Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Homeschooling gr 1- Need guidance

I am a planner and am seriously considering homeschooling DD7 if things don't get fixed with the school in the next 1-2 months. I have no idea where to start or what type of curriculum she'll need.
Please spam me with homeschool info.

I have a DD3 that I would love to be able to incorporate small things for her as well if possible.

Try the "well trained mind forums" particularly the accelerated learner board.

Many gifted kids experience multiple learning environments, including homeschooling. You may wish to begin by learning whether homeschooling is allowed in your State, and ensure compliance with any laws. Some states have associations with annual conferences.

Davidson Database offers many articles on homeschooling, including getting started and resources others may have used.

Gifted Homeschoolers Forum may prove helpful.

There are many books and online links with information which may help parents decide what to teach year by year.

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) may be of assistance in researching state laws regarding homeschooling.

Links to these things and more can be easily found with web searches.

You may wish to keep records including reading lists, projects, a portfolio of work samples for future reference.

Homeschooling grade 1 with my older son I did

History--story of the world book and activity book (and we had the CDs but you don't have to get those).

Lots of great literature. We did author studies and if the author had an appropriate biography or autobiography we read that too.

We did some spelling/phonics work....but on the advanced end, not beginning phonics. And worldly wise vocabulary. Writing he kept a journal and had other writing assignments.

We did various science experiments (got them out of books from library).

Lots of arts and crafts.

Used a sadlier-Oxford math book and a lot of math readers from the library.

And homeschool PE and lots of field trips

I can't help much with 1st grade but I am homeschooling my 3 year old (for now).

We went through a period when she just would not do anything that we suggested but she has mellowed out a little and even seems to enjoy thematic literature-based lessons so we have reverted back to that again although she spends 70% of her time doing her own thing, which sort of looks like project-based learning. Her latest project is to memorize as many songs as she can. I still try to be child-led so we went through a number of dance and music books that have animal theme. Those didn't last long so we're moving on to Jazz next. Then we'll go over a few classical works. Our field trip would be a live musical performance.

I don't know what we're doing after music but I'm thinking either Chinese culture or baking. Either way, it'd have some science and math.

One of the benefits of teaching thematically is that you can teach both a 1st grader and a 3 year old at the same time as long as you differentiate the expected output and pick topics that interest them both.

More "traditional" curricular materials we are getting her are:

Handwriting Without Tears
Singpore Math and RightStart Math
Montessori and traditional math manipulatives
Puppy Packet (music theory)
Geography and weather-related kits and such

These will go on her shelf as "free choice activities," replacing toys that she hasn't played with since last year. I might insist that she does 10 minutes of HWOT and Puppy Packet at least 5 days a week but we'll see how much she does them naturally on her own.

It might be helpful to print out the common core standards for both LA and math, just so that you know you're not missing anything major.

+1

Thanks everyone!

I am looking into my states laws (KY). I know we can homeschool but don't know much beyond that. I would like to have lesson plans together that are flexible, Montessori and blended learning (being both online and traditional).

From my understanding in 1st grade here the focus is language arts, writing and math. Everything else comes in 2nd grade or above. I looked over the common core curriculum guide for her grade and those subjects were the only ones in the guide.

My idea is to cover more subject areas as she is very interested in science and animals with a little bit of history. Language is her biggest strength from what we can see. After going to the teacher store and looking through workbooks she is definitely at minimum 2nd grade possibly early 3rd. Math she needs to be taught some things but I'm positive once shown she will quickly move through.
I want programs/workbooks she can move at her own pace if she goes through grade 2 stuff very quickly.

I also need advice on how to see where she is at. Some I can look at the workbook and see it's too easy.

I looked at Singapore and MCT. I think she might be ready for MCT but Singapore I didn't see anything below 2nd grade.

Do you all do workbooks and online programs? Where do you get ideas for curriculum? I have looked at some stuff but it is very overwhelming as there is so much. I don't really know where to start.

when we made the decision to homeschool DD5 this year, it felt like the whole world was open to us - amazing and endless, but also kind of daunting. the place i started was our province's curriculum, which is posted online - if your state doesn't post the curriculum expectations, you could take a look at various ones and make notes on the common threads. i literally use a highlighter directly on printouts of the curriculum when it's clear DD has met various expectations - it's a nice visual cue.

we do use an online program for the math framework - but it's just a guide. i come up with zillions of ways to approach the concepts (SO good for my brain, too!) and DD5 designs word problems to go with them.

we're also using an online program for spelling (click n spell), because she loves it - but more and more we're doing word banks from her reading/interests. she has become obsessed with Quiz Days, so we're doing a quiz every second day, now.

the one thing i realized early on was that at the pace our kids learn, it leaves a LOT of time for interesting detours and personal interests. today, DD5 had some questions about plate tectonics and the materials i found that looked most appropriate for her questions were from middle school - it didn't matter at all. she's writing a short essay on the subject as i type this, and has come up with a list of new questions about earthquakes and tsunamis that we'll look at later this week.

very exciting times - and we're wishing you all the best, jholland1203!!

Yes! There are so many possibilities that it is so amazing and fun to think about but scary at the same time. Maybe I am over thinking it all but I'm such a planner and perfectionist that I need to know it all in good detail to make an informal decision.

ha - me too! though you'd never know it from what i wrote. i should have mentioned that at the beginning of september i had all the curriculum stuff lined up and two weeks of lesson plans blocked into my planner.

uh... it's a good thing that was written in pencil, because in the first week, DD got through more math than i had projected we'd do in two months - she sort of couldn't stop - things kept connecting to other things and spiralled a little out of control. so i guess for us, the over-arching plan is essential... but i can't block stuff in more than a day or two in advance, because it's really hard to tell how long we'll really need to spend on things!