First Grade Plans

It's almost time to start first grade!  The biggest change is that last year we only had a four-day week but this year we are going to a five-day week.  We are also going to have to be more serious this year, although I felt like we did fairly well last year.  We did great until Adelaide was born and I felt like by April/May we started slacking a little bit.  I'm also going to have to start keeping records this year which may be a bit of a challenge because I'm not a detail/record keeping personality but I'm going to have to force myself to get better.

Like Kindergarten, if something isn't working we will change what we are doing but here is the prospective plan.  I have packed a lot into every week but hopefully it will all fit in okay.  Every day we will have Bible, Phonics/Language, Writing, Math and Reading.  Twice a week we will have Latin, Famous People, Geography, History and Science.  And once a week we will spend time reading fairy tales, Aesop's Fables and working on art by learning about a different artist and practicing their techniques every 4-6 weeks. 

So here is the breakdown of our every day subjects. 

In Bible I picked a couple Bible Studies designed for boys in elementary grades.  We can do them again in a few years if we want to!  I got them all from Queenhomeschool.com, my favorite Charlotte Mason home school website.  We will start with 'An Honorable Boy'.

Here is the description of this book:

"This study, for boys ages 6 - 12, will take your sons through a study of God’s Word, focusing on the character traits that make an honorable boy. Through the lives of many different men and boys mentioned in the Bible, your son will learn what made these men so pleasing to God, as well as how they can obtain the same character traits possessed by these men by implementing what they learn in their own lives. "

Then we will go through 'Increasing in Wisdom'.

'By popular request, this 12 week study through the proverbs for elementary age children is one that every child should have the advantage of completing.'

And finally, 'God's Armor: Suited for Life'.

Obviously this goes through the armor of God.

For phonics and language we will be using Abeka again this year. 

He will have a test in phonics each week.  We will also continue to work in Handbook for Reading.

We were going to use Abeka first grade readers but Gavin read the first three (out of six) in less then two weeks at the beginning of the summer so I decided not to use them.  Since Gavin is reading so well and so much on his own, I decided to just let him read books that correspond with what we are learning in science or history.  He will have some 'reader' type books to read but I'm going to try and let him read as many books about what we are learning as possible.  This way, the reading he is assigned makes sense and gives me less to read to him during school hours although I will still read a lot because we like reading together.  This is also what we are going to do with writing.  Instead of having a separate 'copywork' book, Gavin will copy poems and quotes about people and events we are learning about so that it has more meaning.

For math we will finish the first grade math book for RightStart Math that we started last year and then move on to the second grade math book.  He will also work in the Abeka second grade math book for 5-10 minutes a day.  If this is too much then we can slow it down but I think this will be the best combination for him.  I really like RightStart Math because it is so hands-on, but I noticed that when he would see the same type of problem on paper he wouldn't know what to do because there isn't much written work, it's all done in your head or with manipulative's.  Abeka is all written work and the first grade book in RightStart Math will work well with the second grade Abeka book. 

That's it for the every day items.  So here is what we are doing twice a week.

In history we will just be learning with 'living' books again this year and no curriculum.  We are going to start with the War of 1812, picking up after the American Revolution where we left off at the end of Kindergarten.  Most of the fall semester we will be learning about the Civil War and most of the spring semester we will be learning about westward expansion/pioneers and hopefully we will finish up somewhere around 1900.  I plan to end the year learning about some of the great inventors from the turn of the century.  However, Gavin and I both love history so again, I'm keeping it open a bit although we should at least get through westward expansion.  You won't see as many crafts and stuff, at least during the first semester, mostly because it's hard to find Civil War crafts.  We will make some Confederate Stew, hard tack, as well as some other food, and, we are going to make Abraham Lincoln's favorite meal to see if we like it.  We like to eat so we like to learn through food!

In science we are doing two different 'themes'.  In the fall we will be learning about animals.  We will study their habitats and start with some basic classification.  In the spring we are switching gears and learning about engineering and physics.  I made my own curriculum for the fall but in the spring we are using a couple resources.  Gavin will read this book, which is written in Charlotte Mason/living book format:

I will be using this book to help me in the spring semester.

We are also using some science kits from Little Labs that will allow us to make things using pulleys, levers, etc.

 This year we are adding geography twice a week.  We will spend one of these days learning basic mapping skills, what maps are and how to read them.  The second day we will spend studying a country.  We will spend 4-6 weeks on each country and will learn about where it is and a little bit about what it is like to live there (food, landmarks, what it's famous for, native animals and people, etc).  We will also be eating lots of local foods (more for some countries then others!).  At the beginning of fall we will start by reading through this book:

For our country studies I am doing my own thing but we are going to follow the order of the Little Passports mailings we receive which makes it much easier for me rather then trying to pick out the countries we study since there are so many potential countries.

Latin is another subject we are starting this year.  I don't know Latin so I will be learning along with Gavin.  The book we are using comes with a DVD with lessons and is for kids K-2.  Looking through it I don't think we will have too much problem as it is really self explanatory and designed for parents who don't know Latin.  I don't think Gavin will have trouble picking it up.

Twice a week we will read about someone famous.  There are so many interesting people to learn about that I thought it would be fun to spend 20 minutes a week learning about people we may not otherwise get to learn about.  Once a week we will be reading one chapter from the book 'Missionary Stories'.  It should take about 10 minutes.

And the other day we spend about 10 minutes reading about different people, composers, scientists, inventors, etc. 

Finally, twice a week Gavin will play piano and learn how to read music.

Now to the once a week stuff.  Once a week we will study art.  We are going to continue what we did last year because it worked well for us.  Every 4-6 weeks we will study a different artist.  I will hang his or her pictures on the wall and we will learn about his or her techniques and Gavin will do his own art based on the artist.

We will also read one fairy tale a week and a story from Aesop's Fables.  I have this and the famous people readings in the middle of the day so break up more 'weighty' subjects since this is mostly just for fun. 

Gavin will also continue to memorize a passage of the Bible each month.  He won't memorize all Psalms this year.  I started with Psalms last year because they are easier to memorize but this year he will learn the Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes.  Last year we had a poem we learned each month but Gavin wasn't required to memorize/recite them but this year he will memorize the poem also.  He will say both his Bible verses and poem to Dad at the end of the month.  We will also listen to the music of a different composer each month.

Looking through this it looks like a ton of stuff, and it is, but we should be able to get it down in half a day if I've planned my time correctly.  If something is taking a lot longer I will adjust or eliminate as needed.  But just about everything is done in 10-20 minutes before moving on to the next subject because this is what the recommended time is for a first grade attention span.  We may do everything in the morning except for history/science/art (which are our last subjects of the day).  Since Austin is going to preschool half days this year we will lose some time dropping him off and picking him up.  We should only be in school for about three hours a day but since his school is also three hours long the drop off/pick up will effect the time we can spend in the morning.  I'm not sure if that makes sense but anyway, we will see how it goes.  The good thing about starting early is it will give me a really good idea how long things are taking and let me adjust accordingly before we have to worry about Austin's schedule.  I don't think it would necessarily be a bad thing to do these subjects after lunch because it would give Gavin a little break after two hours of morning work and I also think that Austin would enjoy doing some of the history, science and art with us.

Finally, we will have the same school motto and school prayer we used last year.  We just recite both before we get started in the morning. 

Here is our school motto, it is the same motto Charlotte Mason used in her schools.

"I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will."

I am . . . a child of God, a gift to my parents and my country.

I'm a person of great value because God made me.

I can . . . do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

God has made me able to do everything required of me.

I ought . . . to do my duty to obey God, to submit to my

parents and everyone in authority over me, to be of service

to others, and to keep myself healthy with proper food and

rest so my body is ready to serve.

I will . . . resolve to keep a watch over my thoughts and

choose what's right even if it's not what I want.

Our School Prayer (I found this on the internet somewhere and can't remember where or find it again!).

Lord, in the morning I start each day,

By taking a moment to bow and pray.

I start with thanks, and then give praise

For all your kind and loving ways.

Today if sunshine turns to rain,

If a dark cloud brings some pain,

I won’t doubt or hide in fear

For you, my God, are always near.

I will travel where you lead;

I will help my friends in need.

Where you send me I will go;

With your help I’ll learn and grow.

Hold my family in your hands,

As we follow your commands.

And I will keep you close in sight

Until I crawl in bed tonight. Amen

I've talked a lot about Charlotte Mason and if you want to know more about her and her educational philosophy this is a great overview: http://www.amblesideonline.org/WhatIsCM.shtml

Hopefully this post makes sense.  It's really long and I've tried to read back over it but sometimes things that make sense in my head don't make sense when I've written them down!