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Kindergarten.... curriculum or no curriculum?

810 views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  Lillian J 
#1 ·
So I have a few close friends who homeschool and they have been telling me that I should not waste money on a curriculum for kindergarten. They all say that I can just make my own since it is only K. What do you think?

Thanks,
Amy
 
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#2 ·
Save your money! Spend it on supplies for building forts and playhouses and stocking a sandbox with imaginative toys, building a rope ladder, making bubble solutions and other craft materials, buying a few favorite picture books to keep while other lovely ones go back and forth to the library, going to children's museums, stocking a costume rack, setting up a painting easel with good quality tempera paints and brushes, and generally providing all the wonderful childhood experiences you can think of.

You can go outside and watch clouds and bugs and stars and growing plants together - just being his tour guide to the world around him. You can be doing lots of wonderful things with him that wouldn't even be included in a standard curriculum but would accomplish a lot more toward his view of the world as being full of fun and fascinating things to learn about - and that's all, in my own humble opinion
:, that should be happening at his age. Have fun! - Lillian
 
#3 ·
Last year I listened to Lillian J about kinder just being about play. We played, read, cooked and had a great time. He also went to a project based hs center twice a week.
We had a great time and he learned tons.
This year I have some curriculum available and am asking us to do something related to it, or other sit down togetherness, a few days a week - his choice.
 
#4 ·
I agree, we read lots of books from the library, worked our way through a few cheapy workbooks, took field trips, made lots of crafts, took some periodic classes at the local ecology center, lots of playing with our chickens, playdates, swimming, and a ton of other things.

We are going to have a little more structure for 1st grade, but still plan to do all those things (and more) that I mentioned. Learning doesn't always come from sitting at a table with a workbook in hand
:
 
#5 ·
I vote "no curriculum," too! We're entering our second year of homeschooling and last year we definitely took it easy. We used no curricula, no structured "table learning" and basically just went about life as usual....and I'm proud to report that my 6 year old is reading wonderfully, can grasp mathematical concepts, loves to draw & play the piano & jump rope & roller skate & paint & PLAY. I'm telling ya, I'm going to write a homeschooling book entitled "Read to your kids" and each chapter will have the same title.
It's unbelievable what comes out of reading....questions & theories & ideas & facts & beliefs & so much more.

Have fun!
 
#6 ·
If you want some kind of a guide, the book "Learn at Home, Grade K" is a great guide! It's a full 36 week curriculum, you can buy it used for about $10 on abebooks.com or ebay or half.com, or the like.... It has built in worksheets, reading recommendations, etc etc and you could easily cater it how you'd like.
It's a balanced curriculum as well...just supplement with some library books on the topics studied, and you're good to go!


Just a thought!
 
#7 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Radish4ever View Post
If you want some kind of a guide, the book "Learn at Home, Grade K" is a great guide! It's a full 36 week curriculum, you can buy it used for about $10 on abebooks.com or ebay or half.com, or the like.... It has built in worksheets, reading recommendations, etc etc and you could easily cater it how you'd like.
It's a balanced curriculum as well...just supplement with some library books on the topics studied, and you're good to go!


Just a thought!
:
If I was doing it over again, that's what I'd do. It's a really awesome guide, really all you'd need! Then you can follow it as much or as little as you want to with no guilt. Play the rest of the time.
 
#8 ·
I homeschooled K with my son last year. We had a subscription to Click-n-Read phonics for $29.95 which taught him to read in about a month. I also bought the RightStart Level A kit...and we went through phases doing some math, and weeks when we'd do none. Very gentle. Other than that, I used the Sonlight Curriculum and Ambleside Online's reading list for ideas for books from the library... and that was it.

We played 99% of the time. We baked. We colored, painted, etc.

Great year. He reads very well now, and knows some basic addition, telling time, and money facts. I think our formal schooling was about 15 minutes per day... two or three days per week. (Time for either one Click-n-Read or one RIghtStart math lesson.) Other than that, we read everyday and played every day.

I also highly recommend the Christopherus (Waldorf) Kindergarten guide.
http://www.christopherushomeschool.o...rs/kindie.html
 
#9 ·
I forgot that he asked to learn to read so we got Headsprouts. He worked hard on that for about 7 weeks, and got through most of it, set it aside and finished it almost all of it a couple of months later.
so I guess we did have some kind of curriculum.
Oh yeah and I had bought patterns in math and we played with that a couple times a month.

Look at that -hmmm, I guess we did have some.
oops. maybe ignore my first post.
 
#10 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mammo2Sammo View Post
I forgot that he asked to learn to read so we got Headsprouts. He worked hard on that for about 7 weeks, and got through most of it, set it aside and finished it almost all of it a couple of months later.
so I guess we did have some kind of curriculum.
Oh yeah and I had bought patterns in math and we played with that a couple times a month.

Look at that -hmmm, I guess we did have some.
oops. maybe ignore my first post.
I guess I think of those things, in the way they were used, as just some learning materials rather than curricula. I think of a curriculum as more of an overall plan - whether it's an overall plan for a subject or for a whole educational process. I guess maybe we all have different ideas that come to mind when we see the word.
Lillian
 
#11 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lillian J View Post

I guess I think of those things, in the way they were used, as just some learning materials rather than curricula. I think of a curriculum as more of an overall plan - whether it's an overall plan for a subject or for a whole educational process. I guess maybe we all have different ideas that come to mind when we see the word.
Lillian
You make me feel so restful about starting kindergarten
Thanks.
 
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