Homeschool Plans 2012-2013 {Kindergarten}

Oh how I love teaching Kindergarten!

Our first year of homeschooling, Isaac was in Kindergarten and Nate was in Pre-school.  I admit….I was pretty concerned I wouldn’t be able to teach them how to read.  We had (and still do) a very limited budget, and so I went to work putting together a mostly free curriculum set through online sources and our local library’s wealth of information.

That year we had so much fun!  We went through a very simple version of Letter-of-the-Week, and by the spring both boys had started reading.  In addition to that, they had learned how to write simple sentences, add and subtract simple equations, learned a ton about different animals, and had memorized many bible stories and verses. 

I couldn’t believe that we had not only survived our first year homeschooling, but had thrived as well.  I was hooked after that. 

Not too much has changed for my little girl.  She completed her Letter-of-the-Week curriculum last year, though hers was kicked up a notch from what the boys did.  We’ve tried reading a few times this summer, and she is just not ready.  But she does love to learn!  Here’s a look at what she’ll be doing this year:


Circle Time:  Elaina will get a strong introduction to recording the date with her new Calender Journal Pages.  She has had lots of exposure to it already just from being involved in our daily circle/calendar time.  We record the day, the date, the weather, do skip counting, sing a few songs, choose a color of the day and spell the color, spell family members names, and almost always read a book or two as a group.  This year we’ll add lots of Spanish elements too (with lots of printables that I share here for free!)





Language Arts:  Sing, Spell, Read, and Write.  This is the program that we used our second year of homeschooling for both boys.  We have it and will use the workbooks and attempt the readers as she is ready.  I feel pretty laid back about this at her age and will not force her or push her to read before she is ready.  We may go through her Letter-of-the-Week curriculum again as a back up.  She's also going to start A Reason For Handwriting which the boys did last year.  I love these books! 

Book Packs:  I have about a book a week picked out for her.  Some have printable packs (click here) with them, some just a set of activities.  Most of them are Caldecott medalists (or Honorees) or are what I would consider to be classics.  It will be similar to Five In A Row, and while we’re not committing to “rowing” them,  it will be like it nonetheless.














Math:  We have lots of tools and manipulatives left from the boys.  She’ll learn how to write and spell her numbers, do basic addition and subtraction, graphing, learn skip counting, time-telling, basic measuring, and anything else that come up.  We also have Building Thinking Skills that she’ll go through that we didn’t end up using last year.





Science:  Apologia Exploring Creation through Zoology: Land Animals of the 6th Day.  She’ll do the Jr. Notebook along with her brothers.  I have also worked hard this summer putting together tons of animal packs and KWL charts to go along with it (that I share here for free!) .  Elaina really enjoys this part of school, so we’ll focus a bit extra on it for fun.




Bible:  We are going to go through the ABC Bible Verse Flashcards from Homeschool Creations.  She’ll also join in on the boys' lessons daily.  I printed a bunch of fun file folder games from Christian Preschool Printables and I know she’ll have fun learning with those.




Piano: My First Piano Adventures.  We started this last spring and will continue it through the fall and then move on to the next level.  It has been a really fun book to go through and comes with a music CD and lots of teacher accompaniments for duets with me!  I really enjoy teaching the kids the piano.  The hardest part is keeping the baby off the keyboard during lessons.  I may have to bribe enlist the boys for help this year....


Social:  She’s so excited to go to “real” school this year at The Homeschool Academy with her brothers.  This is a once per week program that offers various subjects and clubs for her to participate in.  She is mostly excited to make new friends (she’s my little social butterfly!)

Field Trips: I’ve planned a few trips for the year:

The Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center is nearby and we plan to visit during September while studying wolves in our Apologia science unit. Also The Dinosaur Resource Center is close and we'll stop in there in the spring during our dinosaur unit of Apologia science. We are members of the Nature and Science Museum and plan on visiting as often as possible, hopefully every couple of months. (We get to bring 7 visitors with us each time...want to plan a trip with us?)



And that about sums up the “formal” learning for Miss Elaina, my l’il Diva.  I’m sure there will be changes along the way…there usually are.  But that’s what makes homeschooling so much fun!

How about you?  What is your kindergartner doing this year?

(Want to see our plans for 2nd and 3rd grade?  Click here.)