Need suggestions for kindy...

[NotAVampireLvr]

I'll be homeshooling my first kindergartener this fall. My oldest already came home reading and is talented in math so basically he teaches himself most subjects with guidance from me. My upcoming kindergartener on the other hand needs a little extra push. I'm not comparing the two, rather just stating facts. Because of his birthday we have to report him in our state (MA) He turns 6 in December. I'm pretty sure we'll be doing Saxon or Singapore Math with him, but I'm unsure where to begin for reading/writing. We did not like the HWT program. He's a reluctant learner in pretty much everything so we've taken a very relaxed approach at home for prek... Mostly just lots of reading aloud, some puzzle books and a lot of free-form arts and crafts. He can color in the lines, but the minute I ask him to do it neatly he immediately decides to scribble. He can write his name and "copy" letters, but its copying - I'm not sure he knows how to "write" them if that makes sense. He has it in his mind already that school is hard... sometimes we last 5 minutes sometimes 30... maybe every other day or so. He does not recognize all his letters and numbers, so I've been reading a lot more alphabet books and trying to incorporate letters into our games, but its slow going. I need someething for him that is very hands-on. As I have been observing him this year he really soaks things in when his hands our playing with something. For example, we were doing lesson on sink/float with all the kids yesterday and he looked like he was in his own little world playing with unifix cubes, but when we asked him a question(takes a minute to get his attention) he knew the right answers. In our family structured works best so I guess I'm looking for a structured program that's hands-on for the childs and also slow and steady at the same time.

 

Open to any and all suggestions... but like I said structured works best for us, even if its snails pace.

[ondreeuh]

I have a son the same age, and I have had the same concern about making sure school isn't too hard or boring. I have tried to quit before he gets frustrated and keep the work just a *little* challenging, and it has worked out really well for us. I pick one thing at a time to really focus on. First was reading, and now it's handwriting. He still reads every day and we work on math, but I'm not worried about how fast he's progressing. Once he gets his letter formation down, then we will do maintenance and focus more on math.

 

We LOVE the "Never Bored" books. This is the age 5-6 book, but they have higher and lower ones. This one has been great for my son who needs to work on fine motor strength. Lots of cutting, pasting, and pencil work but it truly doesn't feel like school. The Big Busy Sticker & Activity Book is also great for play-learning on the couch. It covers a surprisingly large amount of K skills.

 

All About Reading has lots of activities and games and is incremental. Most kids seem to love it, especially if they are starting from the beginning. They have a pre-level 1 which teaches the letter sounds. I assume you've already tried the LeapFrog Letter Factory video?

 

What did you not like about HWT? Which book were you using? The preschool level looks boring to me, but the K looks fine. Or you could just use the free materials on the site to teach the letters on your own. If you want a different approach, IEW's Primary Arts of Language has really cute letter stories. They are on the sample here (all listed on the last page). The actual program has pictures but the directions might be enough if you don't want to jump in to the whole thing. Using a whiteboard or chalkboard is a great first step before moving on to paper. And once you move to paper, draw a large grid and have the child write in the boxes. Once they are comfortable with the formation, then move to lined paper and work on proportion.

 

Miquon might be perfect for his math because it's all visual/spatial.

[lea_lpz]

We are using mfw k. It's been perfect for my daughter who was also a reluctant learner and although was exposed to letters and numbers in preschool was not picking up on it at all. In fact her preschool teacher recommended pre-k for her, but with an April birthday I felt hesitant.

 

Anyway, I decided to homeschool for k rather than pay for pre-k with not very promising outcomes likely.

 

I chose mfw k because it used a lot of hands on multisensory approaches to learning, limited worksheets to about 2 a day, integrated all learning with a thematic aproach and although it covered a basic k curriculum meeting the Lang and math for k, you could do mfw k with a k'er having zero experience with formal learning coming in cold turkey.

 

It's a Christian curriculum so that might not be a fit for you but anyway here's a link to check it out if you'd like:

 

http://www.mfwbooks.com/products/M50/20/0/0/1

 

My advice would be to work on pre-writing skills, like coloring, cutting, reading out loud, preschool toys, hands on projects,, etc, from here until the fall and see where you at. You still have about 4-5 months so you never know. He might make a big change between then and now. Kids are ready to start learning to read and write at different times just like other mile stones, and not when the school calendar says so :)

[NotAVampireLvr]

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to work on My Father's World. I had a difficult time teaching HWT and he jsut wanted NO PART OF IT but likes the "extras" I think you right that maybe I should wait and see where he's at in July/August and for now continue on with what I'm doing.

[NotAVampireLvr]

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to work on My Father's World. I had a difficult time teaching HWT and he jsut wanted NO PART OF IT but likes the "extras" I think you right that maybe I should wait and see where he's at in July/August and for now continue on with what I'm doing.

[lea_lpz]

We use HWOT to add to the handwriting done in MFWK but not to substitute. We don't follow the teacher's manuel for HWOT. Instead we do some multisensory work on the first day a letter is introduced, the wood letters and roll o dough, and then the next day practice printing the letter on the chalk board prior to practicing the mfw handwriting page with the little song for how to make the letter. On the last day of each unit, I do the HWOT workbook for review. It works for us.

[IceFairy]

My daughter is loving Phonics Museum. She usually gets fussy over school work but with the songs, cards, art, etc....its perfect because she forgets its learning. Plus it covers penmanship. For math, we are finishing a couple Rod and Staff books and will move to RS level 1 in a few months.