New to SCM and will have a first grader this fall, HELP!

Hi Kara,

I think there are threads on this forum where people have posted schedules & curriculum choices.  Ours are posted at our homeschooling blog.  

As suzukimom mentioned, the planning book & dvd are worth their weight in gold.  There is also a section for those with younger children.  

I basically started with the SCM curriculum guide and our state requirements, chose Penny Gardner’s Beautiful Italics for writing and MathUSee and math games for our math curriculum but that is personal preference.  Everyone probably has to tweak literature based on what they’ve already read with their children as we want “fresh” books for lively narration. We do use mainly SCM as it is so friendly to the different ages learning together and I’ll start my second child in the fall.  Happily, they will be doing almost everything together.  

Also, if you haven’t read them yet, Simply Charlotte Mason has some great blog posts on planning if you look further back into their blog.

HTH.

Richele

My advice is to keep it simple and start with putting a priority on:

* spending lots of time outdoors and getting physical excersise
* learning age-appropriate household chores and getting into the habit of doing them regularly
* reading lots and lots of good literature aloud to the child(ren)
* working on handicrafts together and learning one new handicraft skill in 1st grade

Any academic work for a first grader would follow in my priority after those items above. The academic work will be easier, imo, if you place your priority on the above items in the early years.

Hi Kara,

I am new to this too, but from what I found – this is a fabulous site and the group does a great job at answering questions. I second everyone’s resource suggestions above. I have both the all day seminar on DVD and the planning book/DVD – both are wonderful. The all day seminar really helped me to understand the CM methods. Also, I just finished printing out the free circulum guide for first grade myself yesterday… We are in K this year, but I printed out the first grade so I’d have an idea of what books to watch for at garage sales this summer. 

Of course, ANYTHING that is new seems complicated, but once you get going, I think you’ll probably find that the CM approach is much more simple than it might appear at first. The methods are truly not overly complicated and the learning is both natural and practical. I just want to let you know, that I think you’ll have plenty of time to get everything ready because really seems (to me at least) that SCM is easy to use and has already done most of the work for you! I’ll pass along some advice given to me when I first joined the group, that was to make an effort to understand the CM principles. The more time I’ve spent reading about CM (here and with what books I can find at my library) the more I realize it isn’t as complicated as it first appeared. In short, understanding the “why” behind this approach has simplified the “how” for me. (There is a free e-book here called “Education Is” also, I have heard that Catherine Levison’s first book, “A Charlotte Mason Education” is a short easy read with practical advice)

And in regards to your little ones, I think Esby has given you a tremedously useful bit of advice! I can personally testify that what she’s saying is true and it works! Putting priority on being oustide, developing habits, spending lots of time reading have made a huge difference in our family. (We haven’t gotten to handi-crafts yet, but I know we will in the winter this year). I think your younger children (as well as your first grader) will benefit enourmously from being outside, developing good habits, and listening to books read aloud. Mine have! I sounds so simple, almost like you aren’t really doing much, at least it did to me at first. But I’ve been learning that these things are laying a foundation for schooling in the future. Better a solid foundation built on good habits, a love of literature and the outdoors now, than a shakily built academic start. (At least my own opionion)

Be encouraged! You have time to get ready. You can do it! You have a good resource to start with in the all day seminar, you can use the free circulum guide here, poke through the website, look at the forums. And if at all possible, you could try taking your planning notes outside with you while the kids play  . Just take it one thing at a time, or one subject at a time. Or if you really feel too rushed and like there isn’t enough time check out page 57 in your all day seminar book, Sonya has a section on transitioning to a CM approach. You can always start there too! A slow transition may suit your family better.

I wish you all the best in your planning – and in your first grade year!

Kara – here are a bunch of links to things in the site (most of which has been mentioned above, I hope it helps you!)

Planning section of SCM site:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/

link for blog series on 5 basic planning steps (an overview of the Planning Your CM Education book/DVD)

http://simplycharlottemason.com/series/planning/

Also on planning:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/2010/02/24/5-things-to-remember-when-youre-planning-your-homeschool-curriculum/#more-2497

Here is the link for the free cirriculum guide: 

http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/scmguide/

“Education Is” free e-book about CM and “Smooth And Easy Days” free e-book about habits links:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/education-is/

http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/smooth-easy-days-with-charlotte-mason/

Blog articles on the early years (for your younger kids) it’s an eight part blog series here’s the link to the first part:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/2009/09/28/parents-chief-duty-early-years-homeschooling/#more-1311