First Grade

Religion: The Children’s Bible (Golden Press); Word of Life 1 (Augustine Institute), Religion for Young Catholics 1 (Seton Press)

Language Arts:

Phonics: Phonics: Core Skills Grade 2 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers), Classical Phonics: A Child’s Guide to Word Mastery, Phonics Guide for Reading and Spelling 1st Grade (Cheryl Lowe, Memoria Press)

Spelling: Spelling by Sound and Structure Grade 2 (Rod and Staff Publishers, Inc.)In our spelling curriculum we work to strengthen the pupil’s understanding of the meaning of the new words as they work with synonyms, antonyms, definitions, picture clues, context clues, and categories of words.” Students will also “work with phonetic patterns as beginning and ending sounds, long and short vowels,consonant blends, digraphs, double consonants, etc. teaching word structure as syllables, plurals, verb forms, and suchlike.

Reading: American Language Series, Primary Phonics Reader Sets, Story Time Treasures, More Story Time Treasures (Memoria Press). Students will practice short vowel sounds, consonant clusters, and silent e’s.

Math: Beginning Arithmetic Grade 1 (Rod and Staff Publishers, Inc.)

First grade mathematics focuses on drill and memorization of math facts.

First Grade Enrichment (Memoria Press)

Handwriting:
First graders will learn manuscript, and will start cursive at the end of first semester. Our cursive books, New American Cursive, Workbook 1 and Copybook Cursive Book 2 (both from Memoria Press) do double duty as handwriting practice and memory work. Students copy scripture verses and the names of Greek gods and the brightest stars in the universe.

Topics covered in daily recitation:
Through the course of the year, the students will memorize various facts in geography, science, and history including the seven continents, the eight planets, the five categories of vertebrates, the first president; two temperature systems, boiling and freezing points, the terms omnivore, carnivore, and herbivore, the date and pilots of the first flight, U.S. time zones and the cardinal directions.