***Today's topic is "Curriculum". Simply scroll to the bottom of this post to find links to the blogs of other participants or to post your own blog post URL. Please feel free to join in!
I have gone back and forth on what I should post today. A master list of curriculum? My favorite curriculum suppliers? Homeschool goods I can't do without?
Well, my decision is to post Aubry's 1st grade curriculum list. I am doing this so that you can see that homeschooling in the early grades doesn't need to be book-laden or time intensive. This is a time to read together, play together, work together and learn together. Honestly, I have to try hard to stretch her "3 R's" time past one hour. Generally we work together for about 45 minutes and then she gathers craft supplies and creates things. Lots of things. This time of creating is at least as important as the time we spend learning phonics and numbers.
I have five children, ages 5-19. All of them are homeschooled and one has graduated and is in college, so you can trust me when I suggest that you don't sweat the early years. These are the fun and simple ones!
Here is Aubry's little pile of books:
Math: Rod and Staff Grade One--These workbooks build on concepts slowly and the student reviews all of the math operations throughout the year.
Phonics: MCP Plaid Phonics--I have used this series with every one of my kids. In Kindergarten the child learns letter recognition and sounds, and then moves on to short vowel word combinations and then to long vowel combinations. The simple way of building on what the student has already learned makes this a perfect (and inexpensive) way to teach reading. I use this series until 3rd grade when I move on to ABeka language.
Writing: A Reason for Writing A--All of my kids have loved these books because of the "border sheets" that they get to write and color on at the end of each week. Scriptures are the basis of each week's lesson and the border sheets can be hung on the refrigerator or they can be mailed to grandmas and grandpas to show off the child's writing skills.
Reading:--Rod and Staff Readers for Grade One and lots and lots of library books! These readers have cute and simple stories with a focus on the Bible and family. Reading aloud from these books daily helps the child to strengthen their reading skills. A trip to the library is on our calendar each week and Aubry gets to pick five books to bring home. We try to have all of these read before they need to be returned, and at this age I think that mom reading to child is just as necessary as child reading to mom. If you can get your child reading within the first few years of homeschooling, you are well on your way to a successful education!
***I realize that not all kids are strong readers, but most children can master the basics of reading which will allow them to learn about anything!
If you look on my right sidebar you will notice a link called "homeschool helps and supplies". Click on it to find the curriculum suppliers that we use most often.
Happy homeschooling!