should memorize. All those battles.
Like. I actually haven’t read this. I wasn’t going to schedule it but Kid Uno asked to read it so I said yes as long as she wrote a narration after each chapter. It could be as long or as short as she wanted. I gave her a spiral notebook with some suggested questions to answer or help prompt narrations. She did well, and her illustrations were pretty great.
Timeline
Dislike. Very, very dislike. So boring. Well, neutral—it’ll help me remember stuff but I don’t like writing it.
Neutral. Kind of a drag, but it’s only every three weeks, and it pays off later.
Theresa of Calcutta
Like. She helped the poor and it was a very interesting book.
Like. I haven’t read this since I was a kid, so I skimmed each chapter and we went through some concepts and vocabulary before she read and narrated.
Geography
Minn of the Mississippi
Dislike. Very boring.
Neutral. It’s okay. I like Holling C. Holling, but his use of dialogue to narrate doesn’t work very well, especially for read alouds. it gets confusing, especially in this book. I think Kid Uno liked the turtle parts, but didn’t learn much geography from it.
Soviettrek
Neutral. It had some exciting parts but it’s all “I” [first person].
Like. We discussed communism and the USSR before she read. She filled in a printed map with some of the locations of the bike trip. I think it gave her a taste of Russian culture.
Little Tiger in the Chinese Night
Neutral. Like and dislike.
Like. We discussed communism before she read it. She filled in a printed map of China but she did it at the beginning of these two books, so I don’t know if she remembers much.
Children of China
Dislike. It wasn’t a very good story. I like stories, not like history. I don’t like non-fiction at all.
Like. We discussed communism before she read it. She filled in a printed map of China but she did it at the beginning of these two books, so I don’t know if she remembers much.
Science
One Small Square Woods
Dislike. They’re boring and I know all those safety tips and stuff.
Neutral. Very Eastern—we don’t have those kinds of woods around here, so when we tried doing a small square on the Jordan River, it didn’t work so well. And it was winter 😉
One Small Square Seashore
Dislike. They’re boring and I know all those safety tips and stuff.
Like. Read right after their trip to Florida, so some of it came alive.
One Small Square Savanna
Dislike. They’re boring and I know all those safety tips and stuff.
Like. This one is easy to follow.
One Small Square Pond
Dislike. They’re boring and I know all those safety tips and stuff.
Like. Fairly interesting. Some overlap with Among the People.
Among the People
Like. It’s really fun, and it’s also interesting, and it’s also stories, but I still learn something.
Like. I thought the eels crawling through mud was totally out there, until I googled it and it is true! And the humor is great at times.
Pagoo
Neutral. Sometimes it’s boring, sometimes it’s fun.
Like. This is one of Holling’s better ones. We learned a lot about hermit crabs, and a little about the ocean and food chains.
Wild Season
Like. Cuz it shows the food chain, it’s also really fun.
Like. This is a great book; that’s why I assigned it. J Rather than verbal narrations, she had a little notebook and I told her to do a one page illustration of the main idea of each chapter. They were great. And I think she picked up on the food chain concept pretty well.
BFSU
Dislike. It’s science and I hate, hate, hate science, completely hate.
Neutral. This is such a great concept but I so dread implementing it. And Kid Uno whined about it. So halfway through the 3rd term, I just found all the non-fiction we own that line up with the ideas, assigned her a book to read, and discussed afterward. That worked a lot better. I have re-done my schedule for BFSU 1 and 2 for next year in the same format, but will be beefing it up with projects and videos.
Nature Journal
Dislike. Cuz I can’t pick what I like to draw, and it’s nature.
Like. Term 1 was the best, when I scheduled topics ahead of time. The other terms were haphazard, which was ok.
Nature Connection
Neutral. Cuz I ran out of projects and had to do it three years.
Neutral. I think it is worthwhile, but it is redundant now that I have more experience and more resources for nature study. This is Kid Uno’s third year with it, and that’s more than enough.
Literature
The Heroes
Like. Cuz it’s a story.
Like. Although I haven’t quite finished it 😦 I need to pre-read faster! A good, fairly short intro to mythology. Kid Uno read it on her own.
Princess and the Goblin
Like. Cuz it’s also a story, and it’s very fun cuz she finds her grandmother.
Like. Kid Uno had already read the abridged version, so she was a bit nonplussed to read this again. But she liked it, and kept asking to read ahead.
Shakespeare
Neutral. Cuz sometimes it’s fun and sometimes it’s not.
Like. Especially Hamlet, since I’ve never read it before. I get some of the others mixed up since they are formulaic, but they are all good.
Pilgrim’s Progress
Dislike. Hate. The worst story imaginable. The younger one [Little Pilgrim’s Progress] is much, much better.
Dislike. Thanks, John Bunyan, for making me explain rape to a nine year old, and victim-blaming while you’re at it. Ugh. I keep waffling on whether to drop this, but I keep thinking who am I to argue with previous generations’ acclaim for a lauded classic….or something. But I am postponing it till Kids Dos and Tres are in Year 3 and 2, so I don’t have to read it again next year.
People Could Fly
Like. It has fun stories.
Like. This is one of my minority tweaks that I am really happy with. The stories are great, and Kid Uno picked up on the allusions to death.
Tom Sawyer
Like. Love. It’s so fun, and he goes on the best adventures.
Like. This was a great sub for Children of the New Forest. We did three chapters a week for one term, which was a lot of reading, but it was a good one to do together since she doesn’t understand a lot of the context. There were a couple boring chapters, but most was much better than I remembered as a kid.
Jungle Books
Like. Love. Fun stories. Very interesting. And I learned a different language about how to say animal.
Like. Kipling has really grown on me. This was amazing. Took about 45-60 min per chapter, so it was a lot of reading, but again a really good one to do together.
American Tall Tales
Like. It’s not true but it’s really fun.
Like. Classic tall tales. She’d already read most of them in another book, so I think we skipped some narrations.
Poetry
William Blake
Like. It’s very pretty and nice and sweet.
Like. My only exposure to Blake was a terrible college class which took weeks to discuss Tyger and I hated it. Kid Uno and I read Songs of Innocence and Experience, and they were pretty cool, especially the original illustrations.
Vikram Seth
Hate. They’re not very good poems for me, and I don’t like what he writes.
Like. These were great story-poems (Beastly Tales), and another of my non-western additions.
Marilyn Singer
Like. They’re really good, and they’re backwards.
Like. We read Mirror Mirror and Follow Follow. Very clever.
Sara Teasdale
Neutral. Some are good and some I don’t really like.
Like. But I think these would be more appreciated by an older someone, say 14ish. Kid Uno didn’t really get into them.
Math
Rays Intellectual, Practical, and Test
Dislike. Hate. It’s the worst schoolbook in my whole life. It’s hard, it’s confusing, it’s very un-fun.
Like. I know Kid Uno doesn’t like it, but it is so simple, effective, and short. Although I assigned way too much long division at the beginning of that section, until I realized 10 problems took her 2 hours!
Strayer Upton
Like. It’s easy and fun and it tells the stories that goes along with it, and it makes it easy for me to understand.
Like. We finished half the red book. Kid Uno loves it (compared to Ray’s), and I like that I can pick sections where she can use some easy practice. It could be fairly self-teaching. Not as advanced as Ray’s; it’s probably about grade level.
Miquon
Dislike. Hate. It gives me problems that sometimes I don’t understand; sometimes it’s really easy, sometimes it’s really hard. I like stuff to teach me but be very easy.
Like. The perfect complement to Ray’s. Kid Uno doesn’t love it, but she doesn’t complain about it much. She will finish it in Year 4.
Life of Fred
Neutral. I’d like to go into older books cuz it’s very easy. Some easy things I like, some I don’t.
Dislike. Actually closer to hate. Just inane, and she learns absolutely no math. The only redeeming quality is that she associates something funny with math. Kid Uno has been reading them on her own; I am done reading them forever; considered selling but will probably hang on to them and just let the kids read them when they want to.
Flashcards
Dislike. If it showed all the cards on the computer it would be faster because I wouldn’t have to flip cards over.
Like. She does multiplication or division a couple times a week, and has been getting faster. Takes about 10 minutes per set.
Writing
Pentime Grade 6 and 7
Neutral. I don’t like long things but I do like short things.
Like. Cheap, quick, effective, and pretty.
Reading
McGuffey’s Third Reader
Dislike. I like reading stories better than all that Bible stuff.
Like. This book is fairly boring, but it has been great for elocution. I’ve also used it as an early intro to dictation. She picks 2-3 spelling words at the end, studies them for a minute, puts the book down, and copies them.
Art
Scott Foresman 4, 5
Like. But I’d rather be able to skip around
Like. We’ve continued using these for art projects. She is self-directed, and there is some good variety. We’ll move on to something else next year.
Pencil Drawing Books
Dislike. Not at all fun because I can’t draw what I like, and I like drawing people. I don’t like drawing their way.
Like. She has been working through her choice four weeks at a time, and I think it’s added to her skill.
Theatre at Children’s Theatre
Like. Our teachers were really good and nice.
Like. It was rough getting Kids Uno and Dos to classes during the winter at naptime with a new baby. But they really enjoyed it, and I think they learned some vocal and public speaking and memorization skills.
Picture Study
John James Audubon
Like. It’s fun, and interesting.
Like. Good way to learn observation.
Georgia O’Keefe
Neutral. Some of her paintings I liked, some I didn’t. It’s not my type of drawing.
Like. The book I ended up with was tiny so I may upgrade for future kids.
Salvador Dali
Dislike. Hate. All that scary stuff and weird stuff and naked people.
Like. I thought Kid Uno would dislike him, but she was pretty into it.
Music
Hymn
Dislike. I don’t really like singing it together the way we do it.
Like. I love when we have learned one, and then we sing it at church, and she is happy because she knows this one!
Haydn, Beatles, Harp, Aaron Copeland, U2, Steel Drums, Debussey, Selena, French Horn
Like. Love. SELENA—she’s the best singer in the world…
Like. This was a fun assortment. I’m pretty sure Selena was the favorite.
Violin Lessons
Like. It helps me learn about all the notes, and I’ve been able to learn a little piano, and it’s been very fun.
Like. Her violin lessons have been very worthwhile.
Memorization/Recitation
Bible
Dislike. Hate. Because I don’t like memorizing. Unless it’s songs from movies. I don’t like being made to memorize. Maybe we should memorize songs instead.
Like. She doesn’t like to put much time into it until the end of the term. I thought letting her pick a passage would be more enjoyable, but she just picked the shortest ones possible.
Poetry
Neutral. It’s not that fun.
Like. She doesn’t like to put much time into it until the end of the term. Maybe learning some techniques for memorizing would be helpful?
Handicraft/Skill
Emily’s Co-op
Like. Love. It’s so much fun, and I can make so many new friends, except I don’t get to see them a lot. Like A—he’s a friend of the C–. M—he was really fun, and we got to be great friends. Also A–.
Like. Emily was amazing to do this. Three hours every Friday morning for several weeks. The three older kids all learned some finger-knitting and Spanish, played parts in a fairy tale play, and did some nature journaling, and loved being with friends. The kids loved it.
Knitting, Weaving, Beeswax Candles, Microscope, Pet Care, Decorating Church for Easter, Clay, Making Rose Hip Tea, Origami, Making Lunch, Opening Pomegranates, Grocery Shopping, Legos, Beading, Gingerbread House, Baking Cookies, Brownies, Cake, and Pies, Felting Soap, Paper Cutting, Play Doh, Hand Sewing, Fairy House, Eco Art, Paper Fans, Building Fort, Harvesting Pine Nuts
Like. It’s fun.
Like. It’s all good!
Outdoor Exploration
Perseid Meteor Shower in West Desert, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Millcreek Canyon, Peace Garden, Sheepdog Festival, Week at Cabin in Grover, Tracey Aviary, Wheeler Farm, Neighborhood Seed Walk, Jordan River, Cattails, Aerospace Museum, Stockton, Treehouse, Tulip Festival, Thanksgiving Point, Discovery Gateway, Camping in Uintas, Week in Florida
Like. It’s very fun.
Like. One of the best parts of homeschooling.
Sport/Physical Activity
Ballet at Missio
Like. Love. I even want to become a ballerina when I grow up. The teachers help me understand so that I’m able to do it right, and they are really patient and understanding. They always help me with it, even when I have lots of trouble. They say “you can do it”. Especially Laura—because she teaches my class and is always really helpful. They even give us breaks (which I don’t ask for).
Like. It’s free, the quality is equivalent to SLC Ballet which is not free, it’s nearby, DH usually takes them, and their performance was very sweet. It’s a keeper. Kid Uno is gifted at ballet; I need to look into whether she should take more or harder classes.
Running
Neutral. It’s pretty hard, but it’s kind of fun to get rewards for it.
Like. DH times the kids running around the block, and tracks their records on a spreadsheet. And Kid Uno ran her first 5k this year!
Hikes, Bike Rides, Tennis, Yard Golf, Bounce House, Snow Play, Sledding, Ice Skating, Swimming
Like. They’re really fun.
Like. All great activities.
Gymnastics
Like. It’s fun.
Like. All four older kids took several weeks of classes at the rec center. It was a good cheap way to see if they were all really interested like they said they were. I think we’ll do it again this winter.
Overall evaluation: Our family is very strong in spending time reading, crafting, sporting, socializing, and spending time outside. We have acquired Legos and more board games this year; Kid Uno has enjoyed both. She is a very self-directed learner…needs a little instruction, and she’s off. Comes up with a lot of her own ideas and implements them on her own. She did most of her work independently, and is all set for complete independence in Year 4. She took the ITBS and DORA/ADAM. The DORA/ADAM were much more useful for me. She’s at or above grade level in everything except geometry. I need to look ahead and see if our maths cover that more next year [since Kid Dos also tested low in that area], or if I should add something. Origami? 😉 She’s a super reader, and I am always scrambling to find more free reads for her. I’d eventually like her to enjoy reading books written in first person; they are the only ones she won’t read. We didn’t use much media again this year; next year I am putting some movies/documentaries/music right on the schedule so I remember to do them. Kid Uno does enjoy Storybird, Oregon Trail, online math games, and watching ballet and sports. I’m happy with the changes I made to Year 3 (compared to the AO version). It ended up being a bit more time consuming for Kid Uno than I wanted it to be (I was aiming at about 15 hours a week), but she rose to the occasion (and I eventually cut back on math). The distribution of work throughout the week was perfect, but I want to protect her daily free time, so I’m keeping that in mind in my Year 4 planning. No more than 20 hours a week next year, I hope.
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