Kindergarten Curriculum

I know September is a long way off, but since we’ve decided to move forward with home schooling I am SO ANTSY to get all my ducks in a row!

So add this to your list of things I’ve done that really have no purpose, but make me feel better: Kindergarten curriculum! 🙂

I agree with the Waldorf education to some extent- I love how much it focuses on the needs and level of the child.  I agree that 5-year-olds shouldn’t be drilled full of facts, but should get to enjoy learning, and become involved in it.  I want to do story units- talk about the Old Testament, for example.  Then act it out, tell the stories, draw the pictures, cook the food, visit the museums (occasionally, at this point), read the library stories.  I know how much my daughter loves rules and trivia, but I want to make sure that she knows how to imagine and play too.

Here’s what I’m planning for next year (very early stages planning), for day to day:

Kindergarten with Mom in the morning (Should take about an hour or two, longer if there’s a long activity involved):

Opening rhyme or verse

Song

Prayer

Pledge of Allegiance

Storytelling by Mom- fairy tales, nature tales, history stories

Story-based activity(ies): cooking, drawing, outings, acting it out, math manipulatives (if, for example, the character was dealing with apples we could count out apples), science projects (like seed planting, nature watching, star gazing, or whatever we can tie into the stories.)

Closing song or rhyme- I’m hoping to find a rhyme or verse that can be a constant for our openings and another for closings.

–We’ll keep each story for a while, and explore it as much as we can.  What would it have been like to be there?  What did it look like?

Solo Work for Ernie:

Practice handwriting- I’ll have worksheets for her, since I know she wants workbooks for her own

Phonics games- more workbooks, and I’m dreaming up a memory game we can do with cards together.

Group Activities:

Group Piano lesson- I’m going to invite another girl or two to join us for pre-playing piano lessons.  Ernie’s been watching me teach all her life, and she wants to join the fun!  This is one series we’re looking at for Ernie or this one looks better for group lessons.

Joy School– we’re doing Joy School right now, and Ernie’s having a blast.  I don’t think the hours are working perfectly for our family- we meet twice a week, 9:30-12:00, with 5 little girls.  I’d like to do a smaller group, once a week, and meeting 9:30-11:30 or 11:00.

Primary and church services

That’s all I have right now.  We’ll keep doing the crafts, the impromptu lessons (What’s a star, Mom?), the games we’ve been doing.  We’ll continue to set up a strong rhythm in our home- baking day, washing day, cleaning day, meal times and preparation,  quiet times, etc..  I’ll use this as a guideline, and add things as we go along.  We want plenty of science, math, art, music, etc.  This book has a good outline, and lots of great stories and projects we can do together.

I’m still not certain what my scholastic goals for the year are- I want us to get accustomed to this new rhythm, and learn how best to work together.  I want to continue to encourage her to want to be self-regulating.  She reads brilliantly already- I’m actually curious what level she’s reading at.  I’m guessing it’s a second or third grade level.  Anyone know how I can check that out?

My main goal is to keep her moving forward!  I also want to balance her mind with her body- I want her to know how to run and skip and jump, as well as read the great big books she loves and memorize the location of the 50 states (she learned the states when she was three.)  Our state law requires that a student cover 11 subjects: reading, writing, spelling, language, math, science, social studies, history, health, occupational education, and art and music appreciation.