First Grade Homeschool Curriculum Plans for 2017-2018

In the 6 years that I’ve blogged at Mama’s Learning Corner, I’ve tried to publish our homeschool curriculum plans.  I find it so helpful to see what other families are using in their homeschools!

Unfortunately, I was in the throes of morning sickness last summer and never got around to writing about our curriculum.  I felt pretty crummy for many months and had very little to say about much of anything. 😉

So I’m thrilled that we have a precious new little one in our homeschool this year AND I feel fantastic and want to share our curriculum plans with you!

During the next week or two of sharing our homeschool curriculum, I am starting with my youngest school-age learner and working my way up to my 7th grader.

 Browse through all of the homeschool curriculum posts here at Mama’s Learning Corner.

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First Grade Goals

I always set goals for each of my children prior to our school year starting – spiritual, educational, physical, and household goals.

My first grader’s educational goals focus on two things: developing her phonics and reading skills and encouraging her love of math.

You’ll see that I’ve included history and science in her daily schooling, but reading and math are at the top of her agenda each day.  Every other subject is secondary.

First Grade Bible Study

Before I dive into reading and math, I’ll briefly mention that we will work through Bible Study Guide for All Ages Unit 1 this year.  We are only using the Teacher’s Guide and working through the lessons as a family during our Bible Study time each morning.

My first grader is responsible for telling us the previous day’s Bible lesson using the Visual page.  She takes this assignment very seriously!  So sweet!

Side Note: Last time I used this curriculum, I didn’t use the Teacher’s Guide, but implemented the Activity Pages.  With the ages and stages of my children at the present time, using only the Teacher’s Guide is working out beautifully!

First Grade Calendar Notebook

Of course my 1st grader will be working her way through the Kindergarten-First Grade Calendar Notebook!  Anna loves to determine the weather for each day and she’s learning to use the Daily Weather Graph.

Much like her Mama, her favorite page is ‘Today I feel…’.  The graphics on that particular page are just so fun!

First Grade Reading and Phonics

My 6 year old has been a slower reader.  While I certainly don’t believe that she’s behind in any way, she needs copious amounts of practice with phonics, sounding out words, and exposure to print.

We are avid readers and she listens to audiobooks every night as she goes to sleep, so we don’t need to add anything to her routine there.

→ All About Reading Level 1 Second Edition – We are halfway through All About Reading Level 1 Second Edition, and we will continue that to completion.  We started AAR Level 1 last year during Kindergarten, but needed to put it away for a time.  She just wasn’t ready.

We took the curriculum back out in March and have made slow and steady progress.  All About Reading is mom-intensive, but I haven’t found another program that works better!

If she zooms through the end of AAR Level 1 like I hope she’s going to, we will just move on to All About Reading Level 2.

→ Horizons Phonics & Reading K – I’ve used this with each of my children in the Kindergarten to First Grade range, and it’s been successful for us.  These phonics worksheets advance quickly, so I am mindful of that.  Each Lesson also contains a lot of work, which I don’t feel is necessary for the first grade stage.  We will only pick and choose which activities she will complete each day.

→ My first grader has completed all of the activities in my Kindergarten Phonics and Reading Packet 1, and I’m mostly finished with the second level. She’s been my guinea pig for that packet, and I hope to publish it soon!

It involves the next step up from CVC words.  It continues short vowel sounds using blends and digraphs.  So be on the lookout for that!

First Grade Readers

→ All About Reading Level 1 Readers

→ My First Reading Library

→ Very First Reading Set

→ Little Sunbeams Series from Rod & Staff

First Grade Math

Last year, I had the hardest time trying to find a good fit for Kindergarten Math.  I had a dear friend recommend the Making Math Meaningful series.  Despite it being an older math curriculum, I had never heard of it.

Anna and I started in Making Math Meaningful Level 1 and we have both loved it!  It does require a bit of prep work for mom, but nothing super time consuming.  I only wish I had known about it with my others!  It’s a logical, gentle introduction to elementary math.

We will finish Making Math Meaningful Level 1 and go ahead to Level 2.  After that, my plan is to transition her to Math Mammoth 1.

You can read about why Math Mammoth is a fantastic fit for our homeschool!

First Grade Writing and Handwriting

While phonics and reading and math top our to-do list each school day, I do consider writing and handwriting to be important as well.

Anna and I will work our way through Writing With Ease Level 1.  While I’ve done small amounts of copywork and dictation with my older kiddos, my 1st grader will have a consistent dose of it this year.

She’s a natural at giving narrations, so this is a fun school activity for her!

She will also work her way through Handwriting Without Tears’ My Printing Book.  She still has a few letter reversals, and I love HWT’s consistent approach to letter formation.

First Grade History and Science and Extras

In the younger grades, I consider history and science to be the extras that are icing on the day’s cake.

This year, my children and I are working through the second half of Year 2 of Tapestry of Grace.  We got w-a-y behind when I was so sick with morning sickness, so we are starting our new school year in the middle of a Tapestry Year.

My Type A self is trying to be okay with that.

My 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders all do a history session together three days a week where we read from the spine of our studies and work on an activity.  Usually that activity is a coloring page and a narration about what was read.

Tapestry often uses Story of the World as the spine and I supplement with the Story of the World Activity Guide.  Their map work is spectacular!  I can’t tell you the places that my 6 year old can identify on the map, just from doing the map work each week in our history session.

For science, my 3rd grader and 1st grader will combine to work our way through Elemental Science Biology for the Grammar Stage.  My girls love any and all animals, so they will not be disappointed with 20 weeks of animals!

My 1st grader will do the reading, activities, and experiments with us, but she won’t be required to do any “work” except a verbal narration each week.

Whew!  That’s it and that is plenty for First Grade!  

What are your first graders working on this year?  I’d love to read about it, so feel free to leave a comment!

Lauren Hill

Lauren Hill is a Christian mom to 5, ages 19 to 7. She homeschools her children in the classical education tradition and is currently in her 15th year of homeschool. She creates engaging worksheets and hands-on printable activities for Preschool and Elementary age children to supplement their daily studies.

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