Last updated on May 22nd, 2024 at 01:33 am
If you have a child nearing kindergarten and you plan to homeschool, you probably have already thought about homeschool kindergarten curriculum. There’s something that can feel extra daunting about homeschooling at the kindergarten level, even if you have been homeschooling at the preschool level. Kindergarten feels so much more official, most likely due to how our school system is set. It is ingrained in us that kids “officially” start school at kindergarten.
This is the third year I have had a kindergartener in our home, and I love it! How I prepared for my oldest child’s kindergarten year is so different from how I prepared for our third child this year. The biggest difference is that it is more fun, and less time is devoted to seated work.
*Affiliate Disclosure: I do have affiliate links in this blog post. If you purchase something from my link, I will receive a small commission from the sale. This comes at no cost to you but is paid by the company. I do not take becoming an affiliate with any company lightly. If I am, it’s because I believe in the company and their product.
*Elizabeth (Inventus Learning) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
My kindergarten experience
I still remember my kindergarten year as a year of fun but also as a year of following lots of rules. I wasn’t homeschooled, but the program was only half-day. While I don’t remember every day, I remember vividly playing in the sand pit and doing many crafts.
Unfortunately, those memories made me feel confined by all the rules. There were so many rules to learn about lining up, taking care of our Pee-Chee folder, asking to go to the bathroom, and being quiet. I loved to laugh, and a couple of times, I was sent to the “remembering chair” (to remember what I had done wrong) in the back of the classroom for laughing too much. I won’t digress into my feelings about that punishment. Maybe another time!
While I think rules are absolutely necessary for the order and management of a classroom, those were my strongest memories of the year. It wasn’t until homeschooling my own kids that I realized how much I didn’t want the focus of learning to be around following rules and managing behavior.
Homeschool doesn’t need to look like a classroom
As a previous classroom teacher, I know these rules are often important when dealing with 25-30 children. When I started homeschooling, the hardest thing for me was realizing that so many of those rules were unnecessary. Not only were classroom rules hard to let die, but the structure of the class was also difficult to break away from. The structure of seated work, break times, and even a specific time for lunch were so ingrained in me. I attempted to repeat these things without wondering if that made sense for my children, myself, and home.
You’re probably thinking, OK, when will you get to the curriculum recommendations, but how you view homeschooling will greatly influence the curriculum you choose. I promise I’ll get there:)
For those just starting homeschooling a kindergartener, be willing to open your mind to ways of doing school that are not traditional. Of course, for some, schooling at home in a similar structure to school may work for them. The beauty of homeschooling is that you have the freedom to think outside the box regarding how learning should look. In addition, you have the space to implement those creative ideas.
Kindergarten math
With that covered, you’re here for ideas on curriculum, so let’s get that going! Math at the kindergarten level is fun! Kids are learning numbers, counting, shapes, and comparing numbers. These are all skills they will use for the rest of their life, so they are important. Nonetheless, it doesn’t mean learning them must be stressful or tedious. I think there is a place for flashcards. They are helpful when there is a lot of information to memorize that might not be readily practiced otherwise. Thankfully, I don’t think that kindergarten math skills fall into this category.
I am a huge fan of learning skills in a natural environment because the content is more relevant, and the information is generally grasped more fully and retained longer. Here are some great ways to build on these skills in a natural setting.
Learning numbers
Children can learn about numbers at an early age simply by listening to people talk. We constantly use numbers to express age, location, measurements, and time. Numbers are all around us! Kids love to tell their age, even when they can’t fully pronounce the words. Teaching age by showing fingers is an easy way to learn about numbers.
Learning to identify numbers is another skill that can often be practiced outside with a stick and dirt. Drawing numbers into the dirt and giving your child a chance to practice forming the numbers is a great skill that doesn’t require as much hand control as writing on a piece of paper. The fun thing is that when mistakes are made, it is a quick smoothing over with your foot to clear the slate and practice again.
Playing card games automatically requires you to learn to recognize numbers. One of our favorite games is UNO. Our youngest boy learned all of his numbers and colors at two years old by playing UNO. When our fourth child was born, my mom stayed with us to help for a month after her birth. It was the middle of winter and raining non-stop, so my mom and the boys played UNO for hours every day. By the time the month passed, our youngest son was proficient in his numbers and colors!
Counting
All of our kids first learned to count to ten by playing hide-and-seek. There’s no greater motivator than wanting to be part of a game and needing to learn the steps to play. Hide-and-seek is great among kids or even with adults leading and counting and then giving the child a chance to practice counting.
Throwing a ball back and forth is also a simple way to practice counting. Counting while tossing a ball is a great way to learn while moving your body, which has been shown to be a powerful way to learn and retain new information. This could be modified to kicking a ball back and forth, jump roping, or even hula hooping.
Songs are one of my favorite ways to memorize anything! There are so many counting songs that you can create. If you lack creativity, YouTube has endless songs you can play while dancing and singing along. I like pairing, dancing, and singing along for the same reason mentioned above. I have found it much more effective than sitting still and just listening to music. Also, kids naturally love to dance. I think it’s the apprehensiveness of some adults around dancing that makes kids nervous to dance. That is another topic we could discuss, but get up and dance to some counting songs!
Games that involve dice are another great way to practice counting. One of my favorites is Chutes and Ladders or Snakes and Ladders. The game requires lots of addition due to the dice and counting as you move from space to space.
Shapes
Shapes are everywhere, so they should be learned everywhere! One of my favorite ways to teach shapes is by playing eye spy or spotting them around us. This is the perfect game for a walk where kids can begin to see shapes in their world. This can also be a great game for a rainy day if you’re inside or on a car ride.
Drawing shapes is also a great way to learn shapes. There are endless ways to do this, including in sand, dirt, traced, with a marker, or even paint. Don’t forget that it is totally normal for kids at this age to struggle to make straight lines, which are needed for many shapes.
Making shapes with objects is also a fun method for learning shapes. Food, toothpicks, Q-tips, or other household items can be used.
Cutting shapes is a good skill that combines using scissors with closely observing the design of different shapes.
Comparing numbers
My most used example for comparing numbers is with food visuals. For example, I will pass out a different amount of cookies (or fruit or anything that gets them excited) to each child and then ask them to compare them. Who has more? Who has less? How many more? How many fewer? Who has the most? Who has the least? I remember learning to compare numbers and portions quickly as a child. If my sister got more than me, I was the first to notice and point it out! I always find food fun when comparing numbers because there can be a built-in treat! Any item your child is interested in will work well for this task.
Kindergarten reading
Now that math is covered, I focus on another subject in kindergarten: reading. Do kids have to read in kindergarten? In my opinion, no! Do I start teaching the kids reading in kindergarten? Yes! I think there has been such a push to have children read by the start of kindergarten, and it has led to overwhelming stress around reading, which in turn leads to a dislike of reading.
I started teaching our kids how to read in kindergarten because they showed interest and were open to it. Before attempting to teach independent reading, it is important to spend time reading aloud to your kids. Reading aloud can start from birth. Long before children learn to speak, they acquire language from listening to people speak. There is so much to be learned from being read to. Aside from acquiring language from being read to, it helps to instill a love for stories, which is foundational for learning to love to read.
Ideally, once you have fostered a love for reading, teaching a child to read should come next. There are multiple aspects of reading that experts have determined as essential for building a strong reader. As a child, I was taught the whole language model. In this model, we learned whole words in the context of the story and were encouraged to memorize core words instead of focusing on phonetic rules. Did I learn to read and develop a love of reading using this model? Yes, absolutely! Using this method, I learned to sound out new words with prior experience of how words and letters that looked similar sounded. It wasn’t until I began teaching at the elementary level that I really learned the benefits of teaching phonics and phonemic awareness.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach
I wish I could say that everyone should learn reading with a specific curriculum or strategy, but there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to reading. Aside from the whole language approach, phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension are all important strategies to implement. Phonics and phonemic awareness help to teach decoding skills, which come in handy for spelling and breaking apart unknown words. I have found that teaching all these methods is important, and each child may need to focus on one area more than another, depending on their strengths and weaknesses.
Where to start
While there are many different books and curricula for beginner readers, I’ll share what I’ve used, as I can speak to that best. With our oldest child, I casually used Bob Books, and while I loved it, I felt I found more success when I used the book How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. This book was more methodical, and each lesson builds upon the previous lesson. Some find this book very dry, but it was a good fit with my middle son and now our youngest son.
If you are unsure what to start with, I suggest this book. It’s one book instead of a whole curriculum, which is very cost-effective. The nice thing about going through a guided reading program is that you start to see very quickly where the strengths and weaknesses are and if the program is a good fit.
Kindergarten writing
The third area that we focus on daily is writing. The act of writing requires a lot of muscle and hand coordination that is developed over time. My children started kindergarten without formal instruction on holding a pencil unless they specifically asked prior. That said, it has been fascinating to see the differences between each child with writing. Oftentimes, writing is pushed before a child has the foundational skills to succeed at writing. Before we even discuss the curriculum, let’s discuss these necessary skills.
What is Pre-writing?
Before children pick up a pencil, they develop pre-writing skills. These skills are often under-addressed but are equally, if not more important, as it lays the foundation for writing. In pre-writing, the terms imitating and copying are often used. Before we go any further, let’s ensure we know the difference.
Imitating – When children watch a shape being formed, they try to replicate what they see immediately.
Copying – When a child sees a photo or drawing of a shape, they try to replicate it independently.
Developmentally speaking, children develop the skill of imitating before the skill of copying. After the skill of copying is mastered, they can use their visual memory to recall drawing shapes independently.
Here is a common progression of pre-writing skills that develop.
- Random scribbles
- Imitates a vertical line
- Imitates a horizontal line
- Imitates a circle
- Copies a vertical line
- Copies a horizontal line
- Copies a circle
- Imitates a +
- Imitates a square
- Copies a +
- Copies a square
- Traces a line
- Imitates x
- Imitates a triangle
- Grasps a pencil in writing position
- Copies x
- Copies triangle
This is not an exhaustive list but a visual. As you can see, many steps occur before a child is ready to grasp a pencil for writing. If you are teaching a child still working on these steps, don’t rush to form letters, as mastering these skills is foundational to successfully forming letters and, eventually, words.
3 Pre-writing skills needed for writing
I promise we’ll get to curriculum suggestions, but there are a few other important skills to discuss that directly impact handwriting. I’m sure we can agree that starting a curriculum is of little benefit if the child doesn’t have the skills to be successful with it. These skills are important for all parts of development, specifically for writing.
- Sensory Motor Skills – Sensory and motor skills are necessary to develop even before pre-writing. Some of these skills include bilateral arm and hand use, imitation of movements, core body strength, and crossing the midline (moving arms or legs across the middle of our body.
- Fine Motor Skills – Handwriting requires the collaboration of multiple fine motor skills. Some of these are hand strength, hand dominance (determining one’s strong hand), finger isolation (ability to use each finger independently), and pincer grasp (use of the thumb and index together).
- Visual Motor Skills – Visual processing is key to writing. Some imperative visual motor skills include visual memory, hand-eye coordination, and spatial relations (the relationship of objects in space).
- Cognitive Skills – Cognitive skills are interwoven with writing skills. Focus, attention, memory, and sequencing are essential to prewriting and writing.
Assess these four areas to see if they need strengthening before teaching formal lessons and instruction on writing.
Writing curriculum
Ok, we’re finally at the place you’ve been looking for. Hopefully, you feel confident in your child’s ability to start writing; if not, you have some steps to take to help them get there. So, what curriculum do we use for handwriting? We have used Handwriting Without Tears for all the kids, which has been a great fit for us.
At the kindergarten level, students work on letter formation, and Learning Without Tears gives ample opportunity to trace letters and practice without a guide. The Kick Start Kindergarten Workbook is comprehensive, as it covers lowercase and uppercase letters, and the introduction of each new letter builds on the previous one introduced.
A corresponding teacher manual goes with it, which can guide those teaching handwriting for the first time. When I taught handwriting for the first time at the elementary school level, I was surprised at the technicality of the task. This manual can be really helpful, especially considering that once we learn to form letters, we don’t often think about the strategy for doing it.
My First School Book can be a great option. It is geared towards the Pre-K level but can benefit a Kindergartener as well. It covers colors and numbers and includes more opportunities for tracing and developing a crayon and pencil grip.
Kindergarten Takeaways
There are so many things to worry about when it comes to homeschool kindergarten curriculum, but I believe play is the most important. Reading, math, and writing can all be incorporated through games and play. While curriculum can be helpful in teaching specific concepts with repetition and structure, don’t underestimate all that can be taught through play, both inside and outside!
If you like this post, you might like: