1st Grade Curriculum

Keep reading to learn about 1st grade curriculum options for your homeschooler.

Remember, You know your child best!

In public schools, there is one curriculum for all students. I’m not sure who originally came up with the “one-size-fits-all” concept, but it doesn’t work for children and their education.

That’s something I have come to realize in my homeschool experience. Kids are all different. I have four, two of them are identical twin girls and do you know what? -They have different curriculums.

After all, they are different people. With different strengths, weaknesses and passions. So it makes sense that their education may not look exactly the same .

As you’re looking through curriculum options, try to remember that it’s okay if you have to try a few out before you find the right one.

There’s nothing wrong with one curriculum working for one child and another for the next.

If you’re interested in looking through different homeschooling styles as you read about curriculum options, take a look at our blog on the available Homeschooling Styles

Here is a list of 1st grade curriculum options to choose from. You may also be interest in 2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum.

1st Grade Curriculum Options

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The Good And The Beautiful (TGTB)

The Good and The Beautiful Curriculum laid out

The Good and The Beautiful homeschool curriculum is a great resource for all subjects. They are known for having their language arts and math curriculums available to download for free if you’re willing to print it off. ( I use this option for my girls language arts and we love it)

Physical copies of everything are available to order and purchase while PDF version to download and print are available for a less expensive option.

The Good and The Beautiful curriculum for 1st grade is filled with beautiful art work, classic stories that teach timeless morals and fun activities for counting, phonics and writing. It is designed with a Charlotte Mason theme in mind keeping art, nature and living books a top priority.

Cutting and pasting phonics, reading fun stories and watching educational videos included in the curriculum are just a few ways that The Good and The Beautiful help children grasp and remember the concepts taught in the lessons.

The Good and The Beautiful has language arts, math and handwriting specifically for 1st grade while science and history are designed to be family subjects. They also offer electives such as bird watching, drawing and typing.

Night Zoo Keeper

Night zoo keeper is an online language arts program where kids learn through gaming. Yes, a “game-ified” curriculum designed too help kids write stories in their night zoo. How cool?!

Kids can choose to play learning games that focus on grammar and spelling or instead, make new animals for their zoo which requires them to then write about their animals. When they complete the writing pieces they will earn rewards to uncover and explore the cloudy areas in the night zoo !

One of the most popular features on Night Zoo Keeper is the feedback kids get from real tutors. Once a writing piece is finished, an online tutor will look it over and provide feed back. The tutors always offer a compliment as well as a suggestion for improvement.

Five In A Row

Five in a Row curriculum is a different approach to homeschool, but a very simple and effective approach that will have you making sweet memories with your kids before you know it.

If you haven’t heard of Five In a Row it maybe because it isn’t a new curriculum but regardless it’s an amazing 1st grade curriculum choice with much to offer!

Five In a Row’s approach to homeschool is simple. Read.

Read the books 5 times in a row. Each time focusing on and learning something new.

I know at first it sounds so simple. I thought the same thing when I first started looking into Five In a Row. But I quickly fell in love with it.

Because every time you read the book, there’s a different lesson to go with it. The lessons cover subjects on science, math, social studies and more.

You can use Five in a Row for your core curriculum which would be a fantastic resource for 1st grade! Reading the same story every day will inspire reading comprehension, the love of reading, family time, flexible learning styles, imagination and much more!

Five in a Row can also be used along side another curriculum. For instance, you can read the book once every week for how ever many weeks you choose, focusing on a different subject each time it’s read. Which will effectively spread out the reading process making it less repetitive for older kids.

Exploring Nature With Children

Exploring Nature With Children is another different approach to learning, but that’s sort of what homeschool is. Whatever way you and your family learn best, is the right way to homeschool.

Exploring Nature With Children is a nature guide that is sectioned into seasonal monthly topics with weekly learning activities. Each week involves a nature walk, poem, art piece, a themed booklist and fun extension activities for children.

I like to hang the weekly art piece and poem on our wall for our girls to observe. They like to copy down the poems and try out the art style shown. What a great way to incorporate language, arts and science all in one fun nature study!

If you want to try out Exploring Nature with Children, I encourage you to feel free enough in your homeschool journey to make it your own! The study is laid out to be a 48 week long nature guide, but if that is too much, just pick 1 or 2 of the weekly topics within each month to focus on instead. The freedom of homeschool is a beautiful thing!

Hooked On Phonics

Hooked on Phonics is a great program for helping kids learn to read, especially if they’re just starting out or could benefit from some extra practice.

It uses a phonics-based approach, to help kids understand how letters and sounds work together. It’s super engaging with things like songs, games, and videos. There are workbooks and apps, too, so it’s really flexible depending on how your kid learns best.

It’s designed for preschool to early elementary ages, but older kids can benefit too. A lot of homeschoolers love it because it’s easy to use and lets kids go at their own pace.

Homeschool Is a chance to slow down and enjoy time with your little learners while watching their passions grow and first grade is just the beginning. Don’t over think it. Don’t compare. Instead, read, explore, learn through play.