Our First Grade Choices 2024

My six-year-old is so excited to get started with first grade. He actually started his math over the summer because he did not want to wait. I am not naive enough to think that means we won’t have bad days or tough subjects, but I am glad he is enjoying school at this point.

It is important to evaluate curriculum options each year based on what worked and did not work in the past and on the individual student.

*This post contains affiliate links, see full disclosure below.*

Reading

We found All About Learning Press years ago when we struggled with spelling, and it has been an excellent fit for all my children. We started All About Reading Pre-Reading level last year and learned all of his letters.

Due to some speech difficulties we put aside the letter sounds for until this fall so that he had time to work on them in his speech therapy. This year I plan to finish the Pre-Reading level and begin working through level 1. I love the phonetic approach and the fun touches included in this program.

We will be supplementing this with some great programs from Schoolhouse Teachers. They have a fantastic series with a short video for each letter to reinforce what we are learning in AAR.

We will be continuing lots of reading aloud and he loves to listen to audiobooks in his free time or while he is working on chores. We also utilize our Read Aloud Revival membership for fun literature study.

Math

Math for a Living Education is a math series from Masterbooks. My son loved the kindergarten level so much that he finished it in April and he has already begun the first grade level.

We love how they weave a story through the book to show real-life examples of math skills. I also find that there is enough practice without being overwhelming or feeling like busy work. (If you have a child that needs extra practice, they offer a separate book with additional reinforcement.)

In addition, we will be using some calendar math from Schoolhouse Teachers to reinforce essential math concepts as well as days of the week, months of the year, etc.

Science

After our bucket list National Parks trip last year, both my ten and six year-olds really wanted to learn more about rocks. I dug around to see what we had and what was available for elementary geology from a Christian perspective and decided to create my own course using materials from a couple different companies including Master Books and Northwest Treasures. You can get a free copy of my creationist geology plan and find out more over at this post.

In addition, we will be doing nature study at least weekly (we often do it more when the weather is comfortable.) Sometimes our nature study is as simple as going outside and observing, but we also love to use our subscription to Homeschool Nature Study to take things a little further and help me find some great activities and ideas.

History

My original history plans had us moving back into Story of the World. However, after our trip and based on my children’s interests, we decided to use the Prairie Primer this year for history and literature combined. This plan goes through the Little House on the Prairie book series and incorporates history, science, and other subjects.

We will mostly focus on the literature, history, and cooking projects that are included. However, I may also add in a few of the other subjects as we have time and interest. I will note that there are some nutritional lessons that I would disagree with ( I think its just outdated information) so we will just skip those components.

I think the boys will enjoy learning more about the history of the settling of the western part of the United States and be able to make connections to some of the wonderful places we visited on our journey.

Art/Music

Nana would probably cringe if she heard me say it, but I am not an artist, so I love having an art program that will help my children in my area of weakness. We have been using You Are An Artist Chalk Pastel lessons for several years with my older children, and we love them.

Music is another area where I like to call in help teaching, and we use Practice Monkeys for music lessons. We have been with them since 2018, and I cannot say enough good things. Joseph will continue to take violin lessons as well as receive some help from my high school aged daughter. They offer Zoom Suzuki violin, cello, guitar, and piano lessons at a super affordable rate for families.

Handwriting

I am excited to be trying Master Books Handwriting A to Zoo this year. I love that in addition to handwriting he will pick up some fun animal facts and that it gives glory to the Creator. I also appreciate that it is fairly open and go, which is important for me as I balance teaching three students and having a baby in the house.

Morning Time

In addition, we will do family Bible and World Watch during our morning time each day. We will also rotate in a variety of other subjects. You can see more about what we are incorporating during Morning Time this year and learn why it is my favorite time of the day in this post: Morning Time Plans 2024

A Typical Day

All of these subjects (except music lessons and some of our nature study) can be completed in the morning. If my first grader is being diligent about his studies, he can be finished in time for lunch with everything on his checklist. Violin and nature study are the exceptions because the music lesson is scheduled in the afternoons and we often do our nature walks and hikes in the afternoons as well.

This schedule allows him to get a good foundation in the academic subjects but still have lots of time for free play and exploration. We try to ensure he gets several hours outside each day and plenty of time for building with legos and other projects. Over the years, I have come to realize that children can learn as much through that free play as they do through academic instruction.

I would love to know what your favorite resources are for first grade! Also, if you have any questions, please ask them in the comments.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.