What subjects do you use for Kindergarten?

[myfatherslily]

Not which curriculum, but general subjects. Math, phonics, etc.

[AudreyTN]

That's it. Math and Phonics. :)

If he wants to join with the older ones during history and science but I don't push it. When the older two were in K that's all we did.

[hsmom]

Since I only have a prek soon to be K, at home right now. We do math, phonics, science, art, and hand writing. We do a lot of reading, if you want to include that as reading.

[StephanieF]

Maths
Phonics
Handwriting
General geography
Basic history
General science
I think that's it.
Stephanie

[patchfire]

With dd1, I did phonics, handwriting, readers, read-alouds, math, some basic geography (talking about different countries, what they ate, that kind of thing), and some basic science.

With the perspective of time, what I plan to do with ds and dd2 is just the basics - phonics, handwriting, readers, read-alouds, and math. We might cover other subjects through what we read aloud, but that's it.

[BramFam]

Phonics
Math
Science -basic library books and fun experiments
History- again very basic library books and fun activities
Religion - this ties right into TOG

If I could only do two of them though, I would definitely do Phonics and Math only. This is the time to lay the solid foundation, the others are the fun stuff!! :)

[Melissa B]

math
phonics
literature
handwriting
nature study

[MicheleinMN]

Math
Phonics

Handwriting, but with the student writing in a pan or flour/salt/cornmeal instead of on paper

and listening to read-alouds - literature, history, science

oh, and the basics for fine arts: play-doh, cutting with scissors, glue....all that messy stuff

HTH

[Wendy B.]

Math
Phonics
Handwriting
Read alouds
Nature Study.

[JudoMom]

Math, Phonics, Memory Work, and Penmanship.

Memory Work includes poetry, Latin chants & songs, Presidents (when we finish next week we'll move on to states and capitals), musical notes, 13 colonies, greek alphabet, address & phone, and continents. We also practice skip counting during this time. We do Memory Work all together, so it covers a wide range and I don't expect them to memorize all of it, but I do expect them to memorize as much as they can.

They are welcome to sit in on whatever else they want.

[JenneinAZ]

Math
Reading/Phonics
Handwriting

Books read to the child. (covers all other subjects)

Jenne in CA

[VanessaS]

We're Pre-K. We do math, logic, handwriting (tracing and letters to Grandma), phonics, and arts&crafts, read-alouds. Nature study in our backyard. And we're raising the children bilingually (English/German).

It sounds like a lot, but we don't do everything every day.

[HomesteadMommy]

It does depend on the child but when my oldest was in K we did:
math
reading (she was already reading well)
science
LA
light history and geography

[maadrose]

My main goal for my k'er is that they be able to read by sounding out and do it pretty fluently. I touch on math, but don't really start that until first grade. We do lots of fun stuff too, play is soooo important to their development at this age. I used to be totally worried about it, but now I'm much more relaxed and it's a lot more fun for them. We use preETC for phonics, BOB books, SL K readers, HWT K for the most part. We read lots of good stories too. Occasionally I'll do a lesson from RS A, but not too often, b/c they'll get it in B when they start first grade.

[Jumping In Puddles]

read alouds

We started strong with math, but now we only do very light math. Estimating, Counting objects by 2's, counting by 10's, days of the week, what comes before/after, and telling time. I am not using rightstart now because my son was getting frustrated and I feel like he is not behind.

Reading (phonics)

Science a few times a month, read alouds about animals.

[NayfiesMama]

Living Math Books (Greg Tang, and Cindy Neuschwander etc..)
Counting as we go along our daily life.
CC memory work....skip counting the squares and cubes are his favorite..go figure!
We read history books about the sentences we study in CC...we listen to cds of people or events in the history period we're studying.
We have a timeline that goes around our front room. (so much for ever decorating in a "formal way"!)
We go through the phonograms that are included in SWR (cursive) and a manuscript version of the phonograms.
He does Bible memory with Awanas, but we just started a chapter to memorize.
He's starting to read, but I haven't taught him to write much. I tried cursive, but he just wasn't ready, yet.
He plays outside some and complains that we don't have other little friends. Oh well.
:-)

[Tonia]

Basics: phonics, math, handwriting, French

Other things we do as the mood strikes - geography, art, music, science experiments

[Chris in VA]

Math, phonics, read alouds (various subjects), reading (as in, she read books), handwriting, Bible (included memory), art as a free and fun thing.

[athena1277]

My dd is in K right now and this is what we are doing:

Reading
Phonics
Math
Handwriting
Science
History (alternate days with science)
Spanish (very laid back this year)
Art (when we have time)

[Beth in SW WA]

Dd 5 attends classical school for K (4 morns/week) and we do lots of "schoolish" stuff at home.

Fun, hands-on math at school
Saxon counting chart & Singapore Earlybird w/ me

SWR
Victory Drill
lots of reading

Cursive First

Geography/Bible/poetry memorization

Latin songs

Catechism songs (Songs For Saplings -- too cute!!)

tons of audio books (Beatrix Potter, Pooh, Story Nory, Fairy Tales)

Aesop Fables, Nursery Rhymes, Myths daily per LCC :)

www.Starfall.com

[Closeacademy]

Honestly, we concentrate on phonics, math and penmanship. Everything else we do is gravy or fun. Art supplies are on hand. We read good books. And leave it at that.:001_smile:

[YHZNS]

Phonics
Handwriting (really just practicing now... ETC, Primary Phonics Workbooks, etc.)
Lots and lots and lots of read alouds
Math (very light)
Science (going to the museum, farm, basic experiments)
History (very basic geography)

Everything takes an hour or less a day. We don't do everything (but reading) every day.

My daughter is also involved in skating and swimming lessons as well as group art and piano lessons for homeschoolers.

Rebecca

[Carrie1234]

I have a 5yo and a 6yo, and they basically have the same subjects. We focus on math, reading, and handwriting. Other Language Arts topics and SOTW play close seconds. Everything else comes mostly through every day life, though we DO have a science curriculum that we turn to now and then.

[Aurelia]

We are in the middle of kindergarten this year and doing math, phonics/reading/language arts, handwriting, science, social studies, art, music, Spanish and PE.

[tess in the burbs]

reading, writing, math

LOTS OF PLAY

[myfatherslily]

Thank you for all your replies!! It's interesting to see how varied everyone is once you get beyond the basics! When listed on paper, there are at least 15 different subjects here:) It's nice to know that as long as we get the bare essentials (phonics, math, and Bible for us), I guess I can just pick and choose what suits us personally for this level:)

[Quiver0f10]

Math, phonics and penmanship. My DD sits in on our history and science, but it's mostly exposure at this age.

[EKS]

Math, reading, handwriting, geography, science

[Terabith]

I'm doing a sort of early kindergarten with my dd who turned 5 in November. We do phonics, reading (I have her read to me), handwriting (learning letter formation), and math. I also have her working through the DEL workbooks. Those are the requirements.

I try to make a conscious effort for art, science, social studies, and PE, but mostly it's about me and my planning. There are art supplies around, and I try to suggest some process art projects/ experiments with mediums/ ideas from Mary Ann Kohl a couple times a week. This is not a required subject, but they are sort of curriculum "ideas" that I keep in mind for me, when trying to organize for those "Mommy, I'm bored" times. I keep a list on my computer under the heading "Art Activities." Once or twice a week I might ask if they wanted to do an art project. They are free to just be bored a lot. I think there is a lot of value in boredom and free play. But, if I don't think about it, I rarely get out the messy supplies that they love, and I am not art saavy enough to come up with all the cool ideas that Mary Ann Kohl does. I do have the Child Sized Masterpieces that I get out sometimes as well, in the hopes of them getting vaguely familiar with famous art.

We get a LOT of books from the library, and I read to them a great deal every day. I think about part of my library selections in terms of themes, so I will get a lot of books on oceans or deserts or transportation or the like. We'll read books. Sometimes I'll offer a craft activity on the theme. But it's not really a systematic curriculum, though I guess you could call it unit studies. But it's not anything I'm forcing. I guess I just see it as more like offering....

I read a lot of "literature" books too. I try to pick a folk tale and read it daily for a week, and I use Five in a Row. I don't follow it strictly, but we read the selections daily for a week and I will ask questions/ offer up tidbits based on the guides.

My kids love science experiments, so I'm trying to make it a point to "offer" those a few times a week. But again, not really a curriculum for them, but it's useful to me to think of it in terms of curriculum that is offered, though certainly not required. ("Hey, girls, want to do a science experiment?" No is a perfectly acceptable response.)

I offer practical life and sensorial activities (think Montessori) at times as well. Some of them I emphasize a bit. (I'm really encouraging my daughter to learn to tie her shoes, but it's still an offering rather than requirement.) But I will think of practical life things that might be useful and suggest them. This week we practiced assembling a flashlight. They watch the Preschool Power dvd sometimes.

They do music through Musikgarten and Music Together classes, and we sing at home. We play at the park and do a number of physically oriented activities (ballet, gymnastics, swimming, soccer/ tee ball/ basketball parent child classes). I try to think about ways to develop their gross motor skills, but again, in an informal way. (Like: hmmm.....does she know how to jump rope? Maybe we should practice catching bean bags.)

I read Bible stories, and they get a solid Biblical/ theological grounding at church.

I have a sort of group recitation time for a few minutes during our "school time" where I work on miscellaneous stuff. We use that for phone number/ address/ memory work time, talking about safety/ 911/ what's an emergency, reviewing shapes (not just the basic ones) or body parts or other basic skill stuff, and some geography/ map awareness.

Next year will be her official kindergarten year, although she will be well into first/ second grade material. I plan on keeping the same subjects and approach (other than phonics, reading, handwriting, and math, everything else is an offering or opportunity rather than a subject). The only changes I'm pondering are adding something informal for Spanish and doing a Classical Conversations co-op once a week.

But school doesn't take longer than an hour and a half, including my elective subjects (art, motor skills, science experiments). I read aloud for another hour or so a day, but that's not part of school, even though science and social studies and lit get covered there. If they don't want me to read, that's fine. Can go to bed a bit earlier.

[3blessingmom]

3 R's

and lots of unstructured time outdoors, access to scissors/glue/markers/etc during nap time..and that's pretty much it. We read quite a bit.

[prairiegirl]

We do math, phonics, handwriting and read alouds. If she wants to sit in for her siblings other subjects like history and science then she can but I don't push it.

[Penelope]

Phonics and handwriting. Math, as part of life. Formal math, twice a week for a few minutes at most. I did FIAR for K and would like to do it again when dc#2 is ready for K.

[iamrachelle]

Reading, math, more reading, a little penmanship, more reading....

[alpidarkomama]

For secular (45-60 minutes/day):

reading
writing
math
science/nature study 2x/week
art projects, big one 1x/week, free choice the rest of the week
music (3 of my daughter's friends join us), 1x/week

For religious (60-90 minutes/day):

Hebrew
torah study
prayer
ethics/Jewish law
holidays