Amazing Homeschool Curriculum for First Grade/ Advanced Kindergarten

Inside: Wonderful homeschool curriculum choices for the first grade or exceptional kindergarten student.

Look at the word.

Eli, look at the word.

You can't read the word if you don't look at the letters in it.

Yes, my hesitation last year to call my 5-year-old son a kindergartner proved true. Despite being "kindergarten age" he was not ready to sit and pay attention when we started trying to learn this year.

He tried, but even a partial page of words was too much.

Even a line was too much.

All those letters distracted him.

Finally, about halfway through the year, he was more willing. He could sit longer. He discovered he really liked math and he could read those letters.

It was a development issue which is why I didn't want to call him a kindergartner last year. No, he will be a kindergartner this year even though we finished most of our kindergarten curriculum from last year.

Yes, he is more advanced than a typical kindergartner, but he is still a kindergartner, No reason for him to think otherwise either. I would much rather he stay home an extra year to mature.

So, my curriculum picks this year may seem a bit advanced for kindergarten, but they would also be great for a first grader! In fact the girls had very similar selections in kindergarten and first grade!

All About Reading 1

I have said it before, and I will say it again, we love All About Reading! It is so thorough and hands-on! The ability to manipulate the tiles really helps my kids as they learn best when they are doing.

Singapore Math 1

Singapore gives such a great foundation for math. I also like that the exercises aren't too long, so they aren't extremely overwhelming for little ones.

Handwriting Without Tears 3

Although we have not begun formal handwriting, and my son has picked up most of the print letters from his sisters. More formal lessons will begin this year, and although it is labeled for third grade, we will start with cursive. Read more about why to start with cursive here.

There are sections of this book that are too advanced for a younger child, but the basic cursive letter formation is great.

Apologia Science

He has already been listening to our science and history on and off, and he always participates in any experiment we do. Officially being in kindergarten this year will just mean he has to sit and listen every lesson. Since he has to listen, we let him choose what science book we would go through next, so swimming creatures it is.

Story of the World

History will be similar to science for him. We are in the fourth volume of Story of the World which is the one where things get a little more difficult for the kids. No more coloring pages in the basic activity book, but if you have a little one going through it with older kids, there are coloring pages available HERE.

The largest part of his day will still be building with Legos, racing around on his bike, and listening to stories.

But with story style and hands-on curricula my little guy should be able to pay attention without too much trouble now that he really is a kindergartner!