Fun kindergarten stuff with little effort on child's part?

[Slache]

My son loves everything about school and wants more and more all of the time but he doesn't want worksheets that require writing, even though he loves copywork. :huh: I had originally planned on Sonlight for Kindergarten, but I decided that he wouldn't like that. Then I bought the Classical Conversations guide which I love, but don't want to use as written so that leaves a lot of free time. I love the idea of KONOS. That's where I'm leaning. Here's what we do or will be doing soon:

 

LA: RLTL + copywork of his choice, eventually moving to ELTL

Math: Educaton Unboxed or MEP Reception or nothing (his call) He wants Miquon, but I don't think he's there yet

Bible: Just reading and discussing, moving to Bible Study Guide For All Ages soon

Art: The Big Yellow Drawing Book, Drawing With Children, Art For Kids Hub, How To Teach Art To Children

Memory Work: Bible, Nursery Rhymes, CC Timeline Song

Piano with Daddy, Spanish with me and he's requesting Greek which he probably will not be getting for a year or so. I'm torn on this matter.

 

We are severely abusing our library, we watch The Magic School Bus and Salsa almost daily, we cannot keep our house stocked with sketchbooks, we play lots of simple games with letters and numbers, we love our Geopuzzles and audio books are our new favorite thing. I'm out of ideas.

 

These are my thoughts:

Exploration Education

Butterfly garden

A more intentional nature study (Exploring Nature With Children?)

 

I want fun stuff. There does not need to be linear or measurable progression in knowledge but I want his brain engaged. He thrives on structure. He's slightly ahead when it comes to reading and writing but I think that's it.

[JudoMom]

My guys loved the Be Amazing Science Kits when they were younger.  This on is good.  Also, my youngest would spend an hour or so one day a week when his brothers were gone "makin' chemcle weactions" with a bowl of vinegar and a bowl of baking soda.

They also spent a lot of time with pattern blocks.

Pattern Play is fun.

What about the Draw Write Now series of books?

The Thinkfun games are awesome for logic.  If my guys were still little, I'd get this one in a heartbeat.

Look at Timberdoodle.  They have so much fun stuff.  

[edeemarie]

I've been looking for something like this too.

 

Ideally I'd like to combine my 4 & 6 year olds in a program. I keep debating using the Wee Folk Art program with them...I just need to make sure our library has a decent chunk of the books they use so I don't have to buy them all. And I have been seriously eyeing Exploring Nature With Children.

 

We have used KONOS before but I'm feeling lazy this year and want something already planned out for me. 😋

 

Very interested to hear any other suggestions people may have...

[Jackie]

We have a lot of single person visual-spatial and logic stuff: Mighty Mind and sequels, Rush Hour, Kanoodle, Logic Links, Castle Logix.

 

We also do lots of games together: Othello, Qwirkle, No Stress Chess, Gobblet Gobblers, Rat A Tat Cat, Zeus on the Loose, Math Dice Junior, Swish, Toss Up!, dominoes

 

My daughter loves BrainPop and retains a shocking amount of information from it.

 

Snap Circuits are aimed at older kids, but my daughter was able to start using them at 4yo.

 

Marble runs have endless variation.

 

Lego in all its forms is played with here - smaller kits following the directions, free form creations, and some of the Lego Education stuff

[Slache]

AWESOME suggestions! I've never heard of a lot of these. Thanks!

[Homeschoolmom3]

I second the Snap Circuits, I know it is meant for ages 6 and up but my 4 yr. old LOVES them and has been something he can do himself without me being right there now that he has gotten the hang of it.

[MrsBasil]

I third Snap Circuits. My son is 6 and loves them. I bought a Let's Read and Find Out book about electricity to go along with it.

 

We raised butterflies and attempted a Praying Mantis and that was a huge, huge hit this summer.

 

I second No Stress Chess, Castle Logix, and Rat a Tat Cat. We also play addition or subtraction War, Memory 10's,(or 9's, 8's, or even a quick 7-this s just memory but matching pairs that make 10 or whatever.

 

He also likes the math activities in Time Life's I Love Math book. Some require more knowledge than he has, so I explain or we just move on.

 

Cooking? My son loves to help cook, so I try to schedule in a cooking project once a week.

 

Poetry tea, building domino tracks to knock over, Legos, puzzles, chess apps, Catan Jr, a nature walk at the same place a couple times a month and talking about changes in the different seasons or months, mazes, color sudoku or junior sudoku puzzles, watching Bill Nye, Fetch Ruffman, documentaries, Ocean Mysteries, Reading Rainbow, and Odd Squad, making very, very basic stop motion Lego movies, fiddling around on our keyboard, getting air dry clay and painting models of animals or characters he likes(and no, they aren't terribly recognizable to other people but he loves it), and like JudoMom- just giving him "stuff to mix" has been a hit.

[Soror]

quick thought I haven't read the other posts, Timberdoodle generally has some cool ideas: http://www.timberdoodle.com/Complete_Homeschool_Curriculum_Kindergarten_p/999-0050.htm

[Sarah0000]

We have a table in the kitchen that is the mess table. Sometimes he has wood pieces and popsicle sticks and wood glue, a science lab set, nature walk stuff, and general craft and science supplies and he occupies himself. I'm going to add a pan and bucket balance and weights, thermometer, Petri dishes, bug kits, etc.

 

Also, build a pretend play area. Like turn his bed into a ship, under the table into a cave, a corner of the kitchen into a castle, etc.

[Sarah0000]

Oh, for something a little more school that's also easy, take a look at the Usborne encyclopedia of world history, of whichever one you prefer. We just grab the book, the tablet, and he'll flip through and pick random pages to read and follow the links on the web. He'll often incorporate the information into his pretend play and building play. Today he built a Lego chariot.

[eternallytired]

I didn't think of this as especially fun, but my kids have loved learning household skills.  When they were teeny, I'd let them help me scrub the counters and the tub.  At this point, they wash floors, scrub toilets/sinks/stove, roll and shake rugs, vacuum, sweep the porch, strip their sheets...  They each have one task each day, which helps my sanity and seems to give them a satisfying sense of accomplishment.

 

In a similar vein, they were so fascinated by me fixing holes in seams and replacing buttons that I got them some felt and large needles and they have had a blast making little stuffed animals, pouches, bracelets, or whatever they can think of.

 

We enjoyed the butterfly garden this year, and this is the second year we've caught local tadpoles to watch them turn into frogs.  (With the kit you're stuck with the frog; with locals you can happily return them to their habitat once you're tired of dealing with them!)

 

As for games, we have Pattern Play (MindWare), Rush Hour, Blokus, The Allowance Game, Mancala, Guess Who? (with the extra cards--my librarian DH loves this one for developing categorizing skills), checkers...  We have a variety of tangram pattern cards, word magnets for making silly sentences, whiteboards that get lots of use for drawing and writing stories, a stomp rocket and a good kite that are fun to play with and ponder, and everyone is allowed some tablet/computer time daily.  (ODS loves Stack the States and has learned a ton already.  All the kids find things they enjoy on Starfall (I paid $30 for the year).  We had a MathSeeds subscription for a while and will get one for YDS when he's a bit older.)  We also have Snap Circuits, which the kids would love if it worked.  I think our resistor may be faulty, and one of our lights will flash ever-so-briefly and then appear dead, though it still completes the circuit.  A bit frustrating for the kids...