"Why are you homeschooling? You know there are public school."
"Aren't you afraid that your child is going to be sheltered?"
"Why?"
"Aren't you going to miss your free time?"
These all are questions I have already heard from people in just the last two weeks. I have found that homeschooling is a lot like cloth diapering. You get a lot of questionable looks and people think you are crazy.
Once we get past all of the "they think I am crazy" questions, they usually ask how I am going to teach. Now when I am talking to veteran homeschoolers I usually answer with the specific curriculum choices we are using this year. When I am talking to novice homeschoolers (that was me a year ago) I tell them that I am able to pick and choose and customize my choices specifically to my oldest daughter. This usually makes their jaw drop. Most do not know that almost all curriculum is not a one-size-fits-all type of thing.
We are starting our very first day of first grade today (yipe!) and I thought I would share my curriculum choices with you all.
I will be listing these in order of how they will be taught each Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (co-op will be on Tuesdays starting next month).
MATH
Singapore 2A and 2B (2A text and workbook are pictured only)
Singapore is a fast paced math curriculum. My oldest is very much a type A personality. She doesn't really enjoy busy work and once she gets it she is ready to move on. After asking many people about their choices and why and reading recommendations I decided to land on Singapore. This was the hardest decision for curriculum that I came across.
Singapore has a website where you can test your child and find out what level they should start on. I was about to start V on level 1A (makes sense) but she tested at 2A.
HISTORY (will be taught every Monday and Thursday)
Story of the World 1
This was a very easy decision. I am a fan of Classical Education (V attended a Classical Education school for kindergarten last year). Susan Wise Bauer has written a lot of curriculum for Classical Education. I was able to look through the text and activity book before making a decision. This is going to be my favorite subject to teach. It is full of fun craft projects, coloring sheets and maps. Yay!
SCIENCE (will be taught every Wednesday and Friday)
Bob Jones University Science 1
I wasn't planning on teaching science this year, it is not really necessary for first graders. I happened upon this curriculum at an amazing price and had to pick it up. It is written from a Christian standpoint and is filled with great hands on projects.
SPELLING
Bob Jones University Spelling 1
I ended up with BJU only because I was able to get it at a great price along with the science. I wasn't planning on a specialized spelling curriculum either but, again, it was a great price.
**I was planning on working the spelling into the grammar time just to make it clear that I was not going to bypass spelling.
HEALTH (every Friday to be taught directly after spelling tests on Friday's)
Abeka Health, Safety and Manners 2
After reading reviews on different health curriculums I had found that Abeka 2 seemed to be the best. Most of the reviews I had read stated that Abeka 1 was written more at a pre-school level so I decided to bump her up to 2nd grade.
PHONICS
Modern Curriculum Phonics Level C as well as some supplements from a very old phonics book.
I decided to skip level B (V completed level A last year). I went straight to reviews on level B. It stated that it was very repetitious and mostly copied what was already taught in level A. I decided to skip up to 2nd grade on this as well.
Shurley Method Homeschooling Edition Level 1
I knew that I wanted to do this set for awhile. I remember doing the Shurley Method when I was third or fourth grade. It was tough but memorable. I'm pretty sure I could still diagram a sentence to this day thanks the the Shurley Method.
GRAMMAR
First Language Lessons (combined book that contains level 1 & 2)
This was a very last minute decision. It was written by Jessie Wise (Susan Wise Bauer's {from above}mom). This book has a lot of dictation work in it. My oldest loves to write and I thought this would be great practice for her. I will be having her use her Primary Learning Log for her dictation. This is left over from Kindergarten. She filled less than half of the book last year and I did not like the idea of the book going to waist.
Kelley Windgate Grammar 3-4
I found this book at a second had book store. I am not sure how many pages we will get through on this workbook. I plan on using this as supplemental material. If V has a few days where she is getting worn out from dictation then I will have these worksheets as a back up.
LITERATURE
Charlotte's Web. We will be going through Charlotte's Web for the first four weeks. We will be reading 1-3 chapters each school day with a craft twice a week. After we finish Charlotte's Web we will be moving on to the Little House set. I figure with the Little House having 9 books this will fill the entire year and will most likely move into the next school year as well. I have some fun activities planned with a trip to Mansfield, MO on the docket for when we finish the entire series. I'm excited to take V to Mansfield. I went there myself when I was in kindergarten on a school field trip.
I also have numerous workbooks (many from the One Spot at Target) that will be used for supplements. These will come in handy in case we need a change of pace.
Every morning we will be starting our day with a devotional and scripture memorization. We will work on the memorization work each day until it is fully memorized.
We will also be working on poetry memorization. This will be thrown in, most likely before literature, and repeated twice each day. I will be pulling poems from Shel Silverstein books.
I also wanted to share the planner I will be using. Being a type A like my daughter I like to have everything planned out. I LOVE this planner from Lakeshore!
There it is. We are ready to start our first year of full time homeschooling. If you have any questions on any of the curriculum choices I have made, why I made them or why I didn't choose something else, please feel free to leave a comment.
"Aren't you afraid that your child is going to be sheltered?"
"Why?"
"Aren't you going to miss your free time?"
These all are questions I have already heard from people in just the last two weeks. I have found that homeschooling is a lot like cloth diapering. You get a lot of questionable looks and people think you are crazy.
Once we get past all of the "they think I am crazy" questions, they usually ask how I am going to teach. Now when I am talking to veteran homeschoolers I usually answer with the specific curriculum choices we are using this year. When I am talking to novice homeschoolers (that was me a year ago) I tell them that I am able to pick and choose and customize my choices specifically to my oldest daughter. This usually makes their jaw drop. Most do not know that almost all curriculum is not a one-size-fits-all type of thing.
We are starting our very first day of first grade today (yipe!) and I thought I would share my curriculum choices with you all.
I will be listing these in order of how they will be taught each Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (co-op will be on Tuesdays starting next month).
MATH
Singapore 2A and 2B (2A text and workbook are pictured only)
Singapore is a fast paced math curriculum. My oldest is very much a type A personality. She doesn't really enjoy busy work and once she gets it she is ready to move on. After asking many people about their choices and why and reading recommendations I decided to land on Singapore. This was the hardest decision for curriculum that I came across.
Singapore has a website where you can test your child and find out what level they should start on. I was about to start V on level 1A (makes sense) but she tested at 2A.
HISTORY (will be taught every Monday and Thursday)
Story of the World 1
This was a very easy decision. I am a fan of Classical Education (V attended a Classical Education school for kindergarten last year). Susan Wise Bauer has written a lot of curriculum for Classical Education. I was able to look through the text and activity book before making a decision. This is going to be my favorite subject to teach. It is full of fun craft projects, coloring sheets and maps. Yay!
SCIENCE (will be taught every Wednesday and Friday)
Bob Jones University Science 1
I wasn't planning on teaching science this year, it is not really necessary for first graders. I happened upon this curriculum at an amazing price and had to pick it up. It is written from a Christian standpoint and is filled with great hands on projects.
SPELLING
Bob Jones University Spelling 1
I ended up with BJU only because I was able to get it at a great price along with the science. I wasn't planning on a specialized spelling curriculum either but, again, it was a great price.
**I was planning on working the spelling into the grammar time just to make it clear that I was not going to bypass spelling.
HEALTH (every Friday to be taught directly after spelling tests on Friday's)
Abeka Health, Safety and Manners 2
After reading reviews on different health curriculums I had found that Abeka 2 seemed to be the best. Most of the reviews I had read stated that Abeka 1 was written more at a pre-school level so I decided to bump her up to 2nd grade.
PHONICS
Modern Curriculum Phonics Level C as well as some supplements from a very old phonics book.
I decided to skip level B (V completed level A last year). I went straight to reviews on level B. It stated that it was very repetitious and mostly copied what was already taught in level A. I decided to skip up to 2nd grade on this as well.
Shurley Method Homeschooling Edition Level 1
I knew that I wanted to do this set for awhile. I remember doing the Shurley Method when I was third or fourth grade. It was tough but memorable. I'm pretty sure I could still diagram a sentence to this day thanks the the Shurley Method.
GRAMMAR
First Language Lessons (combined book that contains level 1 & 2)
This was a very last minute decision. It was written by Jessie Wise (Susan Wise Bauer's {from above}mom). This book has a lot of dictation work in it. My oldest loves to write and I thought this would be great practice for her. I will be having her use her Primary Learning Log for her dictation. This is left over from Kindergarten. She filled less than half of the book last year and I did not like the idea of the book going to waist.
Kelley Windgate Grammar 3-4
I found this book at a second had book store. I am not sure how many pages we will get through on this workbook. I plan on using this as supplemental material. If V has a few days where she is getting worn out from dictation then I will have these worksheets as a back up.
LITERATURE
Charlotte's Web. We will be going through Charlotte's Web for the first four weeks. We will be reading 1-3 chapters each school day with a craft twice a week. After we finish Charlotte's Web we will be moving on to the Little House set. I figure with the Little House having 9 books this will fill the entire year and will most likely move into the next school year as well. I have some fun activities planned with a trip to Mansfield, MO on the docket for when we finish the entire series. I'm excited to take V to Mansfield. I went there myself when I was in kindergarten on a school field trip.
I also have numerous workbooks (many from the One Spot at Target) that will be used for supplements. These will come in handy in case we need a change of pace.
Every morning we will be starting our day with a devotional and scripture memorization. We will work on the memorization work each day until it is fully memorized.
We will also be working on poetry memorization. This will be thrown in, most likely before literature, and repeated twice each day. I will be pulling poems from Shel Silverstein books.
I also wanted to share the planner I will be using. Being a type A like my daughter I like to have everything planned out. I LOVE this planner from Lakeshore!
There it is. We are ready to start our first year of full time homeschooling. If you have any questions on any of the curriculum choices I have made, why I made them or why I didn't choose something else, please feel free to leave a comment.
Hey, Jessica! Thanks for sharing! We do Story of the World and First Language Lessons and just love them! Enjoy this year! I was so nervous starting out, but love it now and love choosing different curriculum!
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