rebereid Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 My son is a young K-er this year. We've been doing LoE Foundations (and LOVE it!) and he's doing great at Miquon, alternated with Singapore. I'm giving him a light American history, and we do Science on demand and at an enrichment co-op. He does art at co-op too. He also is in a weekly homeschool PE class. He's already reading at a 2nd grade level by the way. For next year, I'm planning on doing these things. I won't start until we finish our American history (I'm going slow) and LoE Foundations. I might drop Singapore, but is Miquon alone enough math for this age? I started with Singapore because I got the first levels cheaply. But it is pricey it seems. Also, I really don't like the look of First Language Lessons and I can't find a grammar that I like. Is it "okay" to just do writing and skip formal grammar instruction in first grade? LA: WWE 1, reading great books together, creative writing throughout the week as desired. Math: Miquon Blue and Green Social Studies: SoTW 1 (CDs to listen to as we're driving everywhere! as well as the Activity Guide for when we feel like it) Science: on demand and an enrichment course at co-op. Physical Education and Health: homeschool p.e. through park district, health instruction in daily life Fine Arts: Art at co-op, informal piano and singing instruction at home Other: informal Spanish instruction I'm a big fan of taking things as he needs it. But I would like a little feedback on this. It doesn't look like much, but since my little girl is getting to that age where she's going to be in everything, I feel like this is about as much as I can reasonably handle next year! Thanks for your ideas. Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I don't think grammar instruction is necessarily very important for a first grader (my DD is in 3rd grade and we're just starting to move into more grammar instruction). But what about spelling or phonics? Unless your DS is an exceptional speller and reader, I would think that most kids still need either phonics or spelling as first graders. If you are enjoying LoE Foundations, maybe it would make sense to use Essentials? You don't have to do the grammar portions of it if you don't want to. I'm using Essentials with my DD primarily for spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschickie Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I don't think grammar instruction is necessarily very important for a first grader (my DD is in 3rd grade and we're just starting to move into more grammar instruction). But what about spelling or phonics? Unless your DS is an exceptional speller and reader, I would think that most kids still need either phonics or spelling as first graders. If you are enjoying LoE Foundations, maybe it would make sense to use Essentials? You don't have to do the grammar portions of it if you don't want to. I'm using Essentials with my DD primarily for spelling. I would agree that for 1st grade the focus should probably be more along the lines of phonics an reading unless they are extremely ahead in those areas. The most I would do for grammar at this point is watch School House Rock Videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 We didn't start a formal grammar instruction until Grade 3. WWE will give him a little exposure to grammar and I think it's a gentle start at that age. I agree with PP though, I would still add in phonics, just to ensure there aren't any gaps and I'd also add in spelling, since he's reading well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 We also focus on phonics for 1st grade. I add a bit of light grammar for 2nd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbanSue Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I agree that it is probably fine to skip grammar at that age. I did it with my first but am dropping it with my current 1st grader. It just got to be one more thing and I realized I could do it as well or better by just gently including with with writing and reading work we were already doing. We do phonics/spelling, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I've done grammar in Gr. 1, but I don't think it's necessary. I agree with pp -- I'd add in either phonics or phonics-based spelling to continue reinforcing that reading and spelling. Miquon is a great program for Gr. 1. Using it alone will be just fine. If you're worried about it not being complete, but don't want to spend the $$ on Singapore, you could look at MEP -- a free, rigorous, complete math program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahW Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I was thinking of doing KISS 2nd grade with my kid next year (I think he's about the same age and level as your kid). But doing it really slowly, like a lesson a week. And I'm making up sheets to do the reading selections, narration, copywork, and dictation with each lesson. So we can spread it all out. I think at that pace we'll cover a lot of what's in FLL1 and WWE1 (up to lesson 32 is modal helping verbs). I'm planning on doing SSL next year, and I kinda want to introduce grammar with English, so that the Latin is just reinforcement. That means I can't hold off too long with grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Sure. I like to focus on reading, spelling, and handwriting in 1st grade, and aim for 30-60 minutes of LA time, plus lots of literature read-alouds too. I add formal grammar in later and just work on grammar informally in the younger grades. Here's a post I wrote on LA planning. HTH some! Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebereid Posted February 12, 2013 Author Share Posted February 12, 2013 Thank you for all of your feedback! I appreciate it. I think I will add something else in to the mix. Maybe I'll try LoE Essentials (I can download 10 chapters at a time for $15!) to keep some spelling in the mix and take a week or more per lesson to see if it will be a good fit. We're not done with Foundations yet, so I'm not in a rush yet. If I do Writing With Ease, with dictation and so forth, do you all consider separate handwriting program to be necessary? Or just add in additional sentences now and then? Would that be enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASDAQ Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 My daughter is in first. We completed phonics earlier in the year and so she's doing Easy Grammar 2 and Primary Language Lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I do not do formal writing or grammar with my kids for 1st grade. The only grammar we do at that age is mad libs and grammar rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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