Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Choices

It’s time! Last week I shared my elementary homeschool curriculum choices. The week before I shared my homeschool preschool curriculum and resources, and today I am sharing my kindergarten homeschool curriculum choices! I love teaching preschool and kindergarten. It’s such a sweet time for learning and exploring. Kindergarten is very low pressure for us. It’s when we begin to establish a more thorough routine and rhythm for school work and when we work on learning to read! I’m so excited to show you what I’m using with my little guy!

Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Language Arts

The Good and the Beautiful Primer & Level K

A few months ago I showed off The Good and the Beautiful Level K. I was so excited to start this with my kindergartner and I thought we would be good to go since my child knew his ABCs and most of his letter sounds. After looking the curriculum over, I quickly realized he just was not ready for it. Even though I love The Good and the Beautiful, I thought I would try something else during this time.

So, the first thing I tried was Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It worked well for my daughter. I dropped it with my oldest son because it was causing so much frustration. Well, after doing about four lessons with my kindergartner, I couldn’t take it anymore. He was fighting me on doing the lessons. He had no desire to write the sounds. He was yelling the answers at me (which is what my oldest son did), so I dropped it again. Maybe this program works better for my girls than my boys?

After stalking The Good and the Beautiful Facebook group, I realized we would probably benefit from the Level K Primer before diving into Level K Language Arts. So, I ordered the PDF and printed a few lessons. The kid loves it! It is going so well and I think it will be great for getting us used to The Good and the Beautiful style.

Phonics

Now I’m Reading Readers

Ollie will be learning phonics with TGTB, but we will reinforce those with the Now I’m Reading readers. I used these with my daughter. The little stories are funny, so the kids really like them.

Handwriting 

Possibly A Reason for Handwriting Level K and The Good and the Beautiful Level 1

So, I got The Good and the Beautiful Level 1 Handwriting PDF for free with the Level K course books and I planned to use that to teach Ollie handwriting, BUT the letters are just too small. He’s not ready to learn how to write on spaces that are so small. Primer does have some handwriting practice with very large boxes. I will possibly purchase A Reason for Handwriting Level K before continuing on with TGTB Level 1.

Math

Simply Charlotte Mason’s Elementary Arithmetic

I have been up in arms about which math curriculum to use. My oldest son did very hands-on math with My Father’s World, but I feel like since I couldn’t consistently do all the activities at the time that he did not start with a good math foundation. My daughter started with Horizons K and has now moved into Math Mammoth. She seems to have a good grasp with math, but I’m so not crazy about the worksheet approach.

I purchased Simply Charlotte Mason’s Elementary Arithmetic and after going back and forth whether to use that or The Good and the Beautiful’s Math K, I decided to stick with SCM. The reason being that it is hands-on, most all answers are done orally, and it is truly simple yet effective. My son does not fight me, and he does not have to do much writing. My only complaint with SCM is that this book does not contain many concepts that are normally introduced in Kindergarten. We aren’t learning the calendar or time here. Instead, I am introducing these concepts organically, and I have a couple of math resources in my morning time bin that I will be sharing with you soon.

Also, I should note. In a Charlotte Mason education lessons are not taught formally until 6 years old. My son turns six in the fall, so we are doing a slow introduction with this book. Many children would not use this book until Grade 1, or whenever they turn 6.

Book Based Lesson Plans

As I mentioned in my preschool curriculum posts, I absolutely love creating book based lesson plans. My lesson plans work well for children between the ages of 3-6, and even my two year old and seven year old join in with some of the activities. My lesson plans include handwriting, language arts, and math concepts, as well as occasionally geography and history. I always include gross and fine motor skills, arts and crafts/sensory activities, and nature study.

`Here are the books I am for sure teaching this year.

Make Way for Ducklings

The Rainbow Fish

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

The Three Little Pigs

Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Billy Goat’s Gruff

The Good and the Beautiful Science Units

My kindergartner participates where he can in our family learning. He is especially active in our science units with The Good and the Beautiful. We are doing the Safety Unit and the Arthropods unit this year. He loves bugs, and has already started his own nature journal even though we aren’t doing that unit until the spring.

Other Posts about Homeschooling Kindergarten

Must-Have School Supplies for Preschool and Kindergarten

A Simple Kindergarten Schedule

My Father’s World Kindergarten