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First Grade Thread

5K views 82 replies 43 participants last post by  naturegirl7 
#1 ·
Lets start a thread for first graders. I have a wonderful DD that turned 6 in May. I love homeschool as much as she does. I will edit and update what we are using.
 
#52 ·
We finished Day Nine of 1st grade this morning! Only 171 days to go...


Seriously, things are great. This is our first year of independent homeschooling (we did kindy with K12), and WOW is it a better fit for for me and DS. Love it love it love it.

Singapore, SOTW plus many tie-ins for history and literature, Magic Tree House reading-loud for literacy, Song School Latin, Spelling Workout, First Language Lessons and HWOT are our main texts. We have a bimonthly science co-op, a monthly zoo class, and a weekly generalized co-op where the focus seems to be on reviewing basic concepts that mommies might find tedious to teach (like the calendar!!!) and practicing good behavior in a group setting. Basketball starts in November. Hebrew School is ongoing.

We are hoping to be Latin-centered homeschoolers. For this year, at least, it seems to be a wonderful choice. We only do about an hour of seat work per day, but it's really feeling like enough. Quid agis? Sum optime!

James wanted to share his history notebook with the world, so I guess I'll be scanning and posting it all year:

http://storyoftheworld.weebly.com/
 
#54 ·
i used several of the ETC book with my daughter. i did not buy the TM for any of the books. i felt like the instructions were self-explanatory... the only time i can think the TM would have been necessary is at the end of the book there is a test (you dictate from the TM). i know some people here have said they've purchased them and found them very useful...but i didn't feel like we lacked without them. i also never purchased the 1/2 books. we never used ETC as a stand-alone program though, just as a supplement to our reading program.
 
#55 ·
Relaxed and frugal - yup! that's what we are, too! Anna turned 6 in May. Her learning basically happens throughout the day. We take the time to expand on learning moments whenever we can!

We do a calendar regularly. She watches PBS and uses their websites for games which she doesn't see as "schoolwork." She loves to play Spore. Meaningful reading, writing and math comes in spurts throughout everyday living. She balked at writing and then all of a sudden was very interested - working through a bunch of dollar store books in a short time. We play with a Scholastic Phonics Reading Program - free from a local homeschooling family.

My oldest son, wife, daughter and baby-on-the-way are temporarily living with us, so we are working on finding that homeschooling 1st grade rhythm for now. We will be more intentional with our planning and documenting now than last year.

We will be moving in the near future so she is not in any formal outside activities. Locally we do not have a very active homeschooling group - nearly non-existent. There is a homeschool co-op near the town we are hoping to move to so we are looking forward to that! For now we are enjoying the day-to-day learning and new family life we are living!
 
#56 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by *Jessica* View Post
Welcome! What are you nervous about? Maybe we can help calm your fears.
Thanks for your note...i'm nervous about not doing a good job. Their education is in my hands; what if i fail? plus, i guess i'm just confused about how to start. Maybe you guys can tell me about your first day of homeschooling. Once you sat your children down what was your first step.

Would love some guidance...
 
#57 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by muslimmama97 View Post
Thanks for your note...i'm nervous about not doing a good job. Their education is in my hands; what if i fail? plus, i guess i'm just confused about how to start. Maybe you guys can tell me about your first day of homeschooling. Once you sat your children down what was your first step.

Would love some guidance...
You won't fail. You will make mistakes, learn from them, and go on to have many more successes.


We started gradually. The first day we did a history read aloud, took a break, did some math, ate lunch, and then did some reading, and took the rest of the day off.
Now, we usually do history first [RA, mapwork, narration & illustration--we're classically inspired doing SOTW]. Then reading; we're using the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. It's a bit dull, so I try to get through it pretty fast. Then I bought the Modern Curriculum Press Phonics Practice Readers. They don't line up exactly with the OPGTR, but they're close, and DS has some skills that I haven't taught just from his experience in PS last year, so he does ok. We read one or 2 of those 3-4 days a week. Other days we might do some hand-writing practice. We're using the Getty-Dubay Italics series, but I'm having to retrain his muscle memory from bad habits he learned last year from their LACK of handwriting instruction, so we do a lot of gross motor and sensory work first before getting to the WBs.

Then we have a snack and break. The baby often needs a diaper or a nurse, sometimes he's ready for an early lunch and a nap. Then DS and I get back to work. Math is from Singapore 1A. We're zipping through that. DS knows most of the concepts, I'm just going through and making sure he knows the "Singapore way". Plus he doesn't have his math facts memorized yet, and they rec that he gets those before moving on. Then we might do a read-aloud, which could be history, science, math, art, or some other topic he's asked me to get books on [recently it was boats & helicopters; now he's asking for stuff on vikings]. Then lunch. Then if the baby isn't already down, I put him down, and then DS and I do other fun things that maybe we couldn't do with the baby around, projects and stuff. Or we work on our "home economics".

I recently added in calendar at the beginning of the day. I don't have room right now for a wall calendar, so I just got a freebie calendar someone had sent me, and we color in the boxes in a pattern, talk about the date, any patterns he sees, any holidays [I sorta like that we're using a pre-printed calendar with holidays on it], etc. I've also started reading a little blip out of "What Your First Grader Needs to Know" [or whatever it's called] each morning.

On Wed. and Fri. I take him to the PS for speech. Wed. he also started swim this week. In a couple weeks, we'll start co-op "class" on Monday. Tuesday will become our library day [we were going to a story time for all ages on Wed., but now that's not doable], and I'm thinking I may try to start a playgroup for first graders on Thursday at a local park.

It sounds a lot more scheduled and organized than it is in actuality. Mostly I plan for what I want to cover that day, and as the day go, I do whatever feels right for the time.

Does that help at all?
 
#58 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lenore K. View Post
Relaxed and frugal - yup! that's what we are, too! Anna turned 6 in May. Her learning basically happens throughout the day. We take the time to expand on learning moments whenever we can!

We do a calendar regularly. She watches PBS and uses their websites for games which she doesn't see as "schoolwork." She loves to play Spore. Meaningful reading, writing and math comes in spurts throughout everyday living. She balked at writing and then all of a sudden was very interested - working through a bunch of dollar store books in a short time. We play with a Scholastic Phonics Reading Program - free from a local homeschooling family.

My oldest son, wife, daughter and baby-on-the-way are temporarily living with us, so we are working on finding that homeschooling 1st grade rhythm for now. We will be more intentional with our planning and documenting now than last year.

We will be moving in the near future so she is not in any formal outside activities. Locally we do not have a very active homeschooling group - nearly non-existent. There is a homeschool co-op near the town we are hoping to move to so we are looking forward to that! For now we are enjoying the day-to-day learning and new family life we are living!
Your home and teaching sound wonderful, I want to move in too.
 
#59 ·
I just subscribed to the ETC online for both kids (4 and 6) After using k-12 for 2 weeks, he decided he HATED school and never wanted to see another worksheet again LOL. So we are doing math full force which he LOVES and I am using math mammoth which I wanted to do like last year, until I went against my gut and signed on to WAVA.....anyways. I love that they can do something independently. I really need it with all my other home obligations and having 2, they really love the ETC.

I'm in the midst of trying to work out how to teach them both at the same time. DD4 is learning to read and LOVES learning with her brother. He is reading extremely well and actually teaches her quite a bit.

I'm trying to figure out what to do for some history. They love learning about the world but I dont' know what curric to use.
 
#60 ·
I've got a first grader here..plus a pre-k girl and a babe.

This is our first year homeschooling and with a long relaxed summer that ended with a cross country trip out west we just finished out first week..and it literally took all week to actually accomplish something


We still have quite found our rhythm yet but I at least feel like today we got more than just math worksheets done. He also wrote in his journal and did spelling along with math! plus we found an awesome white line sphinx caterpillar! science!!

For the moment I only have a Math curriculum: Singapore so far so good.

I pulled some spelling lists for 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th grade, basic sight/wall words, plus the 200 most common words to spell lists so we are using those for now.

I'm still trying to figure out history?....looking into SOTW is it biblical/christian based does anyone know?

He journals almost daily. and I will begin some basic grammar as we go along to accompany his journalling.

Science will go along with the seasons and we are trying for one science experiment a week.

He will begin a once a week art class at the art museum next month and a once a week math class at the university next month also.

He is playing Fall baseball, and will do some rock climbing classes as well.

Any ideas on how to work with his reading comprehension? He is reading at about a 4th grade level...but I want to improve his comprehension and ability to retell what he just read with a bit more ease?

The 4.5 yr old is sort of just going along with us. She is picking up addition these days which is great!

He was in a gifted program last year that was really holding him back from his intense desire to learn so I feel like I am trying to pull out of him again, I'd be open to suggestions on how to do that. I'm trying to get him interested in learning again...ugh. I didn't realize just how must damage it did to him being where he was last year. Even the gifted program failed him. I hope I am able to do a better job
 
#61 ·
Hi, I have a 6 yo July girl. We've been at it for about 4 weeks now, I started her when her brother went back to school. Our curriculum are:

Math - RightStart B - just getting started with that.
History - the free Mosaic curriculum using SOTW with the prehistory option; we are just about done with prehistory - she loves the dinosaurs.
Science - bought BFSU, but am using the free Classic Science - Life science for now. Also have Ancient Science, which looks cool, but haven't tried yet.
Writing - using some workbooks from Vietnam for cursive
Vietnamese - reading from some books I bought last time we were there.
Language - she's interested in Chinese or Spanish.
Spelling - SRW - it's been tough to get started with that, I'm almost inclined to do Vietnamese phonics first since it's much more regular.

PE- Swimming, Karate and Aerial arts
Music- Somewhere between recorder, xylophone, keyboard and ukulele. Those are the instruments available in the house, and I'm learning the ukulele, so of course she wants to learn that.

We do 6 day weeks with Sat being a half day. Writing, Math every day. Mosaic is a 5 day curriculum, so we spread it out over the 6 days. Science is 3 days. The writing workbooks have pictures and words in Vietnamese, so she's getting practice reading too. I'm not so good at reading Vietnamese, so I need more work on that.

We started out with a math workbook from the local school system, which was good when we started because I wasn't really ready, but as we got further in the book I began to realize how bad it was. I had bought RS A last year, but realized we probably already needed B, so couldn't get into it. Finally got it about a week ago, and have been working on it.
 
#63 ·
Cloudswinger, that science curriculum looks interesting. I think I'll give it a try, see if I like it.


ETA: downloaded the life science book! It looks good. I can't wait to get to the "Food Webs" chapter!
I'm wondering, did you print the whole thing out, or just try to use it on your computer? I mean, I guess you need to print out the worksheets, unless you just have her doing them orally. I wonder how much it would cost to take it to Staples or someplace and have them print and cheaply bind it? I hate working with PDFs for some reason......
 
#65 ·
cmoma I was in the same boat. DS is 6, in first grade and we tried a program that was more structured and formal/aggressive for about 2 weeks and he decided he HATED ANY school. It took a week or so of relaxing and backing off, doing fun stuff before he started to accept school again.

FOr reading comp, We do short passages with questions at the end. He has and is still learning proper sentence structure, pronunciation etc and we write sentences for a story summary, etc. I have a couple short booklets I found at the homeschool learning center that have very intersting ones. DS hates poetry and the typical "workbook" type stories that i had from this old curriculum so I just find interesting things, he reads, then I make up questions, print them out on handwritting paper and he likes that.

Science really helps comprehension because it is hands on and involved. He reads the directions, facts, etc, then if we do a little experiment or something he documents what is needed and it helps the comprehension, writting and reading skills. We like science magazines here a ton
 
#67 ·
How's everyone's 1st grade year going?

I need some reassurance that I'm not crazy for not drilling my6 year old with countless dumb worksheets in order to have "proof." I'm really having a difficult time ignoring my mother's persistence and controlling nature.

I just ordered a chemistry 1 course from noeo science. We have been doing math mammoth but I think i need to use something else with it that is more applied/real life type math because the more worksheets DS has the more he doesn't like it
 
#68 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by 425lisamarie View Post
How's everyone's 1st grade year going?

I need some reassurance that I'm not crazy for not drilling my 6 year old with countless dumb worksheets in order to have "proof." I'm really having a difficult time ignoring my mother's persistence and controlling nature.
My "baby" just turned 7yo the other day. We're already almost a third of the way through the curriculum (on week 12). Um, whoops. He's excited about it, so yeah. I'll add on extra read alouds at the end of the year or help him with reading (no, he doesn't read on his own yet) and do more science/math later on here since those have been lacking what with me not being able to keep anything easy to access and on hand (not entirely my fault anymore, but still).

I haven't done a single worksheet with him, but my MIL doesn't visit very often so I don't have to prove much of anything right now.
He's decided he wants to watch the movie Volcano again apparently... Then we talk about the difference between real volcanoes and the pretend/movie ones and so on... little sponges.
 
#69 ·
We hardly ever do worksheets here. Less than 5 in the year so far. Math is mostly games and orally w/ RSB. He does narration for other subjects. He has done a few notebook pages- ie he draw a pic of something and narrates to me about differences or his thoughts about something- we have used these in Science.
 
#70 ·
Well DS reads VERY well, and writes well too so I'm not sure how that isn't "proof" to anyone. not that I need to prove ourselves I just really don't like being ridiculed. Both DH and I are on the same page with everything, but it's hard having a mother in such close proximity. I don't even think it's necessary to read and write on a 4th grade level at this age, but since mine does it's further justification. She a complete control freak so anyways.....

Both my kids are enjoying explode the code online. I love to have something they can do mostly independently.
 
#71 ·
Our year is going great so far. We've had a nice balance of really schooly days with plenty of completely relaxed days mixed in. We just finished week 9. We have very supportive families; I don't think anyone has ever quizzed Nik on anything.

We try not to do too many worksheets, but I am a box-checker by nature so I'll admit to a desire for "proof" of progress for myself. It's awful, really, especially since I'm the one teaching him so I know what he knows! I don't know what I would do if family started looking for proof. I would probably tell them all to stuff it and keep their opinions to themselves if they expect to spend time with us anymore.
 
#72 ·
I like checking boxes too! I have a schedule that I highlight everything we do


I say your happy and he is happy and learning that is all that matters. I don't base our success on his level but his progress. We are moving forward, I can tell his knowledge is building, well then that is success. All kids are individual.
 
#73 ·
Hi,
My DD is 6 and doing first grade as well
We had homeschooled our older kids, and then 2 years ago put my daugher in preschool and then Kindergarten at a school of choice because of health issues that I had. We just pulled her and her brother (9) out of school a week ago, and are homeschooling again (much joy here!)
She is doing:
Math: Math-U-See - Alpha
History: Sonlight Core 3 along with older brother
Reading: Sonlight Intermediate 2
Science: Apologia Astronomy along with older brother
Spelling: Sequential Spelling book 1 along with older brother
Handwriting: Italic Handwriting book B

She LOVES to write! We had an awesome first week of homeschooling!
 
#74 ·
We had a few set backs with our "schooling." We had such lousy weather here for so long that we take advantage of any nice days that come along. Workbooks and pages are set aside for a bit and we spend more time outdoors. Learning is still happening, less formally, of course; and I do have to remember to document what we do - more my problem than hers! Haha! That is what I love about homeschooling - being flexible.

We also had a rough week because my 19 yr old nephew died in a car accident so we had that and lots of family about to work around. Again, everything pretty much was put aside for awhile. You just make way for what I call "real life learning."

We visited a pumpkin patch farm and went through their corn maze. Anna had to find 6 scarecrows and collect their tokens to get a free pumpkin.

We do workbook pages, but not a lot. I like to use more meaningful real experiences for learning. It does take more planning and coordination on my part, following up with the documentation and evaluating what to do next. I use her conversations with her Dad and showing him what she knows as a "test" to see what she is comprehending (or with any family member/friend).

Sometimes I refer to the Michigan Dept. of Education Content Expectations for Kindergarten/First Grade just to see how we are doing, but I don't get too hung up on it. It also gives me ideas on where to go next in planning activities.

I don't have to prove anything to anybody - so far! Anybody who matters sees we are doing, she is learning, and most agree with the lousy state of affairs at our local public schools! We are lucky that way, I guess!
 
#75 ·
Hi Lenore!
We're a little "below" you in northern Michigan. It's really nice seeing other Michiganians here. I hear you on the weather thing. I've been shoving the kids outside every day because who knows how long this is going to last!?!?
 
#76 ·
Well, so much for the nice weather lasting!!! The sun is really making an effort but I don't think the clouds will let up!
Hi, Jennifer!
I am curious...
What does everybody spend the most time working on? Math, Reading, Science....
I do more intentional planning for reading and math. That is where some workbook pages come in. We use manipulatives with math, too. And, of course, the real life learning. I recently started using flashcards with vocabulary from The Little Red Hen. Anna enjoyed doing them! I wasn't expecting that. Then she shows her dad in the evening.
I would have to say math and reading for us. The other stuff - science, social studies, arts, etc. are more loosely planned and sprout from her interests. Then I take them a step further. I forget to document more of those!

Lenore
 
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