Lady Lulu Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Next year, we will begin homeschooling for the first time with our soon-to-be kindergardener. We are uber excited. I've been researching curriculum for what feels like years. I've got a good idea of what we'll use, but I still feel like there may be some *gems* out there (or some holes in my list) that I am missing. What is the piece of curriculum that you can't (or couldn't) live with out in Kindergarden? Here's what we're considering: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Ez (already 1/4 way through) Explode the Code (for phonics) Handwriting Without Tears (not sold on this completely) Singapore Math Artistic Pursuits & Meet the Masters (art is very impt to me) Any other gems out there I'm missing? (I understand there are many out there who would suggest just playing together, journaling about nature, etc, but this post is a specific request about curriculum info.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Lulu Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 I forgot to mention! Although I plan to keep things simple for a while, I might also be interested in teaching Spanish, geography, and Bible. My son LOVES to learn, so I plan on adding in some unit studies as well as some fun science experiments (possibly from Magnets to Mudpies?) in there as well. And (my goodness, this is getting crazy long), I've also thought about buying CDs from Classical Conversations to learn skip counting, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs.m Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 What is the piece of curriculum that you can't (or couldn't) live with out in Kindergarden? OPGTR (Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading) Bob Books HWT We really liked BJU K Math too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We used Singapore Math, ETC, and HWOT with my oldest daughter. They are all great programs and worked very well for us, except we didn't end up needing to finish the ETC workbooks. The only other thing I loved for K that isn't on your list is Five in a Row. We had a lot of fun with this program and all of the books they used were wonderful. Dd still reads them occasionally and remembers the projects we did. It is a great way to approach K literature. Have fun planning!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 SL P4/5...put the fun in our K year. SWR Miquon math We used more than that but those were the real gems for me. We did keep it pretty simple and it was a great first year of hsing. ETA: for geography, I highly recommend Evan Moor's Beginning Geography. Perfect for the K year and ds and I really enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewpeaceful Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We really liked BJU K Math too. Us too... we actually did BJU K as a whole and it was my favorite K program, bar none. It was worth every penny and we'll do it again for my youngest. But my FAVORITE part of both K programs - it only takes an hour to do everything and the kids still love learning at that age! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Five in a Row. It is absolutely my daughter's favorite part of the day - it adds so much color and interest to the mundane 3 R's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2denj Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 All About Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We love Sonlight! We love to read-aloud and snuggle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest momk2000 Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Our favorites are: McRuffy Science and God and Me Devotions for Girls Both have simple hands on activities that dd enjoys and are easy for Mom to implement. These are the two things dd begs to do each day. :) We also use and enjoy the following as part of our K curriculum: Adventures in Phonics A (with phonics readers) (Christian Liberty Press) In the Beginning Handwriting (CLP) Liberty Mathematics (CLP) A Beka Social Studies K CLP Nature Reader K And of course lots and lots of library books/dvds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakereese Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 OPGTR RightStart Math Now I'm Reading Book sets (Nora Gaydos) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Well, we use Oak Meadow and I love it because it's NOT very academic in the earliest years. It's very sweet and gentle, creative and hands-on. Learning is done via stories, crafts, drawing, music and movement, and physically moving around. It's sort of Waldorf-inspired (but not true Waldorf). I really love it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We are wrapping up Kindergarten next month and love(d) everything in my signature and Sonlight Science K, Magic School Bus books/videos and Horizons Math. We were blessed that everything we used just clicked and worked! But out of all that we used, the absolute favorites are: Noeo Chemistry 1 Singapore Primary Math Sonlight materials Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Us too... we actually did BJU K as a whole and it was my favorite K program, bar none. It was worth every penny and we'll do it again for my youngest. But my FAVORITE part of both K programs - it only takes an hour to do everything and the kids still love learning at that age! :lol: LOVE BJU K! Have used it for all of my children and the new edition is superb. Everything but math is covered in the K Beginnings curriculum, and the math BJU offers for K is excellent also. It is open and go, easy to use. Worth every penny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacus2 Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Sonlight P4/5 is wonderful. I also really enjoyed the math suggestions from MFW K. We did the Cuisinaire rods alphabet book using the letter we were studying that week. We also filled in a 100 chart while daily putting one craft stick in a jar and bundling the sticks in groups of ten as we went. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxMama Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Five in a Row. It is absolutely my daughter's favorite part of the day - it adds so much color and interest to the mundane 3 R's. :iagree::iagree: This is my fourth time teaching K and FIAR is by far my absolute favorite for this age group. FIAR + your picks for phonics/math/art/handwriting would be a great K year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RecumbentHeart Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We are in the midst and my personal gems have proven to be Living Books Curriculum's Foundation year for bringing together all that I wanted to include in our K year beyond the 3Rs and Professor B Math for being the math version of my soulmate. For phonics and handwriting I've realized I could use almost anything but these gems are a treasured perfect K fit for our home. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We enjoyed everything in my siggy as well, but what was invaluable in our Kindergarten - Abeka Phonics Math manipulatives to go with whatever math program we were doing Sonlight Read Alouds Let's Read and Find Out science books (and the projects that ensued) (I understand there are many out there who would suggest just playing together, journaling about nature, etc, but this post is a specific request about curriculum info.) Love it, this brought a smile to my face first thing in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 These worked well for us in K. Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading Right Start Math - A Handwriting Without Tears Explode the Code All About Spelling The above was our core curriculum that really made a difference for us. I'd do it all again if I had another child. We did also enjoy our spring of 2009 when we did FIAR! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 So far? (So like, 5 weeks in?) FIAR! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daffodil Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 My favorites are our read alouds, RightStart Math, Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, and Handwriting Without Tears. OPGTR has also been very effective, but it would be too dry for us if we used it as written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Lulu Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 SL P4/5...put the fun in our K year.SWR Miquon math So sorry...what is SL and SWR? I'm still learning all the acronyms. There should be a key somewhere! Thanks, Leslie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Lulu Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 The only other thing I loved for K that isn't on your list is Five in a Row. We had a lot of fun with this program and all of the books they used were wonderful. Dd still reads them occasionally and remembers the projects we did. It is a great way to approach K literature. Have fun planning!! :D OK, I'm officially going to have to check out Five in a Row now. I've heard so many great things... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Lulu Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 ETA: for geography, I highly recommend Evan Moor's Beginning Geography. Perfect for the K year and ds and I really enjoyed it. Sweet! I love the look of those Evan Moore Geography books! Those are definitely going on my list! I've done just a little bit of searching for geography and hadn't come up with something I was crazy about. My rockstar son loves putting together our map puzzels and I know he'll love these books. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 We :001_tt1: FIAR! Dd wanted to do it for a second year, and I decided against it, because I didn't think it could possibly be as good the second time around. It is the only thing that we started K with that I will keep for when we do K with the next one. For him, we will do FIAR (which includes social studies, language arts, art, math and science) and SWR (which includes handwriting, spelling and reading), and that's it. I started off with too much structure for dd's K year, and now I know that you just don't need that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 So sorry...what is SL and SWR? I'm still learning all the acronyms. There should be a key somewhere! Thanks, Leslie SL = Sonlight SWR = Spell to Write and Read And here is the key: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/board-abbreviations/#hsabbr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 I agree - good books! Definitely check out Sonlight, even their 3/4 books would be great!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 I haven't read through the entire thread so don't know if this has been mentioned, but I love, love, love First Language Lessons 1 for kindy/first grade. My 5 year old is working through it now at a slow pace (this is her pre K year). It is simple, mostly oral and takes about five minutes a day, if that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Absolutely without a doubt FIAR is the best part of our day!! :001_wub: We have rowed vols 1-3 for dd's K year, we are rerowing them for her 1st year before moving on to vol 4 in 2nd. The second time around has been better for us than the first. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Absolutely without a doubt FIAR is the best part of our day!! :001_wub:We have rowed vols 1-3 for dd's K year, we are rerowing them for her 1st year before moving on to vol 4 in 2nd. The second time around has been better for us than the first. :D I am really curious what has been better about FIAR the second time. I told dd that we wouldn't do it for a second year, so I am wondering if I missed something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 I am really curious what has been better about FIAR the second time. I told dd that we wouldn't do it for a second year, so I am wondering if I missed something? I am sure it is different for everyone, but for us it amounts to this: The first time around dd was 4 and 5 years old (we took it slow) and we did the simpler projects/lessons. This time around we repeated some of the lessons that we really liked and added those that she was not old enough for the first time. This time she is an older 5 yo and will be 6 shortly. Also the first time around for the first month or two we were getting into the swing of things. After I really got a feel for it it was easier for me and dd was into the lessons more. Also I learned that when I have time and feel like it I can add any craft activity I think dd will like (she is very hands on), but if I don't have the time the manual is just fine. I have noticed that topics that we have repeated, dd really absorbs well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 I am sure it is different for everyone, but for us it amounts to this: The first time around dd was 4 and 5 years old (we took it slow) and we did the simpler projects/lessons. This time around we repeated some of the lessons that we really liked and added those that she was not old enough for the first time. This time she is an older 5 yo and will be 6 shortly. Also the first time around for the first month or two we were getting into the swing of things. After I really got a feel for it it was easier for me and dd was into the lessons more. Also I learned that when I have time and feel like it I can add any craft activity I think dd will like (she is very hands on), but if I don't have the time the manual is just fine. I have noticed that topics that we have repeated, dd really absorbs well. Thanks for sharing. I hadn't thought of this aspect and will have to consider it for the next round. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorCalMom Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 OK, I'm officially going to have to check out Five in a Row now. I've heard so many great things... Definitely! ...and also look at Before Five in a Row. There are some wonderful titles in that volume. We went back and forth between the two. These were absolutely the best part of our Pre-K/Kinder years. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Reading about the ice age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@home Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 We used a combination of MFW K and FIAR. Some of my favorite memories are the butterfly garden and ant hill. Loved it! mom@home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterthanIdeserve Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 We loved FIAR (vol 1) for kindergarten as well! The FIAR forums and homeschoolshare.com (and enchantedlearning.com but you have to pay a subscription for that) have some great suggestions and resources to use with it. One thing that surprised me was how much my hubby loved the FIAR books. He had read most of them as a child (I had not) and he just loved that our dd (and her toddler brother) was getting to read them as well. I can't believe how much geography my dd has learned with FIAR! We are planning a classical/CM approach to first grade, but I just found an inexpensive used copy of FIAR vol. 3, so we will "row" some more FIAR books for fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhsmom Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Our Kindergarten favorites have been: RightStart Math A Elemental Science Intro to Science Egermeier's Bible Story Book Read Alouds, read alouds, and more read alouds Making Words phonics/spelling activities HWT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Right Start A Read alouds on the sofa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karensk Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Yes, I wish I had discovered Before Five in a Row before ds was too old for it (he was almost 7 y/o), but am so glad I got to use it with dd. It's one of my all-time favorite curricula. :) And FIAR was awesome, as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 One of my favorite things is the IEW Poetry Memorization program. You can definitely start in K (my almost 4 year old has the first 8 or so poems memorized even), there's enough for several years, and it is just so cool to hear them reciting poetry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAMom Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Another huge FIAR fan! My K'er and I are in the middle of Truman's Aunt Farm right now. We have learned about family relationships, schedule making, homophones and ants. We have a stack of supplemental library books right now on aunts and even one on homophones. We are also putting together a lapbook which we do for most of our books at his insistence. We do FIAR, Horizons math, Reading Made Easy and some memory work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Kirkwood Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Five in a Row, again. You can see lots of posts about how it is used on Rivka's blog, Angela's (SatoriSmiles) blog and mine. There are forums, too, for FIAR that I've found quite helpful. Not really a curriculum but something to supplement with, BrainPop Jr. We have really enjoyed that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Kirkwood Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Another thing I wanted to mention is Science in the Kitchen. It's a little Usborne book with little experiments you can do with things easily found in your pantry or easily obtained from the grocery store. My kids have loved doing all of the experiments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Another Five in a Row fan here. We also used Jolly Phonics, which my girls loved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Researcher Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 We've been happy with all of our choices this year for K, but DD's faves are as follows: OPGTR Singapore Essential Math A & B (we tried Earlybird and it was a bust, we've loved Essential!) ETC - She loves these and it's the first book she pulls out every morning ES Intro the Science Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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