So armed with our Learn At Home all in one curriculum we started. Now first I have to say, while the Learn At Home curriculum has a great set up, it hasn't been updated in years and is a little lacking, especially in the area of math. The ideas and reference suggestions, the supplemental material suggestions are great and if you started it at the beginning of the school year instead of at the end as we are it'd be more beneficial. Starting at the last quarter trying to find and pick out what we needed was a little more challenging. Using it for finishing this year has made me decide to go another way for next year though, just because of the age of the material.
Thanks to our library and Google (yes, I am a Google queen) we've managed to get a good start on homeschooling. I had already purchased a variety of workbooks on addition/subtraction and the language arts as well as a couple general workbooks, most of which I paid a dollar for and they have been a Godsend. Using some of the ideas in the curriculum book, googling and having talked to his teacher to find out what new material she was going to be finishing off the year with, (she's been great, very supportive), I sat down was able to get a start on lesson plans.
The first day's lesson plan was challenging. Figuring out what I was doing and getting into a system took a bit of time, but once I had the first day planned out, the rest of the week went swimmingly. Because I am not using an already made curriculum, I have to plan farther in advance so I can figure out what books I need for what and reserve them at the library. (A lot of the books come from the inter library borrowing system we have and need to come from a neighboring library so I need to account for transfer time.)
My biggest struggle so far is the extras; music and gym especially. Gym wouldn't be so bad if our weather would get warm, stay warm and rain less! Our first music class was actually quite fun. We made Easter Egg maracas.
As you can see, Cayden enjoyed this project and finding the music beats with our new 'instraments'.
My fears of my son getting too restless and crying to be done have thankfully fallen to the wayside. He has been awesome! I won't say he doesn't get fidgety, he's 6, of course he does. I redirect his attention and if we've been at it for a while we might take a break and regroup in 20 minutes. Flexibility!!
I've also tried to find as many projects and games as possible to get away from the monotony of 'book work' to keep it interesting and fun.
Our first science lesson was Water Habitats. I try to do one theme for science that I can stretch for the whole week and we ended the week with a trip to the pond, and we will be making a second trip before school is out to compare the differences between early spring and late spring.
So far, I've been really pleased with the way it's going. We've completed 2 weeks and both Cayden and I are enjoying the experience and the best thing, he's learning! Not only is he learning, but I am part of the process! I love that I am directly contributing to his education!
There is no question in my mind that I made the right decision by pulling him for the last quarter vs waiting till next fall. It's giving me a head start on learning the process with the school district (LOI and IHIP)as well as a chance to figure out where I want to go next year with the curriculum and how to fill the 'school day' with things that keep him interested and wanting to learn.
In my search of alternatives for 1st grade curricula I came across this book Home Learning Year by Year- How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from PreSchool Through High School. The reviews on the book were mostly positive with one review saying it was a good guideline, but don't expect to get through everything for every year. The book is 14 years old itself, but I figured if they thought it was a little advanced for then, maybe it'd be more on track for now. However, I didn't want to spend the money on the book to find it wasn't what I was looking for. I was trying to find out basically what you need to cover for each year to keep them roughly on the 'right track'. (Mind you, one of the biggest philosophies behind homeschooling is recognizing that children learn at different speeds and homeschooling allows you to let your child do just that. However, my biggest fear is life circumstances making it a necessity to put him back in the school system at a future time, though I hope that is not the case, and I want an idea of what he needs to keep him at the appropriate levels.) So, I reserved the book from the library to give it a look before purchasing. I have to say, even for the age of the book, it seems to be an excellent guideline for composing your own curriculum. A few of the 'shoulds' I still feel are a little ahead of what I think a child at that age should have to learn, but I think it will be a book I will be purchasing for myself.
I am still considering finding a math curriculum or at least workbooks and Language Arts workbooks to base those two subjects on so that I can be assured he gets the full amount of 'coursework' for the year. There is also a multitude of free printables on line to help. (I just need to get a new printer before fall.)
As I get more assured and into a more fluid routine I will start adding more of our project ideas and themes to my blog. I'd like to add a post weekly so I myself can look back and see what's been going on and what sort of progress we are making.
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