Here in England, we still have 10 weeks left of school. That will be the last of kindergarten for this family! My youngest will be starting 1st grade in September. Her schedule will be nearly the same as her older brother and sister’s 1st grade schedules. So anyway, here is our first grade curriculum for next year.
For first grade, we are using Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, by Heart of Dakota. I have loved using this curriculum. I used it only for kindergarten and first grades because I wanted to try other programs, but I’m strongly considering HOD for high school (which will begin with our son the school year after next). Anyway, for first grade, we’re using this curriculum with a few changes (I have my own Bible, spelling, and reading & phonics programs).
1. History—The focus is American history, using these books: American Pioneers and Patriots, Stories of the Pilgrims, and Boys and Girls of Colonial Days.
2. History-Related Activities—This rotation includes Geography, Science (2x/week), History Activity, and Art. The activities for these subjects all relate to the history lesson, and the history activity day includes doing a timeline as well as projects. The science slot uses the book God’s Wonderful Works.
3. Poetry and Bible—A selection of poems are included in the program manual, one per week. For Bible I use a different Bible program instead of the recommended devotional. My older two loved Grapevine Studies’ Stick-Figuring Through the Bible Old Testament Overview (Beginners level), so my youngest will be working on this as well. We’re still doing the recommended memory verse in Beyond Little Hearts, along with Steve Green’s CD Hide ‘em in Your Heart, Volume 2.
4. Language Arts—This includes spelling, copywork, and language. Instead of the included spelling lists, I use All About Spelling (Level One). The copywork will be from the weekly poems. The language lessons are included in the manual.
5. Story Time—We read and do activities for books in the following genres of literature: biography, adventure, historical fiction, fantasy, mystery, nonfiction, humor, realistic fiction, and folktales. Our book choices for this year are: Helen Keller (Davidson), The Twenty-One Balloons (du Boise), Little House in the Big Woods (Wilder), Charlotte’s Web (White), The Railway Children (Nesbit), …If You Lived 100 Years Ago (McGovern), A World of Winnie-the-Pooh (Milne), Mountain Born (Yates), and Aesop’s Fables. These are books I will read aloud to her.
6. Reading—For 1st-3rd, I’ve been using the Reading to Learn Series from Christian Light Publications. The first grade book is called I Wonder. When that book is complete, I plan to start her on a simple chapter book to finish out the year. For phonics, we will continue with the Explode the Code series. She’s already finished the primers and is currently working on book 1, so I don’t know where we’ll be by first grade.
7. Math—We’re continuing with Singapore Math (1st grade)
8. Extracurricular—I’m not 100% sure where we’ll end up on this, but it will probably include P.E., music, and possibly Spanish. For the first four months, we’ll be in the US, so we’ll probably do normal sorts of P.E. activities. When we return to England, we’ll try to get back into swimming. After 8 months being on a waiting list, the girls are just now getting to start swimming lessons. With a 4-month stay in America, we’ll lose our place, so I’m hoping the wait won’t be as long when we get back. Music will be basic piano and singing (Singing Made Easy), with a few other activities (rhythm instruments, music games). For Spanish, we use Teach Them Spanish! (grade 1), though I may consider a different program or find something to supplement it, as it’s mostly just a workbook.
For more information and links to this curriculum list, see THIS post.
