ADvice on curricula for a group

[Bluegoat]

So I am looking with some others in setting up a small one room school next year, for grades 1 and 2, possibly three. Maybe about 12 kids. I'm looking at curricula right now for each group. Math and language arts will be divided by ability, and things like art and music will be grouped together.

 

What I am not sure about are things like history and literature. With two or three grades, I know it can be more difficult for a teacher to give totally different material. Also, at this age there will possibly be kids in both groups that can't yet read.

 

I've been doing AO with my dd, and I like their resources and approach, but on the other hand I'm not sure. THe other kids would all be new to it, so it could be a place to start for all.

 

But I haven't looked at many other commercially available things, so I'm not sure.

 

I'm also looking for advice on reading curricula to use for a group like this.

[Farrar]

It skews a little young, but what about something like Five in a Row? That would cover lots of different things.

[Wabi Sabi]

I might research and try to incorporate some Montessori ideas since their elementary classrooms can very successfully accommodate a 1st-3rd grade age range.

[Ellie]

I did something similar some years ago. I had first through high school in one room. :-)

 

The first year we did world history, using Greenleaf Press's Famous Men of...series for first through 6th. An older dc did Streams of Civilization, and another used BJUP's 10th grade world history text. The second year we did U.S. history; I used several things for that, including Beautiful Feet Books study guides (two levels), and BJUP's 11th grade American history text. The last year we did California history...I don't even remember whatI did with the youngers; oldest did BJUP U.S. government.

 

All the dc did the Sing Around the World geography songs.

 

All of them did Calculadders.

 

R&S would be my first choice for math with children first through third or fourth. Older children would test into Saxon (I don't like Saxon below Math 54).

 

The first year, they all did Spalding, but it was hard to do that in a one-room school. If I were doing it again, I'd try really hard to make that work, because I had such good results.

 

Science was hit and miss. :-( If I were doing it again, Considering God's Creation would be at the top of the list for elementary, closely followed by R&S. Not sure about 7th and up, although I'd strongly consider BJUP's dvd/streaming.

 

I liked R&S's English series. Some of my students really needed extra grammar help, so I added in Easy Grammar.

 

I also liked Spelling by Sound and Structure (R&S).

 

For teaching littles to read, I'd probably try Spalding; if I couldn't pull it off, I'd go with AlphaPhonics, or Victory Drill Book, in which case I'd have to add penmanship, which would be Zaner Bloser.