Sunday, June 5, 2011

Kindergarten plan

One friend asked what curriculum I am using for Kindergarten, so I thought I'd share my plan with all of you. I actually spent way longer than I meant to mulling this over. I am really excited about starting Tap.estry of Grace, but I want to wait another year. We've used Son.light for P3/4 and P4/5. It has been really great, but I just wasn't for sure about their Kindergarten. I'm not sure why, I just didn't love it. So, after figuring out a few different approaches and what I think will be enjoyable for my boys, while also being relaxed and purposeful, I came up with this. I'm not going to pull everything together again. It is taking a lot more work and well, I just don't have endless hours to set up my own teacher's manual. It is fun for one year, but I don't want to do the whole thing again.

Math: Saxon 1
We used Saxon K last year and it was great. C learned a ton and I want to keep this ball rolling. Albert and I are both pretty strong in math, so this is a great option for us right now.

Bible: The Child's Story Bible
This was given to us when B was born and is listed in several different curriculum that I am interested in. It is excellent!

The Big Book of Questions and Answers
I am planning to use this like a catechism, doing two lessons/week.

Navigator's Topical Memory system
This is our plan for scripture memory. C and I have already memorized the first 12 verses. We will both start on B pack and B will start on A pack. Is that confusing?

Science:
Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book K
The Burgess Bird Book For Children
Fun with Nature
More Fun with Nature

We are reading one small section of these. We'll work through one book at a time and take walks (hopefully daily) to search for the things we read about and just enjoy God's creation.

Music:
Mozart
Beethoven
Bach

I have one book on each of these and I am going to order one CD of each. We will listen as we do chores and prep lunch. I will switch to the next one after 12 weeks.

Art:
Da Vinci
Van Gogh
Monet

I have a coffee table book of Monet, along with a book about each. I am planning to buy a print or two of each of these greats and display them around our house. I also have a couple of books about teaching children art. I'm not totally sure about the details of this, but yeah, at least I have some good tools!

Read aloud:
I am reading the Little House on the Prairie collection during lunch.
My Father's Dragon 3 book series
Aesop's Fables for Children
A Child's Garden of Verses
The Biggest Bear
Dolphin Treasure
Miss Rumphius
Dolphin Adventure
Mary on Horseback
Thy Friend, Obadiah
Boxcar Children
Winnie the Pooh
Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Fables
Imogene's Antlers

I am planning to find some more books for reading aloud. We love new books and I think we will get through these pretty quickly.

Handwriting:
Cursive First

Reading:
Spell to Write and Read
We will work on phonograms this year. I am planning to really work on reading next year, after I become more familiar with the program.

Poetry:
A Light in the Attic
Winnie the Pooh
The Llama Who Had No Pajama

B will be doing Son.light P3/4, work on counting in rote and recognizing letters by sound.

We will also work on Habits and Handicrafts as recommended by Charlotte Mason approach. The big thing that I want to be intentional about is spending time observing and enjoying being outdoors. This is bigger to me than crafts. I think we are going to do all of our table work first thing in the morning, then read outside going straight into a nature walk, bike riding and play. We'll see when I get my house clean, but my children should be learning a lot and stretching their little minds.

First day is tomorrow. Pray for us!

2 comments:

Lauren @ Magnify the Lord with Me said...

I loved reading this and hearing your plan!!! Sounds awesome!

lindsayw4 said...

Wow! Sounds great!