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When I started homeschooling my son in the middle of second grade, I realized I wasn’t exactly sure what the early elementary years were supposed to look like. I knew they included things like reading, writing, and math, and I, of course, had my own experiences to look back on, but I remember feeling overwhelmed by which skills need to be taught when. This overwhelm is why I purchased an all in one curriculum. While wonderful for some, it quickly became clear my son needed a different approach. Fast forward four years, my youngest was about to enter third grade. Our homeschool years each look a little different, but something they all have in common is we piece together resources from a variety of sources. Our favorite curriculum for early elementary students is below.
Curriculum Resources for Early Elementary
Reading Resources
Encouraging the love of reading is important. Family read-alouds, playing reading games, reading to animals at the animal shelter or to pets, keeping books in the car, library reading programs, and having books strewn around the house have helped my children grow as readers.
Both of my children used and loved Usborne Books & More Very First Reading Box Set and Bob Books.
Read Alouds
Science, wildcraft, and reading- the Herb Fairies are wonderful, both in audio and book form. Our other favorite reads are in our bookshop.
Classes
Writing Resources
Like with reading, encouraging our children to write is important. We want our kids to see writing as creative and fun; a vital skill, not something that is painful. Reading helps grow writers, as does writing with our children, and making writing a natural part of our day. Nature journaling, writing silly stories together, scribing for them, using speech to text on the computer, and helping children play with words, are all ways we make sure writing is practiced in our home.
Classes
- Young Women Writing for (a) Change
- All About Spelling
- NaNoWriMo
- Writing Baskets
- Word Walls
- Create a Writing Territories List
- Create a Writing Practice
- Play with Lists
Materials
- Blank books (I pick them up at the dollar section at Target)
- Fun pencils, pens, and markers
- Comic book templates
- Letter writing and thank you supplies
- Writer’s Notebook
Math Resources
I’ve written before about how math was something I struggled with a lot as a child. I wanted my children to love math, not despise it as I did. So far, they are fans. The piece that was always missing for me was understanding why I needed math. I didn’t see math in the things I loved like art and cooking. Hands-on math, fun books, and games have not only helped my children learn math a lot differently than I did (and understand it), I have learned to love it too.
Classes and Websites
- ABC Mouse
- Math Seeds
- Khan Academy
- Measurement with Playful Learning
- Learning Wrap-Ups
Books
Materials
I have used a lot of found objects to help my children see math. Acorns, sticks, candy, pennies, little foam cubes, whatever you have on hand can work!
Other helpful things to have on hand are:
- Ruler
- Calculator
- Measuring cups
- Pizza or pie to cut into pieces :0)
- Cash register
Science Resources
Science was a subject I really looked forward to exploring with my kids when we started homeschooling. I loved science labs when I was in school, but we rarely did them, which was unfortunate because that was when I learned! Science should be hands-on! Good books help, but then it’s time to get outside and explore, create, examine, and make things explode.
Classes
- Wild Nature Project
- Wonderlab
- Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
- FieldTrip Zoom
- Eagle Creek Homeschool Jamboree
- Learning Herbs- Herbal Remedy Kit
- Mystery Science
Books
There are so many great books for Science Lovers! Our favorites are in our bookshop.
Materials
Over the years we’ve slowly collected hands-on materials. KiwiCo has certainly helped us do so. Many of the KiwiCrates play with science and there are always leftover materials. My daughter loves to use them for her own experiments.
History Resources
History is one of those subjects that can be incorporated into all units. Traveling is one of our favorite ways to learn about history. We also enjoy these games, books, and unit studies.
- Ancient History with GameED Academy-(Minecraft)
- FieldTrip Zoom
- Little Passports
- Travel into the Little House Series
- Greek Mythology & Greece
Books & Materials
Art Resources
One of our family’s favorite ways to spend time together and alone, creating and visually expressing ourselves is a big part of our lives. Like history, reading, and writing, art can be incorporated into most units. Create collages, draw a scene, build a replica, or learn about the people of a time period by examining the things they made.
Classes and Materials
- FieldTrip Zoom
- Khan Academy
- Masterpiece Society
- Ivy Tech– College for Kids
- Books & Supplies for Young Artists
- Doodle Crate
Life Skills
One of the most important “subjects,” I think, is life skills. While my heart wants to keep my children home with me forever, one of my jobs as their mom is to make sure when they head out on their own they have the knowledge and skills to do so well. We all know that person in college who didn’t know how to use a washing machine. My kids won’t be them. (Partly because I don’t want to be the only person doing laundry in the house!) Knowing how to do laundry is important, but I think life skills definitely go beyond that. Being a leader, managing time, budgeting, cooking, taking care of your space, and work as a team are all skills we practice every week, at every age, every year.
Be sure to check out the curriculum we used each year and the resources my children loved.
Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum– Tips to Get You Started
Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum- The Early Years
Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum- Early Elementary
Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum- Upper Elementary
Looking for Support?
I help families and teachers put together a curriculum, create unit studies, create a homeschool and family rhythm, and find strategies to help kids learn and love to learn.
