Fall School Plans

We are now in our fourth week of school, and I have made some adjustments to our schooling-- which included buying Spectrum Third Grade Math for my daughter to do, as Making Math Meaningful was good-- but waaaay too complicated. There were too many pieces to pull out, too many special things I was having to buy each week to make the lessons happen. So we are using the Spectrum Math as a spine and pulling in manipulatives and games where we can. Much simpler. (The only complaint I have about this book is that it is not very durable, but for $8 for one year of curriculum what did I expect?) I am also referring to What Your Third Grader Needs To Know for additional help in teaching math concepts and would like to pull in Family Math if I can get myself organized. In truth, that probably won't happen til mid November when my speaking season slows down. Of course, by then we will be in holiday mode so... let's be honest, we won't add that til next semester! I also added Read and Understand Science for my third grader, produced by one of my favorite companies, Evan Moor. I could spend a small fortune on their products-- and have!

This fall we are delving into a study of apples and Johnny Appleseed, in preparation for our field trip to Windy Hill Apple Orchard. This is always one of the highlights of our year and I am already praying for good weather! We are using two different lapbooks from currclick.com to make lapbooks about apples. Here is a list of books we will be reading-- just in case any of you want to see if your library carries any of these titles:

• Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
• Apples To Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson
• The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
• Mr. Peabody's Apples by Madonna (I know.)
• Apples by Gail Gibson
• From Seed To Apple by Anita Ganeri
• Apples by Jacqueline Farmer
• Apples Here! by Will Hubbel
• The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
• Apple Cider Making Days by Ann Purmell
• Apple Fractions by Donna Townsend
• Up! Up! Up! It's Apple Picking Time! by Jodi Shapiro
• Apple Harvest by Calvin Harris
• Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer
• The Seasons Of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
• Johnny Appleseed A Tall Tale by Steven Kellogg
• Johnny Appleseed: The Story of A Legend by Will Moses

Of course while we are studying apples, we will make apple pie, apple crisp, caramel dip for apples, and I also want to make this. Yum! Apples are one fruit our whole family agrees on.

After we get through our study of apples, I have some fun fall books to finish out our October/November plans. I would love to make this and this. And I checked out several fall craft books for other ideas. We will also be reading/using:

• Exploring Autumn by Sandra Markle


• Autumnblings by Douglas Florian


• How Many Seeds In A Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara


• The Autumn Leaf by Carl Emerson


• It's Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall


• Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert


• Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro

This will lead right into an in-depth study of the first thanksgiving, which we will also be making a lapbook about. I bought Evan Moor's theme pocket book for November, which includes some great reproducibles we will be using. I am very excited about how we will be spending the rest of this fall-- what we will be learning and how our days are shaping up. I am enjoying learning right alongside my kids-- and seeing the joy on their faces as they (and I) discover God's creation and the beauty contained in each season.