Well, it’s the beginning of another school year,and even though I have done lots of “this is what we use for this grade” posts over the years, I am always tweaking thinks for subsequent children.
Here’s a list of what we use for Daniel for first grade:
Reading: He has NINE!!!!! lessons left of “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.” We started moving through this very irregularly and slowly right before he turned five. He likes it a lot and has always enjoyed these lessons. We don’t do the handwriting portion of this program.
We also work through one McGuffey Reader lesson per day. He is in the primer book and we will continue through this all through school.
Math: He is Finishing up Math-U-See’s Alpha program. Once he completes that, I will test him and see where he is in math. If he is ready for 3rd grade Saxon, we will switch over to that. If he is not ready, we will purchase the Math-U-See Beta book and continue through that.
Art: He loves all kinds of art. One of the coolest things my husband did was to paint one wall in our kitchen with white board paint. It has been terrific. All the children and their friends love to use white board markers and write on the walls. He also loves using pastel paints and making pictures with rich colors. One of the things we did after we realized he loved to draw so much was to buy him a few Usbourne books that are perfect for his age and ability.
Piano: Piano Adventures Lesson Book, Primer level
Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient History and the Accompanying workbook and Audio CDs. I have recently discovered that Daniel is not really an auditory learner. He’s my first child who does not absorb things deeply this way. I have learned this by reading him a chapter of a book, then do the usual asking him to tell me what he has learned and I get a blank stare. I can prompt him with a few things and he still sometimes does not share anything he learned. So I have been trying to be very careful to add some kinesthetic action in for him and the corresponding workbook really helps with that. I am not a creative mommy. Fortunately, other moms are and this book is full of great activities. I bought the Audio CDs for previous children, and he really enjoys listening to them, however, unlike the other children, he really does not retain in. So he can enjoy them over and over.
