Reluctant readers can learn to love reading by taking a more active role in the stories they read. Choose some books that the child has not read before and get 10 blank index cards. Tell the child to read the first chapter or some other portion of the book that is less than halfway through the story. Tell her to stop at that point and write down something she believes will happen during the rest of the story on a card. Get her to write down 10 things, one on each card. As she continues reading, she can stop and tell you when one of her predictions happens in the story. The reader will quickly learn to anticipate the information in the story and will begin to want to read as opposed to being forced.
Writing neatly and coherently is a skill that needs to be practiced regularly early in elementary school. By third grade the student will be able to form sentences and compose ideas on paper. Encourage this new writing ability by having the child write poems about topics of interest or making postcards to send to friends or relatives. This encourages creativity and provides enjoyable practice.
Third-graders will be in the beginning stages of learning new ways to apply math to everyday situations. Encourage them to practice by setting aside time for them to work on the skills they are learning. Collect a variety of bills and coin money and have the children count out the correct change to pay for items. This will help them practice learning the value of different money and with addition. Estimating and measuring distances is also a third grade lesson topic. Have students use rulers or yardsticks to estimate the length of common items and then properly measure them.
Geography can be a fun learning experience for third-grade students. Using a blank map of the United States, have the child write in the name of as many states as possible to see how much they know about the layout of the country and where they live. There are online games such as the one found on the Pasadena IBM User Group website that offer an interactive map quiz that is child friendly. Learning where places are is also a great lead-in to lessons about regional history.