1st grade ideas?

[allison]

  I am looking for some ideas for history/science for my 1st grader.  I don't want to start anything too formal with him yet.  I've looked at Memoria Press Enrichment, and it looks great, but I can't find very many reviews.  I'm also looking at The Playful Pioneers unit study, but am unsure if spending a year on The Little House books would get boring. I'm all set on LA and Math, so I'm just looking for fun extras.  It does need to be somewhat planned out because this year is going to be busy with lots of therapy appointments for my younger one and outside classes for my high schooler.  Any ideas or suggestions?  Thanks!

[Vintage81]

Mystery Science

[Lori D.]

Science:

That's a great age for working through the Let's Read and Find Out About Science series of books, and do some activities or science kits to go along with some of the titles. You could just about do 1 book a week for a full school year, and add a few books from the library, or educational videos, or go along activities and you'd have a full, fun year of science. I'd suggest going with the level 2 books, as the level 1 books are more of a Pre-K/Kinder level. Here's a list of activities to go with some of the books: My Joy-Filled Life blog: Let's Read and Find Out About Science Activities.

Another easy option is to work your way through 365 Simple Experiments with Everyday Materials (Churchill), doing 2 experiments a day (which would usually only take about 10-15 minutes).

Or go with Magic School Bus books, and purchase the monthly kits for DIY exploration by your 1st grader. (Sometimes the Homeschool Co-op Buyers group has these for a reduced rate as a bundle.)
______________

History:

Evan-Moore History Pockets could be fun, and would allow you variety, as you could spend 12 weeks on each of the 3 different topics for grades 1-3 (or 9 weeks each, and use 9 weeks for Geography or other Social Studies topic):
Ancient Civilizations
Nation Americans
Life in Plymouth Colony

Or, instead of History, what about Geography and World Cultures for the year? Let's Go Geography, for example, has 36 weeks of lessons covering 28 countries. The Evan-Moore workbook has worksheets on geography topics for 36 weeks. Your library probably has nonfiction children's books on what it's like to live in different countries.

Or, for super simple, you could subscribe to Studies Weekly and have a slim newsletter/booklet delivered once a week in the mail to read and then add on (or not) with library books, etc., as you have time. You could try that for both your Social Studies and your Science.

______________

Is your 1st grader an explorer/DIY-er? If so, what about getting 1-2 subscription boxes, where a new kit comes once a month. Here's a link to a list of a variety of subscription boxes.

[Sarah0000]

My first grader will be doing:

Science: Tinker Crate, Lets Read and Find Out and other picture books, Daily Science 1, Happy Atoms, AIMS Popping With Power, Quark Chronicles Botany, and maybe Ellen McHenry The Elements if we run out of stuff

History: SOTW 2, Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans, picture books and novels from various booklists (we just completed Little House in the Big Woods and there's no way he would want to spend an entire year on that series)

[Targhee]

My first grader is going to use the History of Me book, along with picture book biographies, and learning about maps and geography with books like Me on the Map, The Once Upon a Time Map Book, and Children Just Like Me. Super gentle, relaxed (no hard schedule except once a week from History of Me and everything else is as we can), and hopefully lots of snuggle up reading together.  It's my last 1st grader ?

For science we have the Singapore Earlybird Science workbooks.  My ds used these in first too, and he loved them. And that was the year I had two kids in VT, one in OT, and a newborn and it worked out very well despite the chaos.  They are "do the next thing" and the few simple experiments are with household items.  I am not usually a workbook person but these were good science yet gentle.  But at the core there will be lots of time in nature, exploring with all our accumulated science equipment, a little Magic Schoolbus and Blue Planet, and who knows what else. Science is where I feel absolutely comfortable shooting from the hip, and our relaxed approach has produced three older sibling science lovers already.

 

[allison]

These are all great ideas.  I really like the idea of doing a geography year.  And all the science suggestions look great too.  Thank you for the ideas!

[MamaHill]

We are finishing up our 3rd week of using Memoria Press' 1st grade enrichment with my 2nd grader.  She is going through their 1st grade core at double speed (she needed a bit more time with phonics, solidifying reading, and a few 1st grade math concepts), and the enrichment came as part of that package.

I truly thought I would just toss the enrichment aside and get to it if we were able.  Boy, was I WRONG!  That enrichment is so fun and gentle, and not too much.  I have been quite impressed with the pacing of the whole program, including the enrichment.

The style is Five-in-a-Row-ish in that you read the book every day (usually just 3 days a week for us because I have 5 kiddos and lots of moving parts to our day), and do associated activities with the book. There's a classical music piece and an art piece, both with background history, for each book covered. There's a craft, other books you can add if you have time, and a poem to study.  There is always a smattering of history & culture and a science lesson if you choose.

This enrichment has been one of my favorite pieces to our homeschool this year.  I wanted a small subject that just my 2nd grader and I could work on together, and this has been the perfect fit for us.  In fact, it makes me a bit sad that my olders didn't get to enjoy this when they were younger! 

Did I mention it's essentially open and go? The best!  That's what makes it so doable and fun for me.  I've planned for years, and I've really enjoyed having such a rich resource without spending a ridiculous amount of hours putting it into place.

[MamaHill]

Also, I did not buy the books for the enrichment program because money is a factor.  I've been reserving them at the library.  But I would totally just buy the whole package if I was able!  Then it would be REALLY open and go! ?

[SilverMoon]

Story of the World was perfect for my little people. Just reading the stories and talking about them is plenty! You could keep a children's atlas near it to find the places you're reading about. Get the activity guide for the coloring pages if you want them, but seriously just ignore the rest of it for now. Read the main book at whatever speed suits you and don't race to finish it in a school year.

For science I'd probably go the Magic School Bus and random library books route. Wild Kratts for animal lovers. Just focus on keeping a sense of wonder and curiosity strong and flowing. ♥

[Holly]

We loved MP's First Grade Enrichment!  Nice and gentle, you can do as much or as little as time allows.  And they now have a craft book to go with it--I was so sad that it wasn't released early enough for us to enjoy.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Holly

[mmasc]

When I saw your thread title, I was actually going to suggest MP Enrichment! We used K, 1st, and 2nd. Loved them all! I just wish there was one for third! 

[desertflower]

I always did sotw 1 with my first graders.

Fun science is rso or mystery science.

[allison]

Thank you for all the great suggestions! I love SOTW, but I want to wait another year or so before using it.  I think I’m going to go ahead and use MP enrichment and add in some extra science, and maybe a subscription kit too.  I think he’ll enjoy the variety!  I’m so happy to see such positive reviews of MP enrichment. Thanks!

[ExcitedMama]

MP Enrichment is great. It follows the traditional school year so make sure you take that into account for planning. For obvious reasons you want to be on the right weeks for the holidays and seasons. Some weeks are more random, like a focus on frogs or something, but then another holiday will be coming up. It’s a great option and easy to expand on or skim through depending on how much time you have or interest in the options for the week.

[Bluegoat]

I've pretty consistently just read books about history with grade 1 kids.  Things like 50 Famous Stories, or biographical picture books, books about legends.  For geography books about far away places, kids in other lands.

And really the same for science, but mainly just being outdoors and looking at stuff.  Nature and the chance to be in it and observe it is, IMO, the basic condition that later allows scientific thinking to be well used.

[AimeeM]

I'm combining my first and third graders next year in MP Enrichment 1. However, I'm going to use the MP Enrichment twice weekly during out "content period" and then, the other 2-3 days of the week, read ancient and American history-related picture books and expand on the science topics with more literature than listed in the EG. I love MP's enrichment, but my kids are not the type to sit through the same story every day, 4-5 days a week ?

[acresoft]

A Day at the Zoo by Mike Atnip

Children of the World by Mary Ellen Beachy

My Father's World by Pablo Yoder, Photographs by Jacinto Yoder

Path of Truth by Amy Schlabach

Abeka 1st grade science reader

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

My 3rd, 1st, and pre-k students will be using BYL year 0 along with science encyclopedias this year.