Every year I share our curriculum plans and as I now create our own curriculum line up rather than an open and go curriculum these posts help me see exactly how it all lines up.
On YouTube I share a detailed video of how I went about planning this year, and in a previous post series I walk through the steps and share some simple forms to do this yourself. It is a bit different for me in planning since my family is so large, and I will have 5 formal students this year! I try to walk through the basic steps that one would follow, regardless of how many students they have by sharing my grade 1 plans.
The simple steps to creating your own curriculum:
- List subjects you wish to study
- Decide focus of each subject (ex: nineteenth century for history, physics for science, etc)
- Mark which are family & which are individual
- List potential resources
- Borrow, pre-read, or research resources
- Choose specific titles/resources per subject
- Decide schedule/loops.
- Begin to place each title/resource per subject into your planner
- Start pacing for each resource/title by term
Subjects
Here you would list any subjects you wish to cover. I like to mark in some way which are family studies (*) and which are independent.
- Bible
- Church History
- Spanish*
- Logic
- Map Drills*
- Literature
- Fables & Fairytales
- Poetry
- Shakespeare
- Geography
- American History
- World History
- Biography
- Art History*
- Music History*
- Folk Music*
- Health*
- Nature Lore
- Science Biography
- Math
- Recitation*
- Copywork*
- Life Skills*
- Handicraft
- Nature Journal*
- Instrument
In Grade 1 I like to aim for about 3 hours of school time or less. I know that is more than many homeschoolers for age 6, but hear me out. Our Koinonia (Breakfast & Worship) time is 30-60 minutes as a family. Then later in the morning we have 30-60 minutes of morning time as a family. Finally she has 45-60 minutes of independent work each day, of which 15-20 minutes is piano practice. The rest of her independent work is reading with mama, copywork, or math.
Today I will share about her independent studies and will share more about our family studies on another post.
Bible & Christian Reading
She will be reading through The Biggest Story Bible Storybook for Bible time. We began this year and she loves it, and she gets lots of real Bible reading with us as a family. We will also be reading some church history from Peril and Peace.
We will also be doing portions of The Good Gospel along with her younger siblings each week.
Logic & Mathematics
We love using a simple logic workbook for the early years called Lollipop Logic. My girls have all loved these puzzle books, and beg to do more than one a week.
For mathematics we will begin Charlotte Mason Elementary Arithmetic Book 1. This will be my fourth child to use this mathematics series. We love the hands-on approach to math with short, enjoyable lessons. She will also begin twice a week to use Xtra Math to help practice those mental facts about half way through the year.
Reading
She will continue with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons until she reaches proficiency and then she will begin with primary readers. We like the Bob Books first, then Rod & Staff Bible Readers and Pathway Readers. We will also continue to add to her word journal and play word games.
Literature & Poetry
There is quite a bit of literature that she will get through morning time, audiobooks in the car, and just for fun reading. However, she will have a few independent choices as well. We will read through all of Beatrix Potter’s little books this year, but it will not be scheduled per se. She is already familiar with many of these titles, so it’s just a matter of reading some of the less familiar with visits back to our favorites.
We will be reading through various Aesop retellings all year. She’s already familiar with these stories as well and will enjoy a weekly reading from our various versions. This is our favorite print, but there are many good choices.
We will also have a chapter book we will read each term. She’s a silly, fun, loving, imaginative girl, so I have chosen 3 books I think she will enjoy. Peter Pan, Pippi Longstocking, & Pinocchio for the year.
We will also be reading Lamb’s Shakespeare in small sections that correspond with what we are reading with the older girls. The goal is 6 weeks on play that matches the rest of the family (when possible), then six weeks on another play, and repeated. However, some plays take longer to get through than others. My hope is to read 10 plays from Lamb’s in this first year. We use random peg dolls to help understand the often confusing stories, and my girls love this option for narrating.
We always adopt a poet for the year as a family, but then my children have their own individual poetry books they read. For this first year of formal lessons we always read AA Milne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and just because he’s so funny, Shel Silverstein.
History & Biographies
Most of her history lessons will come from morning time with the family, but she will also be reading 50 Famous Stories Retold for a general history during our independent time once a week. We will also be reading a smattering of picture books that align with our family history study of the nineteenth century. I hope to share that list as I am able, but still weeding through several. Included in the picture books will be several biographies like Buffalo Bill and Abraham Lincoln by the D’Aulaires.
Science & Biographies
For grade 1, science is nature focused, which is perfect for my little one who says she wants to grow up to be a nature adventurer and artist. She will be reading James Herriot’s Treasury for Children with me during first term, and Burgess Bird Book for second and third terms. This particular printing of the Burgess Bird Book is hard bound, with beautiful photographs in color and perfect for this particular nature lore reading.
We also started adding science biographies a few years ago, and my kids just loved it! So each term they each read a biography about a scientist. My older kids generally have one biography per term to align with their science studies, but for grade 1 we want to focus on that nature aspect! She will be reading, Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story, The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon, and Beatrix Potter, Scientist. However, I’m sure we will read many more, these are the three I wish to focus upon.
The Arts
Most of our arts studies are done together, but she will do her own handicraft. I like to provide options and let my children choose. She is eager to learn and utilize finger knitting to make some Christmas gifts. She also will continue with piano lessons once a week, and daily practice, while adding on a basic study in handbells.
Individualized Family Studies
Though some subjects are family studies, she will do those at her individual level. She will do shorter portions for recitation, and focus on print for copywork using the primary lines. I choose both the copywork and recitation pieces on a monthly basis for my children. Her geography will still be US States & Capitols like the rest of us, but I will help with writing as needed and she will use more hands on activities like games and puzzles to practice for drill time.
Scheduling
For this first year I keep pretty loose schedule to allow plenty of time for exploration and fun. Generally speaking I set a 6 week goal and try to meet that rather than a weekly goal of what to read and do. Not every book will be touched every week, some will alternate from week to week. Some readings will take two days a week, others once for the entire term. Nature journaling and handicrafts come out in the afternoon.
There are so many great books and we can’t read them all, sadly. However, I try to find plenty of books to fill our shelves and booklists for the year. I’d rather be over prepared than under. Often we have extra books we can’t get to in our school days/terms, but my children then come to them in their free time throughout the year. Nancy Kelly recommends that if you feel overwhelmed during school year, then keep cutting back until there is peace. Don’t be afraid to do less, or if you find something lacking then by all means add! Too often we get tied to our plans, and forget to be flexible. I try to put my blinders on during planning season, and focus on the child I have at hand to educate. How can I best educate this particular child? And remember this encouragement from Ms. Mason…..
The question is not, — how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education — but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”
― Charlotte MasonHere’s to year of building large rooms!
I hope to share our other years of schooling (4,6,7, & 9) in the coming weeks. Make sure to check back then.
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