Kindergarten Discussion

[APGoddess83]

Hi fellow learning at home mamas! I was wondering if we could start a discussion for those of us just starting out this year? I've been teaching my kids since birth but this will be our first official year. I wanted to talk about what everyone's plans were for their "kindergartener's" this year? What books are you using and what subjects do you have planned? I have to admit I'm nervous (and excited) and looking for support from others. I belong to a local support group but they mostly have older kids and alot of them are unschoolers. I want to unschool but I feel I need to start out a little more structured first. Does that make sense? Hope to talk more soon!

[aishy]

Well I've been going back & forth on the homeschool or preschool decision for the past month or so and I think I'm going to go with the homeschool. Why spend the money to send my child to a class to learn what I can teach him at home? We can spend the money we would have spent on preschool doing fun field trips or putting him in classes at the rec center.

My husband isn't 100% on board for homeschooling, so I figure if I do a loose-K this year & it doesn't work out he can still start K next year no problem (he won't be 5 till October, and is SO not ready to start K this year anyway). This gives me the chance to TRY without it taking away from his school years if it doesn't work out.

So far I know I want to use the Core Knowledge books (What your __ grader needs to know, I found the Kindergarden one at Half price books today), and I was reading the CK homeschoolers list last night (SO much information!) and someone had mentioned Learn At Home series so I grabbed that at the bookstore as well ($5, missing just the first lesson & a couple pages of the second but it has the lesson plans so I figure we can improvise a bit). I introduced him to www.starfall.com this morning and he is LOVING it. This is a child who wanted nothing to do with learning the alphabet ever before. He wants to learn to read now. I'm not entirely set on what we'll be doing yet, I will do weekly plans/daily plans, etc. to keep us on track and probably a month or two in advance. We may find this learn at home isnt enough for us in the math or whatever other subject and if that is so we'll find something else to supplement.

I just know I really really want to do this, or at least try. My oldest son is in 1st grade at a private school and I am pretty sure we won't be able to do that for all the kids (his grandparents pay tuition, I know they can't do a second child right now).

aisling

[white_feather]

Hiya!

Well, my dh just gave me the 'ok' for home-learning, so we're doing Kindergarten-Lite. DS has been enrolled in preschool, and could've gone on to kindergarten this fall, but we decided to hold him back as he'd be the youngest. He'll be in an afternoon preschool class, but with this extra year, we've decided to do home learning in the morning and see how it goes and if this will work for us.

I'm really excited, and feel like I'm about to embark on this huge journey where we all have a chance to grow, and learn together. So, dh changed his mind only 2 days ago, so I'm really just new to figuring out unschooling vs. curriculums, etc.

I have a feeling for our kindergarten-lite we'll be working on pre-reading and math skills, leaving other areas for more unschooling type learning. And of course, he's still enrolled in nursery school in the afternoon . . . so, I don't want to do too much this year. We'll find our way. I look forward to seeing what everyone else is up to and getting some ideas (even feed back if you have any!)

Love,
Julie

[onlyzombiecat]

I have planned our K year a bit. First I divided it into quarters and planned for each month in the quarter. I think within that we are fairly flexible. I read an idea where for the week the parent filled a box with the things she wanted to cover and ever day the child could choose from the box what to do. I might try that. I don't want to rely on worksheets.

We love starfall.com! Dd likes their music, calendar as well as reading their stories. She would like a stuffed Zac the rat.
We did some work with Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons last year and are about halfway through. Dd is reading pretty well but doesn't enjoy that book as much now so I might pick and choose from the later lessons.

I have planned several books to read to dd this year. I am including classic children's books, some poetry as well as some books by Native American authors. We might read others but this is my starting point.
In addition to this list, dd can choose books she can read on her own or other books she would like me to read to her.

Runny Babbit
A Bear Called Paddington
Where The Wild Things Are
Jingle Dancer
Winnie The Pooh
Madeline
The Giant Jam Sandwich
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message
The Real Mother Goose
Charlotte's Web
Elloise
Field Mouse Goes To War
Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever
Pippi Longstocking
Little Bear
A Boy Called Slow
Random House Book Of Poetry For Children
Stuart Little
Harry The Dirty Dog
Amelia Bedelia
Mr. Yowder And The Giant Bull Snake



Dd loves to dictate stories so we will continue that and maybe make some of our own books.

We will be working on handwriting. Dd needs some fine motor skills practice first so we will be doing cutting, legos, beads, crafts, painting, puzzles and games. I plan to use Handwriting Without Tears with her as well. My goal is that by the end of the year she will be able to form letters and numbers with some control and legibility.

Some math concepts we will work on- counting objects, larger/smaller, equal/more/less, patterns, some addition & subtraction, time, money. We will probably use common household objects and games instead of worksheets.

For science we will learn about teeth and the body. We will read Me And My Amazing Body and How Many Teeth? (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1).
I found an animal encyclopedia to help us learn about animals. We might try some simple fun experiments.


We have already made a map of our neighborhood and dd really enjoyed that so we might work some more with maps and globes. Maybe find where grandma lives and that kind of thing.

For music I'll just try to expose dd to different kinds of music.

For art I plan to just give dd free access to materials beyond the set craft projects I have planned. I planned about 4 projects per month. Some are using kits, others will be from scratch or recycled materials.
1. Sunflower
2. glitter soap
3. inchworm
4. dream catcher
5. mini-tamborine or other music instrument
6. sew a coin purse
7. perler bead craft
8. apple doll
9. make a mask... or help make Halloween costume
10. Ghost glove decoration
11. beaded corn decoration
12. bracelet or necklace
13. penguin thermometer
14. bird feeder
15. coasters
16. bath salts
17. photo magnets
18. penguin
19. Christmas ornaments
20. advent calendar
21. stampin- veggie prints
22. snowflakes
23. clay pot or figure
24. book making
25. decorate t-shirt
26. sew plastic canvas
27. make yarn critters
28. make mouse pad
29. valentines
30. decorate flower pots
31. make hand print flowers
32. decorate birthday plate
33. bunny
34. kite
35. spring wreath
36. scratch art
37. windchime
38. May basket
39. suncatcher
40. make doll or doll clothes
41. veggie egg carton catepillar


I feel pretty flexible on most of this.

[fromscatteredtribe]

wow...i don't feel very organized comparatively. what lovely answers though.

i have a K and a 2nd and this is our first year homeschooling. we are doing:

Story of the World and Activities with recommended library checkouts but pretty relaxed (one chapter a week)

Singapore Math (i encourage my 2nd grader who is already comfortable through division towork about 45 minutes a day on math skipping saturdays and some other days and the K just plays with his workbook asking questions or letting the neighbor girl whom he adores "teach" him the lessons.

100 Easy Lessons (1 or 2 lessons every few days skipping a week if we feel like it...trying for five lessons a week until we finish and at least two read-aloud mom-reads-to-me and one brother-reads-to-me book daily) ds1 does independent chapter reading and aloud to bros reading

Science consiting of what she recommends in The Well Trained Mind for 1st grade for both my kids (starting with worms, butterflies) we are on a REALLY REALLY limited budget so we mostly just do library books regarding whatever animal and keep a little log of our learning. i encourage 5yo to just draw a picture (he often won't)

Music (listening)
Art (whatever we want)

plus we do a community assisted program one day a week with a play emphasis and some science and media and music. they started today (it's free and they have lots of fun)

[luv my 2 sweeties]

My dd turned 5 this summer and would definately be off to K. this fall if we were schooling, so this is *officially* it!

3 y.o. ds will be in a great Reggio Emilia preschool 4 mornings a week this year (the same one dd has attended the last 2 years), so that gives us some built-in structure that disorganized me appriciates! :LOL We will be spending 3 of those 4 mornings on homeschool stuff. Of course we won't limit our explorations to those times, but they will give us a garanteed "base" of time. (Otherwise I have a tendancy to let things slide more than I would like. "As soon as I finish XYZ we can..." etc. Of course once I finish XYZ, something else crops up! : )

One morning will be a weekly hs group learning activity (Ambassador's club -- geography and literature) The other 2 days will be one on one time. We will also be involved in another group that meets twice a month and explores various activities based on the kids' interests.

DD already reads well and voraciously, so no need for specific work there. We will be using a math curriculum (Right Start) and a handwriting curriculum (Getty/Dubay Italic), and "unschooling" the rest. Next year, or maybe early in 2006 if she wants to, we will start history with SOTW. DD and I are both very excited! We've started the handwriting book already at dd's insistance.

[Patchfire]

We're starting K in a few weeks!

Dd is reading a bit already, so we're going to continue the phonics we've been doing, at a very relaxed pace. We have some math books, and we're going to do lots and lots of reading. We have the HWT stuff for writing - probably her 'weak' point if she has one. And we're going to throw in some basic geography - continents and the like - as well as studying a different animal each week (and going to the zoo at the end of the week when they have that animal!).

I'm trying not to overcommit us, since I have a babe who will be mobile sometime soon, as well!

[APGoddess83]

Thanks for the replies so far!! I appreciate the insight into your lives! : I'm still thinking about what I want to do so I'll write a bit more soon. Anyone else?

[GoodEats]

We're doing K this year, though Bailey is only 4 so, if she needs a second year we can do that, too.

We're essentially using an eclectic approach - We use Explode the Code for phonics, but we don't do a lesson in 1 or 2 days as they recommend. I have Miquon Math and, if I ever figure out the instruction, we'll jump into that. Otherwise, we pretty much unschool or do informal "unit studies" based on other activities we're involved in; for instance, we are going to the butterfly show at Brookside Gardens (1000s of butterflies loose in their conservatory) next week so I have put together a lesson plan that includes stories about butterflies, a life-cycle coloring book, a mobile art project... I'm thinking of also printing a little butterfly math book from Enchanted Learning, too. You get the idea.

On Fridays, we will be involved with a local homeschool co-op where she'll participate (in the Fall, anyway) in a rhythm band class and a literature for k-1 class that I will teach, where we'll read a story, discuss it critically and do a project associated with the theme.

Our local Audubon center and arboretum have classes once a month or so that are geared toward either her age group or homeschoolers, too, so there are other neat things to take part in that can provide a jumping off point for various topics.

In the pre-K and K years, it's mostly about exposure to concepts so I try to vary the settings and topics and incorporate core learning based on those.

Have fun!

[feebeeglee]

We've always unschooled. DD was 5 in March, so if she went to school she'd be in K.

She's got her first structured anything this year, dance classes. She's pretty excited about it, too! That will be once a week for an hour or an hour and a half, but we haven't firmed up the time or the day. And we might do Campfire, I haven't decided yet. If we wait a year her sister can go to the same activities which they both would prefer.

She's been interested in history and other cultures recently, so I'm getting Story of the World as a read-aloud, and we'll get other indepth materials as her interests dictate. Her focus is frequently on clothing and food, so we may try to make some historical dinners along the way. Let's hope our results are edible, LOL. And I've been itching to make historical clothing for ages so maybe I'll get my chance!

Let's see, what else. She loves to write short stories and illustrate them herself and I expect she'll keep doing that. I think she's learned to read as much as she does mainly from writing all the time - kind of reading in reverse of how they teach it in most schools, I think?

She's picked up basic addition and subtraction, and has some ideas about multiplication and division from sorting and categorizing things she uses throughout the day. She's particularly enamored of my fabric measuring tape and loves to count off the numbers on it and use it to measure anything that holds still (I've told her that sitting on her 2yo brother to measure his foot is perhaps not the most accurate, as he giggles uncontrollably)

We'll try to get in a visit to the natural history museum (it's about a 60 mile round trip), and of course homeschool group get-togethers happen frequently, and really, we play it by ear!

[Callimom]

I have 4 y/o b/g twins both wanting to do 'school' this year b/c they aren't going off to junior K with some of their neighbourhood friends. So this is what we have so far. They are free to do as much or as little of any of this as they want to.

Language resources
letter of the week booklets/activities
studydog.com
letter and word factory videos (I can't believe how much they are picking up from these)
phonics games (boggle jr. and some home made ones I have)
printing sheets from the dollar store
some workbooks from the dollar store

Math resources
cuisenaire rods and moominmama's pre-Miquon booklets/games
livingmath.com suggestions and my library - lol
math games (mostly from Peggy Kaye, Family Math, Janice VanCleave and home made)
lots of manipulatives for play

Science
piggybacking on what their older brother does - we have loosely planned human body and 'playing with food/chemistry' units. Right now we are into flight and we'll just take that wherever it goes.

History
again piggy backing on their brother's plans which is essentially SOTW 1 and activity guide with a heavy focus on ancient egypt
Canadian history as it comes up related to field trips etc. I have a loose curriculum for this with activity ideas.

French resources
a french "preschool" program 1 afternoon a week
Rosetta stone computer program
lots of french music, some videos/dvds and books on tape and me reading to them when I can

Geography
we do a weekly around the world co-op with friends. Last spring it was Mexico, this fall France and after Christmas either China or Japan. They usually participate in this as it is activity and story based...and they like the food part - lol.

Art history
story book approach and activities from discovering great artists. Probably do Monet and other impressionists to tie in with the France co-op and their new French preschool

That's it for us I think.
Karen

[kittywitty]

My dd is only 4, too, but very advanced, so we are doing K for her this year. I just ordered the Everyday Waldorf materials for ds, and somewhat for dd. But mainly, I plan on following the instructions from the book Montessori at Home. The book:Teaching Your Own Pre-School Children by Kay Kuzma has some pretty good ideas mixed in. I am going to try and integrate music and arts into most of our curriculum, but dd is really ready to start reading and writing (already trying) unlike what Waldorf suggests.

Physical education:
indoor play gym
Bouncy room
Dance classes
Gymnastics classes

Music:
Playing guitar/bass/drums with daddy
Start piano or violin lessons this semester

Arts:
all kinds of paints
cray pas
chalk
bird feeder making (using milk cartons)
basic sewing and finger knitting
Felt boards
Cutting and pasting paper

Language:
Some alphabet books and workbooks (from walmart : )
Phonics
Letter recognition
Shape recognition
balance

Math:
Number recognition
money
time

Science:
zoo visits
Volcanoes

History:
Holiday histories

(pss...Witchymama, you 21?)
Desiree
Momma to Mad (1/01), Dev (2/02), Abby (10/04)

[3momkmb]

We did K last year

but I thought I'd post what we ended up doing.

Learning resources used as DS requested them:
-Spectrum K math
-My first Numbers and My First Letters (Disney w/b)
-K Reading w/b
-Study Dog (levels 1 and 2)
-Cuisenaire rods and activity books
-Puzzles

Computer games:
-Reader Rabbit 4-6
-DK My First Amazing History Explorer
-Jump Start Explorers
-Thinking Science Zap
-Reader Rabbit Math 6-9
-Huggly Saves the Turtles
-Various Pajama Sam, Putt Putt, Freddie Fish, Scooby Doo and Spy Fox games
-Jump Start Kindergarten

Board/Card games:
-UNO
-Knockout
-ABC bingo
-ABC go fish
-ABC matching game
-Mancala
-Dino-opoly
-Various card games
-Boggle
-Scattergories (team play)

Unit studies:
-Dinosaurs/prehistory, based around World Atlas of Dinosaurs
-Backyard birds, based around The Great Backyard Bird Count
-Pond life, based around Bucket Buddies
-Ocean Life, based around our trip to the Aquarium and exploring tide pools
-Pilgrims/colonial life, based around our trip to Plimoth Plantation

Art supplies to be used at will:
-watercolors
-Elmer's squeeze brushes
-artists chalk
-play-dough
-colored pencils
-markers
-salt clay

Outside the house activities:
-playgroup and HS group meetings (unstructured play with other kids)
-tennis
-HEARTS
-4 H
-Library visits


Field Trips:
-Boston Museum of Science
-NE Aquarium
-Wildlife Park
-Children's Museum
-Train Ride
-Trip to Plymouth MA

and of course much reading aloud, playing outside and exploring of the environment! He also learned to ride a bike w/o training wheels this year

[NatureMommy]

My 4 yo ds is very enthusiastic about schoolwork, he likes working along side his big brothers. I would get the $1 preschool skill books from Walgreens or Target and let him work his way how ever he wanted. He has always participated in his brothers' science projects and social studies (Story of the World).

He enjoyed FIAR when I did it with his brother two years ago, so I bought Vol. II and have been using that this summer. Depending on how involved the projects are, we spend about an hour on FIAR each day. In September he will start Saxon Math K and Ready for the Code, about another half hour.

[Nickarolaberry]

We're doing the Sonlight Pre-K program for kindergarten, which is mainly read-alouds. I got all the books used. In addition, we're doing MCP Phonics (pretty lightly), Singapore Earlybird Math once or twice a week, some mazes/puzzles books. I also will be doing some Hebrew language stuff (letter recognition) and other religious stuff, but mostly as stories and worked into crafts/science for holidays, cooking/baking, etc.

She's also going to be taking gymnastics once a week with her former preschool buddies, which is good for her because she really needs the gross motor skills development.

We have reams of art supplies (paint, glitter glue, crayons, markers, colored pencils, paper, stickers, etc. etc.) as she is quite crafty.

We also have been collecting some fun games (Go Fish, Dominoes, and planning to get a few from the cooperative game company www.familypasttimes.com, Mancala, etc.).

I have hooked up with a couple other families in the community homeschooling girls my dd's same age, so we may do a round robin once a week of some specialized lesson/activity; we are definitely doing weekly playdates and monthly field trips. We also are going to join a bigger local homeschooling group for park days, etc. Plus I'm arranging playdates hopefully once a week with her preschool friends (one at a time, lol). She's a very social creature so really needs this outlet.

Meantime, we'll also be visiting the grandparents frequently!