My sister, who also hs her dd (first grade) is going to pull her out of Connections Academy because she is doing approximately 6-7 hours a day of school in order to keep up with the schedule they give her. She is interested in something a little less time consuming (she has two other children under the age of 5), so I suggested unit studies/lapbooks as an alternative. She thinks this will work very well with her dd's learning style, and I 've given her several sites/unit studies/etc.. but her one worry is how she will gauge whether or not her dd is on track (hitting all the major topics they are supposed to gather in 1st grade). We tried looking at "What your 1st grader needs to know" (the book) - but that was a little more exhaustive than she was going for. What we really need is some kind of checklist.. appropriate for a first grade curriculum.. I've tried searching our state resources.. but so far I've come up with nill. And ideas, advice from you unit study pros out there? Thanks in advance! Carrie
I think those lists are totally subjective BUT if she wants something VERY general she can check out the World Book Website. They have a "Typical Course of Study" that is a nice checklist. If she is wanting something subject oriented then I TOTALLY recommend the Yellow Pages series. There is math, science, us history, world history, writing and reading (There may be more.). They are WONDERFUL checklists to have around!!! Most counties post their curriculum scope and sequence online. They can be hard to find sometimes! If she can't find one on her counties website try a neighboring counties website. Scope and Sequence is USUALLY pretty uniform throughout a state.
The Homeschoolestore.com has a downloadable ebook for every grade a person may be interested in. HERE Also, I did the same type of search, in our first year, last year. You are looking for a "Primer" Like a key or legend. The problem is, they do not exist, as you or I may think of them to be. The truth is, you will need to pull it together for yourself. If they plan to put the child back into school, simply contact the local school district for their curriculum outline. If they plan to homeschool for the durration, My personal oppinion would be to gather information from many sources about "Curriculum Outlines", or Typical Course of Study"s.. but to not feel as though you would need to follow some stead fast rule of "We need to do XYZ by January". That is unless your states rules speak different on the subject of "What to teach". I believe that if your state requires you to teach certain subjects, they should provide you with the information so that you are not left to guess. in any case, good luck and welcome! (I noticed your post number was low)
Here is a FAQ page about literature-based unit studies. Here is a scope and sequence list we use (grades K-3) with our FIAR and HSS unit studies. I am not worried about my student being on track with other students...we are (hopefully) in this for the long haul, so we don't have to worry about what other students are doing. We will follow ds' interests with a basic scope and sequence for a long time. Probably around Jr. High I will access what we've done/haven't done and start chronological learning at that point (maybe!). Please let me know if your sister has any questions, I am more than happy to help her on her way!
Thank you for all the great responses We don't have any strict rules or guidlines we have to follow for our state. My sister is just worried that since she is relatively new to hs (this is her second year) and she has always used a structured curriculum, that she will miss something important simply by "not knowing". Carrie
The way I look at it unless she is planning on returning her daughter to the local ps then it isn't a concern. Ps kids revisit just about every topic endlessly so it's a good bet she will cover it at some point. If she does go back and it is even the next school over she will find a difference in what was taught. The only things I would be concerned about is reading, can she read to grade level and maths, can she do or catch up quickly to where the class would be. If she wants to homeschool for the long haul then I would tell her take a deep breath and throw those 'must haves' out the nearest window. One main advantage of homeschooling is tailoring the education to your child. Working and going over where your child is week in, and soaring ahead in areas of strength and interest. So if she really likes history and reading you can delve into that. Then if she is week in maths she can spend time going slowly over that so she gets it. I would much rather have a child who can add and subtract well with understanding then a kid who says she can do all kinds of sums but does it like some kind of trick and doesn't understand why they got that answer, or care if it is correct or not so long as the page is done. Just because topics were covered at school is no guarantee those children learnt it.
Yeah, I agree with Jo! Don't make it school at home, make it a learning place tailored to suit the dd and learning in fun ways, not stuck to schedules and certain curriculums! Especially at the girls age, they learn so much so quickly, and with the one-on-one of homeschooling, she'll pick stuff up so well! It can still be FUN at that age! Fieldtrips and a lot of hands-on activities, and less bookwork USUALLY work very well at that age! And it IS learning, whether the local ps does it or not!
if you want to get a list check a couple of curricula out and look for thier scope and sequinces.. also lookup report Cards and see what they have on them... THere are forms out there because we used to have to fill them out even for our prek's when I taught outside .. a check list of what the child should know at what age? http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/440 this is an article with some examples of 2nd grade things to do even! http://www.foxbay.k12.wi.us/PDFs/Standard2.pdf looks like a state run one from Wisconsin? has some suggestions too ...
http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/ourhomeschool/requireg.html okay and this is probably the best one yet!
