I’m finally making time to share our 1st grade curriculum plan. This grade level was the hardest to settle on and is still the most up-in-the-air due to I’m really just trying to iron out what’s going to work for her particular learning style. Unlike some of my other kiddos, she is a VERY verbal and visual learner. We haven’t perfected her reading skills yet, which is normal in our home seeing as I don’t even really start Language Arts book work until 7 years old. She also gets VERY bored of something if it’s repetitive or mundane in the sense of not a lot of color, whimsiness, playful, etc. She HATES black and white textbooks, she will throw the biggest fit if I present any sort of math to her in that way. But, boy, is she a smartie! Her reading comprehension is on point, she excels in number sense, and she gravitates towards art more than any of my other children. Bear with me though, this list will probably be long and also incomplete because I’m sure I will add or take away from it before the school year is over. This is our learning-what-works year.

Language Arts: I’m finding this subject to be the hardest choice thus far. I really am just wanting to focus on strengthening her reading skills before adding in all the extra fluff of grammar, writing, and so forth. I have quite a few back up plans in L.A. because I thought there were many good options so I grabbed a bunch, but then once reviewing and actually utilizing the curriculum I’m quickly learning that either she wasn’t on that “1st grade” level standard and was going to also need a lot of adaptation. Or just simply to be started only after she’s solid in reading. I find it very hard to believe that most 1st graders, even in a public school system, are already able to perform the necessary actions to achieve some of these worksheets included in some of the curriculum! I’ll break up this subject into separate sections because I just have so many options and so much to say:

First, I picked up Sadlier’s School Level A workbook off Amazon thinking it would be perfect but, while it’s definitely usable and helpful so far, I’m having to make a lot of changes and she already doesn’t like certain exercises from the curriculum that I have to adapt or skip over all together. What I do like is the included readers in the plan! So far it seems like there is one per week and so it makes it really easy and fun to read and review one over that period of time. I also really like the rhyming exercises they include because it’s something I would not have thought about myself. Initially, she was struggling with how things rhyme but we’re on our 6th week and she’s already improved so much in this particular topic.

Second, I thought I would love Learning Language Arts Through Literature based on all the reviews I went through, however, the Blue Book is so far lacking. One, I don’t love the wordiness in the Teacher’s guide. I find myself skipping over a lot of it. I wish it were more open and go. Two, I don’t like that a lot of the lessons can’t be completed unless you have their particular Reader’s that is a separate purchase. I didn’t know this until I got into the 2nd or 3rd week of using the lessons. It’s definitely usable though as I’ve just been skipping over the weeks that have readers we don’t own. So far we’ve read Who Took the Farmer’s Hat & Goodnight moon, also The Lion and the Mouse and The Tortoise and the Hare fables. What we have read has been enjoyable for sure, and I love the focus on good morals and character. She doesn’t care for the shape and letter card exercises because that’s too “easy” for her. The worksheets and activities are a bit bland so far. She’s not excited to complete a lot of the word tracing and something about the art work isn’t attention grabbing. I’m committed to continue though and will see how it develops over the school year.

Third, I have the first level of Lightning Literature. This is actually our first week opening it and it started off with reading Harold and The Purple Crayon which we LOVED! I thought she wouldn’t want to sit through it because there were a lot of pages but we both ended up riveted. There were a couple lined page worksheets that followed where the student is expected to write sentences, I’m assuming, telling what the story was about and their favorite part or sentence. This is what I’m talking about when I say, “no way majority of 1st graders are at this level,” btw. So I just got her to verbally answer and I recorded her answers in my own writing. We will be doing a couple worksheets the duration of this week focusing on Capitalization and putting a period at the end of sentences so we will see how that goes. Thus far we haven’t reviewed this particular topic. I’m still in the stage with her where if she writes most letters in lowercase and throws in an uppercase here or there I won’t stop or correct her. More so because I’ve been worried that this focus will make her want to stop writing in general. She’s very touchy in that sense, ha!

Fourth, we picked up a copy of English Lessons Through Literature at our Charter School Library and I plan to incorporate that but not yet. It’s a lot of copy work/dictation and she’s just not there yet in her writing skills. So I’ll post an update once we get into that.

*I just want to clarify that I don’t intend to use all 4 of the mentioned curriculum’s moving forward, we will decide which we like best, if any, and then stay loyal to one as long as it works for her. In the past we’ve bounced around a lot in Language Arts for all my children and so we don’t have just one curriculum that we’ve always loved, it’s been very eclectic. But I hope to simplify that with our last student! I will say, however, we’re really liking the Michael Clay Thompson Poodle Series and Grammar Island I’m trying out with my older 2 this year so if all goes well that will be where I head with this child once I feel grammar is more necessary. I talk more about that in the 3rd & 4th grade curriculum pick blogs. I also flip-thru Sadlier Level A & MCT on my YouTube channel if you’re interested in seeing those.

Next is the Reading.com App! I waited to share this on purpose because it’s SO different from any of the other options. Mainly, due to it being a digital platform. She absolutely adores this resource and even told me all on her own one day that using it “makes her happy.” It’s been such a short time but the way they have her slide the little tool to sound out the letters in words has been a game changer! She also highly enjoys using an Apple Pen on the iPad to write her letters out. I rate this particular resource a 10/10 for sure.

And last but not least… Other than what I’ve mentioned above, I also purchased Dash Into Learning D’nealian style Handwriting books. Again, due to her dislike of too much repetition, she doesn’t like to practice each particular letter over and over so we skip over a lot of those pages until we reach the full word or sentence copying. This is also something I just throw in when I feel like Language Arts on a particular day went very smooth and quick and she needs something more to continue to keep her busy during our learning time in the morning.

Math: We started off the year trying Themeville Math like her siblings, however, she quickly made me realize that The Good and the Beautiful Math 1 is going to be the best fit still. She loved it all last year in level K and I was hesitant to even consider something else for her. Seeing as neither my 3rd or 4th grader excelled in TGATB Math and we were going to try something new I thought it would be easier if they all follow the same curriculum. Well, this was just more proof that EVERY child is different! So we’re back in TGATB with her and I’m secretly happy because I love looking through all of the beautiful lessons in their Math workbooks, playing the hands on games, and even reading (who reads in math!?). Funny, even though my own personal math style is very cut and dry and old school.

Science: We’re using our TBH 1st Grade Science Plan paired with the Creation Unit Study. Check it out on Etsy! It’s very easy breezy and eclectic and it hits every California State Standard in just 2 days of focus a week. This is great because if you don’t care to focus too much in this subject it’s still enough, and if you LOVE science you can go off on little trails based on each topic and add your own hands on experiments, etc.

Social Studies, History, & Geography: I’m piecing this subject together very eclectically and will have that available soon on the etsy shop! We are using good literature with the help of Truth Quest suggestions and resources from Teachers Pay Teachers or online. Because we homeschool with help from a Charter, I do have a list of criteria that she needs to learn this year according to CA State Requirements. I still weave in the subject from a Christian perspective as always. Also, the goal is to complete as much as possible with her younger sister for added fun. Stay tuned or message me for more info. For Geography I’m mostly using the States Notebook which comes with stickers and quick worksheets to fill out partnered with the Desk Atlas. I have gathered a bunch of YouTube videos related to the 50 States that all 3 of my elementary kiddos are enjoying SO MUCH and this is a free resource you can find on my Instagram profile, link in bio, @blendedhomeschool. We are also adding in the usage of a Timeline that will partner with all their subjects learned in History this year. I plan to make a YouTube video showing more in depth what this will look like. It’s also going to partner Art as an elective as well! *I have a video highlighting Truth Quest on my YouTube channel

Electives: Firstly, she is working through the Draw. Write. Now. Book Series, starting on book #1 with her sister. This is such a happy find for us! It’s fun how-to-draw lessons partnered with copy work so it can be considered Language Arts also, however, we aren’t focused on this as a daily necessity and will fit in once or twice per week. Secondly, she’s touching on Lollipop Logic at least 1 time a week. Thirdly, The Good and the Beautiful Typing 1 Course. Fourthly, I have plans to begin a Nature Study on the first day of fall. I’m so excited about those plans and plan to make a separate post with all of the details!

Extracurriculars: In addition to all this, we find time to get out and take Tap dance classes, Jr. Cooking classes, and a Clay/Ceramics Art Class each once a week.