Dump science and history for K'er?

[MusicMama]

I have tried some light Kindergarten work during the summer, when I didn't feel like hovering over the toilet from morning sickness, lol.

 

I have a 3.5 yr old son who loves to "do letters" with mommy and likes to play with his c-rods. That, along with coloring activities and read alouds is all he gets and I feel it is perfect for him. My two year old son tries to color in the reading books and eat the c-rods, and he thinks that is perfect for him. :coolgleamA:

 

My daughter on the other hand, adores all forms of school. We start with circle time, review address, scripture verses, poems, and some memory songs etc. We have 10-15 min of reading time and 10-15 minutes of Miquon math. Spanish is something that I feel strongly about, so we spend about 30 minutes watching a Elementary Spanish or Salsa Spanish episode while they eat lunch, and maybe a coloring activity sheet that corresponds. This is what we did last year for her K4 year.

 

My problem is that I'm trying to expand what we cover for Kindergarten. I purchased Intro to Science and Adventures in America here. I find that it is age appropriate for my daughter and she LOVES all the activities and books, but I can't do it all!!!!! On top of that, I feel like we should cover handwriting, art, and piano, but I don't think I have even cracked open those books yet.

 

I am pregnant, and have 3 kids 5 and under. My husband is home for the summer, so I have constant help. He starts work in a week, and I feel like I can't even manage to cover the basics of Kindergarten when he's here, how will I ever handle having more than one child doing "real" school?!? Or even one doing something as advanced as 3rd grade material. To make it worse, a bunch of my friends all think I am some sort of homeschooling expert, even when I have NEVER taught a school aged child! I don't have anyone to turn to in RL, and feel barraged for "help" by people who have no intentions of following through what little hard earned advice I have. Feeling overwhelmed and discouraged. :nopity:

[Penelope]

I would not worry about formal history and science in your situation.

 

For K I like to read lots of good books. Science can be exploring the backyard and neighborhood and learning about what you see with some field guides and library books. When you make a library trip, have her pick out a few non-fiction books each time, and she can learn a lot of science that way. You can throw in a few "experiments" if you want to, but I think it's better to just observe the natural world, ask questions, and discuss.

 

And history can totally wait. If you want a smattering of history, there are many great picture books that re-tell a historical event or represent a particular time period.

 

Have fun. :)

[Plateau Mama]

I wouldn't do anything formal for K.

 

For my little guy I'm going to use Magic Schoolbus books & videos. For History we will do STOW on audio. We listen to all 4 volumes thru the year.

[WeeBeaks]

If you look through even some boxed curricula for K, many have just plain good books. That is a very adequate K, with some printing practice if you choose or a little math.

 

Remember you won't always have so many tiny ones and no bigs to assist. By the time you have some bigs needing teaching, they will be able to help you a little too! ;)

[MusicMama]

Thank you for the permission to go light! :) I read through the Kindergarten plans thread that went around earlier, and saw what everyone else was doing. I felt like my Dd would be the only one w/o more formal history and science so I jumped right in. How long should you spend on K in a day? Right now my goal is school from 9-12, and that includes spending time with my two LO's while she colors or takes a break. I cannot go past lunch and still stay sane and get life and dinner taken care of!

[BakersDozen]

How long should you spend on K in a day?

Your goal of schooling from 9-12 is realistic and in fact you may need less time.

 

Have you considered setting aside one day/week for the non-core subjects? I found that is the only way I get those done! 4 days/week we focus on math, reading, handwriting, literature. On Wednesday (we used to use Friday but by the time Friday came around I was too worn out to do the fun stuff!) we do art, science experiments, music, etc. It gives us a break in the school week that we all enjoy a lot and it relieves my mama-guilt for not getting the stuff done that my dc really wanted to do.

[fourisenough]

For what it is worth, I always seem to get less done while pregnant, than during the first year with a newborn (but then I have difficult pregnancies and easy babies :)).

 

Definitely don't worry about covering history and science this year! Make a weekly/bi-weekly trip to the library and DO try to choose a variety of books: history, science, music (CDs), art, poetry, plus good fiction. Don't make yourself a complicated list and don't stress about following any sort of order or methodology.

 

Teacher her the three R's and read lots of good books every week. If you want to get crazy, listen to the SOTW on audio. My girls have heard it literally dozens of times and never seem to tire of it. Those stories are like old friends to them.

 

Have fun!

[boscopup]

My K'er is doing phonics/reading, handwriting, and math, plus Sonlight P4/5, which is basically read-alouds of nursery rhymes and fairy tales and such.

 

We are not doing formal science and history (though P4/5 includes some light science). I do have that science program you have, and it's simple enough that you could maybe have that be a fun day. It was very light. I had tried using it afterschool for 1st grade, and it was mostly very simple "experiments". Their favorite was making mud - getting dirt and water and stirring it up. :lol: So maybe try to do that once a week for a fun project IF you're feeling up to it, but feel guilt-free if you don't get to it. ;)

 

You could probably use that history program in 1st grade. The science program was too easy for my science-loving 1st grader, so I think it's better suited to K, but YMMV, of course!

[ShannonS]

You CAN do it! I sympathize with your situation; I also had three little ones aged five and under when my fourth was born. I can only speak for myself, but I really had to learn how to step back and just BE with them, without overscheduling. I have used the book Managers of Their Homes to help me manage my time. The process of creating a very detailed schedule was really an eye opener for me. I learned that I was being unrealistic about what I wanted to accomplish every day, and that I was rushing important things (dinner with family, a morning routine, etc) just to get to the next 'activity' on my list. Reflecting and making intentional decisions about how I want to spend my time really helped me come to peace with my choices. Mine are also still young, and I have only been homeschooling for six months, but I believe it IS possible to homeschool four little ones! I chose to make the home education of my children one of my priorities and it is working! Of course I am not always 'on schedule' (I am on this forum at 0130AM - too much after dinner coffee tonight :001_huh:) But just keep at it! You are in the thick of it right now. Just love 'em!

 

If you DO decide to stick some science in there, Nancy Larson Kindergarten Science is awesome. It is scripted and comes with everything you need, so their is virtually NO prep time required.

Edited July 15, 2012 by ShannonS
typo

[chepyl]

I did 30-60 minutes a day for k. We did reading, math, handwriting, and we read through the history, science, and literature sections of what your kindergartener needs to know. I picked up libraru books at his reading level that coordinated with what we were doing in What your.....needs to know. You can accomplish a lot in a short time. I found, for my son, shorter school time was more productive. I spent about $50 total o. The materials we used. Nothing formal, just fun.

[sagira]

:grouphug: In K we just do about 1 hour, no more than 1 1/2 hours. We focus on basics- reading, writing, math. Dd almost 5 is also going to do Spanish with ds almost 9. Science is BFSU K-2 slowly (1 chapter every 2 weeks or so), with nature study and living books. I think dd is going to love science. I'm going to try and keep both children in the same thread (ds is doing BFSU 2). We don't do History at this age, but some Geography and basic introduction to the continents and countries, cities. Health and Safety rounds up our more formal curriculum. Dd lives for art, and Daddy is an artist, so naturally she's going to be doing much of that through Artistic Pursuits with ds, Peak with Books, little science books through BFSU, and nature study.

 

 

It sounds like a lot, but Science is only 3 times a week (2x BFSU and once nature study), and Geography and Health and Safety only once a week. Also, besides the two I'm homeschooling, I only have one energetic toddler (almost 18 months) running around by then. If I were in your situation, I would definitely simplify a LOT!

[craftyerin]

I would absolutely drop science and history. The only science or history we are covering in K is what comes with FIAR. Our K lineup is FIAR, handwriting, phonics, and math.

[MusicMama]

I had planned to do Kindergarten 9-12 three days a week, so I would have two days off to do other things. But I think that shortening the day would be better, and I like setting a day aside to do things that never get done. So if I do Kindergarten 10-12 on M, W, and F, with Tuesdays for teaching piano, and leaving Thursday open for art, experiments, projects etc, I think I just might keep my sanity and lose my guilt!

 

Thanks for helping me talk it through, it seems simple in hindsight, but this newbie was feeling overwhelmed! My SIL told me, "Oh, you were homeschooled. So you know how to do everything." I wanted to respond "You went to public school for thirteen years. Don't they hand out teaching certificates on that experience alone?" But we had a kid crisis and I never got to say that to her. I have it on file though! Yes, I saw my mom do it, but honestly, taking notes on how she did things was not at the top of my priority list. Running a home school is different from being a student!