The First Grade Lesson Plans are similar in format to the Kindergarten Lesson Plans except that they offer a lot more as your child becomes more immersed in school. Now there are four pages dedicated to each week of lessons. the first two pages provide a parent's preparation check list, weekly goals, overviews of week's assignments and much more. The layout is both beautiful and easy-to-use. The final two pages for the week are a planner-format lessons chart with ample room around the edges for notes, additions, changes, etc. The lesson plans are organized around a four-day work week, allowing families to plan a special day for field trips, family activities, house cleaning, or just catching up.

The basic texts used are: Little Stories for Little Folks (Catholic Phonics Readers), My Very First Catholic Speller, MCP Math Level A, the New Catholic Picture Bible by Fr. Lovasik, Faith and Life Book One, A Year With God: Celebrate the Saints Throughout the Year, Easy as 1,2,3,: A Catholic Overview of Science, Writing Can Help by Marie Picard, Art with a Purpose, Our Musical Year and Fun Physical Fitness for the Home. Recommended supplemental materials, great children's stories for reading practice and beautiful character-building cards are also included. Very impressive!

New Revised Edition: The new Revised Edition of the First Grade Lesson Plans (available Fall 2002) includes the following improvements: Page numbers updated to correspond with the revised edition of Faith and Life Activity Book, Grade 1, "Year At-a-Glance Chart" for ease of planning (pages 30-31), "Read-Aloud List" for locating read-alouds each week (pages 32-33), "Art Appreciation List" for locating art masterpieces each week (page 34), alternate illustrated chore chart (page 187), Larger character-building cards in Appendix Two for ease of use, updated resource section (pages 212-220) new additions to the "Frequently-Asked Questions and Answers", Revised selections for art appreciation (ones that are easier to locate), page numbers added to the lesson plan. The revised edition is 220 pages (compared to the previous 195), but the price is unchanged at $24.95.

I love homeschooling and am fascinated with science but frankly I've been pulling my hair out over the past few years trying to keep up with what I'm "supposed" to be doing with science.

Let's see, first my children are to be drawn into the topic through stories that the child will find captivating (Charlotte Mason.) Next they are to memorize facts related to the topic and "think" about it logically (Classical method) and also conduct experiments (hands on.) Finally the little ones are to pull it all together in a journal or lab manual in order to consolidate it in their minds and truly make it their own. The parent-teacher is also to organize these science activities in a logical way and carry them out while simultaneously teaching her other children who also have their own captivating home-grown science programs.

With all these challenges it's little wonder many of us have let science fall to the way-side or have reverted to boring, lifeless textbooks. I'm excited to say that this won't be the case for our younger children anymore. Catholic Heritage Curricula Grade 2 Lesson Plans pull together what will be for many families the ideal science program. Using just two easy to use books, Easy As 1, 2, 3 Science Overview and Catholic Stories from Science 2, the authors have woven a science program that: draws the student into the topic through interesting stories, provides factual information to be discussed and learned, offers links with real life events and experiments, and relates all matters back to God.

Catholic Stories from Science is in a larger and more readable format then the first edition. Each story immediately captures the attention of the student by using events that are in their everyday life. For example, the complicated topic of pheromones is made simple by telling a story about a family cat who marks his territory (and do you know how it is that God has marked you?) Who would have guessed that exocrine glands could be so interesting! After the students interest is caught the author provides detailed factual information that provides a firm foundation for later science studies.

These stories are paired with assignments from Easy As 1, 2, 3. At first glance, this book appears too simple to be helpful, but in reality it is extremely clever for it has broken into chunks the important aspects of science, working first from the most fundamental level, while at the same time providing discussion prompts to encourage the child to "think" about the topic rather then just memorize and regurgitate. How does this play out in the real homeschool. In one of the first weeks of the lesson plans we see that the child is reading a chapter about the physical make-up of an animal in Catholic Stories from Science. During that same week he is assigned the grade appropriate plan in Easy As 1, 2, 3 which instruct him as to a particular family of animals to study (e.g. carnivores.) The family makes use of their own library to read more about that animal family and then follow the suggestions in Easy As 1, 2, 3 for activities such as making comparison charts or tracings along with simple experiments. For the family that wants more experiments specific assignments from Everyday Science Sourcebook are offered. Toward the end of the week the child begins to pull the material together through discussions with his parent-teacher using the discussion prompts in Easy As 1, 2 3. These thoughtful prompts range from questions about the usefulness of the way the animal was designed to thinking of ways that God's faithfulness is seen in the organization of the universe.

So many science programs skip around from topic to topic or start at a high level without offering the fundamental information that serve as the building blocks for higher level science studies. After ten years of creating my own lesson plans I'm delighted with the CHC plans and am especially pleased that the second grade science plans provide structure within which science is connected with real life experiences. Thank you, Catholic Heritage Curricula; this summer will see me laughing in the fields with the children and not inside, cramped over a notebook amidst a pile of science books that refuse to give up the perfect lesson plan.

Do you remember third grade? I do – the field trips, the reading everything on which I could get my hands, the multiplication tables and pride when I had done all the way from zero to 12. Third grade is a marvelous year – independent learning starts and reading really takes off. Critical thinking, composition and communication skills broaden and strengthen. But, how does a home school parent ensure creating an environment that allows for these skills to grow, that encourages independence while nurturing?

Theresa Johnson’s CHC Lesson Plans: Third Grade (revised 2006) may just be the answer! Johnson encourages the parent to allow the third grader to keep his own study chart while the parent monitors progress. The third grader is given a list of weekly tasks in all subject areas, including some suggested wonderful books to read for pleasure, and the parent can adjust as necessary. In CHC Lesson Plans: Third Grade, you get all the subjects covered: math, reading, spelling, grammar, religion, science, social studies, handwriting and the fine arts. Each subject is laid out for each for the entire school year, with a different presentation for the independent learner and a more-detailed plan for the parents.

One of my favorite parts of any of the CHC Lesson Plans is the supplemental material that CHC provides in addition to the actual lesson plans. CHC Lesson Plans: Third Grade (revised 2006) includes many extras such as the age-appropriate and curriculum tie-in “Memory Gems” –short quotes or poems that the student can memorize, recite or copy into her own journal. Longer poems or quotes are also suggested and included in the plans.

Usually, third graders are becoming more fluent with their reading – to encourage this, CHC Lesson Plans: Third Grade (revised 2006) includes not only a wonderful age- and topic-appropriate reading list, but also some fantastic suggestions for creative book reports including creating movable dioramas, writing newspaper articles based on “interviewing” a book’s main character, scripting of a pivotal scene from the book and other ideas. There is also a section for the reader to keep track of the different genres read throughout the year – adventure stories, folk tales, lives of the saints, and others. This is a great way for kids to expand their reading and taste-test some different types of books.

Because CHC is a Catholic publisher, there is always a wonderful religion program included in their lesson plans. In CHC Lesson Plans: Third Grade (revised 2006), there is an amazing and creative rosary project titled, “At the Feet of Mary”. Notebooking pages, beautifully illustrated with original sketches, are also included.

For Social Studies, CHC has created a “Tour a Country: Learning About Other Lands and Peoples” project for the student to work on throughout the year. Basically, the student “travels” to a different country each month and completes notebooking pages and activities to “own” the information he learns about each country and its inhabitants. Reproducible pages make this a keepsake project for your world traveler!

The final extra in this lesson plan is a packet of suggested “Catholic Math Activities”. These are great ideas for living math, but the Catholic aspect can be a bit of a stretch. But this doesn’t reduce the value of these ideas – many different and creative ways for the third grader to embrace math as a fun and exciting subject, not just memorization of math facts.

Overall, I like the CHC plans the best of most of those on the market that I’ve reviewed. I don’t follow them slavishly but adjust as I see fit for my children. I can’t wait to “do” 3rd grade this year with my son, thanks to CHC’s lesson plans! By the way, most of the resources suggested in the lesson plans are also available from CHC's web site – I LOVE one-stop shopping!