Fun, hands-on Kindergarten curriculum

[KristyKricket]

Hi all,

I was wondering if there is a fun, hands-on Kindergarten curriculum out there that is not too expensive? My son is a very hands-on type of learner and loves doing crafts and nature activties. Do any of you know of a pre-packaged curriculum that would suit his needs?

Thank you,

Kristy
Mom to Rebecca (15) and David (5)

[scheelimama]

Oak Meadow, Heart of Dakota, or FIAR might all be good fits.

[mamakay]

The "Learn at Home, Grade K" book is super cheap, a total curriculum, and has lots of suggested crafty stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-at-Home-.../dp/1561895083

You can look through it here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=jIX...age&q=&f=false

[KristyKricket]

Thank you both for the great suggestions. I have not heard of the Heart of Dakota curriculum before. Also, I checked the links for the Learn At Home series and I really love that one a lot. I love how they have something each day planned out for each subject. It is very cheap too.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Kristy
Mom to Rebecca (15) and David (5)

[dotnetdiva]

Five in a Row sounds like a great fit too! We did that last spring and it was inexpensive, and we did so much crafty, hands-on activities.

[prescottchels]

I've used this one
http://www.amazon.com/Get-Ready-Set-.../dp/0822458586
Though it says it's preschool I think it'd be plenty easy to adapt to where your child is at.
Each day it has a craft, song, snack, activity that are all related-love it!

[MittensKittens]

Originally Posted by mamakay

The "Learn at Home, Grade K" book is super cheap, a total curriculum, and has lots of suggested crafty stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-at-Home-.../dp/1561895083

You can look through it here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=jIX...age&q=&f=false

I looked through this and think it's wonderful. So cheap as well. Thanks for suggesting that.

[MittensKittens]

I just ordered K, 1 and 2 and am hoping they'll be a lot of fun. Thanks again for the suggestion, mamakay! Can you tell us a bit more about your experience using this book? Do you end up buying many other books to supplement it? Just looking through the link on Google books, I noticed that the book asks you to obtain other books sometimes (like a specific cookbook), which will be hard for us as expats.

Are there any things you don't like about this book? I did find the proposed activity "take your child to the hospital where he/she was born" a bit presumptuous - we don't all birth in hospitals! Are there any other un-crunchy things in there?

[elizawill]

yes, five in a row would be a great fit! you can also find great go-along crafts and activities by simply googling whatever your topic of interest is, ykwim? when my daughter was in kindergarten, we really enjoyed teacher websites with themes. i specifically loved www.littlegiraffes.com hth.

[KristyKricket]

Wow....some really great suggestions. Thanks to all of you. I will check out the FIAR. It sounds like it would be a great fit for us if it has all the hands-on activities. I could combine it with the Learn At Home workbook. Again, I appreciate everyone's suggestions.

Kristy
Mom to Rebecca (15) and David (5)

[zjande]

Ack! This forum is dangerous!! There are just soooo many fun sounding curricula & ideas & books & websites out there! I want to try every single one!!

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by MittensKittens

I just ordered K, 1 and 2 and am hoping they'll be a lot of fun. Thanks again for the suggestion, mamakay! Can you tell us a bit more about your experience using this book? Do you end up buying many other books to supplement it? Just looking through the link on Google books, I noticed that the book asks you to obtain other books sometimes (like a specific cookbook), which will be hard for us as expats.

Are there any things you don't like about this book? I did find the proposed activity "take your child to the hospital where he/she was born" a bit presumptuous - we don't all birth in hospitals! Are there any other un-crunchy things in there?

I did buy a bunch of supplemental workbooks (those are generally only 2 or 3 dollars each), and disregarded a lot of the suggested activities. It has a lot of suggestions like "On Monday, visit a rock quarry, on Tuesday, visit a farm". Which, um, no. lol. It's a little anemic on the academics for my tastes, too, which is why we got extra handwriting, reading/phonics and math workbooks.

I really just like it as a "skeleton framework curriculum" so I knew I wasn't missing anything important. FWIW, I doubt hardly anyone gets all the books and does all the suggested activities and outings.

We just started their first grade book, and I'm a lot happier with it in terms of academics.

A suggestion for using the K book...don't cut on the worksheets without doing the backside first, or you'll not be able to do the backside. It's laid out goofy like that.

[KristyKricket]

I agree that there are so many good suggestions for curricula that I don't know which to choose from. Thanks everyone again for all the wonderful ideas and advice.

Kristy
Mom to Rebecca (15) and David (5)

[Momma Aimee]

subbing to read later

[onyxravnos]

a little garden flower is cheap and good. here is a direct link to their preschool / Kindy area http://shop.beaconmama.com/The-Early-Years_c4.htm

[KristyKricket]

Wow! They really have some cheap prices. Thanks for posting.

Kristy
Mom to Rebecca (15) and David (5)