I can’t believe I’m writing about kindergarten plans! As a former kindergarten teacher I have been truly excited about starting this journey with my own babies. I really hope her kindergarten year sets her up for a lifelong love of learning, because isn’t that the point? Just a side note, this is what my plan is for now, but things can always change and be adapted to fit our needs! I am not locked into one way of thinking about how our school year is going to go, but it is always best to start with a solid framework.
Many of my family and friends know that I won’t stop talking about all that I’ve been learning about Charlotte Mason and her teachings. I wouldn’t consider myself a Charlotte Mason purist, but I am so inspired by her methods that it has played a heavy influence in what our year 0 will look like. That’s a post for another day, here are my curriculum picks.
Morning Time/Riches
My youngest children have been a part of our morning time for a while now. We gather at the table for Bible & Breakfast and read from their story bible and then she will narrate the story from the day. We recite the Doxology and the Lord’s Prayer and memorize our bible verse. I will include her more in our artists and composer study this year by reading picture books if available to learn more about them. I haven’t decided if we will start following Ambleside Online’s Riches or continue with The Gentle & Classical Preschool schedule. I’ll update you guys with what I decide!
Reading
We are going to be using a combination of Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons, Dash Into Learning Readers, and honestly just using a lot of different methods I’ve learned in my years teaching Kindergarten! Readers are made on the laps of their parents, so we will be spending time reading together, reviewing sounds and blends, and using hands on letter manipulatives and games to cement her learning. I’ll try to share more about this as the year goes on.
Writing
My kindergartener writes ALL the time. She finished Explode the Code A,B, and C during preschool and is constantly writing and sounding out little books to share with our family. So I wanted to encourage more informal writing like this and worry more about letter formation by doing copy work. I created a catechism copywork that’s available in my Etsy shop if you want to use it in your homeschool. Before we started anything like this we were making play dough letters, writing letters in sand, doing tracing, and using lacing cards to build up those writing muscles.
Math
We’re going to work on building a solid foundation of number sense using Kindergarten Math With Confidence by Kate Snow. I’m starting to accumulate various hands on manipulatives like felt balls, rekenreks, pattern blocks, and number blocks. I also love incorporating songs and real life math at this stage. We’ll be baking together, making real life number lines, playing with pattern blocks, telling time, playing board games that involve counting and so many more natural ways to incorporate math into our everyday.
Nature Study/Science
We will mostly be focusing on nature study and following Exploring Nature with Children, but I loved the simple science experiments we could occasionally do with Science in Seconds for Kids.
Free Reads
This has been SO fun to curate a collection of wonderful books to share with her this year! Here are just a few that I have intentionally set aside for her.
Sophie Mouse Collection
Henry and Mudge Collection
Mercy Watson Collection
The Little House Series
The Complete Collection of Winnie The Pooh
Elephant and Piggie Collection
Frog & Toad Treasury
Arnold Lobel Collection like Mouse Soup, Grasshopper on the Road, and Owl at Home
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