After many requests, I have finally put together a list of the main curriculums and resources we will be using for the coming year! Our grades tend to blend together because we school year-round, but this is what’s in current use. In true homeschooler fashion, supplemental materials make up about a quarter of our curriculum and there are often changes or alterations for things that are not working throughout the year. Or, from getting tempted by something new! I mean are you even a homeschooler if you don’t completely redesign your curriculum every month? The struggle is real!
Below, I have listed the curriculums for my first and third grader. I also share resources I come across regularly here: Instagram: Raising A Legacy. In regards to schedule, we don’t do each subject every day. I prefer to rotate them based on my child’s interest and how much they have worked on them already that week. This will be the first year that I will have two children doing curriculums. I am still fine-tuning how this is going to look and many times I try to implement the same lessons for both children just varied by skill level. I am curious to see how our days are going to look when my youngest two get old enough for schooling. I am sure our current structure will have already changed multiple times by then.
I would love to know what you are using this year!
Subjects We Cover
Math
Singapore Math (1st grade): This has always been our core math curriculum. Although it has its strengths, it can be a bit dry. Singapore is the typical math curriculum you will see in the traditional school setting.
Wild Math Curriculum: Wild Math can be used as a complete curriculum, but we choose to use it as a supplement. I love how it incorporates nature to learn math without the use of worksheets and rote memorization.
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Beast Academy (3rd grade): We started this last year, but then ventured back to Singapore. The plan is to try it again as I believe the extra year of math will have helped my daughter gain confidence and get used to its different style. She enjoys how the instruction guide is written in comic book format and I like how the problems require critical thinking.
Science
Real Science Odyssey and Blossom and Root: RSO has been our core science curriculum. As someone who has two science degrees, I like how it provides a solid science foundation. I recently stumbled across Blossom and Root’s Art curriculum and eventually purchased her Science and History units as well. I have a review comparing RSO and BR here. (video) The main difference is that RSO is more structured, teaches your child how to think like a scientist, and gives them a solid foundation in science. BR is flexible, child-led, and nature-based. I think they both have their strengths and complement each other. They don’t always pair up perfectly, but I like the hands-on nature of BR combined with the strong science component of RSO.
English/Reading
BOB Books (1st grade): I have tried other books, but these are really the gold standard in our family for teaching reading. We also do a lot of word families and phonics practice with a mix of sight words.
Reading: If you have been following me for awhile you know I work hard to stock our bookshelf with a wide range of books that show and celebrate diversity. Check out some of our favorites here! Bookshop
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Handwriting Without Tears: I have seen this recommended so many times and glad I added it to our curriculum. It has helped my children’s penmanship tremendously! My oldest has been wanting to learn cursive and we plan to get the cursive version when complete with the current one.
Logic of English (3rd grade): Last year I was struggling to teach spelling and grammar myself, so after researching different options I decided on Logic of English. It is phonics-based and provides all the tools you need for a complete English program. We don’t do everything included but rather, as with everything else, choose what fits best.
Partnership Writing (3rd grade): I just purchased this and my daughter and I are excited for all the prompts provided! I love how it intertwines writing into engaging activities. We are currently spreading the one week prompts out over two weeks in order to have plenty of time to really dive into them. I will probably get Jot it Down next year for my 1st grader.
Idioms from Read Like a Rockstar (3rd grade): Awhile back I realized there are a lot of phrases in the English language that mean different things than what they literally say. I stumbled across this from ‘Read Like a Rockstar’ when I was looking into her history resources. My daughter learns two new idioms a week and enjoys finding ways to include them into everyday life.
Building Vocabulary from Read Like a Rockstar (1st grade): These are one of my daughters favorite things to do! Each week she learns 4 new words and does a different activity with them every day. This is for the K-1st skill level and we are continuing it from last year.
Vocabulary Virtuoso by The Critical Thinking Company (3rd grade): What makes these workbooks so valuable are the activities for each lesson, which includes things like fill-in-the-blank and match the word with a synonym. The sentences and paragraphs that are for the fill-in-the-blanks are written well and are constructed to truly learn the meaning of the word. They have also sparked numerous conversations in our family!
Social Studies
Social studies is a big topic in our house. I prefer to call it social studies instead of history because I believe it is important to not only cover history but also include: sociology, current events, religions, economics, civics, politics, geography, law, etc. I supplement a lot for this, but we do use core curriculums.
Social Studies from Read Like a Rockstar and Education With an Apron Social Studies Bundle (1st grade): These monthly packets are exceptional! They can be purchased as a bundle or individually and cover history, sociology, economics, geography, and civics. Also, check out their other history lessons. They are brilliant at creating anti-racist and inclusive resources!
Curiosity Chronicles (3rd grade): We did Ancient History last year and this year we are doing Medieval History. My daughter likes the dialogue format and the entertaining characters, and I like how it is the least whitewashed curriculum I have found. See my full review here! (video)
Cnn10: Being knowledgeable about current events is important in our family. Each week we watch a 10-minute news video and draw a picture of one of the stories. My oldest also writes a short summary.
World Studies: We have been learning about different countries around the world. For this, we spend a couple of weeks on each country and have been doing them alphabetical order. Some of the topics include: language, geography, religion, art, music, and history. Then we cook a popular meal from that country. I plan to develop this more as the year progresses.
Music
Piano: My children started learning the piano when they were 5 and will continue to do this. We use Bastien Piano Book set. I am not partial to it, but it was recommended by our piano teacher. Since moving, I currently teach them myself and we may be switching.
SQUILT : Our family is signed up for their monthly subscription. They also have many things you can purchase individually. (I recommend the Meet the Instruments packet!) SQUILT is for elementary and middle grades. I do have to tailor it to their skill level because of the wide range. Each month is themed and there is a monthly listening calendar that gives you a song a day related to the theme. Then it has additional information to dive into musical theory and elements. My children enjoy the daily songs. Many of the extra materials are above their skill level and I have been debating whether I should cancel our subscription and come back to it in the future. Although, I do love my children being excited about music every day.
Art
Blossom and Root: We love BR Art with Math lessons. What differentiates it from other Art Curriculums we have tried (Meet the Masters, and Artistic Pursuits-Vol. 1) besides the math component is that it incorporates some lesser-known artists. I wasn’t sure what level to get so I purchased K, 1st, and 3rd and rotate through them.
Art for Kids Hub: This is my daughter’s go-to for learning how to draw.
American Sign Language
Lifeprint: My youngest two children have hearing aids and our family has been learning ASL. I recommend Lifeprint for any family that wants to be conversational in ASL. It is free and created by someone from the deaf community.
Computer Literacy
Code.org: This a great free resource that will teach your children the fundamentals of coding. It starts at the Kindergarten level which focuses on basic computer skills and continues to more advanced techniques.
Keyboarding Without Tears: We signed up for this last year and haven’t been as consistent with it as I anticipated. Perhaps we will do more with it this year.
Extra Gems
Kid’s Moon Club Kids Moon Club: Kid’s Moon Club is phenomenal! Your family will spend a year exploring the full moons with crafts, activities, stories, and a vibrant FB group community. I would get on the waitlist now, as you can only join at the end of the year when she opens it for the next year.
The Critical Thinking Company: The CTC has a wonderful assortment of workbooks. This (link) is the one we are using right now.
Cooking: My first grader is an aspiring chef (just like her father!). We got The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs book for her and she has been cooking regularly ever since. I have put together a questionnaire for every meal she creates which includes questions like: What new techniques did you use? What ingredients did you use and what did these add to this dish? Where did this dish originate from? Raddish Raddish Kids also has free homeschooling lesson plans to pair with recipes.
Sewing: We have been going through this Sewing School book slowly.
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This Post Has 2 Comments
Lots of great info here, I’ll have to come back after we get our distance learning plan from the school. I have no faith that they will put out a good product and want to be ready. My biggest question now is, what do you do with the littles when you are teaching the other two. My youngest is 16 mos and constantly getting into stuff. I just don’t know how I’m gonna keep my cool and teach them with patience when he’s dancing on the table.
Lol my youngest does exactly that when we’re doing school at the table. We try to give her a task while our older two are working. She loves coloring and it makes her feel like part of the group, but we also will trade-off between my husband and I on who’s going to keep her busy if she’s too full of energy.
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