We are just a few weeks away from my daughter entering Grade 1. Even though we homeschooled her last year, there are a lot more requirements this year. My husband and I had to decide which way we wanted to homeschool. Our curriculum choices would also affect the amount of money we would receive from our homeschool association.
Our choices were:
Traditional homeschooling
No need to meet any Alberta curriculum standards
Blended homeschooling
We select which courses we want to have meet the Alberta curriculum standards
Fully aligned
Meet all of the Alberta curriculum standards
We chose fully aligned. Even though we need to meet all of the Alberta curriculum standards, the process of teaching, the curriculum materials, and the activities we select, is left entirely up to us.
So here’s the exciting part… here is the curriculum that we’ve selected for Grade 1:
Mathematics
I was informed that JUMP math is an inclusive curriculum which will cover all the curriculum areas for grade 1 math. However, a few weeks ago, a lovely blogging friend of mine, From The Mrs., shared her curriculum choices for 2013-2014 and I was smitten with The Life of Fred books.
The books read like a variety of short stories and each story has a number of concepts embedded in it. What I love about this series is the cross-over between subjects. The stories support language arts and reading comprehension and the math concepts overlap often with science, as well as other subjects. I’m very excited to be using these books to accentuate our Grade 1 curriculum.
The Life of Fred Elementary Set #1
Language Arts
Of course our curriculum will be rounded out with various chapter books that we’ve selected for the year. Some of which include:
Stuart Little, Trumpet of the Swan, Charlotte’s Web
The Chronicles of Narnia Complete 7-Book Collection
SCIENCE
For science, we will be using the FREE curriculum resources from The Body and Mind Institute. Their education resources are valued at over $2500! They provide free lesson plans, material checklists, puzzles, games, cards, student workbooks, and so much more.
**Edit – the Body-Mind Institute no longer carries elementary curriculum but the same curriculum is now carried by The Natural Learning Centre. They charge per unit but it’s a very affordable option.**
A variety of Eduguides (the senses, creating colour, etc.) from www.eduguide.com.
We have some additional resources that we will be using. These include:
Learning Games: Exploring the Senses Through Play
First Encyclopedia of Science (Usborne First Encyclopedia)
Social Studies
Our grade 1 social studies curriculum will include content from The Body and Mind Institute.
We will also be doing a lot of neighbourhood and community exploration. Some additional curriculum will come from Eduguide. We will occasionally reference their Grade 1 Response Activity Pack (RAP).
**Edit – the Body-Mind Institute no longer carries elementary curriculum but the same curriculum is now carried by The Natural Learning Centre. They charge per unit but it’s a very affordable option.**
Additional Subjects
We have some additional “subjects” planned as well. These include Bible Studies, Physical Education, Health, and Art. There will also be regular cooking and sewing times embedded in our weeks’ plans.
We’re so excited to dive into this year and we look forward to sharing some of our activities and resources with you.
Psst – Come visit my homeschooling blog, Deliberate Homeschooling for many more posts like these.
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Hello,
You guys are ahead of a really great job, in nowadays children has to aware with what is happening in their around and the Teacher has the responsibility to get aware the children . Really nice post.
Thank you..
MDF | Veneered MDF
Fabulous! And thanks for the ‘shout out’! I haven’t heard of many of these but they look great! How old is your younger daughter? Will she jump in on your activities? We read some of your literature picks last year. Great selections! Hope you have a lovely year!
A lot of these resources are Canadian. Maybe that’s why you haven’t heard of them. My youngest is only two. I imagine she’ll have some interest in what we’re doing but we’re planning on keeping her busy with alternate activities as well.
We’re so excited. I think it will be a great year.
Oh this looks great! I was teaching a first grade last year, so the thought of being able to experience all this learning that takes place on close hand with my own child is absolutely wonderful!
Thanks Elisabeth. We’re certainly excited. I think it will be a fantastic year.
Wow, this sounds great! I am totally planning on homeschooling my (currently nonexistant) children and I love seeing all the options that are out there. :-)
There are so many options and ideas out there. With Pinterest and homeschool groups, there’s lots of resources to draw upon. I can’t wait… I think it will be a great year!
wow, those seem to be a good load of interesting books. I wish I could teach my boys–I mean just making them do their h.w makes me crazZyyy. LOL
I’m so excited to homeschool… can’t wait!
Thanks for popping by!
This is soo interesting to me.
We’re homeschooling preschool, but I may look to you for advice for deciding later on. :)
The best advice I can give you is to relax and have fun!