Homeschooling Plans for our First Grader

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We were blessed with reviewing My Father's World kindergarten curriculum, God's Creation from A to Z Package last year. I really appreciated having everything organized and laid out for me because it allowed me to focus on pulling materials together for our oldest son's final year of high school. With the great experience with My Father's World, we decided to purchase the first grade curriculum for our daughter.

There are so many wonderful components to the Learning God's Story first grade curriculum from My Father's World. Personally, one of my favorite aspects is the Learning God's Story Teacher's Manual. Each week is laid out on a grid for Monday through Friday and then additional information follows that week's grid. It makes it so easy to plan the individual days as we move through the curriculum. 

Our daughter was so excited when everything arrived and wanted to get started immediately – even though we were finishing up the kindergarten curriculum. As we unboxed everything, our daughter was quite enamored with the math manipulatives, but I was very excited to see My Big Book of 5-Minute Devotions. I love that it included devotions based upon animals. What a neat idea! 

What Did We Get? 

The package that we ordered last year included the following: 

• Learning God's Story Teacher's Manual
• Student Sheets for Learning God's Story
• Student Workbook
• Bible Notebook 
• Bible Reader
• Geared Student Clock
• Horizontal Addition and Subtraction Flashcard Set
• My Big Book of 5-Minute Devotions
• Pattern Animals: Puzzles for Pattern Blocks
• Science with Plants
• Science with Water
• Outdoor Things 
• The Complete Book of Math Grades 1 - 2
• Unifix Cubes - 100
• Wooden Pattern Blocks
  

How Have We Used My Father's World? 

When we started using our first grade curriculum, we spent the first several weeks following the Teacher's Manual and completing the majority of the suggested activities. Everything went very smoothly as we read from My Big Book of 5-Minute Devotions, completed pages in our Math Workbook, and worked in the Student Workbook. I enjoyed working one-on-one with our daughter. 

When my mom's health began to deteriorate more quickly, we needed to take a break from the parent-led instruction of My Father's World and turn to other work that would allow our daughter to continue to learn while freeing me for other tasks. I went through some of the workbooks we have collected over the years, printed out worksheets, and found other activities for her to do. I utilized some of the subscriptions we received as members of the Homeschool Review Crew for our daughter, too. 

After the death of my mom, we were able to jump back into our first grade curriculum from My Father's World. So, while most are finished or finishing up their 36 weeks of first grade, we are right in the middle of it, and because we homeschool, it doesn't matter. We can move at our own pace. Because My Father's World is a complete curriculum that does not rely upon online subscriptions, we didn't have to worry about running out of time. I opened up the Teacher's Manual, collected the books and materials we needed, and we started again. 

Daily Schedule 

Each day when we get started on our homeschooling, I usually hand to our daughter the one or two things she can do on her own as I get her brother organized. Recently, this has been handing her the chart for her to write the numbers over 101 and the chart listing the 66 books of the Bible. 

As we started each day, I looked through the specific day on the grid to see what activities we have scheduled. After our daughter completes the few tasks she can do independently, we review the Proverb for the week together. During the week, she will write it out on her own. Then, each day contains a Bible/History activity or reading, a language arts/reading lesson, a math lesson (utilizing The Complete Book of Math book most days), and sometimes there are music, science, or art activities. 

One of the things I love about homeschooling first grade is that we can complete all the work in a short amount of time, which allows our daughter to have a lot of free time to pursue her own interests. She can play with her toys, read books, color, or complete STEM kit activities.

Adding In 

I also included other activities and lessons from a variety of resources for our daughter this year. As the Social Media Manager of the Homeschool Review Crew, I receive a variety of homeschool products and resources over the course of the year. Some of them are above her age range or grade level, but there have been quite a few that are a good fit for her first grade homeschooling. 

We have been slowly working through Preschool: Exploring God's Love from Positive Action Bible Curriculum. Even though she is in first grade, this curriculum has been a nice addition, as it reviews the key lessons in the Bible. She enjoys the workbook, which includes coloring, cutting, and drawing, and I like the read-aloud sections with questions. 

To sharpen her math skills, we have been using Memoria Math Challenge Level A sporadically. The math curriculum in My Father's World is solid, but I would like her to be able to add more quickly. The Memoria Math Challenge workbook starts with the dictation of numbers, writing the numbers that come after, and then counting and number lines. Eventually, she will be working on her addition math facts. 

Finally, we are adding in more science from Science: Lessons and Investigations from Evan-Moor, courtesy of Timberdoodle (look for a full review in a few weeks). Our son is working on the fourth grade level, while our daughter has the second grade level. They both start with the topic of plants, so we have been completing the lessons and activities together. 

Book Club: Book Review of The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Our first grader loves to read. So, whenever we get the chance to review books, we jump at the opportunity. I was very excited to receive The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set because I had no experience with the Boxcar Children series prior to reading these four books. I am always on the lookout for new books to introduce to our children. So, we appreciate finding ones that are appropriate and free of questionable content. These books, written by Gertrude Chandler Warner, published by Albert Whitman & Company were a fantastic addition to our homeschooling day. 

General Information About the Books 

The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set contains the first four books in Gertrude Chandler Warner's Boxcar Children series adapted for early readers. The Boxcar Children series tells the story of Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny who were orphaned and in the first book (published in 1924 but re-issued in 1964 by Albert Whitman & Company) find themselves living in a boxcar in the forest. 

The books included in this set are: 

The Boxcar Children 
Surprise Island 
The Yellow House Mystery 
Mystery Ranch 

In the first book we meet the four children and learn that they were hiding from their grandfather because they thought he was mean and didn't want to live with him after the death of their parents. Surprise Island starts with the beginning of summer – the perfect time to go on an adventure! The entire book details the children's experiences living on the island without their grandfather. They meet up with Joe who joins them on their adventures and teaches the children many new things including teaching Violet to play the violin. The children learn of Bill who lived in the yellow house in the third book. They explore the yellow house and discover a clue to the mystery of what happens to Bill the previous resident. And finally in Mystery Ranch, the children visit their great aunt's ranch and try to cheer her up. All the while, they explore a mystery of rocks and a secret campsite. 

These four books are part of the Time to Read™ series which is an early reader program. Early reader programs are created to provide reading success to children regardless of their age or grade. This particular series has three levels which helps parents pick the books that fit the reading abilities of their children. 

The three levels are: 

1. Beginning to Read 
2. Reading with Help 
3. Reading Independently 

The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set is Level 2: Reading with Help. I think this is a perfect placement as our four-year-old could read some of the story with my help and our first grader was able to read them by himself (he has been reading independently for a while now). So, I think they are perfect for a five-year-old! 

How Did We Use The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set in our Homeschool?

I gave all four books to our first grader to read on his own when they first arrived. As he loves reading, I knew that he would read them at his leisure. He actually read them all by himself before we were able to read them together.

I chose to read them during the review period as bedtime read-alouds. The first night I read one, our first grader wanted me to read another and then another. (I only read two that night.) He wasn't trying to stall bedtime. He really enjoyed the stories.

Our four-year-old then decided one afternoon she wanted to read Mystery Ranch to me. So we sat down together and she went through the first several pages with a little bit of help with the names of the characters and words like exciting and passenger. But unlike some other learning-to-read books, she did not seem to be discouraged by the few words she did not know. She was also able to follow the story as she was reading the book. And she was very excited to see what the rocks were that were found on Aunt Jane's ranch.

What Did We Think?

I really liked the books. I found them easy to read aloud to our two young children. They are just the right length. The illustrations are bright and colorful. And another great bonus is that the text is large and easy to read – no crazy font or colors. I appreciate books that are easy on the eyes as a parent.

The fact that the children wanted to live in a boxcar is really cool. So many children dream of living on their own in a treehouse, tent, or cave. So the idea is likely to connect with children who love adventure. I also think the way they became orphans and living on their own was handled in a very good manner. Nothing super sad or scary.

Our son's favorite book was Surprise Island. He really liked the museum that the children created while collecting items (like shells) as they were walking up and down the beach. In the story, Joe helps the children identify the objects with books he brings over. (I can see our children creating their own museum much like the Alden children did in the book.)

When I asked our son to tell me what he liked about The Yellow House Mystery, he grabbed the book and sat there laughing as he re-read when Joe's canoe tipped over. He then read some of it out loud to us, which caused his sister to want to see the book, too. He liked the fact that Bill was able to make a new start at the end of the book. A good lesson to be learned about the ability to start over.

After reading Mystery Ranch to our four-year-old, I asked her what she liked about the book. She proceeded to flip through the book and explain what she likes about each part or illustration. She concluded this with: "It's the best book that I love."

Personally, I can't wait to check out more in the series including the ones that aren't adapted for early readers. I think they will be a good fit for our homeschooling journey. As our teen fondly remembered The Boxcar Children series from his younger years, we are sure his siblings will continue to find them as fascinating as he said he did.

Do You Want To Learn More?

Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew read The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set, too! Please be sure to check out their reviews to see how they used the books in their homeschool. And why not take a look at all the other great books from Albert Whitman & Company.

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Studying Real Books in First Grade: A Review of StoryTime Treasures from Memoria Press

Reviewing: StoryTime Treasures Student Guide and Answer Key and More StoryTime Treasures Student Guide and Answer Key

One of our son's favorite pastimes is reading. He loves to read all kinds of books. So, we were very excited to review StoryTime Treasures from Memoria Press. He was so very excited for their arrival and could not wait to get started reading Little Bear (the first book examined in the curriculum). Between the Teacher Guide and the Student Study Guide, we could start right away since we owned the first book and our library had the second book (Frog and Toad are Friends). (And he is just as excited about More StoryTime Treasures!)

Memoria Press follows a Christian Classical Education, teaching children how to be wise and virtuous. Children will be trained in the liberal arts (studying grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music) and gain "familiarity with the great books and the great thinkers of the Western tradition."

If you wish to know more about classical education, you can learn more in this video from Memoria Press:

What is the StoryTime Treasures Set? 

StoryTime Treasures are perfect for first graders after they complete the Kindergarten phonics program from Memoria Press. (We received Classical Phonics and the First Start Reading Set from Memoria Press and reviewed it here.) The lessons in StoryTime Treasures introduce new vocabulary to your children, review phonics and previously learned vocabulary, teach spelling and grammar, and encourage the growth of more skills first graders will need to become lifelong readers and writers.

Reading real books allows children to be engaged in the content and encourage them to become lifelong readers. And because they are classic children's stories, parents do not need to worry about the content of the stories being read.

We only received the student guide and answer key but if you order the StoryTime Treasures Set, you will receive the following:

• StoryTime Treasures Student Study Guide 
• StoryTime Treasures Teacher Guide 
• Little Bear
• Frog and Toad are Friends 
• Caps for Sale 
• Make Way for Ducklings 

In the More StoryTime Treasures Set (First Grade second semester) you will receive the following: 

• More StoryTime Treasures Student Guide 
• More StoryTime Treasures Teacher Guide 
• Billy and Blaze 
• Blaze and the Forest Fire
• The Story About Ping 
• Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie 
• Stone Soup
• The Little House
• Miss Rumphius 

Daily Lessons 

We followed a modified version of the suggested daily schedule that was printed in the Teacher Guide. As our son has already used the First Start Reading books and Classical Phonics: A Child's Guide to Word Mastery by Cheryl Lowe, he was familiar with the basic set up of the materials from Memoria Press. This meant that we could jump right into the work.

Teacher Guide 

One of my favorite things about all of the Memoria Press products we have used so far is that the Teacher Guide provides an introduction to the course as well as a model lesson plan. So if you need a more detailed explanation of how to run your homeschool day, then your Teacher Guide will help you.

For StoryTime Treasures, you can follow a five-day lesson plan. However, you can easily adapt it for your own needs. As our son is reading, we tended to combine some of the days and even read through the entire story on Day 1 (both he and his sister wanted to know what was going to happen next in the story).

I found myself referencing the Classical Phonics book that we received for an early review. I would often have our son read through the pages referenced in the Teacher Guide.

A Typical Week Using StoryTime Treasures in Our Homeschool

I would like to take you through our son's work with Lesson 3: Little Bear Goes to the Moon.

On day one, we examined the common words and new words and talked about contractions. As we do not have the phonics flashcards, I wrote this on paper for him to read. Our son then completed the page in his Student Study Guide. He said the words out loud, used them in a sentence, and wrote the words. We then discussed the definitions of the bold words for the bottom of the page.

The Teacher's Guide has instructions and copies of the Student Guide with answers.  

We read the story again on the second day and went over the common words and new words listed in the Teacher Guide. For Lesson 3, some of these words included: then, thought, that, tumbled, house, flew, and fooling. We can read the phonics words on a separate piece of paper or on our small whiteboard. Finally, our son completed the comprehension questions about the story.

Day three and day four activities are much shorter as they only required our son to review a word study using Classical Phonics. Our son read through the words listed on the pages, paying attention to those listed in the Teacher Guide. For some weeks, we combined day 3 and 4 activities into one day.

As you can see Days 3-5 have phonics lessons referencing Classical Phonics and the flash cards (which we do not own).

For the last day, we saved the Just for Fun activity. On page 16 of the Student Study Guide, our son wrote about his wish to visit the Statue of Liberty and what he thought he would see there as we discussed Little Bear's pretend adventure to the moon. For some reason, our son wanted to skip some of the Just for Fun pages and move forward with the other activities.

Overview 

While StoryTime Treasures looks at four books, More StoryTime Treasures examines seven books. The lessons in both are laid out in the same manner and allow your children to become a better reader and writer. There are brief lessons in the following across the two Student Study Guides:

• How to write a sentence
• Punctuation
• Capitalization
• Verbs
• Quotations
• Contractions
• Adjectives
• Characters, settings, and plot 
• Abbreviation
• Rhyming
• When to use 'a' versus 'an' 
• Sentence types
• Nouns
• Apostrophes
• Personification

These grammar lessons are spread throughout the weeks' lessons on reading, phonics, comprehension, and creative activities. I like that they are mixed in during the regular lessons and not separate parts. It is nice to study these grammar lessons while reading real books suitable for first graders.

Our Thoughts 

I like that even though I had heard of most of the books required between the two StoryTime Treasures sets, that some were still brand new to our son. So while they are classic children's books, some were still new to us and made it all the more exciting to study them with our son (and of course our daughter wanted to hear the stories, too).

During the review period, our son read Little Bear, Frog and Toad are Friends, and Caps for Sale. We jumped around a bit in the Student Study Guide as we had to return Frog and Toad are Friends to the library (we will pick up again with this book in a few weeks' time).

I also like the fact that the materials from Memoria Press all have a similar graphic design. This makes it easy for me to find them among our son's school books. And the spiral-bound design of the Student Study Guide is a nice bonus so the workbooks lay flat on the table for our son. The pages are nice and thick so I don't think they will tear easily – even if our son has to make multiple eraser marks.

So even though our son has chosen to skip some of the Just for Fun pages, when I asked him what his favorite part was that is exactly what he said: the Just for Fun pages. I think that is because they don't all require him to write. He can color and draw and be creative.

Working on the Just for Fun page for Caps for Sale

Flipping through Caps for Sale to find the different colors needed for his country picture

We flipped through the Student Study Guide of the next book (More StoryTime Treasures) and imagined what the next set of books will be about. (He is particularly excited about completing The Little House activity page where he will get to add details for an already-drawn house.) Of all the books listed, our son said he is most excited about reading about Blaze and completing the activities for The Little House.

Each story had one page with vocabulary and questions similar to this page from More StoryTime Treasures

I have been really pleased all the products we have reviewed from Memoria Press. I can foresee us using materials from Memoria Press for years to come!

Note: We have also reviewed Simply Classical Writing Book One: Step-by-Step Sentences (Bible Story Edition) and Book Two along with the teacher guides.

Do You Want to Learn More about Memoria Press? 

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Don't forget to check out the other reviews of Second Grade through Tenth Grade literature sets.

Fun Summer Math Learning: A Review of Pattern Block Activity Bundle

During the summer, our family likes to go light on the homeschooling lessons. So reviewing the Pattern Block Activity Bundle from Crafty Classroom was perfect for us! With over 700 pages, the ebook PDF file has 230+ unique picture designs for your children to use with their set of pattern blocks. Our kids love working on these types of activities. We were impressed that there were three different levels for each design as well as 8 different activity pages that incorporated counting, graphing, tally marks, addition, subtraction, inequalities, writing, shape identification, ordinal number words, number words, and sequencing. The bundle will help you create "no-prep learning centers for the entire year!"

Crafty Classroom offers "top quality teaching resources" that are "low-prep" but provide "hands-on fun" for your homeschooling family or classroom. There are a variety of products for preschoolers through third graders that cover language arts, math, science, geography, and bible studies.

What Do You Receive with the Pattern Block Activity Bundle? 

A 731-page PDF eBook with several pages of explanations, the 8 activity pages, printing instructions, and the actual pattern block pages that cover the following topics:

• Capital and lowercase alphabet letters 
• Numbers 
• Farm Animals
• Forest Animals
• Ocean Animals 
• Zoo Animals 
• Transportation
• New Year's Day
• Valentine's Day
• St. Patrick's Day
• Earth Day
• Easter
• Fourth of July 
• Thanksgiving 
• Christmas
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Fall 

Page three explains the three levels (easy, medium, and hard), how to use the set, and the breakdown of what you get and on what page to find them in your file.

As I mentioned, there are three levels of pattern block pictures. The easy level shows the geometric shapes in color where you need to complete a letter, number, or animal. The colors match the blocks from the set we own. 

The medium-level page shows the picture in black and white but the block shapes are still in color at the bottom of the page. As you can see, your child can write down the number of block shapes they needed to complete the picture at the bottom of the page. 

Finally, the hard level is just the basic outline of the picture with the shapes in color printed at the bottom. This level caused some difficulty for our children because it does require them to think outside of the box. We also found that we didn't always have to use the blocks as suggested on the easy and medium level pages. 

Who is the bundle good for? The bundle is perfect for preschool through first graders. Using the activities sheets, they can have fun while refreshing their math skills. In addition to using them as suggested with the pattern blocks and placed in plastic sleeves, I could also see my kids enjoying coloring the pages using the appropriate block colors. (And to be honest, I enjoyed working on the activity sheets with my kids. It was a bit like solving a puzzle.) 

How Did Our Family Use the Bundle? 

When the Bundle arrived, it was right before the Fourth of July, so I went to those 23 pages first. I selected several for our children to work on, including those from the medium and hard levels. (I didn't print out any from the easy level as our color printer is not working.) I also went through and printed out the first few uppercase letters and numbers. Our daughter then picked some summer pictures and animal pictures.

The Fourth of July pictures included this firework along with fire crackers, an eagle, statue of liberty, and stars.

On several evenings, after snack but before bedtime, our children worked on the pattern block pages. They started off using the medium-level pages (the hard ones were apparently too hard according to them in the beginning). They worked through the pictures both separately and together using our two sets of pattern blocks. 

One of the animal pictures that our daughter picked.

We then worked on some of the activity sheets. Some of the activities included new ideas for our son and daughter. I think their favorite activity sheet was the graphing one. I had to print out additional graphing sheets for them to work on during our homeschooling day. 

I love how easy it is to use these pattern block activities during the day in our free homeschooling moments. And that my kids can pull them out of the folder themselves and work on them whenever they want to on their own. They don't realize that they are actually working math skills as they complete the pattern sheets. If you put them in plastic sleeves, you could organize them in a binder by category to make it easier to find the exact pages you want for each lesson or activity. 

One of the activity sheets that requires the student to add the shapes.

Our son's favorite part? He liked the activity sheet where he drew the cow he built with the blocks as well as the tally sheet he used with the car pattern block sheet.

What about our four-year-old daughter? She really liked doing the graphs as she is just starting to read (and writing is still a bit in the future for her). The graphs let her fill out an activity sheet like her brother at her level. She really liked the Statue of Liberty, sand castle, and the animals we printed out.

I would recommend homeschooling parents, parents of children who attend public or private school, or schools pick up the Pattern Block Activity Bundle (there are different purchase options depending on whether you homeschool or are purchasing for a classroom). They make a perfect math activity for your children to cycle through in their regular classwork. So if you have a bag or box full of the pattern blocks, pick up this bundle for your home or classroom!

They look really cool with the transparent pattern blocks.

Do You Wish to Learn More about Crafty Classroom?

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There were other products reviewed by the Homeschool Review Crew. Families reviewed the following:

• R.E.A.D. Curriculum Notebook K
• R.E.A.D. Curriculum Notebook Grade 1
• Interactive Math Curriculum Notebook K 
• Alphabet Letter of the Week Curriculum Notebook 
• Bible Letter of the Week Curriculum Notebook 
• Sight Word of the Week Curriculum Notebook 
• Fables & Tales
• USA Activity Bundle Pack

Please visit the reviews to see how other families incorporated these products into their homeschooling day.