YEAR THREE

OVERVIEW

Third graders love to work. Their self-esteem grows with accomplishment and the mastery of wonderful challenges. They explore the practical aspects of life on earth: the cultivation of food, the building of shelters, and the manufacture of garments. Homeschooling activities are enhanced by gardening and building projects outside the classroom. Torah math studies serve practical needs with the study of measurements – with traditional measures of eiphah, shekel, maneh, omer, seah, kav, as well as time, distance, and money, while continuing practice in the four operations on ever-larger numbers. The gradual separation of a child from the unity of the universe around her comes to completion in third grade. At some point during the year third graders will enter a developmental phase referred to by R. Steiner (OBM) as the “nine year change.” With an experience of separateness come self-awareness and a sense of being different from others. A child can feel lonely and misunderstood. The order and harmony of the world previously experienced as certain is questionable, including the authority of the important adults in their lives. Practical work and an interest in life on earth provide the nine-year old with new focus, another way to feel connected to an orderly world. Building on foundations put down in the previous two years, it is reasonable to expect that most students will read at grade level and practice multiplication tables with the goal of demonstrating mastery. Third graders usually have the voice andthe confidence to take on individual roles in group play. Instrumental music is introduced, with each third grader choosing a stringed instrument.

SKILLS BY SUBJECT AREA

MIDOT

In Grade Three, students should: • Demonstrate increasing awareness of needs and well-being of their siblings and other family members as well as their friends by taking turns, speaking/listening, supporting others, and doing house chores • Participate in both individual and collaborative work • Resolve conflicts with respect and self-control.

TEFILAH

Children continue their mastery of Tefilot in Lashon Kodesh with kavanah being one of the most important criteria. Parents should try to avoid giving out physical prizes or rewards for Tefilah. On some days children will do well, on others they will try to avoid them. Work with your children day by day knowing that kavanah sometimes does not come naturally. Shorten the prayers on certain days if you see that the length of time is excessive for what they can handle.

CHUMASH MASTERY

Adapted and expanded stories from Chumash and Talmud are told to students following the Yearly Parsha Calendar. More complex concepts are introduced through discussion and practical examples of Weekly Passages challenging the minds the enthusiastic learners. By the end of Year Three, students will learn and memorize the first paragraph of book of Bereshit and Shemot.

TEHILIM

Students will learn and memorize additional 20 tehilim used during prayers during the week and on Shabbat.

SHULCHAN ARUCH (Gifted Program Option)

Selected Chapters of Shulchan Aruch will be taught throughout the year.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Towards the end of Third Year, students should be able to: • Listen to oral presentations, comprehend and recall the next day • Participate in group discussions • Speak clearly in group discussions, recitations, and dramatic presentations • Strengthen sentence composition and write paragraphs (there will be varied abilities in the class) • Create journals out of student’s own experiences • Begin to recognize parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective, and adverb • Work with basic punctuation as needed in writing assignments • Practice spelling, words generated from lesson content • Practice basic spelling rules • Take dictation, several sentences at a time • Continue reading, arrive at grade level by the end of the school year • Read aloud fluently with inflection and attention to punctuation cue.

TORAH MATH

By the end of Year Three, students should be able to: • Apply four operations to larger numbers • Work with place value in larger numbers • Master telling time and solve problems involving time • Solve problems relating to money and making change • Check solutions to calculations using the inverse operation • Observe number patterns (especially in multiplication tables) • Discover prime and square numbers • Master multiplication tables 1–12 • Begin long division with divisor up to 12 and remainders • Practice reading and solving word problems • Practice “mental math” • Begin measurements: linear, liquid, dry, and weight • Recognize odd and even numbers.

NATURAL SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES

By the end of Third Year, students will: • Examine primitive house building techniques and the relationship of materials used to the surrounding environment and the cultures of the various peoples class construction project) • Understand the origin of a piece of clothing by experiencing the fiber arts (Tzitzit Project) • Observe a working farm: animal husbandry and crop cultivation (farm visit and participation in chores) • Learn about the cultivation of grains for human sustenance • Participate in gardening chores.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES (HEBREW AND A CHOICE OF SPANISH,FRENCH,GERMAN, OR RUSSIAN)

By the end of Year Three, a student’s active vocabulary should include: • Be familiar with basic items of food, clothing, and furniture • Be familiar with forms of transportation, places and directions • Be familiar with times of day (morning, evening…), clock time: full and half hour • Memorize rhymes, poems, songs, and short plays • Be aware of noun genders • Take active part in group recitation, singing, and games • Become aware of personal pronouns in conversation • Become aware of verbs, articles, nouns, prepositions, and adjectives • Be familiar with numbers up to 100 • Practice simple “mental math” problems in the language.

MUSIC

By the end of Year Three, students should be able to: • Sing in C-major scale • Begin singing rounds • Play C-recorder (soprano) • Continue folk dancing and rhythmic activity (where group activities are available).

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

In Third Year, students should be able to: • Improve their mastery of Pentatonic Flute • Play songs in two parts and simple rounds • Know the diatonic scale in two keys • Learn music aurally through imitation • Understand basic concepts of reading music.

ART

In their Third Year, students should be able to: • Develop form and technique in watercolor painting • Explore: light, polarity (light/dark, above/below), plants, animals, the human figure • Use color to express a mood • Continue to develop proficiency in crayon drawings with more attention to detail • Model in beeswax and clay—create model replicas of houses • Control line in form drawings, balance symmetries—more complex, symmetries that cross the mid-line, symmetries in four quadrants, forms that evolve and change into another • Draw geometric figures freehand—circle, square, pentagon, octagon, etc.

HANDWORK/ADOVAH YAD AND COOKING

By the End of Grade Three, students should be able to: • Crochet a hat within a certain timeline (about two months) • Knit an article using ribbing (i.e. knit one/purl one) stitches, such as a headband • Knit an animal using increases and decreases, casting on and off on the same piece • Some may learn to develop a knitting pattern for an animal (advanced) • Some may learn to follow a printed knitting pattern from a book (advanced) • Recognize and fix minor mistakes (dropped stitches) • Some may learn simple embroidery (stem stitch, chain stitch as preparation for fourth grade) (advanced) • Continue to stimulate their imagination through the shaping of the animals, from 2D to 3D • Experience a connection between the main lesson presentation of the trades etc. and the actual work of a craftsperson • Learn to make challah and braid it • Participate in preparation for Shabbat meals• Be able to make sandwiches and wrap as well as bake simple vegetable dishes • Cut fruit and vegetables under adult supervision • Make basic deserts such as chia pudding, hamentaschen, and simple cakes • Practice checking salads and vegetables for bugs, eggs for bloodspots (if family uses eggs as part of their diet) • Continue learning the laws of kashrut through parental guidance.

EURHYTHMY/ORIENTATION IN SPACE (Copper Rod exercises are optional depending on the family level of interest)

In Grade Three, students should be able to: • Explore expansion/contraction through exercises and spirals • Explore directions with rod exercises (if available or of interest to parents) • Balance copper rod on head, turn around to music • Step rhythms to poetry • Walk geometric forms from imagination • Experience major/minor mood in music, moving to music.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

In Grade Three, students should be able to: • Understand and follow rules • Work in a team with siblings, friends, and/or group mates (for homeschooling pods) • Practice gymnastics introduced in previous years, execute with coordination and confidence • Continue riding a bike and scooter • Toss three balls as pre-juggling skills • Jump rope: forward, backward, with crossovers, individually and with a partner.