As the back to school signs have sprung up in all the shops, we too are getting organised for our own homeschooling year. Of course we can start it any time of the year, for us the summer means summer holidays and spending quality time with family and friends. So what’s in store in our homeschool this year? Well Ammarah (now turned 5) will be starting Year 1 (which I’m so excited about – as this was the year I taught in School) and Hibah (now age 3 and a half) will be in nursery. Both personalities are very different, Hibah is quite hands on and likes her messy play and Ammarah on the other hand enjoys learning new phonics sounds, reading challenging books and loves maths sums and puzzles. I’ve decided to pitch the topic/themes at the year 1 level to ensure Ammarah covers her learning and I’m hoping to differentiate for Hibah where needed and continue our learning through play. Of course at the same time I can imagine Hibah joining in at story time, arts and crafts and much more so I don’t expect it to be 2 different plans at all. In fact I will just ensure there are some activities set out for Hibah to run off to so a) she doesn’t distract her sister and b) she gets plenty of independent play!

In this post I’m going to lay out my annual plan of the year to show you how planning yearly helps layout an idea for the year. That doesn’t of course mean anything is set in stone, because we all know how flexible homeschooling can be, but at the same time, the annual plan gives you a rough guide of what topics I plan to cover in the different seasons (or in my case the heat here in Saudi Arabia). I’m sharing what I will cover for both English and Maths, the books I have bought or will look into and of course my trusty Twinkl resources that I plan to be using throughout the year.

In my past experience as a Primary School teacher, I do glance over the national curriculum as a guide (as its something I’m so used to doing now) to create my own curriculum for the year. The best part of it is I get to tailor the curriculum to my child’s needs and interest. Literacy is always a focus in all year groups but especially in Year 1 because it is the initial stages of reading of writing that occur in this year! So here’s a brief over view of what Year 1 is all about with regards to English and Maths:

English/Literacy: Phonics 3, 4, and 5, sentence writing, captions, lists and labels, fairy tales, stories from other cultures, simple poems, recounts, and instructions. Spellings, punctuation: . , ? ! ” “, grammar: plurals, -es endings, possessive ‘s,

Maths/Numeracy: Number 1-100, 1 more, 1 less, addition, subtraction, counting in 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, time o’clock and half past, (1/4 to and past), number bonds to 20, measurement, weight and capacity etc.

As I have mentioned in numerous previous blogposts and videos, I like to plan with a theme in mind so it covers the foundation subjects, by this I mean the sciences, art, history/geography, religion, Computing, Design Technology and Physical Education where necessary. This is how we did it at school, I’ve seen it in action (works very well) and have adopted the same principle in our homeschool. Here’s a layout of this year’s annual plan for Year 1.

Year 1 Annual Homeschooling Plans:

September:

Theme: Once Upon A Time

English: Recount – summer holiday, Fairy Tales (5 weeks) story writing, description, beginning, middle end, characters, setting, Phase 4 phonics review + 5 phonics.

Maths: Number, Counting on the 100 square, 1 more, 1 less, Addition + subtraction, Time ( 2 weeks), Measure ( length)

Foundation Subjects: looking back at the summer holidays + where we travelled (geography), Fairy Tales – role play, drama, art – character masks, character hot seating, re-writing ending, mix and match fairy tales, type up story (IT), yoga fairy tales (PE)

Resources: Fairy Tale Story Telling Dice Game, Fairy Tale character Traits Poster, Fairy Tale Land Poster, The Gingerbread Man story sack, The 3 little pigs story sack, Cinderella story sack, 

OCTOBER: 

Theme: Once Upon A Time

English: Phase 5 phonics, Black History month(1 week), Story of Prophet Dawud (1 week) – stories from a range of cultures (2 weeks) Mama Panya’s pancakes, Malaysian folk tale.

Maths: Fractions, multiplication and division – sums and stories

Foundation Subjects: History – story of Bilal ibn Rabah + film, cooking Mama Panya’s pancakes, religion – Islamic Story of Prophet Sulayman, Geography – Malaysian folktale, morals,

Resources: Pancake fraction posters, Black History Month resource pack, Babushka E-book,

NOVEMBER: 

Theme: Light and Dark

English: Holiday diary + recount of break, Information texts, labels, lists and captions,

Maths: Place value, properties of shape,

Foundation Subjects: Science – nocturnal animals – factfile, light, shadow making, experiments, bonfire

Resources: Nocturnal animals Powerpoint, Nocturnal Animals KS1 Resource Pack, Light & Dark display pack, Light and Dark Challenge Cards, 

DECEMBER: 

Theme: Light and Dark

English: Dictionary work + letter writing (Beegu)

Maths: 3d shape and patterns

Foundation Subjects: Science – materials, creating Reflective Clothing, glow in the dark fashion show, creation of the world – Islamic Studies, Beegu story, space walking  – PE

Resources: Islamic Creation Story, reflective clothing posters, Everyday Materials – Year 1,

JANUARY: 

Theme: Toys and Games

English: Instructions (2 weeks) + recipe writing

Maths: Weight and volume

Foundation Subjects: Science – materials, Old and new toys – history, observing changes,

Resources: KS1 Terrific Toys & Games Reading Pack, Old and New toy sorting activity, Toys: Then and Now powerpoint, History: Toys KS1 unit pack, 

FEBRUARY: 

Theme: Toys and Games

English: Poetry – poems on a theme – food and toys.

Maths: Addition and subtraction, problem solving  – money

Foundation Subjects: Design Technology/Art – drawing and designing your own toy, pitching your toy design to a group of ‘experts’.

Resources: Toy Design Powerpoint, Moving Toys Design Pack, Toy Poem,

MARCH: 

Theme: Mini-beasts & Imaginary Creatures

English: Stories about fantasy worlds (4 weeks) – The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom etc

Maths: Place value and Word problems.

Foundation Subjects: Science – mini-beast hunt, sorting, art – creating a fantasy world, Islamic Studies – story of Buraq.

Resources: Minibeasts Craft pack, Minibeasts Maths Activity Pack, Minibeasts Investigation Role Play Pack, Imaginary Creatures Description Pack, Minibeast Sorting Activity, Minibeast Nursery Rhymes, KS1 Fantasy Story Writing Pack, 

APRIL: 

Theme: Zoom About (Transport through time)

English: Stories from familiar settings, Postman Pat special delivery,

Maths: Data – graphs, Position and direction

Foundation Subjects: IT – beebot app, coding, History/geography – Old and new transport, Comparing both, DT – constructing Viking boats

Resources: Free Planning Overview for Travel & Transport, KS1 Transport Activity Pack, Transport Themed KS1 Maths Activity Booklet, KS1 lesson Plans and ideas Pack for Transport, 

MAY: 

Theme: Ramadan

Check out all my Ramadan related resources and ideas here.

JUNE: 

Summer holidays + EID (UK)

JULY: 

Theme: Nature Studies (UK)

English: Nature Journaling, writing postcards and letters to friends abroad,

Maths: REVIEW

Foundation Subjects: gardening, nature walks, nature hunt, trees, flowers, growing food and plants, nature art. Willow & Wild Nature Boxes, Art Nature

Resources: Willow & Wild Nature Box Subscription, Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt, Art: Nature Sculptures KS1 Unit Pack, 

AUGUST: 

Theme: Hajj (UK)

Check out all my Hajj related resources and ideas here.

That’s all from me on our Annual planning. What do you think? Will be planning for the year too? Share in the comments below. To help you get started here’s an Annual Plan Template for you to download for FREE. Happy Planning! 🙂

DISCLAIMER: 

*We have been given a 7 months free subscription to access Twinkl resources – all comments, views and recommendations are my own and resources are selected based on our homeschool learning.

www.mamateachesme.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.