Kindergarten curriculum?

[KYHokiemom]

I'm starting kindergarten this fall with my 3rd dd. It's been a few years, and she is advanced due to being around the school table all her life ;). She's finished Singapore K Math and I'm wondering where to begin my planning for her and how much she should do with the older 2 kids (ds91/2, dd8) and how much she should do separately with me. She will be incorportated into history (american next year) and science (debating btwn physics since I have 3rd and 4th graders next year or Apologia Zoology) and read-a- louds. Any help thinking through this would be so helpful. Should she just have reading/ phonics and math separate from the big kids? Should I have separate reading time with her for lit? Thanks.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Just having math and phonics separately, sounds good. I do an extra read-a-loud for my younger child right before our quiet time. She loves having a special time just for "her" books.

[Alana in Canada]

Both od those science programs sound a bit too advanced for a K'er. If you can swing it, perhaps the two of you could do something together?

Defionitely have something separate with her for "lit"--even if it is just reading aloud. After all, this is her first year of "school" and she should feel like it's something special!

But, yes, keep it light. Phonics, math (Singnapore 1A and 1B plus whatever she need to keep her skills sharp) and Read-Alouds plus a little science (maybe reading picture books on animals?) will be lots for that age.

By the way--my daughter whizzed through Singapore 1A and 1B. I had great plans for her finishing up really early with math. But it takes some maturity to handle 2A and 2B and I had to scramble like mad to find workbooks and worksheets to just keep her doing a bit of math every day. At six, she just wasn't ready to handle three digit subtraction with borrowing!

[OhElizabeth]

I'd do the science that fits your older kids (sounds like the physics would be good) and do the Let's Read and Find Out books with your K5er. They're wonderful, cover lots of the basics, and come at a couple levels. Your library will have them, or try ebay or RR.

If you want to have some read alouds that are at her level, that would be lovely. The FIAR books and SL K core read alouds are terrific for that age. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just a pile and pulling one off to read. I'll bet your olders would enjoy the SL K core read alouds as well! Nuts, my dd still likes the FIAR books. :)

[Soph the vet]

I will also have an advanced K'er next year. She will be invited to listen to history (while coloring) and science but it she doesn't have to be there like my older two. If she is reading by then (hopefully we will finish 100EZ by summer) then we will do MFW K and Saxon 1. She might also do Spelling Workout A as it is very easy and she likes spelling things. The only other thing would be lots of handwriting practice.

[prairiegirl]

I will be doing K with my last one in the fall. I plan on doing reading/math separate. I also want to do more nature study activities with her as well. I am sure she will want to sit in on science with her siblings as we are doing physics and there will be experiments. She will be doing science as a tag-along. I won't expect her to do anything formal with this. I also read to her separately as I don't want her to miss out on the great chapter books that her brother and sister were exposed to at that age.


Julia
mom of 3 (8,7,5)

[Sue G in PA]

It has Bible (oh, don't know if that's what you wanted!), phonics, science, reading, read-alouds, etc. Very fun, easy to teach, etc. IMNSHO, K should be a time of learning to read or learning letters (whichever stage the dc is at), exploring, basic math skills, play, basically just a "taste" of what's to come. MFW K does all these things. Of course, many just design their own curriculum and that's just as good :) If the Ker WANTS to sit in on History reading and science, let him/her, but don't expect narrations (unless an older Ker), writing, etc. Don't expect the level of understanding to be much. Apologia might be over her head. BUT, she can "help" with the "fun" experiments, etc. REally, focus on the basics and let her curiosity guide you in the other areas

[Nissi]

My advanced K'er loved the Five In a Row Program. He is now 12 and remember it with much fondness.
Nissi

[KYHokiemom]

Thanks. I'll check out the Let's Read and Find Out books - that sounds like a gentle approach. Dd is also very hands on, so I wonder how to incorporate her learning style with all of the reading. Maybe a lapbook?

I used the RAL from SL for K for the other children, so yes, I should pull those back out! :) I'm so used to doing so much all together, that I forget!

[KYHokiemom]

Yes, this year dd always wanted to sit in on science and history. In fact this happened so much, that I gave her a notebook to write her 'science vocabulary words'! She just wants to do what the big kids do! She can tell you all about the protons, neutrons and atomic "a*ses" (mass). Anyways, wanting to let her explore, allow her to participate and yet wanting her to have her own fun school.

[KYHokiemom]

Yes, thank you! I just went to RR and looked at the Let's Read and Find Out books. I looked at them a month ago at a local bookstore and had put them on my RR wish list. Yes, that is what I will use with dd. Thanks! Now, any ideas for hands on projects to go with these books?

[OhElizabeth]

Well spring is coming up, so it's a good time to get her her own field guides (birds, trees, wildflowers, we even have state specific ones). My dd loved having a "track pack" at that age to bring back goodies in from walks. We would take walks every day and identify the wildflowers as they came up. You can raise butterflies, put worms in a compost bin (or a storage bin with scraps), grow seeds. My dd liked looking at the stars at that age, so I got a nighttime dial guide where you could turn it to the time and date and see what the constellations were. The man who wrote Curious George has a delightful book for this age. I would trace over the pattern and she would connect the dots to create her own notebook of constellations. You can press the flowers you find and turn them into crafts. The LR&FO books cover so many topics, you should be able to figure out things to go with them. You can read the butterfly book and then raise butterflies. Read the worms book and then buy worms to put in a compost bin.

She might enjoy having some sewing supplies. Laurie makes kits for that age with punched felt. My dd liked to cut scraps, pin them together, and turn them into outfits for her stuffed animals. Model Magic by Crayola is a lot of fun for that age. It's not as stiff as Sculpey, but it still gives a really nice product. I even took her to a papermaking session at the library that would be straightforward enough to do at home if you got a book telling how. You basically use ripped up paper, put it in the blender with water and fun things, strained it out flat, then ironed.

Oo, at that age my dd also started knitting on a spool knitter. It looks like a mushroom and they loop the yarn around then flip it with the included hook. There are also knitters that make lines. You can get them at Joanns, Walmart, whereever. I like to crochet, but that's too hard for that age, at least it was for my dd. Knitting with the spool knitter was something she could do. Now she has someone who has taught her to really knit, which is cool too. But that takes two hands and is better for when they're older, 8 or 9 maybe.

[kokotg]

your K plans (and kindergartner) sound similar to mine. My middle ds will turn 5 in May, and right now he's doing Headsprout for phonics and is 3/4 of the way through Singapore Earlybird. Next year, he'll do Singapore 1 a/b, and we'll have to see how far along he is with reading to decide what Language Arts program to do. We're planning on doing Winterpromise's American History next year, and one of the reasons I decided to take a break from SOTW and do WP is because I felt like the 5 year old would get more out of it. He already follows along in history and science, so he'll keep doing that (if he gets bored, he's allowed to go play quietly, but he usually sticks around). I try to read library books to him and his 2 year old brother while my oldest is doing his own reading. So, yeah, basically we'll do LA and math separately and just try to make sure I spend plenty of time reading to him at his own level. Oh, I also bought Lollypop Logic for him when I was ordering critical thinking books for my older son, so we try to do that a couple of times a week, too.

[drpeppermom]

I checked out as many books as I could find on the Five In A Row list. He also liked DK books with the nice pictures, and Usborne books about animals, science, magnets, and stuff like that. :)