1st Grade Homeschool Curriculum for 2018-2019

1st Grade Homeschool

1st grade homeschool curriculum was pretty easy after I had made my choices in Kindergarten.  I knew we were doing Classical Conversations.  I knew we were doing Five in a Row.  I knew that we were using Alpha-Phonics to teach reading.  However, each year brings different challenges and different life events happen.  We had just moved from Naples, Italy to Auburn, Alabama.

What an adjustment!

While I had begun our reading program in Kindergarten with a few pages, we did not get very far.  My son loved to listen to books, but he was not very interested in reading.  In 1st grade, we made it through the entire curriculum and he still was not reading easily.  Sometimes it takes a little while for things to sink in successfully when you are giving children time to learn naturally.  All of the sudden at the end of that year, he began to want to read.  That changed everything.

1st grade homeschooling will look different for every family and every child.  We are doing it again this year with our littlest who is already reading.  This 1st grade year will be completely different than my previous experience.  Allow your children to be unique.  Enjoy the journey.

Our 1st Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Main Curriculum

  • Classical Conversations in a CC Community – Cycle 1 (Find out more about classical conversations by reading –> The Core by Leigh Bortins)
    • Ancient History
    • Biology, Earth Science
    • The Geography of Europe, Africa, Canada, and South America
    • English, Math, Latin, and the History Timeline as well as Fine Arts and Hands-On Science

Pros and Cons of Classical Conversations:

PROS – getting together with other children (apprentice), experiencing […]

By |August 14th, 2018|Brooke S., Home, Homeschool|0 Comments
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Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum

I honestly can’t believe that it has been over four years since we began our journey in homeschooling.  In Pre-K, I wrote down a list of all of the “subjects” or topics that I thought were important for children to learn and spent my son’s Pre-K year simply picking interesting topics and going over them together.  We learned about Japanese spider crabs, ABCs, and our emotions.  Through this relaxed early learning, I realized that I could teach my son, but starting kindergarten homeschool was still a scary proposition.

It got real.

The world has expectations for kindergarten!  These days, schools are pushing five year old children through their ABCs and 123s into sight words and reading.  Ready or not, here it all comes.  Due to this, I felt worried that I would somehow fail these standards and not be “enough.”  What I learned instead was grace, peace, and patience.

Your kindergartner does not need to reach some magical standard.  Your kindergartner needs God’s grace, peace, and patience just as much as you do.

So as you read my suggestions for kindergarten curriculum, take a deep breath.  Realize that what you do or do not get done this year is just a part of your journey.  You are learning to be your child’s teacher and your child is learning to be a lifelong learner.  Bumps are to be expected!  There is grace for every bump along the way.

Curriculum Options for Kindergarteners

Our Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Main Curriculum

  • Classical Conversations in a CC Community – Cycle 3 (Find out more about classical conversations by reading –> The Core by Leigh Bortins)
    • American History
    • The Human Body, The Periodic Elements (1-12), and Worldviews […]
By |September 19th, 2017|Brooke S., Home, Homeschool|1 Comment
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3rd Grade Homeschool Curriculum for 2017

Throughout our time homeschooling, I have met many kinds of homeschooling families.  Some mothers in those families hate choosing curriculum avoiding the process as if it were their most fearful nightmare and some mothers swim in curriculum as if they were surfing the waves in Hawaii.  I am neither of those mothers.

While I do enjoy looking for my curriculum, I do not like looking through ALL of the millions of choices out there.  It can be overwhelming and counterproductive.  You see other options and second guess what you’ve chosen to do with your children.  How can we assimilate information without becoming lost in the nightmare of too much curricula?

We would all love to be the mother who has researched every single curriculum option and hand selected the best one for her family.  She’s amazing.  How she has the time to read and research all the options is beyond me!  How can we find the best option without spending an enormous amount of time researching each curriculum trying desperately to understand all of the differences?

Two Options for Finding 3rd Grade Homeschool Curricula

Interview other homeschool mothers who are like you in personality and family style

  • Get together for a coffee/tea date
  • Ask each mother about their curriculum choices and why they work for their family  (P.S. Be specific in telling them that you want to know what is working for them, not why it will work for you.  Mothers are so helpful, but they can sometimes push their choices on you.  Be strong and take in the information rather than copying their exact choices.)
  • Ask them to give you the pros and the cons

Utilize a condensed homeschool curriculum resource list and take a quiz to understand what types of […]

By |July 7th, 2017|Brooke S., Home, Natural Lifestyle|0 Comments
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2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum for 2016

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Homeschool Choices - Boholistic Mom

Choosing a homeschool curriculum can be a daunting decision.  There are so many choices and tons of options.  Many homeschool mamas are so passionate about their family’s choices that they will swear to you that their way is the only possible option for homeschooling well.  Take a deep breath.  And find a few homeschool friends that are a little less passionate about their own decisions and more passionate about helping you find the correct decision for YOUR family.

I will gladly tell a new homeschool mama about the choices I have made, but if I give you the impression that any other decision is the wrong decision, smack me.  I do not intend to give that impression and in this post I will share what I am doing.  If you find my path beneficial, join me.  If you find your path elsewhere, I hope my path helped you to clarify your path.  We are all in this journey together.

Our 2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum for 2016-2017

I am a creature of habit.  I find something I like and I stick to it.  Especially when it comes to education.  I am leery of switching curricula regularly, because I want to provide a cohesive education.  That is one of my reasons for homeschooling is so that my son will not be uprooted from his schools every single time we move.  I want him to have stability and learn to see things through as much as possible.

Below is the list of my curriculum choices for our family.  I have been blessed with one son who is entering the 2nd grade.  We hope […]

By |July 21st, 2016|Brooke S., Faith: Heart, Mind, Body, & Spirit, Home, Homeschool|0 Comments
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Ethical Thanksgiving Shopping 2015

Thanksgiving Shopping | Boholistic Mom

Do you believe in Thanksgiving shopping?

While you are being thankful at the table with family and friends are you dreaming of shopping?

I, for one, do not.

I do not have visions of Thanksgiving sales in my head as I sit down to eat turkey, pour on the gravy, and consume homemade stuffing.  I just don’t.  I really don’t know many people who are planning to abandon their families, their tables, and their homes to run out to get a trendy pillow from Target, a new blazer for JCPenneys, or an overpriced door mat from Kohls.  Who would?  Really . . . who are the people who are frequenting these stores on Thanksgiving and encouraging them to be open yet another year and keeping retail employees from being at home with their families.

If it’s you, can you just stop already?  You can choose not to shop on ONE day of the year and allow tons of employees of these greedy companies to stay home.  Is that so much to ask?

Please join me in boycotting the stores that are planning to be open on Thanksgiving Day.  I actually encourage you to skip these retailers altogether during the Black Friday weekend.  Why?  Because I want to see them fail, I want their greed to prove unprofitable, and I want to give the businesses who stayed closed TONS of business.

Boycott Black Thursday!

Here are a list of stores that I encourage you to skip this holiday season:

  • Babies R Us
  • Bass Pro Shop
  • Belk
  • Best Buy
  • Big Lots!
  • Dollar General
  • Goody’s
  • hhgregg
  • JCPenneys
  • Kmart
  • Kohls
  • Macy’s
  • Meijer
  • Michael’s
  • OfficeMax/Office Depot
  • Old Navy
  • Peebles
  • Radio […]
By |November 12th, 2015|Brooke S., Home, Natural Lifestyle|0 Comments
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Yearly Goal Sheet Printable For 2017

The new year is a fantastic time for reflecting and thinking about your next yearly goals.  Because of this, I am giving away a New Years Yearly Goal Printable.  You may not know this, but I am not just a Boholistic Mom, I also design printable PDFs over at Designing Life on Etsy.  In addition to eating well and teaching others how to cultivate a home full of traditions and real food, I love home organization and helping others get their lives in order.  Life is often more pleasant when you can be who you want to be on purpose.  Our houses and lives can become on a permanent pause when we have no idea where we are heading!

Thus today for the New Year’s holiday, I offer you a New Years Printable as a gift to get you started.  Start your goals out right this year by making intentional goals.  Enjoy!

New Years Yearly Goal Sheet Printable

Having trouble downloading?  Try this –> link.

Happy New Year!!!!

Tips for Planning Your Goals

  • Pray about your goals before you set them.  God’s plans are even better than our plans!
  • Consider the order of priority for your goals.  These are set in an intentional order, but is this the order you currently have these set in for your life?  Does God come first in your life?  Do you set your relationship with your husband before your children?  This can be very important for the survival of your marriage.  Do you set the condition of your home before other priorities in […]
By |December 31st, 2014|Brooke S., Home, Natural Lifestyle|0 Comments
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The Unsettled Mom

The Unsettled Mom | Boholistic Mom

Settling.  What an interesting word, right?  Settling down, to settle, unsettling, or settling up.  As American’s we are even familiar with the term “settler”; the American pioneers who settled in the land west of the original colonies.  The original German work setle was literally a place to sit, a seat.  Yet with all these perfectly adequate definitions of the word settle, we have a definite malaise when we think of someone settling for something.  Such as a women settling for a guy who doesn’t treat her right or someone settling for second best.  It appears that taking a seat and settling can be a bad thing.

I think that we need to become unsettled moms.  Not because settling down is bad, but rather because we’ve been settling so long for things that are not God’s best that we do not even recognize what his best is.  The reason that I bring this up is not to forcibly upset your norm . . . but because I realize that my norm needs to change.  I need to become unsettled to follow God’s will for my life.

I want to talk with you about a trend in parenting that I’ve been seeing lately.  It’s parenting by excuses.  Not only that, it’s parenting by excuses and other mothers helping you feel excused by offering their own failures as examples to ease your conscience.  So really, you end up deciding that you are doing a good enough job because you’ve heard all the ways other people have done worse.

What a load of CRAP!  Do we really want to parent […]

By |May 29th, 2014|Brooke S., Home, Mom, Spirit|0 Comments
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Do a Traditional Homemaker’s Workout without a Gym

 

How can you get a workout at home?

Getting a workout at home isn’t really revolutionary; it’s actually quite traditional.  Traditionally, household tasks would have required much more strength, endurance, and time.  Instead of doing things the easy way, we can intentionally spend more time and effort on household tasks (it’s better than paying for a gym!).  Rather than thinking of chores as demanding and arduous, we need to embrace the strenuous nature of each activity and be thankful that we have homes to clean and families for which to care.

Home Activities that Burn Calories

Note: The ‘calories per hour’ are estimates because each person burns a different amount of calories according to their height, weight, age, and metabolism.
 

Washing Dishes by Hand (and drying them) – Loading a dishwasher burns very few calories and builds very little strength.  Washing dishes by hand builds strength in the arms and the back.  Traditional women would have washed all of their dishes by hand and scrubbed their cash iron skillets clean.  Check out those biceps!

Washing dishes and gathering dishes – 150 calories per hour

 

Cooking (and food preparation) – Even cooking food, the stuff with the calories in it, burns calories.  At Boholistic Mom, we’ve learned to embrace cooking and food preparation rather than being too concerned with the calorie count.  We’re convinced that cooking real food (not processed) keeps our bodies and families healthy and can even help our metabolisms increase naturally.  So cooking is a high priority as a workout, as […]

By |October 8th, 2013|Brooke S., Home, Natural Lifestyle|0 Comments
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