Before we get into this curriculum talk, I need to tell you this: Mabel’s Labels has given me an Ultimate Back to School Combo to give away. And I want you to win it. So at the end of this post, you need to dot the I’s and cross the T’s and drop your name into this giveaway. I have been labeling everything since I bought a set of labels from Mabel when the kids went to camp. And the things that have gone off on playdates and to soccer practice and everywhere else have actually made it back home. It’s magical.

… and now back to our regularly scheduled programming …

Somewhere along the line we’ve dropped into a wormhole and accelerated through time and space, because my calendar is telling me that this wee, bee-driving gent

will be in the third grade when we start school in a few weeks.

While Poppy was somewhat interested in going to school this year, Pete has zero interest in such a thing. He enjoys doing his schoolwork on his schedule, which generally means getting it out of the way early and leaving the rest of his day to spend as he pleases. Here’s what he’ll be rushing to complete this year:

Social Studies

We’ll all be listening to “Story of the World: Volume 4“ together as we drive around to various activities. Hopefully we’ll do some of the projects this year, too. Pete will also continue working through the “Map Skills” book he started last year. It’s a book of worksheets on cardinal directions, map reading and state facts.

Math

Pete should finish McRuffy Math 3 by the end of 2016, and he’ll start the fourth level of the program after that.

Language Arts

I’m hoping to get the next level of Michael Clay Thompson’s grammar curriculum this year, but it’s pretty expensive so I’m still not sure it’ll happen. Pete will continue doing the WordlyWise 3000 vocabulary program. And for spelling…

Spelling has been an ongoing challenge for Pete and I, and this year we’re going to try to remove the potential for Mama & Pete conflict from the equation. Pete will have a couple of lessons each week with a tutor.

Science

Poppy is taking an Earth Science course elsewhere this year, and I thought it would be nice if Pete was working on the same subject at home since we’ll be doing some experiments when she’s home. We’ll be using “Classic Science: Elementary Earth Science” from Mr. Q’s. The texts are ebooks. I loaded Pete’s copy onto the family iPad and the teacher copy onto my Kindle, and I’m going to have all of the worksheets, lab reports and tests printed and bound. That’s going to cost about $30, but it’ll be good to have them all in one place and not be at the mercy of my printer.

Art & Music

Pete is still taking guitar lessons, and I’m thinking about having him do Kahn Academy’s art history lessons for art.

Extracurriculars

Pete is a green belt in tae kwon do now, and he’s going to be starting a chess class in the fall.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I just like Mabel’s Labels a lot, and they asked if I wanted to give away a set of labels.

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