What do you teach in Kindergarten?

[khope1]

I am brand new to homeschooling and my daughter will be starting Kindergarten in the fall (she is actually already doing it now). I LOVE MUS already and she is almost finished with Primer, so for math we are set-and she LOVES it. But what else needs to be covered realistically? We are using Hooked on Phonics and she is almost through box 1. Any recommendations would be great. Also, recommendations on curriculum would be great too. Thanks in advance.
Kimmi

[chiguirre]

That sounds great. I'd probably add in a handwriting curriculum, but that's up to you depending on how well she writes. I'd also add in lots of read-alouds. You can do this on your own or you can follow a curriculum. Some that I've used and like are Five in a Row:

http://www.fiarhq.com/

Sonlight Core B or C:

http://www.sonlight.com/

There's also Ambleside Online Year 0:

http://www.amblesideonline.org/00.shtml

Winterpromise Animal Worlds:

http://www.winterpromise.com/getting_started.html

You don't have to do any of these, but if you'd like a guide to using living books for learning, these are all good places to start.

Good luck and enjoy your year!

[stephanie]

I am brand new to homeschooling and my daughter will be starting Kindergarten in the fall (she is actually already doing it now). I LOVE MUS already and she is almost finished with Primer, so for math we are set-and she LOVES it. But what else needs to be covered realistically? We are using Hooked on Phonics and she is almost through box 1. Any recommendations would be great. Also, recommendations on curriculum would be great too. Thanks in advance.
Kimmi

We do OPGTR with ETC workbooks which I think reinforce our phonics curriculum. We also to HWT for handwriting, Saxon 1 math. For the most part she reads to me and I read to her. I'm trying to enjoy her K'er year and let her play and explore all she wants! She also does art activity packs by Mila Boutan. For history, science, music, and geography she sits in with big brother and sis. We do SL for history and Apologia Astronomy for science. For music we do Themes to Remember, and Galloping the Globe for geography.She really just participates in our projects, but she is learning a lot still. HTH!

[Beth in Central TX]

This year my Kindergartener is doing R&S Math, Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading along with Phonics Pathways, R&S Developing Motor Skills. We are reading through some basic science books: The Natural World and DK Human Body. I'm also reading through SOTW I, but we'll do ancients again next year.

We do math, reading, & phonics Monday through Thursday. We do art, science, and history on Friday.

[momtolgd]

Hi. My 5yo dd is doing K this year. Here's what we are using:

Math: We did Singapore Earlybird 1a and 1b, and then moved onto Horizons K. We also now have a Base 10 block set which we will be starting to play with.

Phonics: We did the 3 pre-explode the code books first (Get ready for the Code, Get set for the Code, and Go for the Code.) Then we have just recently started Explode the Code 1. We also began the Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading. I write out the lesson on the whiteboard, and she loves being able to erase it after she reads! We will also be reading some Bob Books, and Dick and Jane books as she becomes ready to.

Handwriting: We just started Getty-Dubay Italics book A in January.

She also sits in with her older brother on history and science.

We also lightly use Themes to Remember for music appreciation. And she participates in 5 classes at our weekly co-op.

[kalanamak]

Kumon books for mazes, cutting, pasting, telling time, etc. Phonics pathway, the Bob books, that set of Classical composers CDs everyone uses (esp. in the car), conversational reviews of art books, a globe and map to point out anything we talk about, pictures of famous things (acropolis, eiffel tower, etc), Mudpies to Magnets and Everybody has a body, various human body books found at Goodwill, reading aloud until I'm hoarse, outside 2+ hours per day plus swimming, childsized drill and saw and hammer in the shop with goggles and gloves (for the saw), and pre-history...dinos, ice age, cave paintings, etc in prep for the ancients in 1st grade. I also have a hands-on art area.
Ask anything here. You'll be amazed at how me "we" know.
HTH

[Wendy in ME]

Well here's my plan for next year. It will be my first time with K. We pulled the older boys out in 2nd and 3rd.

My goal for him is to be reading at the end of K, be able to write, and have basic math concepts. Every time I start to look at full curricula, I just repeat this to myself. He is only 5. I want him to have fun. Here is what we plan to use: Rightstart A, OPGTR, and A Reason for Handwriting. Everything else will be covered with read aloud time about various educational subjects as well as just great stories.

[Tonia]

We are doing a K4 year here - the basics are phonics, handwriting and math using OPG with ETC (we use ETC to cover handwriting and phonics reinforcement) and math (either a few pages in her workbook or a hands-on game). I don't force her to do any work, but keep it available for those times when she wants to do something.

The "gravy" - some light work on French (we live in Quebec so this is a must for us), we read a Bible or devotional at lunch with dad, lots of read-alouds and her favorite thing is science. I'm using a few evan-moor books and we are coving animals and their habitats. She LOVES doing her science.

The extras - I keep a magazine holder with workbooks (never-bored kid book, kumon workbooks, rod and staff along with ETC and math workbook) and she can use these whenever she wants to. She also has a craft area where she can do any crafty things she wants to do.

I am hoping to add in Right Start A, probably in the fall, but for now I'm just waiting to see if it is something I want to add at this point or if we'll wait on it.

I try to keep it light and just keep things accessible - there are things ready for her when she wants to do them or we just leave it and do other things.

[Lynn in Silicon Valley]

Singapore Math Earlybird,
A Reason for Handwriting K,
OPGTR for phonics,
library books for science (unit study: animals, solar system, human body)
listened in while the older siblings did SOTW

[khope1]

You girls are great! I need to go find the abbreviation list and go back to reread some of the suggestions since I have no idea what some of the things say. LOL
I saw that someone posted a schedule for the week. Does anyone else do things on a certain day?
Also, how long is your school day?
Thanks a bunch!
Kimmi

[tess in the burbs]

Reading, Writing and Math. We did go to the zoo and aquariums a lot too. Fun stuff!

[periwinklemommy]

My K'er is doing MUS, and Hooked on Phonics (he's almost done and we did 100EL first) and he did the first HWTs book, but now he's just copying for handwriting. That is all the "lessons" we do, but I have him color every day (to practice staying in the lines) and he loves dot to dots and he does every history project his brother does too.

Lisa

[Sue in St Pete]

We did reading and math. Five in a Row was summer fun.

Sue

[Heather in NC]

MUS for Math
A Reason for Handwriting
100 EZ lessons (for reading)
Lots of Bible stories
FIAR for fun

[mommahawk]

We're doing K this year for my dd.

M-F:
~Phonics Pathways (+Reading Pathways for fluency)
~Singapore Math 1A, 1B (+ Extra Practice (EP) and Word Problems (CWP))
~A Reason for Handwriting A

M, W, F:
~Spelling Workout A (just started in January when halfway through Phonics Pathways like SWB suggests)
~McGuffey's Primer

T, Th:
~Explode the Code (ETC) 1, 2
~"Fun" Readers (old elem. school readers I picked up at thrift stores)

dd LOVES workbooks and asks to do ETC and Spelling. We do little spelling tests on Friday just for fun because she gets excited when she gets a *100%* :)

[angela in ohio]

Our kindergarten is 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. We do one lesson of math (Liberty Mathematics) and one lesson of phonics (Horizons.) We also do daily poetry memory, Bible book reading, reading from the longer work we are reading through (Winnie-the-Pooh, My Father's Dragon, etc.) and a "project" (usually a cut-and-paste thing from Kumon or online.) One day a week we read from History for Little Pilgrims. One day we read from a CLP science book. We also read picture books (2/wk), math books (2/wk), and science picture books (2/wk.) Then ds reads aloud to me a bit from his Horizon reader or a picture book. We would also do math manipulative work, but they are all packed up for the move.

[SandraDumas]

Stick with HOP and she should probably just go at her own pace but ideally through level 5 for K, would be on par with private schools.

You have to add handwriting since HOP doesn't cover that. You have to decide if you want to use italics, ball and stick or pre-cursive, or even just start with cursive.

If you decide on ball and stick, then I really love Reason for Handwriting. It's so pretty and nicely laid out. It's pleasing to the eye and has lots of practice. I have used level K and now into level one and my son has great handwriting.

Also you will want to find some nice Kindergarten lined paper for the occasional letter review, or such. In K we didn't do copywork because letters were covered with RFH. But we often used paper to review letters my ds needed extra practice with.

And also a very nice book that we enjoyed and used is Five in a Row. If you like the idea of getting beautiful children's books and then doing simple but effective unit studies based on the book, FIAR will suit you. It's very fun, gentle, interesting,and affordable. You can go all-out with it and do lapbooking (which I don't usually recommend) or you can keep it simple and just do the suggested exercises and activities.

That;s it. If you can afford more, then maybe look into getting some fun music stuff like Band in a Box. I really want to get one of those for my dd this coming year.

For art SWB recommends Drawing with Children. If your dd has an interest in learning how to *really* draw this will be fun. But my kids only want to make messes with paint and do crafts at this age. Or if she has very good motor skills and attention span you may try artistic pursuits. I will be using this for my 6.5 and 5 year olds next year.

[one l michele]

"Scribble Art"
HWOT Letters and Numbers for Me
SWR to teach reading, then move into spelling
Singapore Earlybirds 1A-2A, then Horizon K math
books from the Sonlight and FIAR lists

[chiguirre]

Stick with HOP and she should probably just go at her own pace but ideally through level 5 for K, would be on par with private schools.


There must be different sets of HOP. In the set I have, Level 1 is K (just CVC words). Levels 2 and 3 are First Grade and they line up with Explode the Code 1, 2 and 3 as well as Calvert School first grade. Levels 4 and 5 are for second grade. The set I have has 5 boxes each a different color. It would be great to be able to finish them ahead of time, but go at your child's pace.

[Trivium Academy]

It'll be my first and last time doing K, shudder:

BIBLE
Tomie De Paola's Bible Stories, then
Leading Little Ones to God, then
Big Thoughts for Little People
Virtues to focus on: Respect, Honesty, Obedience

PHONICS
Sing, Spell, Read & Write
possibly with Explode the Code?
Bob Books, Nora Gaydos readers, Dick and Jane

HANDWRITING
SSR&W might be enough, will decide later
Possibly start poetry copywork with handwritng font

MATH: Horizons K
HISTORY: Galloping the Globe with older sis as a family activity

these are informally through reading --------------------------------------
LA: Tons of reading including The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh, Charlotte's Web and fairy tales, folklore and fables.
SCIENCE: Dinosaurs and Nature Study

through play-----------------------------------------------------
MUSIC: Themes to Remember, listening
FRENCH:Songs and Games

[Closeacademy]

For K, I like to keep it simple and fun. We concentrate on the three R's of reading, penmanship and mathematics.

If you have something you like for those three then you are set.

What we are using:

Singagpore Earlybird 2a/b for math
Spell to Write and Read Phonograms for phonics
Pretty copywork pages and copying mommy's letters for penmanship. I generally write a letter at a time and then we find that we have a special secret word that is revealed.

I also give my child a review book but for this age it has coloring pages, letter coloring pages with pictures that make the sound of the letter, number value pages (cirlce the number or match the objects and number), what doesn't belong, mazes, hidden pictures, dot to dot (alphabet and numbers), and tracing pages or penmanship pages. I just redo the book every week and let her do what she wants with it.

We also read a lot at bedtime. For K we seem to like:

Dr. Suess
Elsa Beskow
Fairy Tales
Franklin the Turtle
Jan Brett
Stuart J. Murphy Mathstart books

Good luck and I hope you have a great year.:)

[kalanamak]

I saw that someone posted a schedule for the week. Does anyone else do things on a certain day?
Also, how long is your school day?
Thanks a bunch!
Kimmi

I try to do something each day, just to keep moving on, but don't have a set time. I tried to do 10 minutes sitdownandlistentome work a day during K4, just to start down the path, but it was a well-run, well-fed moment that I thought I would have success. Go from victory to victory, I say.

At 5.5 we do 20-30 minutes sit down 6 or 7 days a week, plus art and something fun in the science department a couple times a week. Read alouds are the bulk of the time. This week we are rereading all our Jan Brett. Yesterday, instead of Singapore EarlyBird for math (we are so close to the end) we sat and sorted, counted, added, subtracted, etc etc a 1/2 a shoebox of marbles of different styles and colors. He launched into counting by fives. I don't recall teaching him that!

At this age, it is ME who does the school work. I've got my stuff for next year, I'm reading it, taking notes, gathering what I'll need, and finding all those books from WTM used. I need to start hitting up Goodwill for notebooks, I think. However, I need to do this pre-planning because I work full time. YMMV (your mileage may vary).

Today is the field trip to a huge dairy, yayyay. Two yays because 1) he'll get to go and 2) Papa is taking him, not me.

I know this is chatty, but early on, I just wanted to hear what other people actually, physically DID (the "manipulative phase" of homeschooling!).
HTH

[SandraDumas]

long vowels. Previous to level 4 there are no long vowels. Here in florida even the horrible public schools teach long vowels at the end of kindergarten. I think if you did the last box in 2nd grade your dc would be woefully behind. But then again the whole point is to go at the child's pace, and lay a very solid foundation. So if you rush ahead that would also be unwise.

[Elm in NJ]

And we read a lot of books. That is all I think.

The first time I did K, it was like a mini-school. Circle time. math, art, music, science , language arts, the full works. I have mellowed (interpret it as more confidence in myself:D) since then however.

Elmeryl (with Jarel 12, Callan 8, Reyden 7, Leland, 7)

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

Does HOP cover handwriting?

If so, then just add in some good literature for read alouds and your all set! :D

Provide her with the time, space and materials to be creative. Play games, do puzzles..... etc.

[Jenstet]

We are working on preschool this year

Earlybird Singapore workbooks
Sing, Spell Read Write Pre-K
Goofy math games and manipulatives
lots of reading a-loud
writing is basically his name, letters and numbers at this point
Nursery Rhymes felt board and literature pockets from Evan-Moore

next year we are going to try
Math-U-See
Sing Spell Read Write combo
Fairy Tales and nursery rhymes
sitting in on the olders day for everything else but I have been looking at Core Knowledge for other extras. I like things laid out but with flexibility.

[Cadam]

I was in the same place as you! We use MUS and dd started on Primer when she was 5 because she wanted her own math program. We also finished up the yellow HOP box just before she turned 5yo.

I think it depends on the kid but we did fine adding a few things for K. We added a HWT workbook for handwriting and started FLL after Christmas the year she turned 5, but only as she wanted to do it and I didn't start FLL until she had gotten through all of the HOP levels.

That was pretty much all we did for K but she has an older sibling so she got to listen on read-alouds and do projects with him for things like history and science.

We only did anything when she wanted to in K but that wasn't a problem she still manages to be doing just fine.

[Isa]

The Kumon books are excellent, particularly if you have a child that enjoys crafts.
Read-aloud stories are very appealing for this age.
Handwriting and reading with a program of your choice.
Poetry memorization from Laura Berquist's A Harp and Laurel Wreath.
Lots of play time, songs, and games.

[khope1]

I guess I should have given a little more info on me when I asked this question. I used to be a teacher, so I think that I am really wrapped up in the whole curriculum idea and I think that I need to somehow let go of that, especially since she has learned so much without actually doing curriculum per se. Also the reason that I asked about a schedule is that I dont believe for a second that K'er's should be doing school all day like in PS. When I was a child, my K was 1/2 day and most of it was play. Right now, I think she does probably 1 hour maybe 3 times a week total-if lucky. And sometimes she wants to do "school but if she isnt focused, I stop her and tell her to go play. No point in doing it if she isnt learning.
She isnt really into art (which is my background), but really into music-and I have no idea what route to go with that. Someone mentioned Band in A Box, so I need to go look that up. Someone else mentioned classical cd's for kids, but I dont have an exact name. I tried to do a search in my library, but couldnt really find anything.
The HOP that I have is 5 boxes of different colors. I have no idea what the boxes mean in terms of grades or ages. I am not rushing through them. I am letting her go at her own pace.
She just turned 4 in January and wanted to start doing "School" at home. I really didnt want to start and someone gave me the Primer book so I bought the blocks. She kept flipping through the book telling me that she thought that she could do it. Since she drove me crazy everyday, I decided to start it (I figured no harm if she couldnt do it, I would just hold it until Kindergarten which is what my original plan was). She is almost done with the whole book and its been less than 2 months. She is also almost through the yellow box of HOP. I have been doing dry erase books(balla and stick method) for handwriting, but definately need more practice. Do I really NEED a "program" for handwriting, or can I just keep doing the dry erase, worksheets, and copywork for that? She started doing copywork on her own this week. She copies everything that she sees in her own notebook that she got in a goody bag at a birthday party. Its amazing what they will do on their own. I have SSRW and I can do those workbooks as well for handwriting, cutting, and such, but she took to the teaching of HOP better than SSWR. She does like the games in SSRW though. So because she is flying through all of this stuff on her own, my hubby and I decided that we would classify her as a K'er in the fall, even though we really dont have to, but that is why I am asking all of these questions about curriculum.
She is definately a kinesthetic learner and that is why MUS is such a blessing for us. I am looking for a science curriculum that is very hands on too, but not bible based and havent really found anything. I was looking into the Backyard Scientist books and maybe will stick with experiments for now since she is so young. We also get the Brighter Vision boxes every month and she LOVES those, so we will continue that as well.
Sorry about the tangent.....but thanks again in advance for all of your help. It is wonderful knowing that you can get answers from so many people all over the world, especially since my homeschool groups are relatively small and only contain 3-4 K'ers. :)
Kimmi in FL

[JESSICAinMD]

We use Singapore Early Bird A for math. We use Phonics Pathways, Get Ready for the Code, Bob books, and Starfall.com for phonics. We use Speecherize cds (my daughter has trouble pronouncing certain sounds). We use A Reason for Handwriting. We read books out of "Home Learning year by Year" for History and science. We have stacks of puzzles, board games, blocks, and dominos that my girls play. We do different crafts everyday. Right now, she is making bracelets with beads. We spend a lot of time at the park too. :)

[Narrow Gate Academy]

Our K sticks to the basics:

Phonics: Phonics Pathways and appropriate readers from the library
Math: We spend the year on Singapore 1A and Miquon Orange alternating days
Writing: I buy blank lined paper. I start by writing the letters in highlighter for tracing. Then I write dots to show where to start the letters and have them try on there own. Finally, we switch over to very short copywork selections.

Beyond that my younger Kers listen in with their older siblings for history or science as much as they want. I try to have a read aloud time scheduled just for them. My oldest did a geography theme. For my second we just read good literature like Charlotte's Web.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

We finished up K in December.

Rightstart Math A
Handwriting Without Tears
Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
Lots of read-alouds and projects in American History
Lots of general read-alouds
Lots of books and stories on CD
Bible (read through The Children's Illustrated Bible and 5-Minute Devotions for Kids)
A little bit of science here and there (Dig and Sow: How Do Plants Grow, More Mudpies to Magnets, Berenstain Bear's Big Book of Science and Nature...)
La Clase Divertida (Spanish)
Other things woven into our days such as The Story of the Orchestra (and the Classical Kids CDs), Fine Art picture books, U. S. States, world landmarks, Legends and Leagues (geography workbook)

We did very little formally. Most of our stuff was just part of our enjoyable day! We did memory work at breakfast, CDs all day long, a few educational TV programs here and there, outings whenever possible, lots of reading together. Our seat work (writing, phonics and math) probably took an hour/four days a week.

[attachedto4]

I guess I should have given a little more info on me when I asked this question. I used to be a teacher, so I think that I am really wrapped up in the whole curriculum idea and I think that I need to somehow let go of that, especially since she has learned so much without actually doing curriculum per se. Also the reason that I asked about a schedule is that I dont believe for a second that K'er's should be doing school all day like in PS. When I was a child, my K was 1/2 day and most of it was play. Right now, I think she does probably 1 hour maybe 3 times a week total-if lucky. And sometimes she wants to do "school but if she isnt focused, I stop her and tell her to go play. No point in doing it if she isnt learning.
She isnt really into art (which is my background), but really into music-and I have no idea what route to go with that. Someone mentioned Band in A Box, so I need to go look that up. Someone else mentioned classical cd's for kids, but I dont have an exact name. I tried to do a search in my library, but couldnt really find anything.
The HOP that I have is 5 boxes of different colors. I have no idea what the boxes mean in terms of grades or ages. I am not rushing through them. I am letting her go at her own pace.
She just turned 4 in January and wanted to start doing "School" at home. I really didnt want to start and someone gave me the Primer book so I bought the blocks. She kept flipping through the book telling me that she thought that she could do it. Since she drove me crazy everyday, I decided to start it (I figured no harm if she couldnt do it, I would just hold it until Kindergarten which is what my original plan was). She is almost done with the whole book and its been less than 2 months. She is also almost through the yellow box of HOP. I have been doing dry erase books(balla and stick method) for handwriting, but definately need more practice. Do I really NEED a "program" for handwriting, or can I just keep doing the dry erase, worksheets, and copywork for that? She started doing copywork on her own this week. She copies everything that she sees in her own notebook that she got in a goody bag at a birthday party. Its amazing what they will do on their own. I have SSRW and I can do those workbooks as well for handwriting, cutting, and such, but she took to the teaching of HOP better than SSWR. She does like the games in SSRW though. So because she is flying through all of this stuff on her own, my hubby and I decided that we would classify her as a K'er in the fall, even though we really dont have to, but that is why I am asking all of these questions about curriculum.
She is definately a kinesthetic learner and that is why MUS is such a blessing for us. I am looking for a science curriculum that is very hands on too, but not bible based and havent really found anything. I was looking into the Backyard Scientist books and maybe will stick with experiments for now since she is so young. We also get the Brighter Vision boxes every month and she LOVES those, so we will continue that as well.
Sorry about the tangent.....but thanks again in advance for all of your help. It is wonderful knowing that you can get answers from so many people all over the world, especially since my homeschool groups are relatively small and only contain 3-4 K'ers. :)
Kimmi in FL

I think your instincts are right on! MUS and HOP sound like plenty for K to me. And imo, no you don't need a handwriting program if you guys are already working on it together informally with her notebook. Notebooks are the greatest for little kids who like to write! My younger three each have their own with their name on the front, and practice their handwriting, spelling, and phonics every day with them. They write little stories, they ask me how to spell things, etc. They also like to do copywork and will copy lines from favorite picture books. When they were very little, it was "How do I make an 'A' ?" and I would show them, and they all write(meaning penmanship in this case) very well.

I would add plenty of read alouds to that and you'll be good to go!

ETA: If you do feel a need for something else, I highly recommend Galloping the Globe. My kids really enjoyed it and it's inexpensive and easy to do.

[Amy loves Bud]

Looking back, if I were to do it again (and now I get to!!!) this is what I would do:

Math U See (did this with the other two and we still love it)

Phonics Museum from Veritas Press - although the readers are a bit forced in the Kindergarten version, the first grade level was fantastic. This incorporates italic handwriting, so if I were to choose something different for Phonics, I would choose another handwriting program. Also, it was great for my daughter who was really into "doing school", but it might not have gone over so well with my son, who was not so into school. I can't say since I used Phonics Pathways with him.

Five in a Row - these books are so wonderful, and the program is so fun. This is a great, gentle Kindergarten program. You could start doing it now if you want.


Enjoy the journey!

[TengoFive]

Last year for K4 we used MUS Primer, HWT, OPGTTR, and Get Ready, Get Set, and Go For the Code.
This year for K5/1 we used MUS Alpha, OPGTTR, ETC 1-5 (skipped 4), FLL, and Spelling Workout A & B.
She also listens in on Science, History, and Latin when she wants to and listens to the things we read for Intro. to Classical Studies.
She also really loves the Bible Study for all Ages when we do it. It's been pushed to the back burner since we're reading the Golden Children's Bible, but she pushes me to do it every day. I compromise by doing it on Sunday with her.