Works For Me Wednesday is hosted by WeAreTHATFamily! After reading this article, go on over there and check out all the other great blog posts to see what works for other blogging guys and gals!
Last week’s topic here at HomeGrownMommy was about finding new uses for old things around the house. This week’s topic is about finding a new use for the curriculum that I had sitting on the shelves!
Just like we can’t always afford to go out and buy new things to organize our new home – we can’t always afford to buy new curriculum when a child goes into a new grade level. My second child is “officially” starting her schooling experience! Since we’ve had one go through 1st grade already we do have lots of items to choose from around the house for her. Makes my “recycling” job much easier!
It all started about a year or two ago when my daughter realized what my oldest son was doing all day long when he wasn’t playing with her. She wanted the same A.C.E. Paces for herself so she could “go to school”, too! She has asked the question many times over, “When am I going to get to start Paces?” We have been doing lots of work with her since very early on simply because I needed to keep her busy while helping my son. So, it wasn’t like she was panting for something to do, she just wanted to do what her older brother was doing.
Since she is reading so well now, we decided that we should start her in the 1st grade Paces this year. Unfortunately, our bank account had something else to say about it.
I was overwhelmed and a bit scared at the prospect of trying to teach her the 1st grade topics without a pre-cut curriculum.
Okay. I was WAY more than overwhelmed – my knees were weak, my stomach was in a knot and my head was spinning.
What if I missed something? What if I picked the wrong book for the topic? What if I wasn’t a good teacher? What if she didn’t have fun every minute of the day? What if the casserole burns?
Eventually, I talked myself back into sanity, pulled myself up by my bootstraps and went to go look at the homeschool bookshelf. I got dizzy all over again! There is just something about me that gets paralyzed when I’m faced with a big, unorganized, very important task.
It took me a few false starts before figuring out the right way to put this altogether, but now I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am *mostly* glad that I was forced to put together a 1st grade curriculum because it is definitely something I have always said I could never do. I have always looked at moms who pull a little from this book and a little from that publisher with awe and amazement. It just seemed like you needed a sixth sense or at least a well-organized brain to be able to successfully do that.
Here is how I finally did it: (you’ll have to ask my husband if I did it with a well-organized brain!)
First, I started with the scope and sequence for the ACE curriculum that we were planning to use. I looked at each topic they would have been teaching my daughter throughout the whole year.
Then, I went to the Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten books that I have (and I have tons!) to see where these topics had already been covered. I did this because I still have a 3 year old that I need to be teaching. Teaching them the same information at the same time has worked out so nicely – but he isn’t ready for all the 1st grade material. Part of what overwhelmed me was thinking about keeping the 3 year old and the 1 year old busy and learning while doing 1st grade and 5th grade with the other two. I know I can use the lessons I pulled from these books with my middle two at the same time.
The book I focused on the most was my Bright Beginnings curriculum that I bought about a year ago – it was one of the best curriculum investments we have ever made. I made a spreadsheet to keep track of what I had found – one column for the ACE topics, one column for Bright Beginnings, and one for anything else. For each ACE topic, I wrote down where I found corresponding lessons in Bright Beginnings or using other resources. There were still some holes where a topic wasn’t covered, but this gave me a framework that I really felt like I could get my hands around.
The next step was to figure out how much time I would be able to spend on each topic so I would know how many lessons I needed to have for the year. For us, it averages out to about 2 4-day weeks per topic. Eight lessons for each topic – manageable!
Then, I made another spreadsheet (yes, I am one of those people who can’t find the refrigerator for all the lists and notes attached to it!) with the ACE topics in the first column and then eight columns of check boxes. I went to my Bright Beginnings and other resources I had on the homeschool bookshelves and made copies of all the lessons I had marked. (First I looked through the lessons I had marked to make sure I picked out the best 8 if there were more than that to choose from.) Each time I made a copy, I checked one of the 8 boxes.
Finally, all the copies will go into a binder that is stocked with page protectors – something I had around from another homeschool organization project! I’m not quite sure how to arrange the binder yet – either by day with lessons for each day, from Math to Science to English, in one page protector or by subject with the lessons from each topic in a page protector. I’m leaning toward the “one day to a page protector” idea so that I can just grab a sleeve of papers and go on to teaching instead of rifling through the binder to find a lesson for each subject each day. For the lessons that my 3 year old can’t fully do with my 1st grader, I’ll also need to find some kind of corresponding lesson or extra activity for him to do. Hopefully, the baby doesn’t get lost in all of this!
I can now sincerely say that I am really looking forward to starting the schooling year with my kids! And, I did it without spending any extra money on curriculum. (Not counting the copy paper and ink.) Now, if I could just get the homeschool room put together since our move into this new home, I would be all set!!
Tell me about how your experience creating a curriculum for your children! I’d love to hear about any ideas I didn’t have!
Make sure to join all the other homeschoolers in signing up to get all my new articles via RSS or email!
.jpg)
{ 1 trackback }
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I found for me a day per page works best, that way I’m not flipping back and forth. But, that’s me.
Great job working through what you have already and figuring out the curriculum. I was lazy this year and just bought one, but it’s also my first year HSing.
Great post! I think every teacher could benefit from doing this. As a new preschool teacher I was given a copy of the Wonder-Filled Weekdays curriculum, but found it to be lacking and incomplete. Using lessons and ideas from past teaching experiences (in Kindergarten and 1st grade) I am tying in things from other resources (especially ones on the web).
Come by and visit me over at Free 2 Be Frugal!
GREAT ideas! I have MORE than enough PreK/K/1st grade level books to make up my own curriculum!
Thanks for commenting on my blog! You mentioned our blocks…Wedgits! We LOVE them! You can buy them at http://www.timberdoodle.com…replace your missing pieces and get a few more!
Howdy from a fellow TOS Crewmate!
I saw this post listed and had to read. My son who is in 1st grade this year is reading beyond the 1st grade materials I had left from my middle son. We’re using the reading booklets for read aloud materials and to make sure there isn’t a hole in his knowledge before he begins the 2nd grade books. There are also so many great resources to help ‘flesh out’ a study e.g. Homeschool Share, Learning Page (free Tommy books were a great supplement for my older son in 1st and 2nd grade), etc.
As for math, he’s just going through his new Math U see book fast at the moment. But, I suspect he’ll eventually slow down when things get more difficult. And, we are reinforcing with fun games and products like Quarter Mile Math.