Want a 1st grade curriculum -- tell me what you like

[tribalmax]

Hi there,

DD will be in 1st grade and up to now, we have used parts and pieces of different programs. But next year, I want something more cohesive. I am looking at Oak Meadows -- but would love to hear what you use for 1st grade.

Thanks!

Rachel

[pigpokey]

Reading we use McGuffey's. This is in the public domain. We're on Second Primer. I will allow substitutions for anything that interests them or any scripts or lyrics they need to learn for church, choir, etc. Just keeping them reading.

Math I have Singapore for goals but in reality I print these almost every lesson day. http://www.math-drills.com/ They also play on Jumpstart Math 1st grade at times, and got Didjs for Christmas. Professor Finkle gr 1-2 DVD is watched once or twice a month.

Spelling, not much to now but the Didj spelling games got them interested so we are doing some in the car as well as the Didj. Those Didjs can be found on sale sometimes very cheap.

[Savoir Faire]

We're doing a modified classical approach...we'll be following their schedules for history and geography and I like the concept of copying great sentences for both grammar and handwriting.

For math, I'm considering Math U See.

[CariOfOz]

I did use OM for grade 1 with my now 3rd grader. It is a nice curriculum but I found it wasn't enough for my son as he was already a pretty good reader, and OM is introducing letters & such in grade 1. I loved the science part of it, and the social studies was great too (until it became very focused on the US then it wasn't much good to us Aussies ) but the math was totally not for my kid. We still used it, just subbed out parts or supplemented as needed

Now I have one starting first and one starting third, and we use more bits & peices .. Math U see, History odyssey, aussie handwriting programs, etc. This year I'm building my own science program for them starting with magic school bus books and going from there

[*Jessica*]

Originally Posted by CariOfOz

This year I'm building my own science program for them starting with magic school bus books and going from there

That sounds awesome! Are you going to share it online, either for free or for a fee?

[LuxPerpetua]

I really love both Enki and Live Education! with RightStart Math and Singapore Math added, along with a cool science experiment book for fun.

[kgianforti]

I don't think using just one 1st grade curriculum would work for us. Here is what 1st grade looks like (we have two years until 1st grade), at least right now:

Bible - CLE Bible 2
Math - Horizons 1/Horizons 2 with Flash Kids Math to supplement
Science - God's Design for Life
LA - CTC Language Smarts B, I will need a spelling program
History - ??

That's the CORE stuff.

I have other subjects listed (due to state requirements) but they are blank on my spreadsheet right now like Music/Art, PE, Health, foreign language - we won't do every single thing listed here but this is the "lite" stuff.

[theretohere]

We're using Singapore for math.
Rod and Staff for science.
McGuffey and Ordinary Parent's Guide for reading.
Cursive First for handwriting.
Writing with Ease for writing mechanics/copywork.
First Language Lessons for grammar.
Spelling Workout for spelling.
Story of the World for history.

[MyLittleWonders]

We are doing:
Writing with Ease 1
First Language Lessons 1
Hooked on Phonics
All About Spelling
Miquon Math
Song School Latin
SOTW
Meet the Masters (we do this 1x a month with friends)
Science (this year has been physics/simple machines - we have Lego Education kits to do together)

[tribalmax]

These are great! Thanks for all the ideas! I appreciate them!

Rachel

[theretohere]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

We are doing:
Writing with Ease 1
First Language Lessons 1
Hooked on Phonics
All About Spelling
Miquon Math
Song School Latin
SOTW
Meet the Masters (we do this 1x a month with friends)
Science (this year has been physics/simple machines - we have Lego Education kits to do together)

We're using a lot of the same stuff- but I was wondering how you liked AAS? I'm thinking about quitting Spelling Power.

[FireWithin]

We are doing Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding by Nebel
http://www.amazon.com/Building-Found...2474270&sr=8-2


and we absolutely love it. My son is a science guy and this is the only program I found (didn't look very hard) that really encouraged him to think scienfically. and the activities are the same time breathtakingly simple and clearly teach the concept. My heart quickens with this curriculum.

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by theretohere

We're using a lot of the same stuff- but I was wondering how you liked AAS? I'm thinking about quitting Spelling Power.

Dh and I *love* AAS. (I think the boys don't mind it either, and it has done a great job thus far teaching them spelling and reinforcing reading.) I actually think if I had found it before starting HOP, I would have used AAS for spelling and reading (it would have been a bit more work trying to make readers for practice, but it is a very thorough program). For a while I didn't do the daily dictation (I don't use the dictation multiple times a day like it recommends, but only after the initial spelling lesson), and I noticed a difference in their retention of the spelling rules. It is teacher-intensive (we have a groove now where one boy does his dictation from the previous lesson while the other has a new lesson; we switch back and forth on days that remember). But, it does a wonderful job of teaching the phonograms and rules for spelling (I never knew the syllable rules!). Plus, the rules come in handy when they are reading new words in HOP as most of them follow the rules.

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by *Jessica*

That sounds awesome! Are you going to share it online, either for free or for a fee?

I am not sure I'll have it organized well enough that anyone but my warped mind could actually 'get' it... at least not soon!

Basically I have a nice list going of magic school bus books and a few others that I have searched on my local library site to add into the mix for depth. I'm going to stick with several basic concepts.. the planets/space, the earth itself, the human body, and I think simple machines/forces (as it needs to get ticked off our list of state expected outcomes this year )

Then I've got the basic foundation MSB book, plus our small collection of science themed books, our kids 'encyclopedias' and assorted library books to round out the reading.

Then I'm going to create activities to go along with each segment (like the ubiquitous syrofoam ball solar system project , 3d model of the layers of the earth, making a 2d PIZZA model of the earths layers (borrowed that from pandia press ) I purchased a human body lapbook so we'll do that when we come to that section, and I'm going to get one of the books that has the body done in clear overlays layer by layer. I'll put in some activity sheets etc from enchanted learning for labeling things and such as well.

I think for the physics/forces portion I'm going to cop out & buy the real science 4 kids ebook and go with that

So my use of 'curriculum' might be a bit of an overstatement hehehe. However I'll see how it goes along as we use it (I'll definitely be adding to the basic framework as our year goes on) and maybe by the fall, when the US typically schools, I might be able to share what I've come up with thus far. It just won't be a complete curriculum as it will have things that are pay to use, like enchanted learning content

[luv-my-boys]

Were "eclectic" a hodge podge of different things but thats what makes it perfect for us. We use Sonlight history core (world history part 1) and their read alouds. We use a similar based (living books) themed science curriculum. It is a formal curriculum but somehting another HS mom put thogether and has been really great. DS wanted to focus mainly on human anatomy this yr as last yr we did a little of everything science wise. The link is here:
http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschoo...ence_main.html

and we purchased the books online on amazon. I have supplemented with workbooks and other things but use it as a "spine" for science. I also use the book Ancient science to go along with our world history so it kinda meshes both together. its science projects based on history, for instance how to make paper and how it was first made.

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Scienc...2486500&sr=8-1

For math we actually use the stuff from Sadler-oxford (actual school text book company) becasue we got a chance to use them previously with k-12 and liked them so decided to stick with their lineup of math books.

We use a textbook from Seton for our faith lessons and we also have a phonics workbook that we are using. I am planning to start explode the code.

I pretty much have a ton of other workbooks,projects and crafts that I use to supplement everything because thats how the boys like to "do school"

[*Jessica*]

Originally Posted by CariOfOz

I am not sure I'll have it organized well enough that anyone but my warped mind could actually 'get' it... at least not soon!

Basically I have a nice list going of magic school bus books and a few others that I have searched on my local library site to add into the mix for depth. I'm going to stick with several basic concepts.. the planets/space, the earth itself, the human body, and I think simple machines/forces (as it needs to get ticked off our list of state expected outcomes this year )

Then I've got the basic foundation MSB book, plus our small collection of science themed books, our kids 'encyclopedias' and assorted library books to round out the reading.

Then I'm going to create activities to go along with each segment (like the ubiquitous syrofoam ball solar system project , 3d model of the layers of the earth, making a 2d PIZZA model of the earths layers (borrowed that from pandia press ) I purchased a human body lapbook so we'll do that when we come to that section, and I'm going to get one of the books that has the body done in clear overlays layer by layer. I'll put in some activity sheets etc from enchanted learning for labeling things and such as well.

I think for the physics/forces portion I'm going to cop out & buy the real science 4 kids ebook and go with that

So my use of 'curriculum' might be a bit of an overstatement hehehe. However I'll see how it goes along as we use it (I'll definitely be adding to the basic framework as our year goes on) and maybe by the fall, when the US typically schools, I might be able to share what I've come up with thus far. It just won't be a complete curriculum as it will have things that are pay to use, like enchanted learning content

It sounds great to me! I can't wait to see it. (No pressure or anything. )

[CariOfOz]

LOL thanks for the boost of confidence