Here’s our Cycle 3 Reading Plans which we used during a previous trip through Cycle 3, and I’m sharing it here for others who wish to add some reading and activities to their Cycle 3 memory work.
For those in the Classical Conversations Foundations program, you can always just start with the basics.
:: A Bible (No fancy curriculum needed!)
:: The Foundations Guide
:: A math program
:: A language arts program (until your children are old enough for Essentials). We use a reading & spelling program that teaches phonics and then we teach sentence structure, punctuation, parts of speech, and so on via copywork and dictation. In addition to the Foundations English Grammar memory work, we’ve found IEW Bible Heroes (which comes with a free download of the Teacher’s Manual) to be immensely helpful prior to Essentials. We’ve also found that IEW’s Fix-It Grammar is a great curriculum with short lessons in which students apply concepts in sentence mechanics, parts of speech, and parts of a sentence.
:: A library card. Your book selections need not even match up with your history or science memory work. Just read anything that your children enjoy!
:: Paper and pencil.
But…
…our reading plans have provided us with a structured way of incorporating related reading and activities, which helped our family to enjoy the memory work so much more. Over time, I’ve discovered how much better it is for our family to spend time reading together and how much more our children’s imaginations have flourished as a result.
“As Lewis got to know the children, he was surprised by how little they read and how dull their imaginations seemed to be. Remembering the books and make-believe world of his childhood, he knew how much they were missing. One day, one of the girls, busy exploring the house, grew curious about a large, old wardrobe in a spare room upstairs. ‘May I go inside of it?’ she asked Lewis. He opened the door and let her poke around the heavy coats hanging inside. ‘I wonder if there is anything behind it,’ she said. The girl left the room and rushed outside to play, but her question sent his mind to work. He decided to write a story for the children to encourage their imaginations and point them to Jesus Christ. Lewis entitled the story, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe… Lewis wrote many books and nearly all of them became best sellers. But Lewis was not a wealthy man because he gave away the money he made on his Christian books to ministries and charities. Although C.S. Lewis died in 1963, his books continue to show people the way to Jesus Christ.” -from Trial and Triumph, p. 280-282
Having said that, here we go with a few disclaimers…
Disclaimer #1: I enjoy the peace of having a plan laid out before me. We don’t always finish everything we set out to do. But I’m incredibly absent-minded and forgetful, so a plan in place provides peace in our home. I have to have a checklist, or nothing will get done. (This has especially been the case with a newborn and the resulting lack of sleep.)
Disclaimer #2: Use the extra time in the elementary years to pursue interest-led learning with your children! Because we incorporated unit studies early on, our oldest developed a true love of history and science.
Disclaimer #3: Whether you’re an extreme-planner or utterly disorganized, an avid reader or a structured notebookers, you don’t have to be someone you’re not. Just add the memory work to your schedule each day and enjoy your children. Seriously, be the person God has made you to be and resist the temptation to make comparisons!
Disclaimer #4: One book we selected for this reading plan, Giants of American Industry – John D Rockefeller, has some topics inappropriate for children when it refers to the life of his father. Our family is simply skipping these parts because the book overall is an interesting, informative book about Rockefeller. For more details, scroll to the bottom of this post.
Disclaimer #5: As with any plan, this isn’t perfect. It certainly won’t suit everyone. But perhaps it can help at least one other person, to which I would exclaim, “To God be the glory!”
I’m sure I need other disclaimers, but I’m drawing a blank. (I’m sorry! I didn’t have a checklist in front of me!)
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So… here goes nothing!
American History Reading Plans
First, we have a new set of Cycle 3 Reading Plans in which we recommend our favorite read alouds and picture books from our first three trips through Cycle 3. Go check it out here!
Although many of the books within the free reading plans below have made it onto our favorites list, some of them have not, so be sure to reference the above updated reading plans for those updates! It’s a much better list of books!
Reading Correlations
If you just want Reading Correlations for history & science, we’ve put together a correlation for the Acts & Facts History Cards, Acts & Facts Science Cards, Lyrical Life Science Volume 3, Everything You Need to Know about American History Homework, and Story of the World. It’s part of our Reading Correlations packet.
The Books We Used Previously
Our reading selections are taken from many other sources, including (but not limited to) suggested resources from Sonlight, Tapestry of Grace, Veritas Press, Memoria Press, and Classical Conversations, as well as the Gospel Coalition, Old-Fashioned Education, IEW’s boys who would rather build forts all day, and Ambleside Online. (I have a ream-of-paper I reference along with an assortment of catalogs and websites when I make my booklists.) We also invest heavily in books in our home so we can provide adequate recommendations to others.
AHH: Everything You Need to Know about American History Homework
SOTW: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child Volume 3: Early Modern Times
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child Volume 4: The Modern Age
Presidents: A Presidential Scrapbook
Star-Spangled State: Star-Spangled State Book
ICJH: It Couldn’t Just Happen
LLS: Lyrical Life Science Volume 3
CELS: Classic Elementary Life Science
Timeline Card: Classical Acts & Facts History Cards
Science Card: Classical Acts & Facts Science Cards ANAT/CHEM/ORIG
Treasury of Virtues: The Children’s Treasury of Virtues
American Artwork: Great American Artists for Kids: Hands-On Art Experiences in the Styles of Great American Masters
Family Read-Alouds
Pedro’s Journal
Squanto Friend Of The Pilgrims
Mr. Revere and I
Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos
Phoebe the Spy
The Cabin Faced West
Of Courage Undaunted
A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal 1830-32
Robert E Lee -Gallant Christian Soldier (Sowers)
Who Was Harriet Tubman?
All-of-a-Kind Family
Bully for You Teddy Roosevelt!
Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companion
The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey
26 Fairmont Avenue
Through My Eyes
Who Was Neil Armstrong?
Minn of the Mississippi by Holling
Our Constitution Rocks
Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling
Tree in the Trail by Holling
Picture Books and Readers
COLUMBUS by Ingri D’Aulaire
The Story of Christopher Columbus (DK)
N.C. Wyeth’s Pilgrims
The Thanksgiving Story
Paul Revere’s Ride by Longfellow/Rand
Can’t You Make Them Behave King George?
Sam the Minuteman (I Can Read Book 3)
Thomas Jefferson’s Feast (Step into Reading) (Step #4)
George Washington and the General’s Dog (Step-Into-Reading Step 3)
George Washington — Soldier Hero President (DK Readers Level 3)
A Picture Book of George Washington (Picture Book Biography)
A Picture Book of Davy Crockett
David Crockett Creating a Legend
Davy Crockett: A Life on the Frontier (Ready-to-read SOFA)
Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President (Step into Reading Step 3)
The Declaration of Independence from A to Z
How We Crossed The West: The Adventures Of Lewis And Clark
The Star Spangled Banner in Translation: What It Really Means (Kids’ Translations)
Francis Scott Key’s Star-Spangled Banner (Step into Reading)
Francis Scott Key and “The Star Spangled Banner”
Follow the Drinking Gourd (Dragonfly Books)
If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad
Wagon Wheels (I Can Read Book)
DK Readers: Journey of a Pioneer
Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples…
Ox-Cart Man
Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express (I Can Read Book 3)
Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln
DK Readers: Abraham Lincoln: Lawyer Leader Legend
Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall Thin Tale
Key Battles of the Civil War (Americans at War)
A Lesson for Martin Luther King Jr.
I Have a Dream (Book & CD)
Smokestacks and Spinning Jennys: Industrial Revolution (American History Through Primary Sources)
To Dare Mighty Things: The Life of Theodore Roosevelt
The Memory Coat
The Long Way to a New Land (I Can Read Book 3)
DK Readers: Disasters at Sea (Level 3: Reading Alone)
DK Readers: D-Day Landings: The Story of the Allied Invasion
Pearl Harbor National Geographic [Collector’s Edition]
Pearl Harbor : Ready To Read Level 3
Franklin and Winston: A Christmas That Changed the World
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain (Caldecott Honor Book)
Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story (Scholastic Reader Level 2)
DK Readers: Spacebusters: The Race to the Moon
Neil Armstrong (Rookie Biographies)
Look to the Stars by Edwin Aldrin
Space Heroes: Amazing Astronauts (DK Readers)
The Little Chapel that Stood
Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey
If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution
So You Want to Be President?
Scrambled States of America
Scrambled States of America Talent Show
America the Beautiful by Bates/Gall
The Mississippi: America’s Mighty River (Rivers Around the World)
The Erie Canal by Spier
Book Details: Treasury of Virtues
William Bennett’s Children’s Treasury of Virtues can be used in lieu of picture books and readers (or can be used as a read-aloud for the entire year for younger children). If you have trouble finding a copy of the Children’s Treasury of Virtues, the Children’s Book America contains most of the stories. Alternatively, the large volume, The Book of Virtues, includes many readings that correlate with U.S. History (plus a whole lot more) but lacks illustrations. (We own both: I love the Children’s Treasury because of its beautiful illustrations, and love The Book of Virtues because it contains such a wealth of virtuous stories that span all of time. Click here for a Cycle 3 reading correlation for the Book of Virtues.)
Book Details: Rockefeller
One book we selected for this year (for Week 14), Giants of American Industry – John D. Rockefeller by Ellen Greenman Coffey, has some topics inappropriate for children in the first few chapters when it refers to the life of his father. Our family is simply skipping these parts because the book overall is an interesting, informative, and engaging book about Rockefeller (who lived a much more honorable life than his father). If you happened to purchase or borrow this book, you will likely want to skip the following:
Chapter 1
Page 12, paragraph beginning “In addition to quack medicines…” to the end of that paragraph
Page 13, paragraph beginning “Big Bill, who was starting out on one of his most daring…” to the bottom of the paragraph ending with “despite the long separations – until her death in 1889.” (Skipping 4 paragraphs) You may also want to skip that entire page, but there’s a sentence towards the end about his mother’s positive influence towards the bottom of that page.
Chapter 2
Page 19: paragraph beginning “Big Bill was not at home…” to end of that paragraph
Chapter 8
Page 77: Cornelius Vanderbilt’s statement at top of page (first sentence)
I think that’s it, but I’ll double check again to be sure and add anything else here. And… just any time it mentions his father Big Bill, be on your guard. He was just a very unwholesome character all around, which makes Rockefeller’s dedication to church and especially his own wife and children that much more astounding (even though he was seen as a robber baron, etc..).
If you would like to substitute another book, you can read Andrew Carnegie: Builder of Libraries or All-of-a-Kind Family, which is not about the tycoons but follows the life of a Jewish family living in New York at the turn of the century.
Cycle 3 Sample Activity Plan
Free Resources:
American History Biographies, Nonfiction, and Historical Fiction
Librivox Audiobook Recordings
Drawing & Art Resources
Composer/Classical Music Study Lessons
American Poetry & Picture Study & Copywork
John 1 Latin/Bible Copywork
American Artist Art Study
Multiplication Facts, Skip Counting, Unit Conversions, and Geometry Resources
Online Math Drill – xtramath.org
Geography – Seterra Software
Sheppard Software
Notebooking Printables
Classic Elementary Life Science Curriculum (Student & Teacher Text w/ Reading & Experiments)
50 States Coloring Pages & Fact Files
English Grammar Worksheets
Cycle 3 Resources – All Subjects
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