1st Grade Curriculum

We have been homeschooling for 4 years and this will be our first year to do CM style. After doing so many worksheets and workbooks, I have been somewhat terrified that we won’t be doing “enough.”

To answer your question, there is not a package because we are to teach the child, not the curriculum. At nearly 6, there is great diversity in a group of children of the same age. The strengths and weaknesses are vast. To offer a package would truly cause one to teach the curriculum because she “should” know or be ready to do such and such, when in actuality, she may not be ready to jump in at the “1st grade level.”

There is a section on this site where you can read about where to start building your curriculum, weekly schedules and daily schedules. I used this to set up a framework and pick what we would be doing. From there, I was able to outline my subjects and choose what I actually needed for each of my students for each subject.

I am using the library to get several books recommended here, purchasing several from this site, and Life of Fred Mathematics for math.

I’d also start with some information on CM education in general before picking out curriclum!

After that, this is a great blog series that goes through all the subjects: https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/a-generous-curriculum-subject-by-subject-part-1/

There are a ton of subjects listed.  Since the lessons are short (5-10 minutes for first grade), you can fit quite a few in.  However, you don’t have to cover every subject for 1st grade.  😉  I’d start with 3Rs, some Bible (children’s bibles are a great choice to start with), and a “fun” subject or two.  Poetry, literature, or picture study would be good choices.   As your year progresses, you can gradually add more subjects in.

My DD turns 6 in October, so while she’ll technically still be in K, she’ll be doing closer to 1st grade work.  Here is what she’ll be using to give you some ideas of a possible schedule.  I usually start with the free curriculum guide for a basic outline of subjects.  You can easily substitute your own books into the guide.:

• Math: MathUSee Alpha
• Phonics: McGuffey Readers and Noah Webster’s Reading Handbook and copywork
• Bible: The Story Bible
• Literature: For the Children’s Hour, Among the Farmyard People (plus a couple others in this series), 50 Famous People, Madeline books, Babar books, Milly-Molly-Mandy, and lots of picture books!  We’ll be following the schedule in English Lessons Through Literature’s Year 0.  There are several options, but we’ll be starting with the 3 day program.
• Poetry: Mother Goose
• Picture Study: Come Look With Me series

There are tons of choices for phonics…mine is pretty bare bones, but I’ve used McGuffey readers with all my DC.    My DD will be joining in with the older children for history, science, habits/character studies, handicrafts, and many other subjects.  For history and science, you could easily stick with a few library books at her age!  SCM also has some nice science programs for early years…Outdoor Secrets,  Pond and Stream Companion, and Learning About Birds with Thornton Burgess.   We’ll be using the Bird guide this year along with SCM’s Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation book.  I’m not sure how much my 5yo will be participating though!

It’s very overwhelming to see it all listed out, but I thought it would show you some ideas of what a possible curriculum would be.  I didn’t start by adding in every subject all at once!  We’ve been using at least some CM methods since we started HSing (my oldest is finishing up 7th).