Homeschooling can be hard. Fear and overwhelm often stop moms and dads who really want to homeschool their kids in their first year. That doesn’t have to be you. In the last couple of years, homeschooling has been booming. Three times as many homeschoolers are now out there all starting in 2020. Between pandemic schooling and just getting a better look at what your kids are learning has changed a lot of perspectives. If you’re on the road to homeschooling or starting first grade learning from home. Keep reading.
First grade for Aiden was our first year registered for our school district. That left me with a whole new set of ground rules and regulations. Pennsylvania is one of the most regulated states when it comes to homeschooling. There are many ways to homeschool but we have to fulfill set requirements.
Getting Started Homeschooling
My first set was contacting the school district we live in. There was a person specifically handling homeschoolers which was clearly stated on the school district’s website. She was very helpful with the requirements and how to register Aiden. We needed to turn in a signed and notarized affidavit, a set of objectives, keep track of our schooling and prove that Aiden’s health is being taken care of (physical, eye exam, and dentist visit).
The documents I turned in asked who would be providing Aiden’s education, what our objectives were, and an immunization form from the doctor’s office. As you can see our objectives were pretty open-ended. Aiden is a hands-on learner and rarely sits still so activities are how a lot of this worked.
First Grade Objectives Example
These are my objectives for Aiden’s homeschooling first grade year. Make sure you check with your school district to follow what is required. Each of these sections was required for an elementary school in PA. I choose the bullet points from where Aiden is at and the goals listed in the Abeka curriculum for first graders. We did not complete everything. We did our best to touch on everything during the school year.
Objectives 2020-2021
Aiden J. Thornes
First Grade
English
- Spelling: 3 and 4 letter words.
- Writing: short stories and 3 and 4-letter words.
- Reading: short stories and sight words.
Arithmetic
- Understanding and ordering of numbers 1-1000.
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing single and double digits numbers.
- Understanding of time, dates, and money.
Science
- Earth science (bugs, dirt, and rocks).
Geography
- Knowledge of all the continents and oceans.
History of the United States and Pennsylvania
- Knowledge of big events in US and PA history: wars, civil rights, and government
Civics
- understanding of the three branches of government.
- Current president and governor.
Safety Education
- Stranger danger.
- Firehouse visit, fire safety.
- Water safety.
Health
- Basics of organs, bones, and tissue.
Physical education
- Swimming, nature walks, soccer, Karate.
Music
- Piano lessons.
Art
- Painting, drawing, & arts and crafts.
First Grade School Year
I wanted to keep it general enough to let Aiden pick what he is interested in and follow all the requirements for our state. To use these objectives as a routine we are focusing on reading and math every day. Picking one or two of the other subjects off of interest. Doing one active play learning activity and one physical education activity.
Once I turned that in and after July 1st I could start counting days. For PA, the rules are you must count 180 days of schooling or 900 number of hours. I kept track on a sheet of paper per week. Listing what we did, read, and any activities. We were well over the 180 days when we went in to see the evaluator at the end of the year.
Evaluation
At the end of each school year, we have to do an evaluation. Evaluations are done by registered teachers almost like a meeting. Our evaluator was actually the same person who evaluated my brothers after I graduated. So it was pretty relaxed for our first evaluation.
She looked through our log, and portfolio, and asked if Aiden brought anything to show or read to her. When she was done she sent me a letter stating that we completed what we needed to finish his first-grade year. I sent her letter, our affidavit, objectives for second grade, and his proof of health care to the school district together.
Curriculum and Method
I want to stress, that every family and every kid is different. Do what works well for you. This is what works for us. In a family with a mom who works full-time and homeschool and an overactive boy who’s happier building than working with worksheets.
Curriculum
Our curriculum was built out of a lot of different places.
Our reading program was what Aiden enjoyed. Aiden practiced with Bob books and Teach Me to Read For Boys and Girls up to 8 every day. He really liked the easiest books in his bob books. He memorized them to the point where he could “read” them without opening the books. To increase his vocabulary and reading skills. I made him letter-based activities and writing practice. The alphabet workbooks available in my store are what I came up with. These worked well for us and I hope they help you too. With this work, he bloomed by the next year.
For math, we grabbed a bunch of workbooks from the dollar store: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I did get time, money, and fractions too. Four-way countdown was also a huge part of this year. If you don’t have this game, get it. It’s perfect for basic math. It’s super fun and simple enough. Roll the dice. Do the math.
I also purchased several other cheap workbooks with geography, science experiments, and art. American history and science were through our Abeka books my mom used from when I was growing up.
We grabbed fire safety from an event with the fire department and PA history from a truck stop with workbooks.
So all of our curricula were mixed. No specific curriculum was followed.
Reading
Reading is critical to future learning. It’s hard. For some people like in the case of my brothers and me, it was a struggle due to a learning disability (dyslexia). Others find it easy. For Aiden, he went for Bob books right away. We already had a good foundation for learning letter sounds and letter recognition. He picked up the easy books and read them. Over. And. Over again. It was clear he was memorizing them.
If you’re not familiar with these books go to the library and check them out. They’re simple. They stick with a sound theme. They make reading really easy to start. No. You’re not looking at a textbook here. It is simple stories that make sense to a kid who’s just trying to read.
We also worked through Teach Me to Read For Boys and Girls up to 8. This is an old book my mom used to teach us to read. I let him sound out the words he could handle and the ones he couldn’t I would read, sound out, and help him as he got better. When he did this book he would do a page or two at a time. It’s amazing book that’s out of print at this point but absolutely worth it if you find it somewhere.
Related Post: Encourage Early Reading with These 5 Types of Books
Writing
Aiden practiced writing on plan paper and lined paper. He drew a picture to go with it and other times just wrote a few words. His favorite topics were about his cat, toys, and things we did that day. He wrote as much or as little as we wanted.
I would make him a sheet with a few suggestions and let him make up his own sentence and picture that would go with it. Lots of white space for him to do what he wanted.
Math
Math can be a super fun hands-on subject. Get a group of something: like cars or Legos or buttons. Do the basics. Add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Play with it. Learn with board games 4-way count down is one of our favorites.
We did get some easy workbooks from the dollar store. Math is something that can be super hard or super easy depending on your approach. If something doesn’t work come at it another way.
Related Post: How to Teach Math
Science
Hands-on is the way to go for science. Yes, we read a lot of informational science but the experiments were way more fun. We used at least 10 gallons of vinegar and a dozen boxes of baking soda alone. And we tried with dish soap and food coloring and make bottles and rockets explode.
We found this workbook at target with hands-on experiments. It was meant for 2nd and 3rd grade but it was easy enough for him. And perfect for discovery. We also had a great time outside finding bugs, digging in the dirt and sand, and going on adventures in nature.
Related Post: 30+ Easy STEM Projects
Method
I believe knowing your child’s learning style creates a healthy learning environment. If I expected Aiden to sit still all the time neither one of us would be happy. He needs to move. He needs to play and work things out himself.
Related Post: Homeschooling Learning Style, How Do You Teach?
Aiden is a tactile learner. He loves reading and drawing and builds legos almost every day. He can’t help but pick up any bug he sees. His desire is to learn through touch. I never expect more than an hour of sitting still. Usually less. We still have a full portfolio at the end of the school year.
Law and Protections for Homeschoolers
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) can help you with the legal end of homeschooling. Although I’m not a member myself I can tell you if I got into trouble homeschooling this is the first place I’d turn. It comes highly recommended by every single homeschooler I’ve interacted with.
Whether it’s an overreaching school district or just knowing your rights and what you should do to cover your backside as homeschooling. Definitely check out their website and think about membership if anything happens. I looked up my state before I registered my son last year. Knowledge is power. Don’t get pushed around because you don’t know the rules and protections you’re entitled to.
Homeschooling First Grade
The best piece of advice I ever got as a homeschooling mom is “make learning fun.” The more fun you have together the more your kids will learn and love learning. Let me know where you are in your homeschooling journey. Take the survey below and leave me a comment.
Pin It
