We are still finishing up some of our school for the year (such as the American history plan that has fizzled). I still want to touch on Lincoln and the Civil War, and maybe some more modern history, but we’ll just take it one subject at a time. In the fall, we’ll move on to something else!
So here’s the first grade homeschool curriculum choices for next year for Raisin.
Language Arts
Phonics, Reading, and Spelling: Finish Logic of English Foundations. I had intended to begin LoE Essentials thereafter, but I think I may wait another year and take a breather. I’ll give him spelling words from the ZB Spelling lists and we’ll see where we are in a year. We will also be reading a lot of great books together. Which read-alouds you suggest for a six-year-old first grader?
Grammar: Read Grammar-Land and do the worksheets (which I will create…).
Writing: Writing with Ease 1 (2-3 times a week). I believe this will be a nice balance of copywork and dictation practice. We will also continue to post on his blog (he dictates to me, and NO, his blog is not public).
Handwriting and Typing: Raisin will practice handwriting (other than copywork in WWE) by writing letters to family and friends, and we will begin to practice typing using Dance Mat Typing.
Mathematics
Finish MIQUON red, begin MIQUON Blue/Green. We may use Singapore (Primary Mathematics 1B and/or 2A) as a supplement. I have the 1B and 2A books and workbooks, so it might be nice to have that as an option. We also recently have begun to play with the DragonBox app, and that counts for math. 🙂
Social Studies
We will do occasional work with American history, such as finishing Stuck on the USA and reading other books about presidents and the history and symbols of our country. We will probably travel west again and focus on history as we travel again, and I want Raisin to finish watching Liberty’s Kids, as I plan on making worksheets to go along with it.
We will begin ancient history and Bible Studies by beginning Story of the World 1, with Activity Book. I have audio CDs as well, and the lady from whom I bought this used product also sent the tests. I don’t think I’m going to test Raisin, but we’ll see if he likes it or wants more.
I also want to teach about economics and marketing. Because Raisin is such a young reader, he is exposed to far too much advertising, but lacks the ability to distinguish between an ad and a warning or important note. Do you have suggestions for teaching a youngster about marketing and advertising? Feel free to direct me to your products or any products you may have used.
Science
We will be joining a different co-op next year, and it also offers science. I think the fact that the plans for my other co-op changed has been a blessing in disguise, because this group will, I feel, provide much more learning opportunities for Raisin. The science class will be taught by a homeschool mom who used to be a high school science teacher. They will be learning about plant life one semester and the human body the second term. We’ll supplement with whatever he feels he wants to learn about.
Fine Arts
Raisin will probably have a photography and maybe a music class with the co-op. I will keep trying to teach him the piano. We will also start Art History for Little Ones once a month or so. We will do painting and drawing as interested. Raisin has never had much interest in art, but we’ll see about Strawberry’s interests! I believe she may be more artistically inclined, since she already likes crayons at 15 months old!
Other
Health and Fitness: I love the local park district’s Swim and Gym program. I’m tempted to sign up for more than one day a week!
Devotional. We’ve been learning from the Gospel Principles manual from church and it has gone well. We do a few paragraphs and scriptures a day. We will probably continue that, but we will add in reading the Bible Stories book once a week, since we’ll be doing Ancient History.
We also will continue to practice doing chores and learning to be emotionally stable. Obviously, we’d do those anyway. We’ll do logic and problem solving. I may set up a problem solving/science team camp with some young friends in the coming months for Raisin. We’ll see.
Because I have this down on paper now, I don’t feel so bad saying we’re going to loosen up on the summer! I’ll still expect a little reading response on his blog, and we’ll do a little Civil War and math each week. But in general, this should be fun!
What are your first grade homeschool curriculum plans for next year?