Lightning Lit for Third Grade

Homeschool Review Crew

Literature, English, and Grammar are subjects we have been focusing on this year and in our upcoming school year.  They are ones I think my kids need some more help in.  Hewitt Homeschooling Resources Grade 3 Lightning Lit Set is one way we’ve been working on this.  We received a physical copy of the set through the Homeschool Review Crew.  

Our grade 3 Lightning Lit Set includes the student book and the teacher book.  The set on their site will also include all the required books except for one that is out of print.  That book is easy to find used though through Amazon or eBay.  We are a book loving family and already owned most of the books for this year.  The few we didn’t have in our own library were just a click away to reserve through the library we frequent.

Books covered are:

• Sarah, Plain and Tall
• Rickshaw Girl
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Ramona and her Father
• The Big Wave
• Charlotte’s Web
• The Tale of Despereaux
• The Wheel on the School (this is the out of print book)

Also used with the curriculum is the Random House Book of Poetry for Children. It will come with the set if you purchase the set as well.  

We have used many literature curriculums where you read the books and answers questions.  Maybe do a few activities.  But this is different in that it also incorporates composition.

About the Curriculum

Lightning Lit for third grade is intended to be a full year curriculum for their literature and composition needs. This includes using the curriculum five days a week.  They do have a schedule of how you should use it to make it work to take the full 36 weeks needed.

While reading classic literature works your child is also going to be working on their composition.  Some things that they will work on each week include: 

• Reading Journal
• Poet Biographies
• Dictionary Pages
• Diagramming Sentences ( always a non-favorite for my kiddos)
• Sentence Puzzles
• Discussion Questions

Days one through four include activities, discussions, questions, etc for you and your child to work on.  Day five is a “bonus” day.  You can use it to catch up on the work that maybe you didn’t quite get done.  Or, you can use it as an extra day to do additional work.  For us, most of the time it has been a bonus day of extra.  There are some great suggestions each week on how you can do more and learn more for that week that I’ve loved exploring.  A few times we have had to use it as a catch-up day as well.  

I like that the fifth day is built in as an extra or bonus day so that you don’t feel rushed to complete things quickly. Instead, you can enjoy and allow your child to fully grasp each and every concept provided. 

Our Thoughts

I have enjoyed using this with my children.  One thing I have had a harder time with is the fact that the literature they’re required to read contains mostly books that we’ve already read.  They’re not so keen on reading them again.  But to go up a grade or two into books they haven’t read would have meant being way above their level for composition.  

So, that to say, my advice is to go with the composition level instead of the reading level of your children.  They can always read other harder books for fun(which my kiddos do) while working through these again solely for the educational aspect.  

We will be starting on week 7 on Monday.  Right now we’re in the middle of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I love that all we need for this curriculum is the book being studied and the two book set that we received!

I like how each week the information and what is required gets a bit harder and builds on what they learned the last week.  Poetry is a favorite of mine so I love that they are also learning and memorizing poetry to go along with their school work.

The Literature

Because I’m a bit of a literature snob or maybe because we follow Charlotte Mason and her thoughts on literature, I was pleasantly surprised at the books included in this curriculum.  We don’t allow “twaddle” books in our house.  They just aren’t worth the time and energy to read them.  I will preface that by saying toddler books drive me crazy.  They are definitely twaddle sometimes but when the toddler loves Llama Llama or The Little Blue Truck you just may be stuck reading them fifty times in a row.  

That being said, I loved that these are classic literature pieces.  They are definitely pieces that I’m okay with my children reading and studying in detail.  I love books.  Reading is a serious occupation at our house.  I’m always telling one child or another that they have to put the book down and do their chores. 

Literature-based curriculum like this will always have my heart and be a favorite as it actually engages my children.  Because they are learning with their favorite book or character they are much more willing to learn the parts of speech and pick them out or even add a few in there to help describe someone.  That’s learning.  That’s loving learning.  And that is what I’m striving for in our homeschool.  

In contrast to learning with loved books, my children do not appreciate at all being given a random sentence and asked to diagram it or point out the parts of speech.  They are far more likely to do a good job and understand what they’re doing when they are invested in it.  And that is what literature does for them.  It invests them in their learning.  Bravo Hewitt Homeschooling Resources for investing your time in creating these homeschool materials so that my children will also invest in their learning and love learning. 

Final Thoughts

We love this curriculum.  I am now looking at other grades and the required books to see how they would fit into our homeschool.  Learning composition and grammar is definitely something that all elementary grades need to have.  That is when it is key to learning and also when becoming a strong reader is going to happen.

So, for us, we are going to use literature heavy curriculum so that my kids will not only love reading and love literature but also love learning and maybe they won’t forget the parts of speech by next year.  

Okay, one more thought.  I like how this curriculum is colorful.  It catches my children’s eye so that they want to see what is next.  They love the fun activities.  One really fun one was an art maze that went with what we were studying. 

Learn More

Learn more about Lightning Lit and Hewitt Homeschooling Resources by reading all of the reviews linked up on the main Homeschool Review Crew blog post.  Hewitt Homeschooling offered a wide variety of products for review so please check it out.  There are products for all ages including elementary through high school and American through British Lit.  Something for everyone!  You can also find them on facebook, twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.  

We also were privileged to review the My First Reports from Hewitt Homeschooling in years prior.  You can read that review HERE.  We also enjoyed learning about our state HERE.