Never let your schooling interrupt your education.

Giveaway: Oak Meadow curriculum package (Back to School Week)

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This giveaway has now ended. Thanks for entering!

Thanks for joining me for this year’s back to school week! I hope this week’s posts encourage you in your school and life planning as the start of the traditional school year grows nearer.

I discovered Oak Meadow through the magic of the blogosphere, and found it to be just what I needed for my kids at the time. The curriculum and the philosophy behind it have become a steady part of our home learning experience since then.

What first drew me to Oak Meadow was the heart behind it–is it possible for a curriculum company to have heart? Yes, it totally is! And I found that Oak Meadow’s connected with much of my own–their gentle approach, their slow introduction to academics, their focus on nature, free play, and stories.

Oak Meadow began over 35 years ago. The company offers complete curriculum packages from PreK through 12th Grade, which you can purchase and use at home with your children.

They also offer an enrollment option in their accredited distance learning school. This allows students to receive full academic credit and transcripts for their work at home–as well as the support of an experienced teacher.

For this giveaway, the generous folks at Oak Meadow sent me their 3rd grade curriculum to review (pictured below). If you’re interested in finding out more about other grade levels, I have previously reviewed the Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade packages as well.

The bulk of the 3rd grade material is presented in the syllabus. Like the ones I’ve seen before, this book is easy to use and lovely in its layout and design. Printed in full color, it is divided into three trimesters of 12 weeks each. Each trimester includes introductory material for the teacher to read, which explains the skills to be covered during that time period.

Each weekly lesson plan covers assignments in depth. Subjects included in each weekly plan: circle time, language arts, math, social studies, science, art, music, crafts, and health. I have always appreciated the fact that in these early years (K-3) all subjects are here together–no multiple binders or separate curricula to keep track of and juggle.

Plenty of ideas are provided for each week, and it can appear overwhelming initially. Just remember: There’s no law saying you have to do everything in any curriculum–I have written before about the unique way we use Oak Meadow in our homeschool, and I’ve learned over time to make the material my own as we go along. Oak Meadow provides plenty of room to adapt to meet your unique needs, and emphasizes that home teachers should do so.

Here is an overview of the 3rd grade package from an Oak Meadow teacher, citing the projects and studies that many of her students enjoy the most:

Language Arts

  • form drawing exercises in correlation with learning how to cursive write

Math

  • creating multiplication designs in conjunction with learning the times tables
  • reciting rhymes for each of the times tables and engaging in rhythmic activities associated with the times tables (catching and tossing a ball or beanbag, jump roping, etc.)

Social Studies

  • making a model of a sukkah (Lesson 2)
  • reading Native American creation stories and making a corn husk doll (Lesson 6) and a dream catcher (Lesson 7)
  • creating a folk art scrapbook of the student’s family heritage (Lesson 9)

Science

  • making Chinese, Greek and Roman water clocks (Lesson 3)
  • composing a story of “The Day There Was No Gravity” (Lesson 4)
  • observing the clouds and creating a cloud booklet (Lesson 10)
  • illustrating the four season cycle of a plant or tree (Lesson 19)
  • growing an avocado seed (Lesson 20)
  • constructing a terrarium to observe the natural process of the water cycle (Lesson 24)
  • making a collage of the student’s local natural resources (Lesson 28)

Art

  • cooking projects (First Trimester)
  • paper marbling and bookbinding (Second Trimester)
  • and engaging in carpentry projects (Third Trimester)

One Simple Homeschool reader will receive a curriculum package in the grade of your choice (grades K-8)  from Oak Meadow!

How to Win

Everyone has two chances to win. Here’s how:

1. Comment on this post, answering this question: Do you prefer one curriculum that covers all subjects or would you rather choose separate curricula for different subjects? (If you are reading this in an email, you must click over to enter your comment!)

2. ‘Like’ Oak Meadow and Simple Homeschool on Facebook. Then — this is important — you need to come back and leave an additional comment here, telling me you have done so.

This giveaway has now ended. Thanks for entering!

About Jamie C. Martin

Jamie is an introverted mom of three, who loves books, tea, and people (not always in that order), and avoids answering the phone when possible. She co-founded SimpleHomeschool.net in 2010 and began IntrovertedMoms.com in 2020.

Jamie is the author of four books, including Give Your Child the World (reached #9 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers list), and her latest release, Introverted Mom (an ECPA bestseller). Her work has been featured by LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow, the Washington Post, Parents, Today Parenting, and Psychology Today.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Deidre C.

    I love how oak meadow’s curriculum is all in one. Much simpler for me! My daughter is 3, and I decided a while back that I would use oak meadow! I would love to win!

  6. Christeen Bates

    I prefer an all inclusive curriculum. For me, it’s easier to have everything I need bundled together, and I think it’s easier on my child to follow one style. My son is just beginning kindergarten ( we had our first OM lesson yesterday!), so my views on this may change as he gets older if I feel he needs supplementation.

  7. Melissa L.

    Since this is our first year, I opted to go with the same curriculum. I might in later years pick and choose, but I want to see how this goes for the year. We chose Oak Meadow because my daughters love nature and music.

  8. Julia Agron

    I have liked you on facebook, and already liked Oak Meadow. We found them half way through our third year of homeschooling, and have been very happy. They give my fifth grader a chance to develop independent study skills and responsibility, while allowing me to take some space from always being the “teacher” and get to be the helpful mother. Love it.

  10. Meagan DePerro

    This will be our first year homeschooling, so I’m not sure which I like better. We are starting with Oak Meadow’s Kindergarten curriculum, and for the time being, love that it is all in one and will guide me through our first attempts.

  11. Melissa L.

    I liked Simple Homeschool and had already liked Oak Meadow on facebook. Thank you for the giveaway.

  13. Jennifer Leck

    I like separate curriculum for math and science. This year we are using OM’s US History and English, which looks fun and like it will make my life easier. So I guess my answer would be: it depends on the subject. : )

  15. Karen Morse

    I prefer one curriculum that covers everything, possibly supplementing with individual things that my children are interested in.

  19. mariko snook

    I think I prefer a curriculum that is all together. I think it makes sense that “subjects” be interconnected as that is naturally how most people live and learn.
    Thanks for the generous giveaway!

  22. Sarah

    I love to pick and choose my curriculum based on my child’s needs and interests. I have a child who is an avid reader and can do math above her actual age/grade level. I like to pick Science curriculum based on where we live and resources available. I have spent considerable time looking at curriculum and Oak Meadow is awesome! I have liked both Oak Meadow and Simple Homeschool on facebook and commented here!

  24. Teresa Matz

    I have always used different curriculum for each subject, but as my kids are getting older and the subjects harder I am leaning towards a all in one type.