OneBusyMomma Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 We just pulled our kindergartner out of public school this past week and also ordered her curriculum. We are going with Horizons Math and Reading/Phonics, but are disappointed they didn't offer a Science, Social Studies, or Bible curriculum for kindergarten. It is important for us that she start learning the fundamentals now. Since we already have an insanely hectic schedule I need a curriculum that is laid out for me so I don't have to do any pre-planning work. I don't want a reading books curriculum, we will do that on top of our school work. We want something that she can sit down and work on maybe just a day or two a week or possibly daily depending on it's demand. We will also incorporate museums, nature walks, ect. We are thinking about using ACE's first grade PACE's or Abeka. If you have any curriculums you can suggest or insight you can provide me with, I would greatly appreciate it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 :)Just wanted to say hi and good luck! I was so glad when I brought my kids home. As far as science, keep it fun and young. Did you read The Well Trained Mind? Look at the section in their for your kiddos age, that should be a good place to start. Do a lot of fun, creative school type things - find out her interests, her strengths, her areas that need help on and go from there. I am only in year 2, so I am sure some vets will come along and give you more advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Welcome! :) Definitely read TWTM, if you haven't. I don't follow all of its recommendations, but I found it a very encouraging and motivating read. I'm not familiar with Abeka or Paces, but *I* would keep it simple for Science & Bible. Science: get a kid-friendly animal encyclopedia (DK or Usborne or something) and read about one animal a couple of times a week. Have her 'narrate' (retell to you) what she recalls, you write it down, and she can illustrate it. If you're feeling ambitious, classify/sort the animals (reptiles, mammals, amphibians, etc). :) For Bible, I'd start with a children's Bible and read a page/story every day (or a couple of times a week, whatever). If you're so inclined, throw in memorizing a verse every now and then or some kid's catechism-type stuff. :) Neither of the above require planning/curriculum. Just do the next thing. :) (I have no suggestions for Social Studies. We are not doing anything like that this year, other than our Little House on the Prairie study, which is more history/art than Soc Stud.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitnaptime Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I have heard people like Nancy Larson science for K. It is expensive and does use a few books to read out of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneBusyMomma Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 Thank you ladies!! We read stories daily, so I figured we would supplement our studies with our stories. I would like to find something interactive. I am sure I could figure something out using my resources. I want to make sure we get this year off to a good start, especially since we are getting a late start. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 (edited) K social studies: Adventures in America by Elemental History Sonlight P 4/5 (reading list, includes some science and bible) with Handle on the Arts supplements K science: Magic School Bus videos and supplemental MSB kits. Intro to Science by Elemental Science ETA: Welcome to the board, LOL. I was so busy multi-tasking and forgot to even say hi. Anyway, the above programs are my suggestions for K science and social studies. Edited October 15, 2012 by ondreeuh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Welcome to hive! You will find lots of helpful advice here. For my k'er last year we just followed his interests for science. We read lots of dinosaur books, did dinosaur activities and also other animals. I found some free lapbooks at homeschoolshare.com for many of the animals he was interested in. Sometimes instead of lapbooks, we made notebook pages where I wrote his narration and he drew a picture or something along those lines. I also found a great Science using Picture Books ebook from Scholastic Teacher Express on the $1 sale and we did several of those. Definetly read The Well Trained Mind for ideas for kindergarten! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaOfalotta Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I suggest (for Science & Social Studies, etc) to come up with a list of goals/topics you want to cover. The Core Knowledge ("What your K'er Needs to Know") has standards you can use as a guide. Then I make up my own lessons based on them. There are a ton of free resources online you can use to create your own lessons. We found a ton of activites for our Pirate theme. Right now we are going over animal classification, and the globe (continents, oceans, etc.) We sit down at the table and talk about it as an intro. We review a few times through the week. It can be as simple as getting out our animal cards and having her sort them into piles (ex. amphibian, insect, mammal, etc.) She was able to sort the entire stack after we had only TALKED about the traits of each group. She was also a fan of our living vs. nonliving discussions last week. She really enjoyed the day I had her go outside and pick four things. She came in and was asked to draw these things, then she labeled them non living or living. Any type of hands on, or interaction you can incorporate will really help the lessons sink in. Dd is very inquisitive, so we have an encylopedia set and whenever she asks a question "Ex. How to snakes crawl without legs? Where does the spray come out of on a skunk?) we look it up. Then if shes still interested we get library books to learn more. Creating your own lessons are really quite easy. Take your topic and google _______ lesson plans for Kindergarten. Either use what you find or use them to get ideas from. I am trying to plan a lot of fun and hands on activites and field trips for those "extra" subjects, but our main focus is on the 3Rs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaOfalotta Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Oh, and welcome to the Hive:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 first I would go to HSLDA and check out your states laws on what is required. You may not even be required to do Science or History. Then id read The Well Trained Mind I tried Horizons Math and Phonics and I did not like it- we are doing Rod and Staff for my Kindie and then instead of Horizons 2 for my 2nd grader well switch to Explode The Code. For science you could just pick a topic and read about it. Do some projects on it. For history you could do more Social Studies than history and do lessons on Community Helpers, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 We are doing phonics, handwriting, and math (3Rs) along with Five in a Row for kinder. Five in a Row is a "books curriculum", which you said you didn't want, but it also is such a great way to incorporate history/geography, science, art, etc into a K schedule in a gentle, age appropriate, and FUN way. A quick search on the board would yield a ton of FIAR posts to read, and I've been blogging about what our days look like if you want to check it out (link in sig). Good luck to you! And don't worry about getting a late start. It's just kindergarten. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Abeka is very teacher intensive. I don't recommend it for a first time homeschooler. I think you should look at My Father's World first grade. It's all laid out, affordable and cute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I would pick up a copy of TWTM for sure. It is a good guide. I like nature study type for science topics at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I'd also keep K nice and light. If it were me, I'd add Sonlight's P4/5 (the PP linked it above) to the basics you're already doing and call it a day. It includes Bible, science, cultures, and literature. That's basically what I've done with my K'ers and those were great years. You may find that you want to add extra fun stuff in as you go along which is great. P4/5 didn't take us a full school year because we love to read, but did allow us plenty of time to follow geography and science bunny trails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneBusyMomma Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 Thank you all so much for the suggestions! I hope I didn't sound like a horrible when saying I don't want a reading intense curriculum...we read anyway, so I don't want to spend a fortune on books when we can get them from the library. ;-) I think I may play around with it the first few weeks and see how I can do at piecing stuff together before I order a curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewingMom2many Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 We use McRuffy science and we love it. It's all laid out so I can just open and go. We are using 1st grade science but I am getting ready to order K science for my younger son. My boys absolutely LOVE anything McRuffy. Here's a link: http://mcruffy.com/Kindergarten-Science.htm For Bible, we use Bible Study Guide for All Ages. I don't know if you have younger kids too, but's nice because the older ones and younger ones are learning the same thing at the same time they just do different (age appropriate) activities. Here is the link to that one: http://biblestudyguide.com/ Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Thank you all so much for the suggestions! I hope I didn't sound like a horrible when saying I don't want a reading intense curriculum...we read anyway, so I don't want to spend a fortune on books when we can get them from the library. ;-) I think I may play around with it the first few weeks and see how I can do at piecing stuff together before I order a curriculum. We check our FIAR books out of the library, for the most part. I have bought some of our favorites. All you need to run FIAR is a manual (volume 1, 2, or 3, can be done in any order). I do have all three volumes, so that I have more units to choose from, but no there's no reason you couldn't start with volume one and go from there. You can check blogs and such for ideas that aren't in the manual, but you don't need to in order to have a rich and varied FIAR experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kareng Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Welcome! Glad to have you join us and look forward to your questions and comments. I would echo much of what has already been said but also add to have some structure but mostly have fun. Find things (books, kits ) that allow you to enjoy your time with your child. You want this to be the beginning of many years of learning and joy. (I say this because I went hog-wild when I began and thought I had to do everything when I really just had to love my child and learn with her). So get some structure and have fun! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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