Grade 1 Homeschooling Curriculum

This will be my daughter’s Grade 1 homeschooling curriculum:

Language Arts – See post Grade 1 – Language Arts

Math – For math, I have chosen Math Mammoth.  I did a lot of research before purchasing and after comparing different products, Math Mammoth was the only one I couldn’t find a negative review for – everyone that had purchased it seemed to be happy with it.  What I see, I like so far, and I like that I made one purchase and have her math covered till the end of Grade 8.  I can print out just topics I want to cover, or by grade.  This year I printed out Grade 1.  It filled 2 regular binders so I will have to buy her a bigger binder so I can have it in just 1.  There are often sales on at Homeschool Buyer’s Co-op for Math Mammoth.

Science – One huge perk of homeschooling for me is that my daughter will get a science education far better than I ever had in public school.  I have chosen to do Supercharged Science with her and I couldn’t be anymore excited.  We’ve already tried out several experiments and my daughter really enjoyed them and learned quite a bit.  And I learned right alongside her.  A few weeks ago we learned about refraction of light, and my daughter got to swim in our local lake while completing her experiment.  Another time we built different contraptions that made sound to learn about the vibration of sound.  My daughter absolutely loved playing with her musical instruments long after we had completed our science.  You can try one of those experiments with your kids for free: Sound Vibrations.

Geography – We are just going to continue learning the name and location of all the continents, countries & oceans of the world.  We have decided to focus on one continent at a time.  See post Geography – Learning the World’s Countries

French – At this point all I want to focus on is speaking french.  We live in an area that is predominately french so it’s very important to get my daughter speaking as soon as possible.  She watches one french show a day, usually Dora or Toupie et Binou.  Since she was 2, I have had my daughter enrolled in local dance classes that are taught in french.  This year I will have her in 3 different dances so that will be 2 hours of french immersion per week.

To help her french, I have purchased Total French with the Michel Thomas Method.  I have the more advanced Perfect French for myself and absolutely love the teaching method.  I plan to listen to a few minutes daily of “Total French” with my daughter.  I will verbally review or discuss what we have learned daily and hopefully this method will be a gentle but effective method for her to learn as well.

I also have purchased Little Pim videos.  They have various packages, like the teacher kits sometimes on sale at Homeschool Buyer’s Co-op.  However, I have personally chosen to buy the digital video’s for my daughter to watch on our ipad directly from the Little Pim website.

Sign Language – See post “Sign Language Curriculum

Art – I really enjoy the site Art Projects For Kids.  There are a wealth of art projects by grade, all free.  I have done several projects with my daughter and will continue to pick and choose projects throughout the year.

However, I decided I also wanted my daughter to have a more formal art education so I decided to purchase Home Art Studio.  I tried out a few of the free lessons with my daughter and decided this would be a good fit for us and also liked that it was reasonable in price, compared to some other programs I looked at.  They also have it on sale sometimes at Homeschool Buyer’s Co-op.  This year we will start with the Kindergarten DVD.  Another thing that I think we will enjoy is the fact that we can upload all my daughter’s artwork and the art teacher will comment on each one.  To me this is a great feature as I am not trained in art, and will appreciate that my daughter can learn from an actual teacher.

Music – We will continue our free online piano lessons.  See “Piano Lessons for Free“.  The lessons include quite a bit of music theory and solfège which helps my daughter beyond piano.  For example, sometimes we will sit down together and play a song several times, and try to learn the words and practice singing it as best we can.    

Gym – I have her in 3 dance classes throughout the year, and in the winter, the local arena offers free skating times.  I also have her signed up for swimming lessons this fall.  I think we’ll just focus on those areas this year.  Of course she will also have a lot of outdoor free play time.

Life Skills – This year I want to focus on three areas: chores, manners & safety skills.

Animal Studies – Throughout the year I will prepare different animal studies for my daughter.  This year we will learn about some local animals.  Stay tune for future posts.

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