Kindergarten at Home

[cdmommie]

If you are homeschooling a Kindergartener what does your day look like? My daughter is only 2 and a half but my husband and I are discussing what her future may hold schoolwise. We both feel it may be beneficial to at least homeschool (as much as you can "school" a 5 year old) her for the first year. I am pretty new to the idea and wondering what to expect and what I might do to prepare.

We will discuss the rest of elementary after seeing how that first year goes. My hubby teaches Public HS so I am very surprised he wants to do this so of course I am excited to learn what I can now to prepare for later!

[theretohere]

We're doing a hybrid K/1st year.
Our days consist of the 3Rs- reading, writing and arithmetic. We do phonics daily, handwriting daily, and either math worksheets or math through life- like measuring for cookies.
We also have science and history- we try for a few times a week. We do spelling a few times a week as well.
Otherwise my focus is on letting her play, create art, and learn about her world.

[LuxPerpetua]

My dd is currently 4, but since we follow a more Waldorf/unschooly approach, I don't foresee us doing much differently in kindy. Right now, we have a daily and weekly rhythm that we follow. We do lots of sensory stuff, lots of imaginative play, lots of reading/stories, lots of cooking/baking. Thursdays are our painting day and we spend 1-2 hours just painting with different media. I do plan on purchasing Enki's kindy curriculum to incorporate new stories at kindy age, as well as movement and crafts and such, but right now we loosely use Seasons of Joy and just kind of follow our own path. I don't plan on doing any more formal academic work until dd is 7, but with that said, I'm continually amazed at how much she absorbs and figures out herself. For example, she just turned 4 and she knows hundreds of songs, understands complex musical rhythms, can count to 59, is currently figuring out phonics and the basic math processes on her own, she memorizes poetry, has a strong understanding of and reverence for the natural world, knows how to run a household, knows how to paint with different media, etc. She can read quite a few words and write all of our names. She is getting better at using scissors. She understands the seasons and the natural rhythms of the year. She knows all of her months, days, seasons, and is learning to tell time on her own. And she has some climbing and jumping abilities that absolutely amaze me (as well as her imagination!). I don't really know what more to expect of a kindergartener personally. This rich, hands-on approach of "doing fun things" really works well for our family.

[Lillian J]

My child, now grown, was in a Waldorf school for kindergarten, and they spent most of the time in imaginative play. There was a bit of cooperative soup preparation some days, bread making some days, very simple arts or crafts, listening to storytelling, simple rhymes and songs, some seasonal celebration, and lots of outdoor free play.

He left there for 1st grade, which I got him ready for by quickly introducing him to letters and beginning reading over the summer - it didn't take much time, but he was almost seven. I'm very happy that emphasis was put on the importance of imaginative and free play in kindergarten, and that he didn't have to deal with studies of reading or writing or any of the other subjects that came so easily when he was seven. We homeschooled after that, mostly unschooling until he started enrolling in classes at the community college and then went on to a four year college when he felt drawn to that.

I'd recommend reading Homeschooling, the Early Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 3- to 8- Year-Old Child, in which Linda Dobson weaves together input from many experienced homeschooling families.

Another good one fpr you would be Learning At Home, A Mother's Guide to Homeschooling.

Also John Holt's books, Learning All the Time, and How Children Learn.

Lillian

[romacox]

Perhaps this article will explain why your husband wants to home school:

Thinking About Homeschooling? Teachers Are

If you do decide to home school your child for K it will be quite easy if you get support, and information on State laws and curriculum. To do this simply Google something like this "home school conventions in (your state). For Florida that would be Florida Parent Educators Association.

I hope all this is helpful. I use to be skeptical about home schooling. But as a professional tutor who works with both venues (public and private) I am convinced that home schooling, though not for everyone, is a fantastic opportunity for children.

[earthmama369]

We follow an eclectic unschooly rhythm, so we expose the kids to a wide variety of options and the kids let us know what they're interested in.

Right now dd (5) is in her room with ds (3.5), playing some kind of make-believe game where her mother sold her to a wizard (hello archetypes! *lol*) and he doesn't celebrate her birthday with birthday cake, he only gives her fish heads. There's a talking monkey and a magic golf club in there, as well.

In a bit they're going to help me choose breakfast and make it. Then we'll clean up our dishes and they'll get their pj's into the laundry hamper and pick out their clothes for the day. (Montessori is one of my inspirations, and I try to involve them in self-care and daily homecare activities.)

This morning we have Earth Scouts and they're learning about Martin Luther King Jr. today as part of their Peace and Nonviolence badge.

After lunch we'll have some reading time. For dd, that means choosing two easy readers -- she'll help me read one and then I'll read the other one to her. For ds, that means choosing two easy readers and following along as I move my finger under the words.

Then we'll have free play/Mama's work time unless I get called to babysit for a friend, and we might meet a friend later at Kidcity, a local children's museum.

They usually do some kind of craft before dinner -- lately it's been valentines -- and if they clean up reasonably quickly after dinner, they'll play some King's Quest on the computer with dh before bedtime.