Unit Study/Complete Curriculum - various subjects - Five in a Row (FIAR)
I used FIAR a few years ago when I home schooled my older sons for 1st/Pre-K and again last year. We love this curriculum! It is a literature based with many activities and expansion ideas in all subjects. With FIAR you read the same book 5 days in a row. Normally we read the book 3-4 days and watch a your tube video or listen to the book on CD the other days. Sometimes we study a book for longer than a week if there are a lot of great ideas we want to cover. The curriculum is very simple. It is considered a complete curriculum with everything you need besides math, but for us FIAR is our literature and fun time. Most FIARers supplement a fair amount and use the curriculum as a jumping off point. There are MANY people on with intense Pinterest boards, (myself included!) who like to get really involved in each book and theme! I truly love most of the books. Starting off, I knew very little about most books, but fell in love with quickly. I could talk about FIAR all day. We own all four volumes and 98% of the books (most in hardcover!), so I may be a little over-the-top on this one!
Reading - All About Reading Level 1
This is my first time using this curriculum, but I have read great things about it! I chose AAR because I wanted something very hands on, easy to follow, and with almost no prep work. This program is simple to use (once you get organized!) and seems effective so far. It is a little more expensive than I would normally pay, but I feel the price is fair for everything included and considering the ease of use. The books are really great quality and I love the pictures. I purchased the set above as well as the Ziggy supplement games and Ziggy puppet. My kids are loving the silly puppet already!
Writing - Handwriting Without Tears
Our choice for handwriting was the easiest! We have used these books in the past and all my kids loved them. Plus, the workbooks are only about $10 each and you really don't need anything else. We are using the kindergarten book this year and aiming for one page a day completed neatly.
Math - Singapore Math Essential Math Books A & B
Although Singapore math may be new to many people, in the homeschooling world it is common curriculum. I have used Singapore with my older boys in the past and we all really enjoyed it. I like the hands on activities and different way of thinking. I feel it stretches children to learn with new approaches. So far book A is very simple and we will likely work through it quickly. We plan to complete a few pages a day, spending around 15-20 min. We will use manipulatives and reinforcement activities as needed. We will complete math 4-5x a week.
Phonics - Explode the Code (ETC) Get Ready for the Code Books A, B, C
Explode the Code is a simple phonics curriculum. I consider these books a good addition to a solid reading program. I like how they are easy to follow and also allow the children to practice handwriting and fine motor skills. We are mostly using these as reinforcement this year. I already had the teacher manual and do find it helpful to expand on the basic pages. We plan to complete phonics 4x a week.
Science
We are already using FIAR for Science 1-2x a week, so we didn't need a huge science curriculum. I wanted something simple, easy to follow, and that would provide a good foundation for later grades. I started with the DK Science Workbooks for gares K & 1 and expanded from there. I grouped all the themes from both workbooks together (some overlapped) and divided them into weekly units for our 35 weeks of school this year. Once I had a theme I chose a go-along books from the library, a video, and an experiment to go with each week. You can view my intense spread sheet here.
I still have to finish gathering experiments for the second half of the year, but everything is off to a good start.
Art
I wanted to include some type of formal art this year in addition to the FIAR we will use 1-2x a week. Because I love literature so much, I decided to choose an art book fo each week and find a go along lesson. I absolutely love Deep Space Sparkle, so I used many of her free lesson plans and ideas. She has a lot of amazing very thorough lessons you can purchase, but that did not seem necessary for this level. I did order quite a lot of professional art supplies from BLICK because I really wanted to create an authentic ART experience and not just basic 4-5 year old projects. You can view most of the projects on my Art Pinterest board. You can view my intense spreadsheet with book, theme, project etc. below.
Music - My First Classical Music Book
I found this book/CD set on Amazon and it seemed perfect! The book is great quality with nice thick pages and great pictures. It is simple enough, but not boring. The book is divided into different themes by page. It covers how we use music, composers, and instruments. Each section is two pages and includes a track from the CD. Perfect! We will use one lesson a week and include go along books and uTube videos as well.
In addition we will have fun exploring hand bells this year! The kids received these bells as a gift last year and I wasn't sure how we would use them. Then I ran across the hand bells curriculum from Imagine Our Life, and it was fate! A Montessori inspired plan to help young children explore music through hand bells?! SWOON! We haven't started yet because I still need to make the felt chart and notes. I've had the supplies for a month now, so hopefully soon!
Well I think that is the gist of it!
