Simplified plan for Kindergarten

[maize]

I need a super simple, 3 R's, open and go plan for my five year old who wants to do school.

 

Needs to be basically no prep, open the book and do a lesson.

 

Recommendations?

[ktgrok]

I'm thinking the same thing. I THINK we are going to do CLE Learn to Read and CLE Math 100, maybe at a slower pace. Another option is Alphaphonics, A Reason for Handwriting, and CLE Math 100. Or maybe Horizons K. 

[73349]

Phonics Pathways, HWOT K [or for somebody who has the letters down and wants to do more, My First Writing Prompts Journal (Lakeshore)], and... I can't advise you on the math, sorry.

[AnniePoo]

100EZ (or equivalent)
HWOT (or equivalent)

Horizons K (or equivalent)

You'll hit all of your bases, and well too.

[ByGrace3]

My plan for my Ker is very open and go- no prep at all.

 

AAR

MP copybook

Math Mammoth (after completing Singapore Essentials)

MP Enrichment

[SnMomof7]

Rod and Staff A-F then CLE KII, add picture book read alouds. Then you are done!

[blondeviolin]

LOE Foundations and Singapore Essentials K

[DesertBlossom]

LOE Foundations and Singapore Essentials K

 

This is exactly what I'm doing and it's *all* I'm doing for my Ker, besides having him in our morning meeting where we cover other stuff. I stumbled across Singapore Essentials and it looked great. There's an A and B workbook, and A looked like stuff he already knows, so I only bought B. 

[4maybabies]

LOE Foundations and Singapore Essentials K

 

This is exactly what we're doing as well.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

LOE Foundations and Singapore Essentials K

This is what we did this year. 1st grade will probably be the same - keep moving through LOE Foundations (we just started this spring) and start SM 1A. He'll also likely tag along with older sisters for family subjects but I'm not going to push it if he doesn't want to. He's a young K/1st grader with a November birthday.

[mom2bee]

Reading: The Reading Lesson

[73349]

I love LOE Foundations, but I recommended PP instead because LOE has a lot of cutting up flashcards, which to me is not open-and-go.

 

With PP, there was the train game to copy once and the bug game to copy once, and that's all, IIRC (plus it's much less expensive). We've been able to use it on the couch instead of at the table, if we want, for most of the book.

 

Now if the child was not expressing interest in learning, or was specifically coveting the older kids' nice colorful worksheets, I'd definitely recommend LOE instead.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited May 18 by SilverMoon

[rebcoola]

Singapore Essentials and Explode the Code

[kristin0713]

LOE Foundatios, Rightstart Math Level A, lots of read alouds from the library.

[classicmommy]

We are doing CLE KII and PP.

[my3daughters]

Rod and Staff A-K series (or even the last few books if you think it is too easy)

Singapore Essentials Math (followed by CLE math 1 if they are done with Singapore early)

CLE Learn to Read (this is really designed for 1st grade but if your K is ready to read it can easily be for K)

Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading would also be open and go 

 

 

The above will be what we are doing next year (already most of the way through the Rod and Staff series) along with some FIAR and science experiments with big sister (because she loves to work with her big sister sometimes).  If you don't think they are quite ready for a full reading curriculum I would stick with Rod and Staff series followed by CLE KII

[wathe]

We just finished a K5 year that consisted of OPTGR, a HWOT workbook and MUS primer.  Easy peasy.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

We have used SSRW, which is fairly open and go in the kit for me.  I don't even use the cd because I know the songs.  It's basically workbooks and songs and reading, but there are some games and activities added in.  I don't care for the 100EZ as much, but it is very easy.  I started his Pentime book because he wanted to even though I could have waited until first.  

 

I recommend starting in whatever math you intend to go forward in, Singapore, Horizons, Saxon, etc.  We use A Beka math, but I don't use all the moving parts.  However, it is open and go and scripted, just has extra flashcards and visuals that programs like Singapore and Horizons and CLE do not have.  

 

We add a devotion, Bede's History of Me, which is an open and go history book we have loved and a science reader (participating with big brother when he can.)

 

 

[lea_lpz]

Another vote for Singapore Essentials and Explide the Code. I'd probably toss in HWOT and Bob Books for practice reading.

 

After that, reading picture books out loud for 15 minutes a day.

 

Allowing k'er to tag along with older kids.

[Guest crozhuyou]

there was the train game to copy once and the bug game to copy once

[TexCanAus]

Ok, so I'm confused by all these kindergarten curriculum plans I keep seeing.  The book (WTM) gives you what you should do.  This is the WTM forums.  Does anyone actually follow what the book says to do?  We are for kindergarten because what is laid out in the book is so simple.  I feel like I'm going to spend the next two years until he's supposed to formally start 1st grade barely doing anything as the book suggests.  Just reading a lot and teaching him to read, talking about numbers as we go through our days, and doing some science projects along the way whenever we feel up for it.  Sorry, not meaning to sound rude at all.  I'm just a little confused :)  Is this not enough?  Should I be planning to do more?

[eternalsummer]

Most people using these forums don't use the WTM curriculum/teaching philosophy for all subjects, or all grades.  Many of them don't do classical education at all, or only do it for one subject or one kid.  It's become a forum for what I guess I'd call "people who take their kids' intellectual education seriously"; some people here do school-at-home or Sonlight or Charlotte Mason or unschooling or even send their kids to school and maybe afterschool a subject or two (sometimes in the WTM format and often not).

 

OP, 100EZ was, to put it simply, EZ.

 

:)

 

(but don't bother with the writing part, that seemed kind of silly to us)

[Kerry Blue]

Ok, so I'm confused by all these kindergarten curriculum plans I keep seeing.  The book (WTM) gives you what you should do.  This is the WTM forums.  Does anyone actually follow what the book says to do?  We are for kindergarten because what is laid out in the book is so simple.  I feel like I'm going to spend the next two years until he's supposed to formally start 1st grade barely doing anything as the book suggests.  Just reading a lot and teaching him to read, talking about numbers as we go through our days, and doing some science projects along the way whenever we feel up for it.  Sorry, not meaning to sound rude at all.  I'm just a little confused :)  Is this not enough?  Should I be planning to do more?

 

The WTM has suggestions, but they are by no means set in stone. You will find as you go along that what works for one family does not work for yours. We are all unique.

 

I like having some programs lay things out for me, because when the day gets busy, you know you still were able to work with your Ker. I can see the youngest as easy to fall through the cracks, especially if mom is so busy with lots of older siblings.

 

Also remember, the original poster says her kid 'wants to do school.' Should she say no? (JK!) My DD3 says she wants to do school. So we do school, at her level.

 

ETA: We do 100EZ, RS Math, and homegrown copywork. DD sits with me, and our little white board with large lines on it. I draw a letter, and she draws the letter next to mine and we keep alternating back and forth untill the line is full. She watches how I create the letter, and I can instantly correct her technique. When the board is full, we are done.

[HomeAgain]

Ok, so I'm confused by all these kindergarten curriculum plans I keep seeing.  The book (WTM) gives you what you should do.  This is the WTM forums.  Does anyone actually follow what the book says to do?  We are for kindergarten because what is laid out in the book is so simple.  I feel like I'm going to spend the next two years until he's supposed to formally start 1st grade barely doing anything as the book suggests.  Just reading a lot and teaching him to read, talking about numbers as we go through our days, and doing some science projects along the way whenever we feel up for it.  Sorry, not meaning to sound rude at all.  I'm just a little confused :)  Is this not enough?  Should I be planning to do more?

 

It falls into different strokes, different folks. :)

 

I didn't like the way the WTM treats under 1st kiddos.  It's not my cuppa, just like throwing myself fully into a Charlotte Mason impersonation wouldn't work either.  I need to be able to pick and choose what works for me, my kid, and my family without feeling like there's a set of rules to adhere to.......kind of why homeschooling is so attractive in the first place. ;) 

[stm4him]

I am going to JUST do Recipe for Reading, math flashcards (if/when she can recognize her numbers), and read alouds with a composition journal for her to draw in and I can write for her what she wants to say about our reading.  We have lots of wonderful music for music appreciation and lots of drawing books (we especially love Draw Write Now).  Recipe for Reading is a series of workbooks like Explode the Code (same publisher).  The workbooks are self-explanatory and can be done while she is sitting next to me as I work with other kids.  All I need to do is briefly tell her the directions and make sure she does the pages right.  There are extras one could buy (a guide, two sets of cards, lined paper, a sequence chart, and readers) but they are optional.  And the workbooks also include cursive so I don't need a separate cursive program.  I am skipping the K book because the same material is covered in Book 1 and the K book is on backorder for a few weeks so I decided to go ahead and try book 1.  There are 9 books all together (with the K book) and they can be done at whatever pace she is ready for, but as long as she doesn't get stuck on a concept she could finish them in one year and be ready to move on the following year depending on her reading level.  If she does get stuck on a concept or needs more practice, Explode the Code (which is coming out with its 2nd edition in July) and Primary Phonics will be our back ups to fill in extra practice where needed, but she probably won't need that.  It is just nice to know it is an option.  Explode the Code may go a little farther in what it covers (not sure yet) so I may test her at the end of RfR and see if she can test out of EtC and if not I would finish up with that.  I am expecting a very laid back, productive, enjoyable year.

 

For journaling inspiration I want to read The Living Page this summer and I have The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, which my older kids love so much they fight over it.

 

For read alouds we are probably going to focus on Aesop's Fables, Bible stories, picture books about ancient history and world history, stories from around the world minus Europe and America but including Canada, Mexico, and Native Americans.  We are going to also do animal stories like Uncle Wiggly and Brer Rabbit as well as nature stories.  For non-fiction we will focus on life science and earth science (though I am considering reorganizing to put one of those two topics next year).  

 

I am still reorgainizing our library and figuring out what to keep and waiting for new shelving.  In the mean time (and possibly long term) I am thinking of just buying old vintage sets of books and using the ones geared for younger children for our main read alouds.  In that case, I am sure there would also be lots of children's poems, Mother Goose, and fairy tales and folk tales included in the books geared for young children.  Otherwise we will focus on those in her 1st grade year because we have a three cycle rotation of our books right now.  We did American history and literature this year, but mostly she enjoyed the modern American picture books from our home library and Liberty's Kids DVDs.  

[Squawky Acres]

My 5-year-old tags along with the older kids in Science, History and Latin.

 

For her 3 R's, we do:

 

- RightStart A (and Singapore Essentials K-B when she wants more math, or when I need her to work more independently)

- AAR 1

- Zaner-Bloser 1

 

It all takes about 30 minutes if we do it properly (i.e., a few math lessons, and at least 15 minutes spent on reading), but can be done in 15 minutes if needed.

[SilverMoon]

Ok, so I'm confused by all these kindergarten curriculum plans I keep seeing. The book (WTM) gives you what you should do. This is the WTM forums. Does anyone actually follow what the book says to do? We are for kindergarten because what is laid out in the book is so simple. I feel like I'm going to spend the next two years until he's supposed to formally start 1st grade barely doing anything as the book suggests. Just reading a lot and teaching him to read, talking about numbers as we go through our days, and doing some science projects along the way whenever we feel up for it. Sorry, not meaning to sound rude at all. I'm just a little confused :) Is this not enough? Should I be planning to do more?

Not even SWB does everything exactly like that book lays it out. It's suggestions and recommendations, not a rulebook. :)

 

Plenty of us only do phonics, writing, and math for kindy, and our kids are more than prepared for a full-size WTM-style first grade. (That full-size first grade is pretty gentle itself, fwiw.)

 

Some do a gob-ton for kindy. To each their own.

[strawberryjam]

Simple plan for Kindergarten.... we are just finishing up Kindergarten here and what worked really great is:

 

1. The Kindergarten workbooks from CLE. There are five units. They cover phonics, numbers, and a bit of handwriting.

2. "Get Set for the Code" books A, B and C by Explode the Code (start with this before anything else)

3. Handwriting Without Tears workbook (none of the extra stuff, no teachers guide, no manipulatives - she didn't need them)

4. Reading Eggs and Math Seeds games on the computer or iPad. Eggy Phonics and all the other apps they have are great practice too.

 

5. oh and the most important thing.... LOTS of read alouds!! We got a list from our library "100 books to read in Kindergarten", we made it through half plus extra that weren't on the list.

 

We did Singapore Math for Kindergarten but not the essentials... I was drawn in by the colorful classroom curriculum and shouldn't have been, was not a fan. We didn't even get halfway. If I had to do it all over again I'd pick something different. Not like you need much for math in Kindergarten anyways. We have lots of fun math manipulatives so she learned a lot just by "Playing" with them. There is enough math in the CLE Kindergarten workbooks to prepare for Grade 1 adequately. 

[umsami]

Saxon Math Kindy or another math program

Reading Eggs

HWOT Kindy

[ktgrok]

Ugh,so I think I've talked myself into AAR. Looks like something my daughter would love. So, new plan is:

 

AAR

A Reason for Handwriting

CLE Math 100

 

readalouds, painting/coloring/playdoh/etc

[Bluegoat]

Last year with dd6 for P we did:

 

• SM 1a
• The little reading program from the old Tanglewood curriculum, until we could read some little books, then we just practiced reading with whatever books she could manage.  For the program, we would do one or one half a lesson a day depending on her attention span.
• Copywork for letters - though we were very slow here as she struggled with this area.  We used an italic copybook.
• reading a story - I had a stack of books that I picked from depending on what I felt like, they included history, literature, nature study, etc.
• She did some artists study with her big sister.

[Mswin15]

Ok, so I'm confused by all these kindergarten curriculum plans I keep seeing.  The book (WTM) gives you what you should do.  This is the WTM forums.  Does anyone actually follow what the book says to do?  We are for kindergarten because what is laid out in the book is so simple.  I feel like I'm going to spend the next two years until he's supposed to formally start 1st grade barely doing anything as the book suggests.  Just reading a lot and teaching him to read, talking about numbers as we go through our days, and doing some science projects along the way whenever we feel up for it.  Sorry, not meaning to sound rude at all.  I'm just a little confused :)  Is this not enough?  Should I be planning to do more?

 I shar(ed) your confusion. Basically this isn't a WTM or even classical education forum as you might think it would be. There are many different curricula and resources to use within a classical framework (some of which might be suggested in WTM) but the scope is very wide here. It is a good source for information and reviews and I've learned so much but it is confusing when your expectations are different than the reality. 

[SilverMoon]

O_o

[Targhee]

HWOT, Phonics Pathways, and for math if you are already familiar with Singapore methods use their EarlyBird program (After teaching several years of Singapore and RS I was able to just keep a box a manipulative a handy for concrete demonstration).

 

Science = play with things, especially outside

History = read books and talk about days of the week, month, years, stories from family history

[FO4UR]

Happy Phonics. Miquon math.

 

 

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