I'd like advice on history / geography curriculum for a first grader. She reads very well. I'm just not sure what to do. I'd prefer secular but will work with anything. Thanks!
We use the What Your __ Grader Needs to Know from the Core Knowledge series. I pair it up with videos on Brainpopjr and free activities I find online and a few "living books". My 1st and 2nd graders are still working through the K book. (We use this for science as well )
We're using Magic Tree House books and the fact tracker companions for 2nd grade this year. We did similar last year and used Five in a Row loosely. I like literature based units. This year I'm using some of Expedition Earth's stuff to supplement the locations that we're talking about. I have also used stuff from Homeschool Creations to supplement. So in short between last year and this we're kinda going around the world - very loosely. :lol: Next year we will be using Road Trip USA. I know in Expedition Earth she does have things like "pray for the people of blank country" but you could easily skip those parts. At that age it's really just to get the kids familiar with maps and where things are. I'm looking forward to the USA curriculum next year.
Cool. I actually have that book, and Teaching Children, so I'll look through those again for info. I tend to forget what book I have....
I lined them up with the Intellego Unit Studies, but I just can't get the IUS off the ground. I just have a really hard time with them when I try to use them.. sucks I spent so much money to buy all of them. So I just do my own thing using the NTK books. It works for me. Some other options that are secular (we are not Christian in my home, so we only use secular): History Odyssey.. this is OK, it uses the classical 4 year history cycle. I'm not a huge fan of the 4 year cycle, I prefer to make sure that the main focus in the younger years is US and local history and geography with a hint of world. The Complete Book of United States History... I used this as my spine with my oldest and we loved it. I added in living books and some hands on fun. The Complete Book of Maps and Geography The Spectrum workbooks are good too for Geography I think my biggest problem with most homeschool curriculums is that they forget the very important social studies aspects... wants vs needs, supply vs demand, natural resources, community, citizenship, etc.
We used Sonlight Core B for first grade. Sonlight does have some missionary stories and things like that but you could easily remove those.
We tried Sonlight, and I so wanted to love it, but once I removed all the religiously slanted assignments, it wasn't worth the cost for sure. If you like the look of Sonlight I would encourage a secular homeschooler to look at Moving Beyond the Page.. but it's pricey, too pricey for me.
@crazymama....I'm curious about the Intellego Unit Studies. What did you find difficult? They look interesting to me online. What are NTK books? I can only find Spectrum starting at grade 3. I worry it would be too advanced.
We are using Adventures in America this year, along with the myriads of books I already have on the shelf that go along with each topic, and some fun 50 state stuff. My dd is loving it. She is a little old for their recommended age...but it hasn't been a problem at all. I am very much a pick-what-I-wanna-do-and-skip-the-rest type of person, so we don't always do the little crafty projects.
NTK is What Your (insert grade here) Needs to Know. The problem I run into with my kids and with myself is that the units are written to the parent (even in the higher grades when I expect them to be able to be self sufficient for the most part), I don't mind this in these younger grades, but there is no distinction between what I should say to my kids and what is strictly meant for me. Many of the links went to things that were huge pages of reading, and it wasn't fun feeling for my kids. My kids are visual and kinstetic, they do better with very graphic things (picture books, videos, online games) and crafty things. They were bored with many of the activities. Also, many were lesson plans written for a classroom of kids that I was expected to go read through ahead of time... I don't always have a lot of prep time (I have 4 kids who are active in scouts and a house to keep from exploding around us).
Spectrum doesn't start till grade 3, you are ok waiting until then. There is a series of books called Spotlight On.. each one is about a different continent. My kids have enjoyed these, I think they may even have them on individual countries. The Intellego Maps unit was pretty good. Not as much that my kids found boring in there as in some of them. Just a note, we do still use things from the IUS, I just go through the links and find what works for us.
Ah I see. I haven't really started school yet so I have no idea what to expect. I have 2 kids, and I'm pregnant, but I'm a surrogate so the baby isn't mine. I'm due mid August so I plan to be completely done with first grade by end of July. Then a break while I recover, and then 2nd grade. My son is 2 so keeping him occupied will be interesting. I only covered the main subjects, math and language arts, with curriculum I bought. I hadn't thought about science or history/geography until yesterday. I'm not sure what to do now. I may have a couple of workbooks I bought several months ago to use. Idk. So much information.
Since there is a burst of newbies floating around lately, I decided to put what I use in my siggy for ideas. There is sooo much out there, but we need to remember not to let it overwhelm us. We need to remember that we can not teach them everything, we need to decide what is most important to us and find something that will help us teach that to our children in a way that works for them. The word curriculum actually isn't some box of books, it is what we want our students to learn. The box of books or whatever is just how we plan to implement our curriculum. I definitely think that it is important to make a mission statement, put it in whatever you want to use as a log or a planner and read it often, especially when you feel like you are lost and confused and on the verge of becoming a curriculum hopper. I did not do this, and I truely believe my kids have suffered from it. About the 2 year old, you will be surprised with how much he/she wants to sit in with what you are doing. Also, activity bags or a box of special (sneakily educational.. think word whammer, stringing beads, playdoh, stickers and paper, foam shapes with glue sticks and construction paper, etc) toys that only come out during school time. Also, I am definately not afraid to let the TV babysit for me for a bit.. Nick JR, PBS kids and Leap Frog videos are regulars in my home. About the surro-babe.. how awesome of you! I think if I could have done something like that I probably would have, but delivering babies and me just don't get along. Definitely take some time to recover from that experience.
This is exactly what I'm thinking of doing for next year (although the plan changes almost monthly). I already have the book. Next year will be my first year HSing (1st grade) and I really want it to go well and not be too overwhelming. So I'm thinking of buying curriculum for math and LA which will be the main focus, and doing history/science from What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know as well as finding things from the internet or library to reinforce. I also have a Kindergarden health book I was thinking of touching on too. Sorry. I didn't mean to take away from the original thread, but that post reminded me of my most current plan.
When you hang around here long enough, you will find that most threads become "thread-jacked" and get more of a conversation feel than just an "answer my problem" type thing It's why it feels like home to so many of us Honestly, I would grab the K book as well and start reading from it now a little at a time, many of the concepts in the 1st grade book build on the K book. Really I have decided to forget grade level with them, my current 1st and 2nd graders are still in the K book. We tried several other things and have come back to this. Oh and health, many health topics are covered in the science of the NTK books. I wouldn't bother trying to add in something else other than fire safety and things like calling 911. Yes, plans tend to change. I think that is why I'm now seeing how important it is to make a long term goal plan. Once you find what is working, stay away from looking for the next great thing. This board isn't bad, but there is another homeschooling board where the shiny curricula is always being thrown in your face and you start to feel if you aren't doing 3 maths and 4 grammars and 2 sciences and 5 social studies and a professional art program and be learning Suzuki violin or piano and be working toward fluency in 3 or 4 languages (one being latin) that you aren't doing enough and you need to keep up with the Jones'. It's really easy to start curriculum hopping. You spend a fortune trying new things all at the cost of your kids getting dazed and confused by your constant changing. Take some time, find what works for your kids and yourself and stick with it.... don't try to change what isn't broken.
I withdrew DD from school in September. I was very unprepared. I spent some time researching and got so overwhelmed that I just stopped. With the surrogacy stuff I had going on, and the fact that I hit search overload....I needed a break. Now I'm getting down to the wire and really need to get my stuff together.
I think for first grade, personally, history/geography should be VERY SIMPLE. For History - cover BASIC US Holidays....there are so many library books that can be used. Read about them, maybe draw a picture, or make a lapbook (check out www.homeschoolshare.com). Also, you can do Community Helpers (policemen, firemen, doctors, nurses, EMT's, librarians, etc). And geography should revolve around north Amercia....or start with the continents and letting them know that there are 7, and which one we're in, and then they should know where US, Canada and Mexico are....and maybe some other basic countries - like England, China, Japan, etc....but BASIC.... There is plenty of time for detail, give a broad brush at this age, each year add more and more definitiion.
Yes! I'm so sick of searching. So I decided to make it simple with next year being my first. At first, I was looking into such intense curriculum for ALL subjects and then it hit me that NO WAY would I be able to do them all without completely burning out.
For K and 1 and sometimes 2 as well, I mostly prefer to make my own little units out of coloring books, lessons and coloring pages I find free on the internet, and library books. Holidays, community helpers, friends and family, a little geography, a little history, things like that. For science it might be different categories of animals, weather, plants, 5 senses, nutrition, cleanliness and health, safety, and so on.
