Fun Stuff for Kindergarten (?)

[luvatlax]

Hello! I am new to homeschooling and am planning my daughter's kindergarten year. I have the three Rs covered with Logic of English and Miquon, but I would like to add in some extra "fun" stuff for her to do. I like the concept of Five in a Row, but am not sure I can implement it! Is there a similar program that is pre-planned? Thanks!

[HomeAgain]

homeschoolshare.com has free unit studies.  The site looks like there's nothing there, but click the tabs up at the top.  You can sort by level or subject.  There is also Wee Folk Art, which themes by the season and lays out books, crafts, poems, and activities to do each week.

 

There are plenty of boxed programs that are pre-planned and nicely laid out.  Ivy-kids comes to mind, though the price is steep. If you know exactly what you want, chances are something out there matches it. :)

[myloveisasailor]

Timberdoodle has "fun" hands on things. Aside from that I agree about one of the many subscription boxes that are out there.

[Syllieann]

Take a look at Memoria press enrichment and their corresponding craft books. It's all the fun extras in a tidy layout for a low price.

[kalusignan]

Another vote for Memoria Press's Enrichment program. It feels like a planned out version of Five in a Row.

[madteaparty]

Another vote for Memoria Press's Enrichment program. It feels like a planned out version of Five in a Row.

Does everything come with this?

I bought "before Five in a row" and it drove me crazy that I have to hunt down the books and quite a few were out of print/not available to me as I recall. I'm not getting FIAR on principle now ;). Thanks so much

[Starr]

And puzzles, games, cooking, simple chores, bike riding, running, swimming, climb a tree, imaginative play, play dough, music and field trips. K doesn't need to be very long. Enjoy!

[Momto4inSoCal]

Does everything come with this?

I bought "before Five in a row" and it drove me crazy that I have to hunt down the books and quite a few were out of print/not available to me as I recall. I'm not getting FIAR on principle now ;). Thanks so much

I plan on using the enrichment program from memoria press and you can purchase it as a kit with all the books or just purchase the guide if you want to go the library route. It seems like a very complete enrichment program with poetry, literature and picture studies. The other thing O plan on purchasing is ivy kids kits. They are a monthly subscription box with a book and supplies for activities that go along with the book.

[ExcitedMama]

I bought Before Five in a Row for DS when he was younger but it never got done. I decided to give MP Enrichment for K a shot but honestly I wasn't sure about it since you can't really see much in the samples. From what I saw I was very unsure about the book selections. All the ones I've bought and enjoyed with DS have had much "better" brighter illustrations and more "interesting" stories so I was pretty skeptical of these more flat pictures and old fashioned stories. I mention my concern to show that it's not my style at all and I've been very, very impressed! The stories are really sweet and the comprehension questions really make it worthwhile. They bring out great details, like things I'm sure I would have missed in the illustrations, and tie the stories together with history, character and some Bible stories (I don't think this is a detriment if you're not interested in Bible references BTW because they are few and far between, only a few so far and we are almost done, and easily skipped if you don't want to read them). I would have felt like I had gotten my money's worth alone from the weekly story and questions whereas I never thought B5IAR was worth the money.

 

In addition each week has an art study, like Van Gogh's Starry Night with about a paragraph on the Artist and selection. I try to add to that with some books from the library depending on the Artist. It's been fun to see which ones DS has liked and of course DD chimes in too. Buy the art cards too sold by MP or through Rainbow and just put it up to look at during the week. It's been fun learning along with DS fun facts, like I didn't know Gustav Kilimpt's father worked with gold (you might recognize his famous painting of the couple embracing in The Kiss) which explains the gold in his works. DS had fun telling everyone facts about him that week. That was at the beginning of the book so I don't know if he'd remember it now but I figure it's a good start now and he might remember it when he sees the painting again.

 

Each week also has a composer and that weeks classical selection. You can play all of the selections from MP's list on Spotify for free. I usually start with that so DS can listen and I might show him the piece being played later on from MP's you tube account. Again depending on the work and composer there are great kids books from the library. Honestly DS so far is pretty uninterested in the classical works but he has liked some of the tidbits about young composers and he enjoyed reading and watching Beethoven upstairs. Again I think if he gets a little exposure now it might stick later. I know I would never have bothered to consistently do art and music appreciation so it is a win here.

 

There is also a short poem for the week as well. Usually from Eric Carlisle's Animal, Animal, or a Child's book of Poems. Sometimes they recommended some copywork on it but not often. Usually there is a theme for the week on a subject or holiday and the book and poem will tie together.

 

They recommend extra reading on the topic and something short to add in for science. Taking the kids to the library is pretty much mayhem here so I love having a book list that I can just reserve online so I know we will have good books for the week. I usually reserve extra books on the topic and to go with the art, music and poetry. Sight unseen it's a gamble and some are worthwhile and some are not but we always have options. I can't say enough how impressed I've been with it and we will definitely get the 1st grade version next year and I will definitely do it again with DD. It's great having a well rounded addition for his K year which I know I never would have done on my own. There is also the Craft book too if you wanted to add a craft for the book of the week and for some of the art studies. Probably unnecessary if you are crafty because they are really simple but I'm not crafty and would probably only get around to googling or checking Pinterest for a craft like never so if I have the book it's more likely to get done.

 

If you consider doing it aim to start in the fall as the book is laid out to follow the calendar year so it will time the book lists around the holidays. This a great but it also means trying to stay on track to keep the calendar in line. This was the first year we ever did anything with groundhogs day which DS enjoyed learning about. Again it can be made pretty secular since there is nothing really overtly Christian if that's a problem. There are four weeks of Christmas time focus but the actual books are pretty "holiday" ish about Christmas trees even if the picture studies are very much in reference to Jesus. It's been tricky at times trying to time my reservation list with the library but now that I know how sweet the books are I might just buy the main books and not worry about trying to time reserving them.

Edited February 21, 2016 by ExcitedMama

[keirin]

We're using Memoria Press enrichment here. I'm also adding in Reading Eggs, an Osmo, and tabletop academy press's playful math books series. (in addition to miquon, which we are also using). We're also getting the steve spangler science club monthly kit and the raddish cooking monthly kit (and they email homeschool lesson plans to enrich their kits - check out the homeschool section on their site).

[LMCme]

I really enjoyed Five in a Row, and I resisted for a long time because I didn't feel like "that kind of mom."  FIAR is actually much easier to execute than you would think -- if you are in doubt, I would download the free Story About Ping lesson plan from the FIAR website and just try it out for a week.  As a bonus, the Story About Ping is available for about $5, or printable for free online.  Because you select the activites you choose to do, you can select things that involve just you elaborating on some point in the book or you can do something that is more of a project and requires more prep.  

 

We had so much fun with it, we now do FIAR every couple of weeks.  As far as not everything being included, if you order from Rainbow Resource Center they have a FIAR literature pack for each of the volumes; if you prefer to save money, check out what is available from your library.  You don't have to do every single one in each volume to get the benefit, and I found that between what was already in the library (13 books) and what I was able to get on interlibrary loan (we have gotten everything we have requested so far).  

 

Again, I'm not the kind of mom who ever envisioned myself doing FIAR, I also thought it was going to take a lot of prep, but my son is very into it, and I'm having fun too.  And it's a lot less work than I thought it would be.

 

LMC

[SilverMoon]

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Edited June 17, 2022 by SilverMoon

[Reverie]

I deliberated between FIAR and Wee Folk Art's Simple Seasons, and decided on WFA SS.

 

Wee Folk Art's Simple Seasons curriculum is geared for PreK-K (ages 4-6), and is seasonally-themed units with storybooks, science books, crafts, recipes, poetry, and art studies. It sounds like you already have the basics covered, but if not, they do give suggestions for phonics and math for a complete K curriculum.

 

I used their summer unit (Puddles & Ponds) before starting K to get into the groove of things, and my daughter loved it. We're now working our way through the other units.

 

The original units are free, and there are also updated printed guides available. Depending on your library, you could probably borrow most or all of the books instead of buying them.

 

Link to the units here:

https://weefolkart.com/homeschool-companion-guides/

 

I also admin their homeschooling group on FB, and we would love to have you if you're interested in using the units or learning more. :)

 

Other ideas, based on what my daughter has loved so far:

 

science experiment kit, we have this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035EQDTU?keywords=learning%20resources%20science%20kit&qid=1456983081&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

 

Snap Circuits Jr.: http://www.amazon.com/Snap-Circuits-SC-100-Electronics-Discovery/dp/B00008BFZH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456983177&sr=8-1&keywords=snap+circuits

 

Magformers: http://www.amazon.com/Magformers-63069-14-Piece-Set/dp/B000II0T5K/ref=sr_1_4?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1456983233&sr=1-4&keywords=magformers

 

lots and lots of fairytales, folk tales, storybooks, and music

 

dance classes

 

field trips to farms, zoos, museums, parks, etc.