Kindergarten Curriculum - History
What We Are Using: Little Pilgrims by Christian Liberty Press
How I Found It: I went back and forth on whether or not I should include history in our curriculum this year. I didn't know if it was completely necessary. I looked at some that seemed really advanced for Kindergarten. My great friend, Vicky, who works at The Homeschool Gathering Place, showed the series to me and I thought it looked great.
Why I Chose It: I chose it because it is really simple, is completely Biblical, and is a great start to history. It gives a general overview of history from Creation to current times to Christ's return. There is a Bible verse for each unit to memorize.
What Will We Be Doing? 2-3 days a week we will be doing lessons. We will read, go over our memory verse, and do a few little projects to re-enforce what we are learning.
I am really excited about this curriculum. I am hoping it isn't too simple for him.
Showing posts with label Curriculum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Curriculum. Show all posts
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Kindergarten Curriculum - Science - The World God Made
Kindergarten Curriculum - Science
What We Are Using: The World God Made by Christian Liberty Press
How I Found It: I went back and forth on whether or not I should include science in our curriculum this year. I didn't know if it was completely necessary. I looked at some that seemed really advanced for Kindergarten. My great friend, Vicky, who works at The Homeschool Gathering Place, showed the series to me and I thought it looked great.
Why I Chose It: I chose it because it is really simple, is completely Biblical, and is a great start to science. It focuses on the 7 Days of Creation and breaks down each day really well. There is a Bible verse for each unit/day to memorize.
What Will We Be Doing? 2-3 days a week we will be doing lessons. We will read, go over our memory verse, and do a few little projects to re-enforce what we are learning.
I am really excited about this curriculum. I am hoping it isn't too simple for him.
What We Are Using: The World God Made by Christian Liberty Press
How I Found It: I went back and forth on whether or not I should include science in our curriculum this year. I didn't know if it was completely necessary. I looked at some that seemed really advanced for Kindergarten. My great friend, Vicky, who works at The Homeschool Gathering Place, showed the series to me and I thought it looked great.
Why I Chose It: I chose it because it is really simple, is completely Biblical, and is a great start to science. It focuses on the 7 Days of Creation and breaks down each day really well. There is a Bible verse for each unit/day to memorize.
What Will We Be Doing? 2-3 days a week we will be doing lessons. We will read, go over our memory verse, and do a few little projects to re-enforce what we are learning.
I am really excited about this curriculum. I am hoping it isn't too simple for him.
Kindergarten Curriculum - Bible - Bible Truths K
Kindergarten Curriculum - Bible
What We Are Using: Bible Truths K by Bob Jones University
How I Found It: Each year we have had "Bible time" in our homeschool. This time is a devoted time to read the Bible, learn Scriptures, and do crafts related to the stories. I found Bible Truths at The Homeschool Gathering Place and loved it.
Why I Chose It: I chose it because it is really intense. You do it every day of the week. Each week you have a memory verse. It is broken into 15 different units including CHRISTmas, Thanksgiving, and all of God's Word. It has songs, Bible stories, craft ideas, catechism, and prayers. It is really well put together.
What Will We Be Doing? Each day we will read a story from the Bible, work on our memory verse, sing songs, and do arts and crafts related to what we are reading.
I really think we will learn a lot and enjoy this curriculum.
What We Are Using: Bible Truths K by Bob Jones University
How I Found It: Each year we have had "Bible time" in our homeschool. This time is a devoted time to read the Bible, learn Scriptures, and do crafts related to the stories. I found Bible Truths at The Homeschool Gathering Place and loved it.
Why I Chose It: I chose it because it is really intense. You do it every day of the week. Each week you have a memory verse. It is broken into 15 different units including CHRISTmas, Thanksgiving, and all of God's Word. It has songs, Bible stories, craft ideas, catechism, and prayers. It is really well put together.
What Will We Be Doing? Each day we will read a story from the Bible, work on our memory verse, sing songs, and do arts and crafts related to what we are reading.
I really think we will learn a lot and enjoy this curriculum.
Kindergarten Curriculum - Handwriting - A Reason for Handwriting
Kindergarten Curriculum - Handwriting
What We Are Using: A Reason for Handwriting
How I Found It: I used Handwriting Without Tears last year because it was promoted by Sonlight. I liked it but I thought I would just see what else was out there. I went to The Homeschool Gathering Place (the best store) and browsed. I found A Reason for Handwriting and loved it.
Why I Chose It: I chose it because each week you work toward being able to write a Bible verse. I am all about basing my curriculum on the Bible and God's principles so this was a perfect fit.
What Will We Do? Monday through Friday we will work on different letters and words in the Bible verse and on Friday he will write it out on a border sheet. We are encouraged to give them to people.
I really think we will like this curriculum.
What We Are Using: A Reason for Handwriting
How I Found It: I used Handwriting Without Tears last year because it was promoted by Sonlight. I liked it but I thought I would just see what else was out there. I went to The Homeschool Gathering Place (the best store) and browsed. I found A Reason for Handwriting and loved it.
Why I Chose It: I chose it because each week you work toward being able to write a Bible verse. I am all about basing my curriculum on the Bible and God's principles so this was a perfect fit.
What Will We Do? Monday through Friday we will work on different letters and words in the Bible verse and on Friday he will write it out on a border sheet. We are encouraged to give them to people.
I really think we will like this curriculum.
Kindergarten Curriculum - Geography - Expedition Earth
Kindergarten Curriculum - Geography
What We Are Using: Expedition Earth
How I Found It: I love reading blogs, especially about homeschooling. I stumbled upon Erica's blog (http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/) and I LOVE IT! She is Super Homeschool Mom. She seriously needs a cape. LOL! She puts a ton of what she does with her kids on her blog (lots of pictures) as well as curriculum she has created. I found Expedition Earth on her blog and saw some of what she had done with her kids and thought it looked great.
Why I Chose It: I think it is really important that kids (and people) know about the world and not just the tiny area they (we) live in. This is great because you journey around the world, hitting all 7 continents, The Arctic, and tons of countries.
What Will We Do? We will read about each country, color the map, color the flag, do a lapbook, do arts and crafts, make or go out for food, and most importantly, pray for the country.
Overall I think it will be a great curriculum for Luke. We may not get to do everything for each country, but I think all in all he will realize the world is a much bigger place than just Holly Springs or North Carolina or even the United States. I will be learning a lot also.
What We Are Using: Expedition Earth
How I Found It: I love reading blogs, especially about homeschooling. I stumbled upon Erica's blog (http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/) and I LOVE IT! She is Super Homeschool Mom. She seriously needs a cape. LOL! She puts a ton of what she does with her kids on her blog (lots of pictures) as well as curriculum she has created. I found Expedition Earth on her blog and saw some of what she had done with her kids and thought it looked great.
Why I Chose It: I think it is really important that kids (and people) know about the world and not just the tiny area they (we) live in. This is great because you journey around the world, hitting all 7 continents, The Arctic, and tons of countries.
What Will We Do? We will read about each country, color the map, color the flag, do a lapbook, do arts and crafts, make or go out for food, and most importantly, pray for the country.
Overall I think it will be a great curriculum for Luke. We may not get to do everything for each country, but I think all in all he will realize the world is a much bigger place than just Holly Springs or North Carolina or even the United States. I will be learning a lot also.
Kindergarten Curriculum In Detail
I thought I would do a series where I break down each piece of our curriculum for Kindergarten. I will be sharing what we are using, how I found it, and what it will entail each week. Of course we haven't done it yet, so I will be doing a follow-up later to how we like it, but I really believe we will love our curriculum choices.
:)
:)
Monday, August 1, 2011
Our Curriculum Plans for Kindergarten
Here is what we are going to be using for kindergarten:
BIBLE – Daily, 15 minutes
Bible Truths K by Bob Jones University Press
This curriculum looks awesome. There are 15 units that cover the Bible start to finish. Each day you read Bible text, learn doctrinal truths, character traits, and catechism, sing songs, and pray. You also memorize 25 Scripture verses throughout the year. There is an activity book that goes along with some of the days and I will probably add some supplemental crafty things as Luke loves that.
READING – Daily, 5-10 minutes
Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading by Peace Hill Press and Readers
We have been working on this book this year and we will just keep going where we are at. I highly recommend this book to teach your children how to read. We won't have a set lesson plan as we are working to master reading skills. If we have to work for 2 weeks on one lesson that is fine and if we get done with 2 lessons in one day that is fine.
Abeka Readers
LeapFrog Readers
SPELLING – Daily, 5-10 minutes
All About Spelling, Level 1 by Marie Rippel
This curriculum looks great. I looked and looked for a great spelling curriculum and most of them were just lists of words. This is an actual hands-on, mom works with the child, and they work for mastery, not memorization only. I think it will be a lot like the reading in that we will just be working at whatever pace we need to for Luke to fully get it.
HANDWRITING – Daily, 15 minutes
A Reason for Handwriting, Manuscript A
We are using A Reason for Handwriting is because each week you work toward writing a whole Scripture verse. By Friday he will have written the letters and words and be ready to write the whole thing. I think that is a great way to incorporate more Scripture. I am also hoping to have him memorize that week's Scripture verse.
MATH – Daily, 15 minutes
Singapore Math
We are going to be using this curriculum this year because it is more organized by topic.
SCIENCE – 2-3 times a week (Mondays, Tuesdays, and every other Wednesdays), 15 minutes
The World God Make (K) by Christian Liberty Press
I am really excited about this curriculum. I looked at tons of options and to me they were all too much for a kindergartner. They will be great down the road, but I want to just introduce Luke to some general aspects of science at this age. The curriculum is all about Creation. As we go through each day of creation (AKA a unit), there will be Scripture reading, Bible verses to memorize, science projects to do, and activities. I think it will be a great introduction at this age.
HISTORY – 2-3 times a week (Mondays, Tuesdays, and every other Wednesdays), 15 minutes
History for Little Pilgrims by Christian Liberty Press
I felt the same way going through SS curriculum as I did science. I wanted something that focused on a general view of history. This is perfect. It starts with Creation and goes through history to our current time looking forward to Jesus' return. It has a good amount of information for a pretty simple book. Again, there are Bible verses and learning activities (including a cute coloring book). I think it will be a great start to history and geography.
GEOGRAPHY - 4 times a week (Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Fridays - Project Days), 15 minutes (more on project days)
Expedition Earth by Erica (blogger) - http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/
I found this great curriculum on CofaH's blog. I think it will be so much fun "globe hopping" and learning about geography, continents, countries, and cultures. The thing I love most is that she encourages you to pray for the people of the countries. We will make a passport, color the maps, color the flag, learn about the country and culture, and even make food from that country.
ELECTIVES – Daily, 15 minutes
SPANISH – Teach Them Spanish K by Frank Shaffer Publications
This is a great introduction to Spanish. We will learn greetings, numbers 1-10, colors, classroom objects, family members, food, clothing, and places.
PIANO – Alfred's Basic Piano All-in-One Book for Kids
Each week I will sit with Luke and review and teach him a lesson. Of course we can spend more time if he is having trouble with something. He will also be practicing during the week separate from our school day.
MUSIC -
We will be learning about different pianists and composers by reading books and listening to heir music.
We are going to study composers as we study the country they are from in our Expedition Earth geography.
ART – The World's Greatest Artists Unit Study by Erica (blogger) - http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2011/06/worlds-greatest-artists-unit-study.html - FREE TO DOWNLOAD
Luke absolutely loves art. He loves to create and he really enjoys looking through a book we have of art for children. I am hoping that this unit study will be fun and educational.
We are going to just study the artists as we study the country they are from in our Expedition Earth geography.
PE – Daily, 30-60 minutes
PE will be just being physical, whether it is a park playdate, a jump house playdate, a fastfood/playplace playdate, playing in the backyard, riding bikes, or focusing on a sport (basketball, baseball, football). If it is yucky outside and we don't have an indoor playdate planned, we will play the Wii or something.
CO-OP – Weekly (Thursdays) – 3 hours
We are registered for the waiting list of a great co-op in our area. They meet at a church and do chapel time and then there are two class times. The kids do two classes, moms serve one hour and a Bible study one hour, and they have nursery for Nathan. This would be a great way for Luke to maybe do a couple of different classes and meet some friends. Luke will be doing a budding architects/engineers class and an inventors class.
I would love to hear what you are doing for kindergarten.
Schooling Your 4-5 Year Old Preschooler
I thought that I would take the time to break down what we used for Luke's 4/5 pre-Kindergarten curriculum.
Curriculum can be so overwhelming. It's hard to know what is right for your family/child. It can be expensive. I am very methodical and a little OCD so I look at it all, think about what our goals are, think about what method we will use, etc. Even when I get it and start using it for a few weeks, it seems crazy, but once we have settled in, I am usually pretty pleased with what we are doing.
Last year for 4/5 pre-K we used Sonlight's P4/5 Core program which includes tons of great books (lots of reading aloud), learning skills workbooks (that focus on motor skills, listening skills, memory, and other learning skills), a Bible and Scriptures to memorize, and lots of creative ideas for further fun/study. It's broken down into 36 weeks (requirement for schooling) and can be done for 4 or 5 days a week. We usually do 3-4 days a week (I just combine).
We used Horizons K for mathematics. I liked it but I thought it was a little accelerated for him at that age. We are going to be switching to Singapore Math for kindergarten.
We used Handwriting Without Tears K for handwriting. I think it is pretty good, but I think you could achieve the same goal with some lined paper. We do one number or letter each week (that corresponds to the math or CORE). We do handwriting 2 days a week. We do the HWT page one day and he does a row on lined paper one day for review. The math has writing numbers so he writes a lot. We are going to be switching to A Reason for Handwriting for kindergarten.
We used Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! It's broken down perfectly. You start with short vowel sounds, then consonant sounds, then long vowel sounds, then blends, etc. I love it because it is simple, has cutesy ways to remember stuff, and does a ton of review. We do reading lessons 3 days a week. The book is pretty big so we are going to just keep working through it until we are done. I have a plan to do 3 lessons a week but we can cut down if he needs more time to learn some concepts. I highly recommend this book!!!
Basically our schedule is:
Monday - CORE, Reading
Tuesday - CORE, Handwriting, Math
Wednesday - CORE, Reading
Thursday - CORE, Handwriting, Math
Friday - CORE, Reading
When we need to combine, it works well because we do 2 days of CORE, Reading, Handwriting, and Math.
School takes less than an hour. I like that for preschool because he doesn't need to sit at a table for more than one hour doing worksheets and reading. He also spends a lot of time coloring, doing crafts, doing projects, playing with Play-Doh, and playing games (lots of memory games). We also read a lot.
I hope this has been helpful for those of you who might be interested in homeschooling.
I will do another post about our plans for next year (Kindergarten).
Hope this helps! I would love to hear how you homeschool your 4-5 year old preschool student.
Curriculum can be so overwhelming. It's hard to know what is right for your family/child. It can be expensive. I am very methodical and a little OCD so I look at it all, think about what our goals are, think about what method we will use, etc. Even when I get it and start using it for a few weeks, it seems crazy, but once we have settled in, I am usually pretty pleased with what we are doing.
Last year for 4/5 pre-K we used Sonlight's P4/5 Core program which includes tons of great books (lots of reading aloud), learning skills workbooks (that focus on motor skills, listening skills, memory, and other learning skills), a Bible and Scriptures to memorize, and lots of creative ideas for further fun/study. It's broken down into 36 weeks (requirement for schooling) and can be done for 4 or 5 days a week. We usually do 3-4 days a week (I just combine).
We used Horizons K for mathematics. I liked it but I thought it was a little accelerated for him at that age. We are going to be switching to Singapore Math for kindergarten.
We used Handwriting Without Tears K for handwriting. I think it is pretty good, but I think you could achieve the same goal with some lined paper. We do one number or letter each week (that corresponds to the math or CORE). We do handwriting 2 days a week. We do the HWT page one day and he does a row on lined paper one day for review. The math has writing numbers so he writes a lot. We are going to be switching to A Reason for Handwriting for kindergarten.
We used Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! It's broken down perfectly. You start with short vowel sounds, then consonant sounds, then long vowel sounds, then blends, etc. I love it because it is simple, has cutesy ways to remember stuff, and does a ton of review. We do reading lessons 3 days a week. The book is pretty big so we are going to just keep working through it until we are done. I have a plan to do 3 lessons a week but we can cut down if he needs more time to learn some concepts. I highly recommend this book!!!
Basically our schedule is:
Monday - CORE, Reading
Tuesday - CORE, Handwriting, Math
Wednesday - CORE, Reading
Thursday - CORE, Handwriting, Math
Friday - CORE, Reading
When we need to combine, it works well because we do 2 days of CORE, Reading, Handwriting, and Math.
School takes less than an hour. I like that for preschool because he doesn't need to sit at a table for more than one hour doing worksheets and reading. He also spends a lot of time coloring, doing crafts, doing projects, playing with Play-Doh, and playing games (lots of memory games). We also read a lot.
I hope this has been helpful for those of you who might be interested in homeschooling.
I will do another post about our plans for next year (Kindergarten).
Hope this helps! I would love to hear how you homeschool your 4-5 year old preschool student.
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