You Can't Mess Up Kindergarten

I was talking to my niece a few weeks ago about home schooling. She has a pre-schooler and she  was sharing some of her concerns about starting up, so I thought would share some of the resources I've used over the years. I don't do formal schooling until kindergarten, and even then I keep it light and fun. I have home schooled 2 Kers, and they have both turned out fine. My mantra is "you can't mess up kindergarten". So...here are some of my favorite resources and curricula.

Five in a Row: This is what I use as my spine. It uses literature based unit studies to cover social studies, language arts, fine arts, applied math (I don't do formal workbook math until 1st grade), and science. There is a list of picture books in the front of the book. Each week you choose a book. Everyday you read the book and cover one subject. There are several lessons to choose from. You can do as many as you want or only do one. I have used this since the first day I home schooled. I love it.

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons: This is the reading curriculum I used. It's pretty dry, but it gets the job done. After the whole manual is completed your child should be reading at about a 2nd grade level.

A Reason for Handwriting: This is a traditional handwriting approach. It uses scripture for practice which makes it easy to incorporate Bible memory into your routine.

That about sums up how I did kindergarten. We were always done by lunch time, which left the afternoon for rest, free play, and lots of snuggling on the couch with a good book. As far as socializing goes, I never did much outside of church activities and programs. If your church doesn't have much for school age children I would recommend finding an AWANA program or something similar in your area. I would be happy to answer any questions anyone might have about home schooling. Just remember: You can't mess up kindergarten!