Since the moment he filled out his Last Day of Homeschool interview page this past May, my little man has been announcing to anyone and everyone who will listen that he's now in the 1st grade. In just three month's time, He's used up his yearly allotment of exclamation points over the news.
Apparently, it's a pretty big deal to officially be in elementary school like all the big kids.
As a general rule of thumb, I don't homeschool with grade levels. So someone else must have planted that tally system in his head.
(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)
Que sera, sera. Whatever helps him start the school year with a smile is fine by me!
Here's what he'll be learning for his core subjects. Since we only homeschool 4 days a week, you can assume that each of these resources will be used four out of five weekdays unless otherwise indicated.
Content-rich Subjects
My son will do a lot of his content-rich subjects like Morning time, history, science, art, etc. with the rest of the family. I won't require any notebooking elements from him during the first half of the year but will encourage him to listen and add to the conversation as he's able. You can see all of those subjects and curriculum choices here>>>
Personal Devotions- everyday
- The Hear Me Read Bible- This is an emergent reader Bible specifically written for those in Kindergarten through first grade--kids who are just learning basic decoding skills.
Phonics/Language Arts
- ABeka Language Arts 1- I only use the phonics and language portions of the program. I prefer not to use the reading, handwriting, or spelling portions.
- All About Spelling Level 1
- Read the books on this list of emergent readers, the Let's Read Together series, the 100 Easy but not Boring Readers list, and a few ABeka 1st-grade readers until he becomes a strong enough reader to read real books. (For most of my kids, the transition from readers to real books has happened towards the middle of first grade.)
- Read for pleasure. (everyday)
- Listen as I read a just-for-him chapter book out loud each afternoon before supper. These titles will always be listed in my monthly What We're Reading lists.
Math
- ABeka Arithmetic 1
- free online review games and apps (like Math Mateer and Monkey Math) to review math processes (every few days)
Handwriting
- A Reason for Handwriting A- This will be his primary handwriting resource.
- Draw Write Now Book 2- He'll do this every few days for variety's sake.
Life Skills
- He will continue to be a child-of-the-day and help me make lunch and dinner once a week.
- Set the silverware out on the table for meals.
- Move the clean silverware from the dishwasher to the silverware drawer.
- Tidy the shoe closet as needed.
- Empty all the small trash cans into the main kitchen trash can for his older brother to take out each day.
- Sort the laundry with his older brother every other day.
- Put his own clean laundry away each week.
- Dust the house on big-chore days with his brothers.
- Help move small pieces of furniture for his sister when she mops the floor on big-chore days.
- Help clean the boys' room and make his bed each day.
Co-operative Learning
This year, our family has joined a larger co-op that meets twice a month in a neighboring town. (Funny enough, it's the same co-op The Hubs attended as a teen.) My son will be in the 1st-2nd-grade group and will be participating in the following:
- Physical Education
- Maps/Basic Geography Skills
- Nature Study
- Show-n-Tell
For the first time, my son will actually have his own little class to go to apart from his siblings. It's sure to be an exciting adventure that will hopefully keep a smile plastered to his face all year long!
Do you use the teacher manual for the Reason for Handwriting book?
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