Grade 3: where a word could be taught earlier, before and after
12 October 2026, afternoon. A read-only survey of all 42 topics, answering your note on question 1 of today's roll-out page ("I would need to see the suggestions for any reordering of topics before you implement this"). Nothing has been moved. Lesson order never changes in any proposal below; only which lesson says "this is called …".The two-lesson rule finds nine words in seven topics. Only two of the moves would help a child: "kinetic energy" (Topic 12) and "offspring" (Topic 40). The other seven sit in lessons that hold the word back on purpose, and the earlier lessons' plain words ("faster", "just as hard", "its young", "a plant with flowers") are already plainer than the term. Olivia's own example, "reference point", is coined in Topic 1's first lesson; her symptom there is the wording inside the lesson, which the theme 1 rewrite pass handles, and not the lesson order.
Of 158 words surveyed, 119 are coined in the lesson where the idea first appears and 22 one lesson after. The survey also turned up the opposite fault in nine places: a word tested as a name that no lesson ever gives ("soil", "cone", "roots", "leaves", "trunk", "fish", "bird", "magnet", "vibration"). Those are listed at the end as a backlog, not asked today.
8 questions for you below, one tap each; none ruled yet. Everything you have already ruled is applied, not re-asked.
Skill: course-build → atomise → review-page → write-like-james @ 1075207
Status: 12 October 2026, afternoon. A read-only survey of all 42 topics, answering your note on question 1 of today's roll-out page ("I would need to see the suggestions for any reordering of topics before you implement this"). Nothing has been moved. Lesson order never changes in any proposal below; only which lesson says "this is called …".
The two-lesson rule finds nine words in seven topics. Only two of the moves would help a child: "kinetic energy" (Topic 12) and "offspring" (Topic 40). The other seven sit in lessons that hold the word back on purpose, and the earlier lessons' plain words ("faster", "just as hard", "its young", "a plant with flowers") are already plainer than the term. Olivia's own example, "reference point", is coined in Topic 1's first lesson; her symptom there is the wording inside the lesson, which the theme 1 rewrite pass handles, and not the lesson order.
Of 158 words surveyed, 119 are coined in the lesson where the idea first appears and 22 one lesson after. The survey also turned up the opposite fault in nine places: a word tested as a name that no lesson ever gives ("soil", "cone", "roots", "leaves", "trunk", "fish", "bird", "magnet", "vibration"). Those are listed at the end as a backlog, not asked today.
Decisions I need from you
1. Topic 12: should "kinetic energy" be coined in Lesson 2, beside thermal and gravitational energy, instead of Lesson 3?
The course says: Lesson 2 names two of the three easy-to-spot kinds, "The energy a hot thing has is called thermal energy" and "The energy a high-up thing has is called gravitational energy", then holds the third back: "The swing has energy because it is moving. A moving thing's energy has its own name too." Lesson 3 coins it: "The energy a moving thing has is called kinetic energy."
Why it matters: this is Olivia's pattern exactly. Lesson 2's feedback reads "A hot slide has thermal energy, and a swinging swing has energy", one kind named and one described, in the same sentence. Four items in Lessons 1 and 2 talk about a moving thing's energy; two of them would read better with the word.
Cost of changing it: one article line in Lesson 2 becomes the coining line (the sentence is already there, one word short), two feedback lines gain the word, and the video is an edit by id at that one moment. Lesson 3's atom stands: a moving thing has kinetic energy, a still thing has none.
My recommendation: move it: Lesson 2 coins all three names in one run; Lesson 3 opens on a word the child already has
2. Topic 40: should "offspring" be coined in Lesson 1, where the life cycle's "its young" first appears, instead of Lesson 3?
The course says: Lesson 1 says "Then its young pass through the same four stages, round and round" and its items say "Its babies have already begun"; Lesson 3 coins the word: "A living thing's young ones, its babies, its chicks or its seedlings, are called its offspring."
Why it matters: 16 items in Lessons 1 and 2 say "its young" or "babies". Coined in Lesson 1, the word gets 16 more sightings before Lesson 3's rule, "offspring take after their parents". Your 7 October line: once coined, "it's important that kids see it repeatedly".
Cost of changing it: one coining sentence after Lesson 1's "its young pass through the same four stages" line (a video edit by id), and "offspring" swapped in across 16 items' feedback, each re-read cold. "Its young" is the plainer word for an eight-year-old, so this is the one genuine judgement call on the page.
My recommendation: move it: coin in Lesson 1 and use it from there on, keeping "its young" beside it in the coining line
3. Topic 21: should "state" be coined in Lesson 4, where an item first asks "solid, liquid or gas?", instead of Lesson 7?
The course says: Lesson 7 coins it: "Solid, liquid or gas — which one a thing is, we call its state." Lesson 4 asks the term's own question without it: "Water vapor is water in the air. Is it a solid, a liquid or a gas?" Lessons 1 and 2 ask "what happens to the ice cream?" with the three kinds as options.
Why it matters: on paper the gap is seven lessons, the largest in the course. In the text only that one Lesson 4 item asks the state question directly, and "Is it a solid, a liquid or a gas?" is plainer than "What is its state?". Lesson 7's atom is the wrap-up: same water, different state.
Cost of changing it: a second coined word in Lesson 4 (beside "water vapor"), one item reworded, a video edit by id; ten earlier items could take the word and none reads better for it.
My recommendation: leave it: the plain question is already the plainer wording; the word belongs to the wrap-up lesson
4. Topic 20: should "solid" be coined in Lesson 4, where the spoon that "stays spoon-shaped" is the non-example, instead of Lesson 5?
The course says: Lessons 3, 4 and 5 coin gas, liquid and solid one each, surprising kind first. Lesson 3's feedback says "A rock keeps its own shape. It does not spread out to fill all the space, so it is not a gas"; Lesson 4 asks "A pencil is put into a cup. It stays pencil-shaped. Is a pencil a liquid?"; Lesson 5 coins it: "A spoon is a kind of matter called a solid."
Why it matters: three items in Lessons 3 and 4 describe a solid without the word, as the not-yet-named contrast. That is Olivia's own 25 September rule, the surprising members before the everyday one, so the everyday case does not swallow the category.
Cost of changing it: coining "solid" in Lesson 4 takes away Lesson 5's headache; three items change, one video edit by id.
My recommendation: leave it: the one-kind-per-lesson ladder is the design, and the three earlier lines are deliberate non-examples
5. Topic 37: should "flowering plant" and "nonflowering plant" be coined in Lesson 1, where the apple tree is "a plant with flowers", instead of Lesson 3?
The course says: Lesson 1 says "The apple tree, a plant with flowers, made them" and "The pine tree has no flowers"; Lesson 2 asks "Does a fern ever make flowers?"; Lesson 3 coins both: "A plant that makes flowers is called a flowering plant" and "A plant that never makes flowers is called a nonflowering plant".
Why it matters: six items in Lessons 1 and 2 would take each word, all in feedback lines, none in a stem. The after lines are no plainer: "Is a fern a flowering plant or a nonflowering plant?" against "Does a fern ever make flowers?". Lesson 3's sort question deliberately asks "flowers or cones?", because a pine is nonflowering and still makes seeds.
Cost of changing it: two coining lines move into Lesson 1, twelve feedback lines gain a word, two video edits by id.
My recommendation: leave it: "a plant with flowers" is the plainer phrase, and the labels earn their place only at the sort
6. Topic 9: should "balanced" be coined in Lesson 1, where the ground pushes "just as hard", instead of Lesson 3?
The course says: Lesson 1 says "And the ground pushes the wagon up, just as hard as Earth pulls it down"; Lesson 2 shows two opposite forces on a still box; Lesson 3 coins it: "When two opposite forces are the same strength, we say the forces are balanced."
Why it matters: twelve items in Lessons 1 and 2 show two opposite forces on a still object, and every one asks how many forces or which forces, never whether they are equal. No item needs the word.
Cost of changing it: one sentence added to Lesson 1's article and video (an edit by id); no item changes.
My recommendation: leave it: the ladder (count the forces, a still thing has forces, are they equal?) is deliberate and no item is convoluted
7. Topic 2: should "speed" be coined in Lesson 3, where "faster" first appears, instead of Lesson 5?
The course says: Lessons 3 and 4 compare two things, "Which toy is faster, and how can you tell?", farther in the same time and the same distance in less time; Lesson 5 coins the quantity: "How far something goes in each second is called its speed."
Why it matters: 24 items in Lessons 3 and 4 ask "which is faster?". "Faster" is a word the child already owns, and "Which car has the greater speed?" is harder, not easier. The word "speed" appears nowhere in Lessons 1 to 4.
Cost of changing it: a coining line in Lesson 3, a video edit by id; no item gains.
My recommendation: leave it: two ways of comparing before the quantity is named is what-before-label working as intended
8. Topic 12: Lesson 1 promises the name for a spring's energy "soon", and it comes six lessons later. Trim the spring from Lesson 1, or coin "elastic energy" there?
The course says: Lesson 1's article says "A tight spring has another type" and its caption "Four types of energy: a moving thing's, a hot thing's, a high-up thing's, a tight spring's. Each type has its own name, and you will meet the names soon." Lesson 7 coins it: "The energy a tight spring has is called elastic energy." The Lesson 1 video names only three.
Why it matters: no item before Lesson 7 mentions a spring, so no child is left describing the idea. The caption over-promises, and the video already lists three kinds.
Cost of changing it: trimming is one article line and one caption, article only, no video edit. Coining in Lesson 1 would add a fourth name to the opener you asked to keep general.
My recommendation: trim the spring from Lesson 1's list so the article matches the video; keep the coining in Lesson 7
Before and after, topic by topic
Each table is one topic. The row Before is the course today; the row After is the move the card proposes. The bold word sits in the lesson that says "this is called …". Lesson order does not change in any row.
Topic 12 (card 1): kinetic energy
| L01 | L02 | L03 | L04 | L05 | L06 | L07 | L08 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | Has energy | Spotting: thermal, gravitational | Kinetic energy | Faster, more | Carriers | Electricity | From somewhere: elastic, chemical | Not a force |
| After | Has energy | Spotting: thermal, gravitational, kinetic | Kinetic energy | Faster, more | Carriers | Electricity | From somewhere: elastic, chemical | Not a force |
Topic 40 (card 2): offspring
| L01 | L02 | L03 | L04 | L05 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | A cycle: life cycle | In order: chrysalis, cocoon | Offspring take after | Same kind, differ | Surroundings |
| After | A cycle: life cycle, offspring | In order: chrysalis, cocoon | Offspring take after | Same kind, differ | Surroundings |
Topic 21 (card 3): state
| L01 | L02 | L03 | L04 | L05 | L05b | L06 | L07 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | Melting | Freezing | Evaporation | Where it went: water vapor | Boiling | Boil or evaporate? | Condensation | Same water, new state |
| After | Melting | Freezing | Evaporation | Where it went: water vapor, state | Boiling | Boil or evaporate? | Condensation | Same water, new state |
Topic 20 (card 4): solid
| L01 | L02 | L03 | L04 | L05 | L06 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | Tiny pieces: matter | Air takes space | Gases fill: gas | Liquids pour: liquid | Solids keep shape: solid | Sort them |
| After | Tiny pieces: matter | Air takes space | Gases fill: gas | Liquids pour: liquid, solid | Solids keep shape | Sort them |
Topic 37 (card 5): flowering plant, nonflowering plant
| L01 | L02 | L03 | L04 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | A seed: seed | A spore: spore | Sort: flowering, nonflowering | The flower's job |
| After | A seed: seed, flowering, nonflowering | A spore: spore | Sort them | The flower's job |
Topic 9 (card 6): balanced
| L01 | L02 | L03 | L04 | L05 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | Two forces at once | Still, with forces | Balanced or not? | Balanced: keeps speed | Balanced: stays still |
| After | Two forces at once: balanced | Still, with forces | Balanced or not? | Balanced: keeps speed | Balanced: stays still |
Topic 2 (card 7): speed
| L01 | L02 | L03 | L04 | L05 | L06 | L07 | L08 | L09 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | Somewhere new | New direction? | Farther, same time | Same distance, less time | What speed means | Fastest to slowest | Speeding up | Slowing down | Same speed |
| After | Somewhere new | New direction? | Farther, same time: speed | Same distance, less time | What speed means | Fastest to slowest | Speeding up | Slowing down | Same speed |
Topic 12 (card 8): elastic energy
| L01 | L02 | L03 | L04 | L05 | L06 | L07 | L08 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | Has energy: four types listed | Spotting | Kinetic | Faster, more | Carriers | Electricity | From somewhere: elastic, chemical | Not a force |
| After (trim) | Has energy: three types listed | Spotting | Kinetic | Faster, more | Carriers | Electricity | From somewhere: elastic, chemical | Not a force |
What the survey found overall
- 158 words read across 42 topics: the 153 the registers declare plus five the registers forgot to date ("seed", "feeds", "row", "best explanation", "unbalanced forces"), each with its coining line found.
- 119 are coined in the lesson where the idea first appears (gap 0).
- 22 are coined one lesson after (gap 1); listed below, not proposed, on your card's recommendation.
- 9 are coined two or more lessons after (gap 2 to 7); the eight cards above.
- 8 are never given a coining line at all yet are tested as names; the backlog table below.
- Topics 7, 15 and 39 coin nothing; they recall words from earlier topics.
Not proposed: one-lesson gaps
The idea appears in one lesson and the word in the next. Most are the course's own design: the happening before its name, or a non-example before the lesson that names it. Listed so you can see them; none changes unless you say.
| Topic | Word | Idea first in | Coined in | What the earlier lesson says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | distance | L02 | L03 | "how far" as a distractor; the lesson is about the reference point |
| 4 | magnetic | L01 | L01m | "Name one type of metal that a magnet pulls" |
| 8 | force arrow | L01 | L02 | arrows drawn in a caption, no item asks about them |
| 12 | thermal energy | L01 | L02 | "Which mug has more energy?" |
| 12 | gravitational energy | L01 | L02 | "Which rock has more energy?" |
| 12 | chemical energy | L06 | L07 | energy "from the battery" |
| 20 | liquid | L03 | L04 | milk "sits at the bottom with a flat top", as the non-gas |
| 21 | freezing | L01 | L02 | the word itself as a distractor, with its definition in feedback |
| 21 | evaporation | L02 | L03 | "Drying is water going into the air" |
| 21 | water vapor | L03 | L04 | "the water goes from the top of the puddle into the air" |
| 21 | condensation | L05b | L06 | the word itself as a distractor, with its definition in feedback |
| 24 | erupts | L01 | L02 | the whole of L01 describes the happening, by design |
| 24 | earthquake | L02 | L03 | the word itself in two feedback lines |
| 24 | landslide | L04 | L05 | "Loose rocks can shake free and slide down the hill" |
| 25 | defense | L01 | L02 | L01's closing line opens L02's question |
| 27 | fossil | L01 | L02 | the process lesson before the name lesson (your two-atoms rule) |
| 28 | conserving | L02 | L03 | cutting 5 trees a year "so the wood does not run short" |
| 28 | reducing | L03 | L04 | "waters the lawn for ten minutes in the evening instead" |
| 33 | suits | L03 | L04 | "a place that suits them" as a distractor |
| 34 | hard outer casing | L02 | L03 | "Its shell is hard, and it is on the outside" |
| 35 | bird | L01 | L02 | L01's feedback gives L02's definition |
| 38 | stem | L01 | L02 | "the stem" as a distractor in every L01 item |
The opposite fault: a name asked for that no lesson gives
Not today's question, but the readers found it while looking, and it is the "is called ___" item Olivia dislikes with no lesson behind it. Filed to the Grade 3 backlog.
| Topic | Word | Where it is tested as a name | What the article does instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | magnet | used from L01's first line | never says what a magnet is; nearest is "A magnet pulls steel by itself" |
| 11 | vibration | L04 uses the noun | L03 coins only "vibrating"; "particles" is coined once and then dropped for "tiny pieces" |
| 26 | soil | L01-q4, L01-q13 "What is the mix called?" | uses "soil" from the first line as an everyday word |
| 35 | fish, gills, fins | L01 and L02 feedback state L05's rule | "A fish takes in air from the water with gills" three to four lessons before L05 coins gills and fins |
| 37 | cone | L01-q12, L01-q14 "What is that woody part called?" | "She picks up a pine cone" from the first line |
| 38 | roots, leaves, trunk | L01-q10, L04-q12, L02-q10 "What is a tree's stem called?" | everyday words; "A tree trunk is a stem" is the nearest line |
Smaller things noted for the record: "gravity" is framed three ways across Topics 3 and 5 (a cause, a name for the pull, the happening; the last is your 25 September rule); "contact force" (Topic 5) and "a force that touches" (Topic 6) are two names for one idea; "volume" and "temperature" are each coined twice (Topics 17 and 18; 17 and 22); "gills" is used throughout Topic 33 before Topic 35 coins it; two Topic 22 feedback lines say "the day chip", an interface word.
How the survey was done
- Every topic's content module was read for its declared terms, their coining lesson and every student string (article, captions, script, video question, quiz).
- A mechanical pass listed candidates (the term itself, its definition words, its near-synonyms in any earlier lesson). It over-fires, so three readers who did not write the lessons read every topic in full and judged, for each word, the first lesson whose text uses or asks about the idea, quoting the line.
- Three findings were spot-checked line by line against the source (Topics 12, 21 and 40); every quoted line and id matched.
- Gap counts the lesson order as the course runs it (L01, L01b, L02 … each one lesson). Verb forms of a noun already coined ("reflected" after "reflection") count as no new idea.
- Nothing was edited. The readers' full tables, with every word's coining line and first-use line, are in this session's record and can be rendered on request.
Skill: course-build → review-page → write-like-james @ 844fe58 · built 12 October 2026 by build_tools_rulings_page.py