Homeschool Curriculum Choices for First Grade and Preschool

I can hardly believe it is almost time to start a new homeschool year and I am excited to share with you our first grade and preschool homeschool curriculum choices. I feel like I was just writing the post sharing about our Kindergarten and preschool homeschool choices last year and now here we are ready to start a new year.

While we are more of a year round homeschool family, we will always mark the beginning of a "new year" of learning because there is just something about fresh starts that get me excited for what is to come. I mean after all I have to get in those sweet first day of school traditions because they are such sweet memories with my babies year after year. 

Our first official year of homeschooling was truly so special. We learned lots, changed many things along the way, and truly found our groove with homeschooling and I cannot wait to get started with this new year of first grade and preschool. We officially have to report our homeschool to the state (PA is one of the most regulated states in the country :( ) so I have been in planning mode to ensure we abide by all laws and regulations in PA. 

Picking curriculum can be overwhelming, especially when you are just getting started. There are so many different options it can feel so hard to choose which one is best for your family.  "What if I choose the wrong one? Is this a good fit? Will my kids learn what they need to learn? So many questions. So many choices. But the wonderful thing about homeschooling is, if you get something and it isn't working for your family, you have the option to change it. You do not have to continue using something that doesn't work for you. What works for you one year may not work for you the next. What works for one of your kids may not work for the next kiddo and so on. You have the freedom to pick and choose the materials and resources for your children. 

My goal for this post is to share with you what we are using and some of my heart behind why. What works for me may not work for you and that is ok. I hope that by sharing, it can help give you ideas as you sit down to consider your options and what will work best for your family.

First Grade Curriculum Picks

Masterbooks

Last year, as I toiled and quite literally cried over which Math curriculum to choose, the Lord made it very clear to us that we were to use Masterbooks. I had been seeking direction for the choice for weeks. A friend had shared with me about Masterbooks and I loved the premise behind it: gentle approach, living story, Biblical worldview. It sound perfect, but I also battled with some of the negative things I had heard about it (not having enough "meat", reviewing too much etc). I just wasn't sure what to do and felt so crazy that I was having such a hard time picking a math curriculum. One evening, after an exceptionally hard day, I cried out to the Lord to make it exceptionally clear to me what He wanted us to use. The very next evening, when I was out at a Bible study with friends, I got my answer. We were at a restaurant and I sat down at the end of the table, next to a chair with a purse on it. I assumed someone had already been sitting there, but as we got closer to starting our meeting, no one came to claim the seat and it turns out no one was sitting there and my friend (who introduced me to Masterbooks) came and sat down right next to me. After out meeting ended, we were all just sitting around chatting and eating and my friend Kim was chatting with another homeschool mom across the table from her. I had been chatting with friends on the other side of me when all of a sudden it was like someone was screaming the word MASTERBOOKS. I shot around so quick and couldn't believe what I was hearing. The room was loud with so much chatter, but above all that noise, I heard my sweet friend Kim say Masterbooks and right then I knew. The Lord was answering my prayer that I had just prayed so boldly the night before.  That purse was on the chair specifically so Kim would sit down there. Oh the chills. God is so faithful.

We used Math for a Living Education Level 1 last year and loved it and as we begin this new year, we are excited to be using Masterbooks for the majority of our subjects. Even my little guy gets his own Level K Math to do when sissy is doing her work and you have no idea how excited he is to have his own. So excited.

You can purchase Masterbooks curriculum many places, but I prefer to purchase directly through the Masterbooks website. I love how they offer ebook versions of all of their curriculums as well as rewards points that you can use towards future purchases.  I bought the ebook version of all our books so that I could print and bind them myself. With the HP Instant Ink program I have saved hundreds of dollars every year. It makes printing so easy and cheap and even free some months and I love how I can reprint pages if needed using the ebook version of the curriculum. If you sign up under my link we both get a free month.

Math

Each of the lessons are introduced and taught through a living short story that follows the journey of Charlie and Charlotte and continues throughout each level of the book. The lessons are Biblically sound and follow a gentle approach to mastery. I love how well they do to a spiral review through concepts to make sure that kids really have a good grasp on something as you move throughout the lessons. My daughter would often do a whole weeks worth of lessons in one sitting because she loved them so much. We actually finished level 1 back in January and actually took some time to just play and practice the skills learned through reading and playing games before moving on. When I first started planning for this year, I initially was going to use The Good and The Beautiful Level 1 Math and actually purchased it and had it ready to go because we loved using it for Language Arts last year and my daughter thrived with the LA program. But as we got closer to the first day of school, I kept being led back to Masterbooks and after many days spent praying and seeking the Lord's guidance (because I was feeling guilty that I had already spent the money on TGATB math) He made it clear to me that Masterbooks is in fact what we are to use. I foresee us finishing Level 2 early like we did last year so we will probably end up moving onto Level 3 at some point before the end of the year. And please know, that we LOVE The Good and the Beautiful curriculums. They are so well done and my daughter thrived with the Language Arts program last year so us switching has nothing to do with the curriculum itself, but rather remaining obedient to the Lord's plan and call for our family.

Language Arts

As I mentioned before, last year my daughter used and thrived with The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts curriculum. Miss 6 is able to read at a second to third grade level and I truly believe it's because of the well thought out program TGATB has put together. I also absolutely love that they offer the 1st-6th grade pdf version of the course for free. It's truly such a blessing. We were all set to start Level 1, but that tug to try out Masterbooks was strong so we are excited to share that this year we will be starting out with Language Lessons for a Living Education Level 1. There is quite a bit of it that Miss 6 has already mastered, but I wanted to give her the foundation and build her confidence in the Masterbooks process before moving on. Like with Math, I foresee moving on to level 2 rather quickly. We cannot wait to dive in. And if at any time, if Language Lessons isn't working for her, we can switch back to TGATB. I am so truly thankful for that freedom to do what is best for my little ones.

Science & Social Studies

These two subjects will be part of our loop schedule and both my preschooler and first grader will be doing them together. We will be using Masterbooks for both of these and I cannot wait. Even I am excited to learn some new things, another beauty of homeschooling...mama can learn too. Life for Beginners is a K-2 science curriculum and includes units on Plants, The Human Body, and Animals, three things my kids are so incredibly fascinated in. My Story and the World Around Me 1 is what we are using for Social Studies and we will use this for the next several years as we learn all about the beautiful world God created. I am so thankful to have such beautiful curriculums that are based on the Biblical worldview.

We will not be using these every day so we will be able to use them for a few years before moving onto the next level.

In addition to Masterbooks, we will be doing several of my Thematic Units from my shop as well as exploring any concepts the kids would like to explore (bugs, weather, etc.) through books and other materials I either make or purchase from other talented creatives. Nature studies will be a big part of our learning this year. 

Bible

I am a HUGE fan of everything Ashley from The Littles & Me creates. We have been using her Fruit of the Spirit and Story Alive Bible curriculums for the last few years in between some devotional type books and have absolutely LOVED them. When I saw she came out with and Armor of God study I couldn't jump on it quick enough and let me tell you it is absolutely PHENOMENAL. Ashley does an amazing job of incorporating hands on engaging activities that point kids to Jesus. From object lessons, to snack ideas, to absolutely beautiful printables, each of Ashley's sets are beautifully done and I highly recommend all three. We will be starting the year out with the Armor of God study and then adding in some of the Fruit of the Spirit and Story Alive lessons throughout the course of the year. We will be doing these together during our morning Bible/Devotional time. The kids will also be using my Write the Word Bible Verse Copywork sheets to practice learning and writing their Bible Verses out throughout the year.

Writing

We will continue to use our Draw.Write.Now book for writing and drawing. The kids both loved doing this. We will continue adding to our writing journal that I put together. I love having all of their writings, whether from the book or ones they do on their own, all in one place and love seeing them grow throughout the year.

Other

Every morning over breakfast, we read from a devotional and our read aloud. It's such a sweet time together that we look forward to every day. We have been working through the Little House on the Prairie series over the last few months and I am excited to use the Little House Guide from Sarah at Love at Home Ed alongside our read alouds this year. I absolutely love that she has compiled so many awesome ideas to go with each chapter in every single book. I am excited to pick several activities for each book we read and do them on Fridays when we have Fun Friday. You could easily turn the Little House series into your complete curriculum if you wanted. Sarah has done a fantastic job of putting together this guide to use with the books.

While I am sure there will be many other resources we will use to supplement our learning through the year, this is primarily what we are using and we cannot wait to dive into our new year at the beginning of August.

Preschool Curriculum Picks

Preschool. Let me start by saying that you in no way need to do any formal education with your little ones. Play is learning. I am a huge proponent of just letting them be a kid and play. Miss 6 LOVED and still does love learning and doing activities. She thrived on doing activities (play based) with me from the time she was 2 and still to this day. Mr. 4 is the complete opposite. He really hasn't had any interest in doing anything structured unless it is exactly what sister is doing, which is hard when he doesn't know his letters and he just wants to read. Last year we did some of my preschool curriculum here and there with him, but he just wasn't super interested and that is ok. This year he has more of an interest in learning (he wants to learn to read like sissy) so we are going to dive back into my Play and Learn Preschool curriculum and use that as the base for his learning this year. It is all play based and hands on which is exactly what my little man needs. He is 100% active boy.

As I mentioned above, I also bought him the Masterbooks Level K curriculum. Again, he LOVES doing what sissy is doing and wants to be with us while she is doing her lessons so I figured he could sit with us and doing his Math while sister does hers if he wants to. I will not force him to sit and work ever because he is 4. He has always been more interested in numbers and math (just like his engineer daddy) than he has learning his letters so I am excited to see how he thrives this year. When I showed him that I got him a Math book like sissy's he was beyond himself excited and couldn't believe he got a "Charlie and Charlotte" book too. He LOVED listening to the stories alongside us last year.

We are getting excited to start our new year and look forward to our special time together learning, growing, and Awaking Wonder!!!

Join Our Homeschool Community

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the community that is formed. The beauty of homeschool is no two families will homeschool the same, but we can come alongside one another, share ideas, and support one another. Join me in my homeschool group where we chat about homeschooling (totschool on up), share learning ideas, play ideas and more.