Year 1 page 1
Year 1
Centered In God’s Word God’s World God’s Ways
Bible Poetry Literature History Science Geography Creation Studies Music Art Continuing Education for Mom! A Complete Guide to Teaching Children Ages 3 to 12
© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
Year 1 page 3
EDUCATION IS DISCIPLESHIP CONVERSATION IS TEACHING Reading, Memorizing, and Copying Scripture Reading Quality Literature Narrating Learning about God’s Truth, Beauty, and Order
Wo r
d’s
Go
ld
Relational Reading Natural Language Learning Mathematical Order
Psalm 78:1–8
Go
d’s
ys Wa
God’s Word God’s Word – Bible Reading, Memorizing, Copying God’s World – Literature, History, Creation, Music, Art God’s Ways – Reading, Writing, Math © 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
Year 1 page 7
Year 1
Welcome to Organic Homeschooling! In beginning Year 1 of Organic
art, your child will know dozens of godly
Homeschooling you and your child enter a
Christian men and women who labored for
season of profound growth in wisdom,
the glory of God in many disciplines.
knowledge, skills, and relationship. Leafing through the pages of this cur-
Between first and fourth grade, your child will master reading, writing, and the
riculum what you see is deceptively sim-
four operations of arithmetic—line upon
ple. An organic approach is a simple ap-
line, precept upon precept.
proach, but it is also incredibly powerful. Because this is an organic approach to
Having read A Biblical Home Education each year you will not simply have read a
learning as you go about your day-to-day
good book on homeschooling, you will
studies it may not feel like you are doing
have read one to the most biblical and
much. The “line upon line” growth isn't al-
foundational books on home education and
ways obvious.
have that knowledge to draw from for the
But at the conclusion of four years you will have twice traced God’s hand at work throughout the entire Bible and learned life -changing truths that will serve you and your child throughout life. Your child will have hidden almost one hundred fifty Bible verses in his heart.
rest of your years. This will not only serve your family as you continue on this home educating path, but it equips you to serve other homeschooling mothers and to encourage them in their calling. Despite this long list of benefits, we haven’t even mentioned the blossoming
Together, you will have traveled the globe and visited every major historical time period since Creation. You will have covered all the major divisions of science
relationship between you and your child as you interact over the suggested books, materials, and curriculum. My desire in writing Organic
in a way so engaging that your child will
Homeschooling is to, as much as possible,
not only remember the information he
free mothers from the pressure and drudg-
learned but also the Person responsible for
ery too often associated with homeschool-
our orderly world.
ing so that they can put their time, atten-
Your child’s heart and mind will be stocked with the beautiful language, rhythms, and rhymes of poetry and that will be evidenced in his speech and writing. Through the pages of books, through listening to music, and through looking at
tion, and focus where it belongs—discipling their children. Using Organic Homeschooling As you progress through the curriculum you may discover items about which you have questions. At the end of the 37
© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
Year 1 page 8
Year 1
Welcome to Organic Homeschooling! weeks of lesson plans, there are explana-
pler, it will add to your enjoyment of the
tions and resources that teach you how to
product.
use the books and materials to the best advantage. What is narration and how can you take advantage of this powerful tool?
Dive In! We’re ready to get started! Order your
How do you use the memory verse to fine-
year-long books and at least the first pic-
tune language skills through what I call
ture book and chapter book on the booklist
copying, guided dictation and dictation and
and let’s get started!
why do I include the verse, a word, and a simplified sentence? You will also find a list of ideas for creation observations, our purpose for including art explorations, how to do the suggested crafts, techniques for engaging your child in looking at art, and how to get the most out of the Godly Composers materials. Individualized Curriculum After the booklist on the next page is a list of suggested curriculum listed by grade level. These suggestions are my top picks, the ones that endured through vigorous Murphy family testing. I have simplified this list to make it accessible for new homeschool moms as well as seasoned veterans. Certainly, if you already have a preferred curriculum in place you should continue with it. But if you are undecided, the programs I list are fantastic. Unlike many curriculums that offer unnecessary add-ons, any “extras” in the resources I suggest are valuable for learning. Purchase the Math-U-See blocks, the Zig Zag Zebra puppet, and the card file dividers. These will not only make your life sim© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
Year 1 page 15
Weekly Lesson Plans
© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
Year 1 page 17
August
Week 1 BIBLE Mighty Acts of God chapter 1 POETRY Read Aloud Rhymes pages 3, 30–31 Favorite Poems choose poems from “My Almanac” pages 77–78, “Myself and I” and “It’s Fun to Play” READ ALOUD The Seashore Book The Secret at Pheasant Cottage chapters 1–8 MEMORIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING—COPYNG, GUIDED DICTATION, DICTATION Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Key Word: God Simplified Sentence: The worlds were framed by God. CREATION READING Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 2 page vi “Fantasy”; pages 1–5 “Mr. and Mrs. Crab” and “Mr. Crab and His House” CREATION OBSERVATION Choose from the “Observation Ideas” list MUSIC/ART Explore colored pencils (Reminder: More details can be found in the “Methods” section at the end of the curriculum.) INDIVIDUALIZED ASSIGNMENTS Reading, spelling, writing, grammar, and math © 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
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August
Week 2 BIBLE Mighty Acts of God chapter 2 God’s Names chapter 1 “Names, Names, Names” POETRY Read Aloud Rhymes pages 32–33 Favorite Poems choose poems from “My Almanac” pages 77–78, “Myself and I” and “It’s Fun to Play” READ ALOUD A House for Hermit Crab The Secret at Pheasant Cottage chapters 9–16 MEMORIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING—COPYNG, GUIDED DICTATION, DICTATION Psalm 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! Key Word: Maker Simplified Sentence: Kneel before the Lord. CREATION READING Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 2 pages 5–7 “More About Mr. Crab” CREATION OBSERVATION Choose from the “Observation Ideas” list MUSIC/ART Make “Apple Prints” (Insturtions found in the “Methods” section at the end of the curriculum.) INDIVIDUALIZED ASSIGNMENTS Reading, spelling, writing, grammar, and math © 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
Year 1 page 57
January
Week 19 BIBLE Mighty Acts of God chapter 23 God’s Names chapter 13 “Jehovah-Jireh” POETRY Read Aloud Rhymes pages 80–81 Favorite Poems choose poems from “My Almanac” pages 61–67 and “My Brother the Sun, My Sister the Moon, The Stars and Mother Earth” READ ALOUD A Picture Book of George Washington Carver Hans Brinker, or, The Silver Skates chapters 13–18 MEMORIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING—COPYNG, GUIDED DICTATION, DICTATION Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Key Word: contrite Simplified Sentence: A contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. CREATION READING Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 2 pages 62–66 “Other Bees” CREATION OBSERVATION Choose from the “Observation Ideas” list MUSIC/ART Godly Composers “Vivaldi Illustration 4 INDIVIDUALIZED ASSIGNMENTS Reading, spelling, writing, grammar, and math
© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
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April
Week 30 BIBLE Mighty Acts of God chapter 36–37 POETRY Read Aloud Rhymes pages 64–65 Favorite Poems choose poems from “My Almanac” page 74–75 and “Almost Any Time is Laughing Time” READ ALOUD Molly Bannaky The Story of Sacagawea, Guide to Lewis and Clark chapters 7–8 “The Pacific Ocean” and “Winter at Fort Catsop” MEMORIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING—COPYNG, GUIDED DICTATION, DICTATION Jeremiah 1:12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” Key Word: perform Simplified Sentence: “I am watching over my word to perform it.” CREATION READING Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 2 pages 108–114 “About Mr. Drill” and “The Story of a Battle” CREATION OBSERVATION Choose from the “Observation Ideas” list MUSIC/ART Godly Composers Vivaldi Illustration 30 INDIVIDUALIZED ASSIGNMENTS Reading, spelling, writing, grammar, and math
© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
Year 1 page 95
June
Week 36 BIBLE Mighty Acts of God chapter 44 God’s Names chapter 26 “Knowing God’s Name” POETRY Read Aloud Rhymes pages 62–63, 78–79 Favorite Poems choose poems from “My Almanac” page 77 and “From the Good Earth Growing” READ ALOUD Inventor McGregor Owls in the Family chapters 1–6 MEMORIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING—COPYNG, GUIDED DICTATION, DICTATION Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, the ancient days. Key Word: ancient Simplified Sentence: From you shall come forth one who is ruler. CREATION READING Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 2 pages 137– 144 “Mr. Worm and at Home” and “Review” CREATION OBSERVATION Choose from the “Observation Ideas” list MUSIC/ART Explore tempera paints INDIVIDUALIZED ASSIGNMENTS Reading, spelling, writing, grammar, and math
© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
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Year 1
Methods of Organic Homeschooling our children. What an opportunity!
Bible Reading Begin the Bible reading by reading the title and subtitle of the story. Read the key verses given. Re-read the key twice more. Read the story aloud, pausing to assure that the children understand the reading. After reading aloud, ask your children to “narrate” or retell what has been read. (See below.) Our Bible reading storybooks are full of additional discussion questions and activity ideas you can use at this time or on subsequent days. Foundational Teaching Methods Conversation is teaching. It is the primary method given by God for instructing your children (see Deut. 6). It is easy to overlook or devalue this valuable teaching tool. Without a completed worksheet or project to demonstrate our child’s learning, we fear they have not learned. Reading aloud is an extension of natural conversation. When reading, we relay the conversation of an author to our children. As such we mediate between the author and
Narration is when you ask your child to repeat the story you have read in his own words. Narration is a complex skill that takes time to develop. The purpose of narration is to reveal what your child has learned, not to point out what he missed. Narration replaces comprehension questions and worksheets. It is, in fact, superior to these classroom techniques because it causes the child to assimilate and articulate what he has learned. When a parent asks a question, the child tries to figure out how you want him to answer, rather than putting his new learning into his own mental framework. With narration, the child forms and answers his own questions and so internalizes the story instead of listening, regurgitating, and forgetting as happens in most classrooms. When learning to narrate, a child may need to practice on smaller portions of text, perhaps a couple
© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
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Year 1
Picture Books of paragraphs, until he can narrate
published before Grandpa was
well from longer pieces.
born.” “Mommy was only two years old when this book was written.”
Reading Picture Books Each week we read aloud one picture book several times. We find this picture book reading time to be a time of delight . . . once everyone
Your commentary is far superior to anything I or another curriculum writer comes up with. This conversation is teaching!
is settled comfortably in a place
After reading the picture book
where he can see.
aloud, ask your child to narrate the
Take your time reading through the
story to you.
book. Look at who wrote and illus-
If you want to incorporate follow-up
trated it and when it was published.
ideas after readings, a few simple
Let your children look carefully at
choices include drawing a picture of
the pictures before turning the
something you read about, telling
pages.
or writing a summary of the book
Repeated readings will expand his observations and vocabulary development. Talk about the things you learn on the page. You don’t need a study guide to do this. Simply comment on interesting facts or lovely
or chapter that was read, acting out the story, or researching and writing about a topic brought up by the reading. You may assign older children additional related independent reading as well.
drawings. Make connections be-
Rereading books is important.
tween what you are reading and
Read the weekly picture book sev-
your child’s day-to-day life.
eral times each week—three times
For example, when we look at the copyright date, we relate it to family birthdays. “Wow, this book was
is good, four or five times is better. Rereading picture books is important, particularly for vocabulary de-
© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
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Year 1
Chapter Books velopment. When you reread the information presented the book becomes part of your child’s mental furniture. Writing skills develop as a child listens to good writers tell stories. Chapter Book Readings Like the picture books, the chapter books are the stars of our reading aloud time. Read aloud and ask your child to narrate back to you. Ask questions. “How would you react to . . . ?” “What did you think of . . . ?” These need not be long discussions, but conversation is the goal. As an aside, while we are doing our chapter book reading, I allow little ones to pursue quiet activities while listening to the reading. We employ a pack ‘n’ play, blanket time, and chair time for very young ones, if needed. These are great selfcontrol builders and you would be amazed at what the smallest people pick up on during these times.
© 2014 Kara Murphy. All Rights Reserved.