Making the Grade: Everything Your 3rd Grader Needs to Know

This brand-new and important workbook gives parents easy-to-apply methods for educating their third-grade children, whether as home schoolers with parents taking full control of their child’s studies, or as parents cooperating with their child’s teachers in standard classroom settings. The book gives parents guiding principles for teaching reading, writing, math, social studies, and science.

Pages are perforated for multipurpose use, which can include independent learning by children or shared learning when kids and parents work together. Four curriculum sections are designed to guide teaching parents:

• Promoting literacy—reading, writing, listening, and speaking
• Math—number patterns, problem solving, and other math-related concepts
• Science—life, earth, and physical sciences
• and Social Studies—history, geography, economics, and culture

Each section outlines subject matter for children to learn, preceded by planning and implementation strategies for parents. Parents get advice on ways to enhance the child’s learning experience. They include Teaching Tips, or ways to explain difficult concepts to children, and ways to assess a child’s success in grasping the given material. There is also advice on integrating the Arts, with suggestions for interactive learning in music and art; and activities and Games to promote hands-on learning experiences that relate to specific subject content.

In each subject section a special feature titled In Your Community describes ways to explore the community where the family lives, taking advantage of local cultural affairs, business activities, environmental concerns, and government functions. Though the book is written primarily for parents, third-grade classroom teachers looking for new ideas and methods will also find inspiration.

This book is one of three titles that introduce teaching methods and offer practical curriculum guides for different grade levels: grades three, five, and six. Additional titles for other K–6 grades are currently in preparation. All books feature maps, photos, and illustrations, many in color.

Micki Pflug has been involved in the educational arena for more than a decade, working with all grade levels, from pre-k to post-secondary. She has developed widely-used third-grade textbooks in reading, language arts, social studies, and math.