Thoughts on curriculum.

We are pretty much done our first year. We are working a little on secondary programs through to June, and then we will see where we go from there. This first year of homeschool (grade one for my son) was grand. We all learned so much as a family and educationally too, of course. I want to reflect on our chosen curriculum. Choices are ongoing around here it seems- always excited for the next....

For grade one we used:

English- Veritas Press, Phonics Museum. I really liked the emphasis on phonics in this program and the classic approach. I liked the readers included for the sake that they were true historical stories in a form that young readers can take on, however some of the words were too Old English and even mom would never use them- it made it hard for Aiden to sometimes follow what the stories were about. We also hit a snag in the printing practice portion of this curriculum as the printing style was different from what Aiden had learned.
We supplemented with My Printing Book, Handwriting Without Tears.
*Tip- In the early years you can choose from a variety of printing styles. Be sure to check your curriculum choices to ensure that they match the style of printing that you want your child to learn.
Aiden finished this first english program very early so we continued on with another grade one curriculum. Sonlight Grade One Readers with Language Arts. I love this Sonlight  program and will hopefully want to carry on with it throughout Aiden's school years for English. I want to stick with one program in English now so that there are no gaps, and I appreciated that there is a great balance of all skills. There is daily/weekly reading, copywork, phonics, grammar, and then creative writing lessons. Aiden is really enjoying this curriculum and it gives him some freedom to be creative when learning to write stories, paragraph's, notes, etc. He also liked that he got to read a little everyday and in smaller portions. Oh, and the Doctor Seuss books are always a hit. Mom likes that this program is laid out in daily lessons for 36 weeks, and is organized and easy to follow without much planning- all I use is a highlighter at this point for the different sections.

Math- Math-U-See, Primer. The colorful blocks and easy, organized layout made this a great program. I loved that the premise of Math-U-See is math with a purpose. It is a little different teaching than how mom learned but for now we like it.
We have now moved onto Math-U-See, Alpha, which includes unit tests- I will let you know how that goes. This is the part where mom had to let go of grade levels and just let Aiden learn at his pace and ability.

Socials- Donna Ward/Northwoods Press, Canada My Country (All inclusive bundle). This was a fun curriculum. There was a variety of activities such as using a compass and we mapped across the country and back again. We picked this curriculum for grade one because it fit in with learning about who we are and where we come from. We didn't fully use all the books, although we skimmed all of them at different times, and did not need such a large, expensive bundle. I know we will use these great books for years to come, and I am already looking at other curriculum from here. I love that it also included both story books and purely factual ones. Next time I will buy the basic bundle though, just to keep spending down. 

Science- Answers In Genesis, God's Design for Life, The Human Body. I had originally wanted us to study one topic at a time and so I bought a three pack; The Human Body, The World of Animals, and The World of Plants. There was enough information to use just one text for the whole year and thoroughly cover it. Aiden never tired learning about the different systems of the body. This program comes in a great format, with a beginner, intermediate, and advanced section so that you can teach your whole family and cater the work to their grade/ability level. Aiden answered questions after each lessons and retained a ton of knowledge. We will be able to use this curriculum again later on. I am wanting to try a more broad program next time, to learn a little about different sciences through the year.
Our Backyard Tree Project. We started this project in the spring before we actually started doing school. We all ran around the yard looking at the trees and bugs on the trees, taking pictures in every season. It was fun to make up a curriculum of sorts and to learn about our backyard environment. I might want to do this type of project again but if there is a next time, we will work more on the project itself as we go, instead of just collecting data and then putting it together at the end. We had a little problem with our computer breaking and then transferring pictures and are not sure if we lost some. We really should have printed out and categorized our pictures right away. Lesson learned.  

Fine Arts- Watercolor for the Artistically Undiscovered, by Thacher Hurd and John Cassidy. This art book was great because it has step by step directions and clear examples of painting techniques, and in a simple form. I also loved that the watercolor paint set and brush are attached to the book, so it is basically ready to go. Aiden actually didn't finish this whole book but there is so much to learn so I am not worried about it, and we will carry on with it.
The Usborne Book of Drawing, Doodling, and Coloring. We really used this book as a supplement when Aiden needed to change things up a bit. He wasn't too interested in it all the time but it is great in the fact that kids can carry on a pattern or idea and just create.
Piano Lessons with Serena. Aiden loves playing piano and can pick up things well by ear, but he is stretched when it comes to relating note-to-letter-to-finger placement/playing. I am not going to put him in piano next season and will let his brain catch up- maybe he will pick it up again later on.

Health and Career- ICBC, Roadsense Kids, Activities for Learning Road Safety- Walk Smart, Bike Safe. We watched the videos that go with this package, as a family. I appreciated that it taught all safety concerns as my kids are at the age where they are learning to ride bikes. We have a long driveway and so I haven't let my kids/Aiden venture out onto the road, except with Dad, but it is great preparation now.
I had originally purchased an Apologia, Who is My Neighbor? And How Can I help Them? workbook as a type of character development devotional, but quickly found that it is at an intermediate level. We are therefore saving it for a higher grade.
We then just picked up a My First Bible that we had around and started to read. The simplicity of that worked great for us and of course all scripture is living so both Mom and Aiden enjoyed this.
Other activities we did were things such as cooking and talking about nutrition and developing chore sets.  

PE- U7 Soccer. Aiden plays on the local soccer team. We have enjoyed getting outside to cheer him on. There is one practice and one game per week which isn't too bad to handle. Other than that most of our gym time is outdoor play, whether the kids are at the playground, bike riding, running, playing ball with the dog, digging dirt, tobogganing, or jumping through the sprinkler. The kids really never slow down for long. We also had the kids in swimming lessons last summer- we really need to continue with this important skill as my kids haven't been swimming very much, especially when we lived up North. 


I love that we had to throw away a book, that we had to save one for later, that we needed to change a program and alter it, that we had to start the next levels in the same year, that we needed to supplement, and that we learned to just let go sometimes. I am glad that things don't always go as planned because we have gained wisdom going into year two of homeschool with three kids! (Or maybe two.... we will see if Keiran can keep up to Gemma in Kindergarten....)