6.08.2017

homeschool :: first grade year complete!


We have officially finished up our first grade homeschool year (well, I am supposed to still give her an end-of-year test, which I will do at some point this summer), and I think it's safe to say that we are all three feeling pretty great about it.  Claire continues to be enthusiastic about our school set up, as do her papa and I.  I will happily keep going on in the same manner and direction until and unless she requests otherwise, but for now we're feeling like homeschooling is where it's at (for us).

We covered so much this year~  We studied North and South America (making maps, and studying each country in both continents and writing a page of interesting facts and information for each one- though we did study the US in a bit more depth than the others and took a turn for a while into US History 'light'), did all sorts of science (focusing mostly though on botany, biology, the human body, and the solar system) including, at the end of the year, delving just a bit into basic taxonomy and classification (which I myself loved in college), lots of reading and writing, spelling words, a touch of grammar, all sorts of math (coin counting, place value, clock-reading, a bit with fractions, addition and subtraction with regrouping, a bit of simple multiplication), and a smattering of other fun stuff such as ukulele, horseback riding, daily afternoon art classes (she comes to work with me), building projects with papa, and Project Feederwatch.  I truly enjoyed developing a personalized 'curriculum' that worked for us, for her.  I can't claim to really have much of a clue or direction about how I did it or if what I did was better or worse than using some other curriculum/approach, but it sure seemed to have worked for us, so I'm calling it a win!  I've made lots of notes already about second grade- how we'll approach things the same way or differently, what sorts of things we'll focus on, etc.

And so, now on to summer........  she is filling the extra time so far in much the way I'd expected she would- listening to her audio books, drawing, playing the ukulele.  We are both making simple lists of things we'd like to do this summer, some things grander and more complicated than others, but to be honest a lot of it boils down to water and fruit, really.

Onward.






8 comments:

  1. So glad Claire's homeschooling year was a success! I also have a son wrapping up first grade (and a third grader, too). In so many ways, the things I'm doing with my boys is similar to you.

    Any idea what test you're going to use? I haven't done that yet either and was wondering what direction you were thinking of taking.

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    1. I'm not sure- though I'm leaning towards simply doing the CAT online with her. I may do something more in-depth and personalized, like the Woodcock-Johnson, every few years.

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  2. What fun! I really love her drawings of mushrooms. S is so into mushrooms right now. We studying them too. Have you read the picture book Tales of the Mushroom Folk?

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    1. I really love all of her nature drawings/watercolors from this year, too! there is one of bird eggs that I really liked along with the mushroom one :)

      We've not read that book- I will definitely check it out, thanks!

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  3. We just finished up our homeschool year too---Gr. 2 for my son and Gr. 4 for my daughter. I love your homemade curriculum! Sounds like lots of good things are going on at your house. If your library has it, look for Katya's Book of Mushrooms---great illustrations and lots of fun mushroom info. Happy summer!

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    1. thanks Lisa~ I will definitely check out that book!

      happy summer to you, too! :)

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  4. Lovely post, she did well in her first grade year. Good to see people cherishing little things and sharing it over the net with others. Thank you for sharing this post with us

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thanks for taking the time to read and comment~