Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

Tagged: 1st Grade Curriculum

This topic has 4 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 1 month ago by HSMAMA.

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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April 12, 2015 at 8:56 pm
kendalmauder
Participant
Help! My husband and I have just made the decision to homeschool our 5 (almost 6) year old for the upcoming school year. She will be entering first grade in the fall of 2015. I have looked through some CM curiculum but am completely confused by all of it! Is there just a basic package for first grade? I can’t find what is recommended. Or do I just pick and choose from all of the subjects? I am a little overwhelmed and do not know which curriculum is right/recommended for the first grade. Will somebody take pity on me and help? This momma would GREATLY appreciate it! 🙂
April 12, 2015 at 9:27 pm
Niki Bullock
Participant
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.

April 12, 2015 at 10:32 pm
Wings2fly
Participant
Here is the free curriculum guide. Click on a subject at the left to learn more. Skilled subjects are listed by grade level, but it is just a guide. Other subjects can be chosen based on interest or what history time period you would like to start with. https://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/curriculum-guide/ And here are sample schedules for the week. Skilled subjects, the 3R’ s, should be taught daily with short lessons. The other subjects vary how often per week. Check your state requirements first.
https://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/sample-schedules/
I recommend that you study more on the methods Charlotte Mason used by reading free ebooks here, forum posts, or reading a book by Catherine Levison or Karen Andreola. The DVD set offered here is wonderful, Learning and Living.
https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/product-category/product-cm-how-to/
https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/education-is/
April 13, 2015 at 7:07 am
HollyS
Participant
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).
April 13, 2015 at 9:34 am
HSMAMA
Participant
You’ve gotten some great advice. For your first year, I would focus on only buying curriculum for the 3R’s. Everything else can be done using library books, and added in as you find your “groove.” When I first started I found it completely overwhelming. There are so many incredible resources out there that it’s hard to choose!
This is what we are using for our first grader next year:
All About Reading
Handwriting without Tears
Bob Jones Math 1
Depending on where your child is at with reading, you may want to add in spelling. We love All About Spelling, but it’s not CM, so it might not be a good fit for you guys. 🙂 As someone else suggested, it’s a good idea to do some reading about different styles and see what appeals. Don’t feel that you have to stick with one specific style though. Lots of people end up using a mix of different methods. Best of luck! 🙂