Two Pines Academy: FIRST GRADE PLAN

We are using TruthQuest History for American history this year. For us, history should be wrapped and interwoven with the One who created and directed it. TruthQuest is organized beautifully, with simple introductions for key events that enlighten one to God's hand in those events.

We found a few of the spines (core books) and are supplementing with what we can find from the library. We have also found a lot of free stuff to use for narration and as supplemental handcrafts.

We did a search for "viking printables" and "viking coloring sheets" and printed a few of these for little brother while we read. Sister isn't able to focus on more than one thing at a time, so her coloring will be saved for after the reading.

We are always on the lookout for free lined pages for narration and have collected quite a few. To keep them organized we have them stashed into a binder with page protectors. Sister looks through and picks what she wants at that moment and I just copy it on the scanner (page protector and all).

Sometimes she will write a sentence or two. Most times, since we are just beginning, I will have her retell or act out what we read. As she gets better at writing I will have her journal more for narration.

For world history we will be reading "Child's History of the World" written by V.M. Hillyer. Mr. Hillyer writes from a Christian worldview, which we find very appealing. We find his writing style very entertaining while providing Sister an excellent introduction to world history. Granted the first few chapters leave little to be desired but by chapter five the book comes alive.

To help Sister grasp the timing of events we have started a wall time line. Making the timeline was as easy as pinning 9 feet of ribbon to the length of our hallway wall. As we work our way through history we will paperclip index cards(printed with key historical events) to the timeline. We even made cards with her and Brother's birthday's on them just for perspective.

We are not focusing on the dates. They are included for Mom and Dad's interest but the timeline itself is purely meant as an overview.

Robyn's Master Planner's for Ambleside Online Years 0-8 These are planning pages for your homeschool binder. They make everything so much easier to follow!

MATH

Math was a bit of a concern for me. Not the fact that it was 1st grade math but because we are teaching Singapore math. We wanted to teach using Singapore because it helps to make the abstract more concrete. Teaching in this way is supposed to help smooth the transition into algebra. A subject which I needed a lot of help in.

Using 10 frames and number bonds was completely foreign to us. We started Singapore as soon as we received the Text and Workbook in the mail. We quickly discovered we also needed the teachers manual. There is one specifically made for homeschooler's and that is the one we purchased. What a difference it has made.

Sister is learning her fact families first. During this time she is practicing on the computer, using work sheets, completeing oral drills (1+1=2, 1+2=3, etc.), and using flash cards. Following is a list of the sites she likes to play on.

Computer Math Games

Illuminations Ten Frame: A favorite of Sister's! She started with step one "How many?" but now mainly works on step 4 "Add".

IXL: is a great site with many games. But you can only answer 20 problems a day for free.

Fun for the Brain-Looks interesting. We haven't really explored this one thoroughly yet.

ICT-The Funky Mummy- Fun game for number bonds. Sometimes its a bit advanced for my first grader though.

Woodlands Jr School- LOVE their site. Its so much more that math. A must see!

ABCYa!- Touted as one of the best free educational sites. Sister sure loves it!

SCIENCE/NATURE STUDY

I have always loved Science. I can't say the same for the out of doors. Don't get me wrong, I love the outside. When its below 89 degrees. Living in the South doesn't really allow for many pleasant summery days. So, the less I have to plan, the less I will procrastinate in this area. Now when Fall gets here, well, that will be a whole other story.

Thank God for the Outdoor Power Hour Challenge . This will give us a great jumping off point. She has many freebies and fantastic ideas all approved by AmblesideOnline!

Pinterest is another wonderful resource for Nature study. The Homeschool Coop is loaded with fantastic ideas for projects, printables, and so much more.

MUSIC/ART

Ambleside Online has a suggested schedule to follow for artists, composers, folksongs and hymns. But it is totally voluntary. We will follow their suggestions only for the folksongs and hymns.

2012/2013 school year
Term 1: Sep Gypsy Rover ** *
Oct Early One Morning *
NovI's the B'y *
Term 2: JanKeys to Canterbury *
Feb Mairi's Wedding **
Mar All Through the Night * * * * (A Welsh lullaby)
Term 3: Apr Maggie (When You And I Were Young, Maggie) *
May The Wild Colonial Boy * * *
June Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen * *

Lindafay at Charlotte Mason Help lists wonderful ideas that she actually incorporated into her own children's education. And since she had both, boys and girls, we feel her ideas are well suited for our family. We feel her curriculum is organized in a way that suits my need for more structure. We tend to blend alot of her curriculum with AmblesideOnline.

Music

Lindafay suggests making a broad sweep the first couple of years and then in Yr 3 settle into specific composer studies. This year we will cover Orchestra, Ballet and Opera.

Beginning this term with Orchestra we chose Peter and the Wolf. What better way to open up the classical world to our children. Sister listened to Basil Rathbone narrate this wonderful piece online at archive.org this past week. Listen for yourself and see if you don't agree it's perfect for beginners.

We also happened upon a book at the library to give Sister something to look through as she listened.

We've been leery about allowing to much Disney but still might let her view this at a later date, purely for entertainment.

If we can find Mark Rubin's book "The Orchestra" at our local library we will try to include this too. From the reviews this little book does a wonderful job introducing children to the orchestra.

Art

We wanted to start off with an artist that Sister could more or less relate to. Mary Cassatt's subjects are mainly mother's and their children, and her work provides a variety of mediums for Sister to become familiar with.

An excellent resource we recently discovered is the National Gallery of Art. They provide resources that you can check out as well as use online.

Two Pines Academy

Pages

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

FIRST GRADE PLAN

First Grade Curriculum

Music