Grade 1: weeks 1-6
Ancient History:
Text: The Story of the World vol.1
Week 1: Chp. 1: The Earliest People
Week 2: Chp 2:
Egyptians and the Nile
pp. 29-33
Chp 3: First Writing (Sumerians)
pp. 35-37
*Supplemental: Pharaohs & Pyramids
Week 3: Chp 4:
Old Kingdom of Egypt
(mummies, pyramids)
pp. 39-44
*Supplemental: Senefer
Week 4: Chp 5:
First Sumerian Dictator
pp. 45-47
Chp 6: Jewish people, Abraham
pp. 49-52
*Supplemental: Aladdin p. 1-26
Week 5: Chp 6
cont'd: Joseph
pp. 52-57
Chp 7: Hammurabi and Babylon
pp. 59-62
*Supplemental: Aladdin p. 27-36
Week 6: Chp 8:
The Assyrians
pp. 63-69
*Supplemental: Gilgamesh
Week 1: The
Littles pp. 1-74
(2 chapters per day)
Week 2: The Littles pp. 75-80
The Boxcar Children Chps 1-5
Week 3: The Boxcar Children Chps 6-10
Week 4: The Boxcar Children Chps 11-13
The Velveteen Rabbit pp. 10-21
(Spring Time)
Week 5: The
Velveteen Rabbit pp. 22-end
(Summer Days)
Mr. Popper Chps 1-2
Week 6: Mr. Popper Chps 3-10
Poetry:
Read one or two poems aloud from
Favorite Poems Old & New daily.
Reading: Really
Reading: 1 lesson/day (review if necessary)
Reader: none for 1st week,
then start with Cat Traps and follow list in
back of Really Reading
(Readers A)
Phonics workbook: approx. 2pp a day
(Language Practice 1: I suggest starting it in January-- good practice for standardized tests)
Spelling:
One lesson per week
(at end of this 6 weeks, you
should be
finishing lesson 6)
First Language Lessons:
Three lessons per week
(at end of this 6 wks,
you should be finishing lesson 18)
The Burgess Bird Book:
Read one chapter per week
(Coming next year: Jack's Insects by Edmond
Selous!)
Nature Walk/outing:
Try to do two outings per week.
On at least one of the outings, have your student
focus on one particular group of living things (i.e. mammals, insects,
birds, flowers, etc) Briefly read to yourself one or two lessons about
that group in the Handbook of
Nature Study and share some interesting fact concerning it with
your student at some point during the outing.
Have your student record observations in the nature notebook, perhaps including one of the appropriate verses found in the Handbook.
Nature Crafts & Topics to cover:
Wks 1-6: Topics
The Ocean: Discuss
that the ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth, and contains almost all
the water in the world
(97%). There
are four oceans, the biggest being the Pacific. All of the land in the
world could fit in the
Pacific and there'd
still be a lot of room left.
The deepest place in the ocean is so deep that if you put the world's
tallest mountain, Mt. Everest, into
the Mariana Trench,
the water would still be more than a mile higher than the mountain!
The bottom of the ocean is not flat, but has mountains, valleys, and plains just like we have on land.
Seeds: Discuss
why seeds have a better chance of living if they don't try to grow directly
below parent plant.
(They don't have to compete with parent plant for sunlight, food, and water)
Discuss how seeds manage to travel away from parent plant
(Wind-- "parachute" seeds like dandelion, winged seeds, Animals-- in
stomach of birds and
excreted elsewhere, carried away in animal's fur, buried by animals such as
squirrels)
Wks 1-6: Crafts
Craft #1: Make a fish print
You'll need: a whole fish, cleaned but with the head on (catch it
yourself or get it at the grocery store)
old newspapers
Tempera paint
a large, soft paint brush, about 1 inch wide
paper for the print (don't use shiny paper- the paint won't hold well)
How to do it: 1) Lay the fish on a piece of old newspaper, and
paint one side of the fish, entirely.
2) Carefully place the fish, painted side up, on a clean piece of
newspaper.
3) Lay the piece of print paper over the fish, being careful not to
move the paper once
it touches the fish.
4) Gently rub the paper where it lies over the fish. Be sure not
to move the paper.
5) Carefully peel the paper back from the fish and lay it flat to dry.
6) Use the fish print to make a simple banner, to wrap a present, or
to cover a book.
Craft #2: Sand
Candles
You'll need: a plastic dishpan filled with sand (or a beach :)
a spray bottle filled with water
seashells
Paraffin or beeswax (Paraffin can be found in grocery stores near canning
supplies)
-1 lb will make 3 or 4 small candles or 1 large one.
old crayons
tin can
a pan
hot pad or oven mitt
candle wicking (found in craft stores)
big paper clip
a soft paint brush
How to do it: 1) Smooth the damp sand and pat it until it's
level
2) Dig a hole the size and shape you want your candle to be.
Spray the sand with
water if it crumbles.
3) Press seashells into the sides of the hole, with the shells' pretty
sides facing the
sand.
4) Put the paraffin or wax in the tin can along with a crayon (to give
it color) and put
the tin can in a pan already filled with 2 inches of water. Heat slowly.
(Always use this double-boiler method as paraffin catches fire if it gets
too hot.)
5) Cut a piece of wick a few inches longer than the hole in the sand,
quickly dip it
in the melted wax, and let it cool about 5 minutes, until it's stiff.
6) Place the dried wick in the middle of the sand hole. While
holding the wick, carefully
pour the melted wax onto the hole, filling it to the top. (Wear oven
mitts to hold the
hot can of wax)
7) As the wax cools, an air pocket may form beneath the surface.
Use a straightened-
out paper clip to poke a hole in the wax skin. Add more wax if needed.
8) Let the wax cool for several hours. Don't move the pan of
sand.
9) When the candle is hard, gently dig the sand away from the edge
with your finger.
Soon you'll be able to grasp the candle and wiggle it out.
10) Gently brush the loose sand off with a soft paint brush.
(Some sand will still stick.)
Craft #3: Make a seed mosaic.
You'll need: a piece of heavy cardboard
white glue
pencil
variety of seeds (dried beans work well)
How to do it: 1) Lightly sketch your design on cardboard- draw
real things like animals, or just
make a "cool" design
2) Glue the seeds on the cardboard to fill in your design
3) For very tiny seeds, use a paintbrush to paint glue on the cardboard,
then sprinkle
the seeds onto the glue.