"I'm in 3rd grade"

This is what Emma would tell anyone she met this week. I would also hear, "I'm a 3rd grader so I can cook/spell/work on my own" or some form of that. Obviously 3rd grade has some magical properties associated with it in Emma's mind that now that she is in it she will be able to do countless things she did not have the skills to do as a mere 2nd grader. Normally we would be starting summer break, but Emma was already bored. We decided to go ahead and start the next school year but only do 3 days a week and at natural breaking points take a week off. She has been eager to get into the new curriculum anyway (and so have I) that she was excited about this idea.
I would love for this blog to contain weekly posts about her 3rd grade year but I am also realistic and be happy I am getting this one done.
The biggest thing Emma is excited about is having her own schedule. Guess that is a sign of being big. There will still be a schedule we do together but I have one for her that has the things she can do without me. It also contains questions she needs to answer in her Zoology Journal.

The numbers on the side tell what order to do the work in and when to break. The schedule that has the work we will do together also has numbers. Even with the two schedules, Emma decided she would be in charge and would let me know what is next on the schedules.

This year we will be studying American History up to the Westward Expansion  using books from Sonlight Core D, Time Traveler CDs , and the Welcome to Kaya/Felicity/etc World books. So far everything seems to be a big hit. Emma loves the reader she is working through (A Lion to Guard Us) also the history reader (Pedro's Journal) and read aloud (Walk the World's Rim) I am reading her. There were groans of "read more" when I finished the first days reading. Hopefully she will enjoy all the books this much. We will also be creating several lap books associated with the Time Traveler work. The first one is on Explorers and should take about 4 weeks to finish.

The first day was fun because in the middle of the day we made cookies. Well, we began the cookie making process. The dough had to sit for 2 hours, but by the end of the school day we were ready to cut them and bake them. They were spice cookies and went with one of the reasons for exploring...looking for spices. When it came time to actually cut the cookies I was extremely nervous because the"3rd grader" wanted to do the cutting which ment using the BIG knife.

She still has all her fingers and the spice cookies came out delicious, especially with whip cream added to the warm cookies.
Another day had her working on knot tying. She tried several knots using a shoe lace. She practiced them a few times and thought some were more trouble them worth.

Besides her own schedule, she has her own science besides the Apologia Flying Creatures of the 5th Day. I bought her SL Science D to do on her own (but I am available if need be). She reads and answers a few questions on a work page, watches a DVD when indicated, and a CD to listen to. This week the CD song was on the Scientific Method and she enjoyed it so much she has much of it memorized.  In a few weeks she will learn about Water, and I ordered a Myth Buster's Kit to go along with it (but she does not know about it yet).
I was kind of worried the 2 sciences and all the American History I have for her to do would be too much, especially alongside all the other subjects...Math, Bible, Language, and 2 art programs...but she never complained once this week. Maybe it is because she has a whole day of rest in between or it is all new stuff or she was able to use her own schedule AND write in pen. Don't really care as long as she is enjoying what we are doing then she will learn just that much more.
To top the week off, we found an electric typewriter at the Crowded Closet for just $2.50. She wanted it so she can write a book. I tried to explain the computer was better for writing but she has it in her mind to write a book one needs to do it the old fashioned way...with a typewriter. If spending $2.50 gets her to write more (not that she ever had a lack of interest in writing) and learn the keyboard then it was worth it. She has already written the first page to Emma's Diary including pictures (think Diary of Wimpy Kid style) and is working on a letter to her grandfather.

It was a great week and she is happy with being in 3rd grade...just ask anyone who lives near here, she has told them all.