First Grade Curriculum Choices 2014

We set up this room to do part of our homeschool work and the rest we do it in our school house.

This is where I keep the curriculum not being used at the moment and other supplies.

This is the set up for AAS on the magnetic board that my husband made long time ago.

All About Spelling (AAS) Level 1: The first part of this level teaches the phonograms. So since he knows that we will skip it. And also we are going to go fast through the middle part because he knows most of the words taught there but it will serve as a good review and it teaches some grammar rules that he doesn't know yet.

Exploration Education activity book above and projects below. We haven't started it yet. I liked the fact that it shows a video, then there is 2 activities to do on the activity book. It seems easy and it comes with pretty much all you need for the projects (you need things you already may have around the house).

This is fun!!! He really likes doing this workbook. You need to read the first word

then it will give you a clue for the word above it and if you still don't get it there is another clue.. you got to work all the way up that ladder...he really enjoys this word ladders workbook.

Umi likes this book. Maybe because it is kind of easy for him so far but like in the picture below

it helped him also to learn how to draw a flag and other things...so not only he learns math but also practice handwriting.

This is fun. I use it as a group activity so my 3 year old takes part of this too. 

I ask the question, they answer and I write it. Everything goes...it helps them to think out of the box.

After we are done with the review of the continents and we are finish with our North America Continent Box we are going to dive right into learning about our country into more detail. This book was fun and it helps children remembering the name of the states.

This book is a good read. It includes, history, geography and science.

This is our history book we are going to start reading. It is written as a story book what makes it fun and easy to follow. We will also make a timeline from the beginning of the world..

This is Handwriting without Tears for 2nd grade but in Spanish. They have the English version. It is going to help my son to perfect his handwriting.

This is his notebook I prepared for him, it has math and language in Spanish, and other things I thought I'd like him to learn this year. The picture above shows the first activity he did for the first day of classes. It is an all about me sheet I printed from the internet.

I have ordered other things from the charter school so I will add it to this post when I get it.

Using our workboxes helps us to keep all the curriculum organized. So when I fill each workbox hanging file I put one of these curriculums in each number...easy peasy! 

We do art, Montessori and hands on materials in our school house. 

What is the curriculum your child enjoyed the most?

Five in a Row (FIAR)

Hello everyone!

I am really excited because I came across a curriculum called Five in a Row. I ordered it used on amazon  and I am still waiting for it to arrived. This curriculum is literature based. You are supposed to read the same book for five days and in the manual you have suggested activities for each subject. I think as an addition to our montessori adventure. Umi LOVES reading books. So I think it would be a perfect match for him.


You can find a list of the books for every volume here and more information about FIAR there.

I just got the first book I bought it is called Madeline. Luckily I found it in Spanish. I went to the library today hoping I would find more of the books in Spanish but I only found one. There are a lot of resources for FIAR in homeschoolshare and others in pinterest.

I can't wait to get started! I will post more about it once I get the volume 1 of FIAR. I paid 24 dollars in amazon.


Have you used FIAR before? Any recommendations? Please share!

Curriculum Choices and Our Ideas for this Year

You may wonder what curriculum we are currently using or if we use one at all. There are so many choices and so many blogs and so many websites to choose from that it could be a little bit overwhelming to know what to do. So I came out with our plan for this year. I mainly let him lead but sometimes I add things to the mix that I know he may like. So our plan is not strict and it may eve change and take its own course.

 Umi is almost 3 and 1/2 and he is currently in Pre-K. This year  (2012-2013) we will use:

- Math: Math -U-See (Primer) and Montessori

- Science: Mudpies and Magnets and other ideas from other blogs

- Arts and Crafts: Ideas from other blogs and pinterest

- The rest of the subjects I use Montessori.

- Unit Studies and Lapbooks for anything that  he is interested in learning about. So he chooses what he wants to learn about. We make a lapbook and we decorate the cork board.

Currently he is interested in the solar system. So we are working on a lapbook and we have a cork board that we are going to display the solar system that we are making. I will hopefully write a post about this activity it is fun and he is enjoying it.

One thing it helps to choose curriculum or a path in homeschooling your child is to write your goals and desires in a sheet of paper.  Then once you read  them out loud and crossed out the ones you realized are not so important you can find the way to achieve them. And remember it is not the quantity that matters but the quality. Therefore I think it is better to accomplish 2 goals and done well than cram your child's year with TONS of activities that gets him stressed and force him to live up to your expectations.   So remember to follow your child! You can plan all you want but if your child is not enjoying your choices of activities then you need to reevaluate what you guys are doing and come up with something your child enjoys. The goal of homeschooling is not to do what schools do. It is not to follow a strict curriculum made for a large group but rather to follow your child so he can keep the love of learning and learn at his or her pace. It is just like music you need to find the beat and follow it!