Curriculum by grade › 3rd Grade › History & Social Studies

3rd Grade homeschool history curriculum

All 36 weeks of 3rd grade history, planned and ready, with the exact topic for every week below. Start with Week 1 free, no card needed.

Open the free Week 1 lesson See plans

How 3rd grade history works

History is taught from primary sources: students read real documents, letters, and speeches, then analyze who wrote them and why.

Time: about 25–40 minutes a day
Scores go straight to the gradebook and report card
Print any lesson as a worksheet with an answer key
Parent tools: hours log, weekly report, portfolio
Family plan: up to 4 students, each with their own records

The full 36-week scope & sequence

Topics and standards come straight from the live course. Standards codes are listed for reference; Life Academy is built to help meet homeschool requirements in all 50 states.

Quarter 1 (weeks 1–9)

Week	Topic	Standards
1	Map skills: title, key, scale, compass rose	C3 D2.Geo.1.3-5
2	Latitude and longitude as an address on Earth	D2.Geo.3.3-5
3	Continents, oceans, and hemispheres	C3 D2.Civ.3.3-5
4	River-valley idea: surplus grain → specialists → a state	D2.His.2.3-5
5	Mesopotamia: Tigris–Euphrates, writing (cuneiform), cities	C3 D2.His.1.3-5
6	Egypt: Nile flood, pharaoh, pyramids as tombs — not aliens	D2.Civ.3.3-5
7	Indus and Yellow River glimpses — four valleys, not one 'ancient times'	C3 D2.Civ.1.3-5
8	Hammurabi's Code: written law, not a mood	C3 D2.Civ.5.3-5
9	Ancient Greece: many city-states; Athens ≠ the whole	D2.Civ.12.3-5

Quarter 2 (weeks 10–18)

Week	Topic	Standards
10	Athens and Sparta: different constitutions (age-right)	C3 D2.Eco.12.3-5
11	Ancient Rome: republic, then empire — sequence matters	D2.Civ.2.3-5
12	U.S. regions and resources: why people live where they live	C3 D2.Eco.1.3-5
13	Three branches of U.S. government with one job each	D2.Eco.3.3-5
14	How a bill becomes a law (simple, true path)	C3 D2.His.2.3-5
15	Local government vs state vs federal — who does what	D3.1.3-5
16	Taxes pay for shared things (roads, schools, fire) — a fact	C3 D4.1.3-5
17	Goods, services, markets — a lemonade stand with honest numbers	D4.2.3-5
18	Midyear: world map + U.S. branches + one ancient valley	C3 D4.2.3-5

Quarter 3 (weeks 19–27)

Week	Topic	Standards
19	Explorers as people with sponsors, maps, and consequences	D2.His.10.3-5
20	Native nations before 1492 — civilizations, not empty land
21	Colonial regions: New England, Middle, Southern — work and climate
22	Declaration of Independence (1776): argument, not a constitution
23	U.S. Constitution (1787): Preamble jobs in plain English
24	Bill of Rights: five freedoms in the First Amendment (named)
25	Westward trails: Oregon, Santa Fe — distance and risk
26	Immigration to cities: push and pull reasons
27	Inventors and infrastructure: cotton gin, steamboat, railroad

Quarter 4 (weeks 28–36)

Week	Topic	Standards
28	Primary sources: a diary line vs a summary
29	Our state's history in four dated facts
30	Citizenship: rights and duties that can be listed
31	A biography with evidence: two facts, one date, one place
32	Cause and effect in history (not 'because they were good')
33	History fair: map + timeline + one document excerpt
34	Review: geography → government → a dated U.S. event
35	Oral defense: teach a river civilization and a U.S. branch
36	Grade 3 history portfolio: maps, branches, two documents

Need a little extra help?

Live 1:1 tutoring with David Clifford on Zoom or Google Meet: $35/hour, your first hour $25. See tutoring.

Same grade: 3rd Grade math · 3rd Grade English · 3rd Grade science

← 2nd Grade history · 4th Grade history →

FAQ

Is this 3rd grade history curriculum free?

Week 1 is free with no card needed: open the Week 1 history lesson. Weeks 2–36 unlock with a Student plan ($35/month) or a Family plan for up to 4 students ($69/month).

How long is a 3rd grade history lesson?

Plan on about 25–40 minutes a day for history. There is one lesson per week of the school year, broken into short daily steps.

Is Life Academy accredited?

No. Life Academy is not accredited. It's built to help meet homeschool requirements in all 50 states, and parents are the school of record. Why that's usually fine.

Can I print it?

Yes. Every lesson prints as a worksheet with a separate parent answer key.

Life Academy is a parent-directed online K–12 curriculum, built to help meet homeschool requirements in all 50 states. It is not accredited, and parents issue the homeschool transcript. Nothing here is legal advice. Check your state's law at HSLDA. Questions? Email david.dukes77102@gmail.com.