How to Homeschool Grade 1

Our family room where homeschooling is conducted.

Sample page from "Everything for Early Learning" workbook.

A not-so-great view of our virtues tree in the children's bedroom.

How To Homeschool
Grade 1

The following activities can be used with children from four to seven years old. You must be the judge of when it is developmentally appropriate to introduce these activities. If the child does not show interest, never push it, put it aside for a couple of months and then try again.

Two types of curriculum I recommend for this age group:
The Well-Trained Mind: This is a Classical Education curriculum. This book recounts the homeschooling curriculum of one family but is very thorough (from pre-k to end of highschool) and very popular. Some of the books are out of print. You can sometimes find better resources on your own. This curriculum is part of my foundation which gives me the security to venture off in my own direction here and there. There is a tendency for burnout - don't try to do it all.
Sonlight: A Christian homeschooling curriculum that is a combination of Charlotte Mason and a Classical Education. A strong focus on good literature. Very flexible - you can customize your own curriculum from the things they offer for each subject.

What I did:

Grade 1 is when formal homeschooling starts and I am more insistent about doing schoolwork every day. I begin by focusing on the skills of reading, writing, spelling and math. In a Classical Education this is called the Grammar stage. Once, I feel comfortable with a routine for the above mentioned subjects, I will slowly introduce history, science, music, art, physical education, and foreign language one-by-one. You can choose which subjects you feel are important. We spent about 1 year focusing on the main subjects (reading, writing, spelling, and math) before we introduced the other subjects.

From now on, I talk about each subject separately. My children progress at different speeds through each subject. My son is flying through math but going slowly through science. For each subject, start with the first books or curriculum when you feel it is developmentally appropriate for your child and then just naturally progress from there.

The age and capacities of your child will determine how many lessons you do in a day and how much time you spend each day homeschooling. My son started grade 1 at age 3 and therefore would only do school for a few hours and progressed through the material at a slower pace than normal (we would sometimes do half a lesson a day instead of a full lesson). But if your child is six years or older, they should be spending the majority of the day (with breaks in between) doing school, just as public school children do at this age.