Where to start?

[Tsutsie]

Hello All

 

I am getting ready to pull my son, currently in Kindergarten, from school and start homeschooling him he seems to think school is a waste of time, except for being the class clown, disrupting the class in any way possible, and simply not following instructions. Or well, in the teachers opinion. Let's not get started down that road.

 

We just finished Hooked on Phonics, Grade 2, and he is currently flying through Math-U-See Primer. I don't think that is going to take us much longer than 5 or 6 weeks.

 

We've tried HWOT, but he was not really interested and does better practising handwriting by writing "stories" or groceries lists, friends telephone numbers, etc.

 

And that's all.

What else should I be doing? At this young stage, should I be doing any Science, History, etc. What about Grade 1?

 

I have to also add that we are not in a hurry as he just turned 5 - but I want to keep him stimulated and "entertained". If not, he becomes more than a handful.

 

How much time, on average, do you home school such a young child each day?

 

Any ideas as to what might keep his 2 year old sister occupied while he "works"? She seems to really take offence to him sitting down and not playing with her. We usually worked when she napped, but she is fighting that more and more and I'm guessing that we will see the end of that before the summer holiday is over.

 

I'm rather terrified! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you,

Yvette

[Mama Anna]

Welcome to the club!! If you could check out the Well-Trained Mind out of your library, it will give you an idea of what to make sure of in K. General suggestions around here include:

 

Lots of read-alouds

Science-type stuff with Mudpies to Magnets (also often available at the library)

Audio Books

Art projects, if he's interested.

You can always listen to classical music, do picture study, etc. (Check out Classical Kids cds from the library and look at Getting to Know the World's Best Artists (I think that's the series))

 

Note: All this stuff is not required. But if you need to fill time while the weather makes outside play impossible, you might want to try them.

 

Does he like to cut and paste? Kumon also has a bunch of workbooks for little ones on tracing, etc. (Fine motor skills prepare little hands for writing) Kumon's "My First _____" workbooks might work for your little one. They're supposed to be possible for 2yos. (Available from Rainbow Resource Center)

 

Those are my ideas. Anyone else?

 

Mama Anna

[Aurelia]

We do school for a couple of hours, but that includes things like music and art and Spanish, and are considering this year first grade. Since he seems to be reading well, you could do things like the previous poster mentioned. He's at a good age to learn a foreign language if you want to try, as well as learning to play an instrument and maybe start geography. I like unit studies like Five in a Row and Galloping the Globe for K since, IMO, K is all about exposure to new ideas. KONOS would also give you tons of things to do for each unit, which might help keep him occupied, and his sister can join in on any of those programs if she wishes. Science kits are fun and educational, and we did several of those last year.

[SilverMoon]

Kindy at my house is phonics (Phonics Pathways, Leapfrog videos, and http://www.starfall.com), writing your name, counting, learning to write the rest of the alphabet, and a bajillion library trips for fresh books. I'm batting 4:4 for this being a more than adequate preparation for first grade. :)

 

My current first grader's daily load now looks like this:

-grammar

-copywork and oral narration for writing

-spelling

-lots of real books

-math

-science on T, and Th, or history on M, W, F

 

 

With my little ones I've found it easiest and most effective to include them in the schooltime. My almost 2yo has her own clipboard that I load with a coloring page before we start school for the day. Then she joins us at the table when we all start out together. When she gets bored of that she'll gladly walk away and find something to do.

[Staceyshoe]

Kudos that you dc is actually writing words, lists, and stories! (My Kindergartener had a hard time writing letters, let alone words!)

 

I would add some type of math. Math manipulatives seem to engage young kids. We started with MUS, but there are lots and lots of great program. As a pp mentioned, Mudpies to Magnets or Janice van Cleaves science experiments are good.

 

My dc will turn 5 in a couple of months, and I try to do 40 minutes/day. Some days are less, some days he insists on 2 hrs. He's in public school K now so that limits our time. I would think that 2-4 hours with frequent break is ideal for this age if they aren't engaged in other school activities or co-ops.

[Tracy]

I also have a 5yo doing K and a 2yo. Some of the things that we do that we love the most are

 

• Five in a Row (dd's absolute, hands-down favorite)
  
• Building Foundations of Science Understanding (We just started this, and I love it, because it is science as a part of everyday life rather than a stand-alone lesson)
  
• For social studies, we do a hodge podge. DD chooses topics, like a country or a person, and we get books from the library about that topic. Next year, we will start with a classical approach starting with the ancients, but at this age, we are really enjoying this.
  
• I have also started to read chapter books to her. We started with Black Beauty. We are now doing Dr. Dolittle. And next in line is Wizard of Oz.
  
• Memorization!!!! This is the best thing I have gotten out of WTM so far. I wasn't impressed with the idea, but they made it seem so easy (just read it once per day) that I couldn't see not at least trying it. Dd loves learning her poetry, scriptures and songs. It is so gentle and easy and only takes a minute a day.
  
• Poetry: I don't like poetry much (I am more of a math/science gal), but I thought it wise not to let my distaste for it bias my children. So I have gotten some good books of children's poetry, and we keep at least one on the kitchen table. I read the poems to the children while they eat. I wasn't surprised that dd loved it (it is right up her alley), but I was surprised that my ds2 is now requesting it (he is not even talking yet).
  

We are also doing math, spelling, reading. I don't really keep track of the time we take, because it is stretched out throughout the day. I have her do math first thing because it is the hardest to get through. Then we just do a little here and there.

 

As for the 2yo, that has been quite a challenge. I want to be able to sit with dd while she does her work, but ds can be rather demanding. I find it is really important to tend to his needs first. I read about one mother that takes her little ones for a walk first thing before school, and then her toddlers are more apt to play by themselves when school starts. I am not an outdoor person, so the walk doesn't work for me, but the principle of meeting the needs of the youngest first (however that gets done) I think is very wise. We do a lot while ds is napping. (I fortunately have a dh that takes the kids for an hour every day after dinner, so I still get "me time.") I saw a suggestion to put a little one either at the sink or on the floor on a towel with a tub of water and a bunch of containers. That seemed like a great idea, and it worked one time for us, and after that, nothing. You just have to know your kids and what makes them tick. We have used file folder games with some success. Ds likes puzzles, too. He loves the marble run that we have and will play with that for long stretches by himself.

 

If you want to see more about what we are doing/using, you can check out my blog.

 

Tracy

[....]

I'm currently teaching a 1st grader and 2nd grader, but I will have a K-er this summer...

 

Here's what I plan on doing for K:

 

LA/Reading: CLE Learn to Read and K12 LA (K)

Math: Singapore Earlybird

Soc St: some selections from Sonlight K

Science: some selections from Sonlight K

 

And that's all...we might do some art projects here and there...

 

You can get a lot done while the 2 year-old takes a nap! (I also have a 2 year-old)

 

Kindergarten is basically learning to read (in my book - no pun intended :lol:).

 

 

 

1st grade is an entirely different thing...here's what my 1st grader does:

 

LA: CLE 100

Spelling: BJU Spelling 1st Gr

Reading: Sonlight Readers 2, CLE Reading 1st gr

Math: Horizons 1, Kumon Workbooks, Mindbenders

Handwriting: HWOT Printing Power

Writing: Writing with Ease 1

Geography: Map Skills 1st Gr

Science: Apologia's Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day

History: unit studies (are awesome) and Sonlight Core 1+2

extras: cub scouts and assorted sports ;)

 

 

Good luck with your Kindergartener!! :D

[Hockey Mom]

Both my Kindy-kid and my First Grader do the BJU Grade Kits. For Kindergarten it's:

 

-Beginnings (english, phonics, reading, history)

-Math

-Bible

 

In addition to those we do: Greek Alphabet Code Cracker (which they LOVE), Heritage Studies 1 (they both do together and we add the enrichment activities), and unit studies. Our unit studies can be anything from studying holidays and traditions to random subjects of interest.

[KAM]

For K here, we are doing math (just 10-15 min. per day), lots of read-alouds, phonics, a science experiment when the mood strikes, and a weekly art project. Other than that, lots of puttering and playing.