We began the school year trying to make up our own spelling lists and activities. The truth is, I much prefer someone else's pre-planned lessons. I have no clue what spelling words are appropriate for first grade. Well, I get a clue from the words L misspells, but still, I am wanting more direction. So I plan to get Spelling Workout: Level A, Student Edition
to get us going.
Lily's favorite subject is grammar using First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind
. She enjoys the oral teaching format and getting to practice capitals, periods, and common vs. proper nouns on the white board. She could probably recite the definition of a noun in her sleep at this point. ; ) I appreciate how simple it is to use. I wish I had gotten stronger grammar training in elementary school. I think I learned more about grammar in my Spanish lessons than in English. I hope this gives Lily a great foundation in punctuation, types of sentences, parts of speech, writing, and more. My inclination is to skip some of the repetitious lessons, but it seems this will ingrain the information in her little brain. And since she loves it, we're sticking with it!
The Complete Writer: Level 1 Workbook for Writing With Ease
came highly recommended by a few families we know. The focus is on building writing skill (as opposed to creative writing - that will come later). It begins with copywork and oral narration. The theory behind this is to read and hear works of great writers so the child begins to understand spelling, grammar, and gain vocabulary. By starting with the basics, I hope to provide Lily with a strong base for her writing. This is not really her favorite type of writing (she might prefer to just write whatever she wanted using whatever spelling she chose etc.), but she does really like the excerpts used in the text. She also still writes for fun, so I don't feel like I am stopping her from enjoying writing. : )
Lily uses Explode the Code Book 2
(next week she will begin Explode the Code 3
) and Modern Curriculum Press Plaid Phonics: Level B (MCP)
for phonics. These are both below her ability level, and function as reinforcement, review, and work that she does independently.
Lily devours books! I'd guess she spends at least an hour and a half a day reading. For a quick read type book, she loves the Magic Tree House series. Most recently she read Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House, No. 3)
.
Another recent favorite was All-of-a-Kind Family
.
During her independent work time, Lily is also using Rod and Staff
's Bible Nurture and Reader series. She and I fell in love with the illustrations that reminded us of classic readers and the sweetness of the stories about families and the Bible. There are 3 readers in this series and workbooks to go along with them. I made the mistake of getting the first grade level materials. While she loves the idea of this set, it is boring her. I should have bumped up at least a level even for independent work. I was afraid of going too hard too fast, but now this is too slow. Lesson learned! : ) We also use Rod and Staff's penmanship books. I think Lily finds it slightly offensive ; ) that I think she still needs to practice forming her letters and numbers, but she obliges and completes a page everyday. You could read her writing, but there is room for improvement. Here's to working on those fine motor skills!
Whew - that looks like a ton (and we haven't even covered all our work yet), but you'd be amazed at how quickly school goes!
1 comment:
OK...that all looks a bit overwhelming. Good thing we have a couple more years to pray about it. I am sure once you get the material it is pretty smooth sailing though, right? How did you decide what books to go with?
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