Grade 1

***This page contains my notes for each block for grade one. To see what we actually did, click these links:

Please feel free to comment with your favorite resources and/or add a link to your blog. The more the merrier!

***

Below are my resources and notes that I used for planning Grade 1. I will probably not do or use half of what is listed. From these ideas, I have formed my Grade 1 Layout. You can find my proposed daily rhythm for the upcoming year here. You can also look forward to posts throughout the upcoming year that will chronicle our experience with the individual blocks.
Awakening from the Dreamtime
  • August: Form Drawing 

Resources:

  1. New Form Drawing tutorial, Thinking, Feeling, Willing/Waldorf Essentials
  2. Form Drawing, Christopherus
  3. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, Edith Holden

Projects:

  1. Begin form drawing notebook
  2. Choose a tree or field to observe all year long
  3. Begin Country Diary
  4. Ribbon Sticks Path Of Discovery 7

Read Alouds:

  1. Old Turtle (We always begin the school year by reading this on the first day.)
  2. Paddington

Extras:

Thoughts:

  1. Just get back into school rhythm. Transition from summer to school. Low expectations!!
  • September: Letters/Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Resources:

  1. Grimm’s Fairy Tales
  2. Waldorf Alphabet Book, Famke Zonneveld
  3. The Wise Enchanter: A Journey through the Alphabet, Shelley Davidow
  4. L,M,N,O,P and All the Letters A to Z, Howard Schrager
  5. A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme, Heather Thomas (see pp.94,105,108)
  6. Path Of Discovery 10-18

Projects:

  1. Make swords and dye capes for Michaelmas.
  2. Sing “Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore”

Read Alouds:

  1. Baby Animals, Margaret Wise Brown

Extras:

  1. Celebrate Michaelmas
Thoughts:
  1. See Christopherus Syllabus p. 105, 145
  2. Alliterative sentences for letters.
  3. Begin poetic memorization/recitation. Poems will be written in a book every month.
  • October: Letters/Grimm’s Fairy Tales/Knitting

Resources:

  1. Grimm’s Fairy Tales
  2. Waldorf Alphabet Book, Famke Zonneveld
  3. The Wise Enchanter: A Journey through the Alphabet, Shelley Davidow
  4. A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme, Heather Thomas (see pp.94,105,108)
  5. L,M,N,O,P and All the Letters A to Z, Howard Schrager

Projects:

  1. Make knitting needles.
  2. Introduce kniting.

Read Alouds:

  1. Pelle’s New Suit
  2. The Borrower’s, Mary Norton
  3. Johnny Appleseed, Lindbergh

Extras:

  1. Attend Southeast Fiber Fair
Thoughts:
  1. See Christopherus Syllabus p. 87, 145
  • November: Math

Resources:

  1. A Journey Through Waldorf Math, Waldorf Essentials
  2. A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme, Heather Thomas (see p. 81)
  3. “Arithmetic” Sandburg 17
  4. “Counting” Joyful Movement 52
  5. Path Of Discovery 25; 28; 30; 32; 37

Projects:

  1. Make lanterns for Martinmas.
  2. Make Advent wreath.

Read Alouds:

  1. In November, Cynthia Rylant
  2. My Favorite Time of Year, Susan Pearson

Extras:

  1. Celebrate Martinmas
  2. Celebrate Thanksgiving
  3. Advent Begins
Thoughts:
  1. See Christopherus Syllabus p. 131
  • December: No Main Lessons – Holiday Prep

Resources:

  1. Family, Festivals, Food

Projects:

Read Alouds:

  1. The Big Snow, Berta and Elmer Hader

Extras:

  1. Advent
  2. Celebrate St. Nicholas Day
  3. Celebrate Christmas
Thoughts:
  • January: Math

Resources:

  1. A Journey Through Waldorf Math, Waldorf Essentials
  2. A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme, Heather Thomas (see p. 81)
  3. “Arithmetic” Sandburg 17
  4. “Counting” Joyful Movement 52
  5. Path Of Discovery 25; 28; 30; 32; 37

Projects:

Read Alouds:

  1. Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder
  2. Turtle in July, Marilyn Singer

Extras:

  1. See Christopherus Syllabus p. 193
  • February: Fairy Tale Book

Resources:

  1. Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Projects:

  1. Make candles for Candlemas.

Read Alouds:

Extras:

  1. Celebrate Candlemas
Thoughts:
  1. See Christopherus Syllabus p. 173
  • March: Science/Nature/Gardening

Resources:

  1. Sunflower Houses by Sharon Lovejoy
  2. Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots by Sharon Lovejoy
  3. From Nature Stories to Natural Science, Christopherus
  4. A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme, Heather Thomas (see pp. 129, 147, 158, 166)
  5. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, Edith Holden

Projects:

Read Alouds:

  1. The Dead Tree, Alvin Tresselt
  2. Quiet, Peter Parnall

Extras:

Thoughts:

  • April: Fairy Tales from North America

Resources:

Projects:

Read Alouds:


Extras:

Thoughts:

  • May: Science/Nature/Gardening

Resources:

  1. Sunflower Houses by Sharon Lovejoy
  2. Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots by Sharon Lovejoy
  3. From Nature Stories to Natural Science, Christopherus
  4. A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme, Heather Thomas (see pp. 129, 147, 158, 166)
  5. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, Edith Holden

Projects:

  1. Garden
  2. Visit CSA

Read Alouds:

Extras:

Thoughts:

  • June: Testing / Wrap-Up / Overflow

Resources:

Projects:

Read Alouds:

Extras:

Thoughts:

15 thoughts on “Grade 1”

  2. Pingback: Planning 6/11-6/17 | Sure as the World

  3. So you don’t use a set curriculum for 1st grade, like Christopherus or Waldorf Essentials? Thanks for sharing such helpful info!

    Reply

    • Hey Heather,
      I actually own both, but I don’t use them for my scripted day-to-day lessons. I use them more as references for the overall arc of the year. If you were asking my advice, I would suggest starting with their audios. There is so much information packed in there, and I find them to be a great starting point. Grade 1 is a lot like kindy – I am only planning on doing main lesson 1 day a week for my 1st grader this year. And it will be mostly art-based (painting, modeling, etc.).
      HTH.
      Sheila

      Reply

      • I’m in Thinking Feeling Willing this year so I’m learning lots from that. I am doing kindergarten with my son this year. I bought Oak Meadow before I figured out I wanted to go all the way with Waldorf :) (not using it…just looking at it as a story reference/idea reference right now). I think I’ll buy the Living Language and maybe buy Melisa’s 1st grade reference. Do you agree that having Living Language & Melisa’s 1st grade curriculum & Joyful Movement (which includes math) would help me to figure out plans for 1st grade for next year? If I’m understanding others’ reviews and what I’ve read/researched, then it seems to be sufficient. I also have lots of old teacher ideas here (former public school teacher) for language arts b/c I preferred hands-on activities and not worksheets back when I taught.

        Reply

        • Yes. I think that would be a great combination (Living Lang, Melisa’s grade 1 and Joyful Movement). I like the balance of using both Christopherus and Waldorf Essentials.

          Reply

  4. Thanks for your feedback! This has been what my “gut” has been telling me b/c I figured between those materials (and my own toolkit of ideas) I could customize a Waldorf inspired 1st grade year for my son. I have Christopherus kindergarten & Melisa’s kindergarten right now (which are totally different than 1st grade, of course) and know it’s crazy I’m fixated on thinking ahead to first grade for next year but I’d like to have it figured out way in advance so I can enjoy it more when it comes :)

    Reply

  5. I love it! Thank you so much. I have been struggling, because my 7yo BOY is so reticent to do a main lesson everyday. He loves math, and has a head for #’s as well, but I needed a little more “meat” than what Christopherus offered. We started our math block today….. I am going to use your suggestions to fill in the empty spots. Thanks! Jen

    Reply

    • Hey Jen,
      We are using the Christopherus syllabus as well (the old edition). This is my first time teaching grade 1 via Waldorf. I guess you could say we were unschoolers back when Vincent was that age. If your son is reluctant to do main lesson, have you seen the post “Homeschool SOS“? It is what I fall back on. Glad you’re here.
      Sheila

      Reply

  6. wow, just happened upon your blog and wanted to say thank you for sharing your plan. we won’t start grade one until the fall, but clearly i’m already thinking it through. seeing and hearing what others do/recommend is incredibly helpful. again, thank you for being so open with your homeschooling journey : )

    Reply

    • Hey Heather,
      This is the first time I am teaching grade 1 with Waldorf inspired methods. (We came to Waldorf when my older son was in grade 3.) It has been such a fun year! You can see my original notes and plans for grade 1 under “planning” at the top of my blog and then the actual stuff we did is archived along the right side under “grade 1”.
      Glad you’re here.
      Sheila

      Reply

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