Well dd was reading before she started K. I used letter of the week for phonics purposes. We didn't do the actual letters of the week, we started with the phonics blends, dipthongs, ect because by the time she started K she knew all her letter sounds, vowels, ect. When she's done with the letters I'd move onto the next step- blends and then vowel blends. We had a lot of fun following the letter of the week with the different books and activities she suggested. Even if we'd had the money I wouldn't have bought a curriculum for K just because really I felt we had enough to use and I found enough materials. Now first grade this year was another story. We did buy curriculum and spent a small fortune- for us. I'm glad we did, but I'm glad we didn't for K. It's really up to you and what you are comfortable with. We pulled mid year so we were basically just trying to get accustomed to be around each other all day every day and get into a good routine for the first few months.
I'm not using a set curriculum for kindergarten, and don't plan to for 1st grade either. I make up my own unit studies, pulling stuff from online sources and books. My kids are animal lovers so we have been studying habitats and the animals that live there. Most of our books come from the library. For handwriting and phonics we have been using cheap workbooks I got at Costco and Walmart as well as stuff printed from online. Those books also have some very basic math stuff. I also have manipulative sets (teddy bear counters, pattern blocks, etc...) that I bought long ago when I taught preschool and my boys love playing with those and are learning a lot without even realizing it. We play lots of games and read, read, read. I know lots of people prefer a curriculum, but it can be done, and can be lots of fun, without one.
Wow, I must give you long time members "snaps!!" I am definitely humbled by you all. :angel: I have been on this forum for about a week now and have heard this same thing (and similar) asked over and over again. I have to apologize now for my own ignorance on the subject and unfortunately added to the ever growing posts about this particular topic when I myself started out. I do appreciate how patient you all are, as you happily post the responses to the same questions asked again and again and again. BTW - no offense to the original poster, I just had to add my 2cents.
We used Abeka and Starfall for phonics. No workbooks - just the charts and readers. Math u See for math. DD sat in on the Konos stuff, when DS was K, we used Five in a Row. It worked well for us, nothing too formal. Just having fun with the books. He still talks about some of the books we "rowed."
My favorites for Kindergarten My favs: Horizons math ETC Bob Books Leading Little Ones to God Nora Gaydos books Lit Pockets Nursery Rhymes Wild Animal Baby magazine Your Big Backyard magazine then websites: PBS Starfall
Yep, Horizons K Math is ahead and we LOVE it!!! I like Horizons Math across the board but I know it's not perfect and not perfect for every family. We have or are currently using K, 1, 2, 3, & 4 (with 5 waiting on the shelf for my oldest). When I asked my oldest if she want to switch to Teaching Textbooks next year rather than Horizons....she looked at the Demo and would prefer to stick with Horizons (thus the reason 5 is on the shelf)....This was nice to hear because she had been really tired of long division in Horizons...but we've moved on and she's doing very well. I like that Horizons tends to be ahead of some programs because my kids do well in math but don't "love" it. If they thought I was pushing them by giving them the next "grade" level, they'd freak out....by using Horizons, they're moving ahead but don't quite realize it. As long as they continue to excel, we'll stay with it. The rest of my K'ers curriculum is: A Reason for Handwriting K (which he's finished), Hooked on Phonics, Explode the Code, FlashKids Sight Words Level A, and a few other random things. He's watching Planet Earth DVDs right now for Science.....and his history mostly consists of discussions and field trips. Rhonda C.
I like Ring Around the Phonics for reading and phonics curriculum Math-U-See for Math Sequential Spelling for spelling
My ds is doing K (our school year started last month), here's what we're doing: Math: Mastering Mathematics - this program is actually for 1st-6th grade, but ds is a bit advanced so we started it this year Phonics/Reading: Explode the Code (he did book 2 last year, so we started this year with book 3) & Beyond the Code. Those are the main part. He also goes on Starfall.com 3 days a week for 30min (we also use the free printable stuff from starfall), he goes on PBSIsland 3 days a week (free reading games), plus we read a lot together For Science & Social Studies we're covering various topics using field trips, dvds, unit studies & other materials I make, and lots of fun hands-on work. For Art, I'm not doing anything specific this year because we're doing arts & crafts activities for other subjects. Next year, I'll start introducing different forms of art & crafts (beading, painting with different paints, working with chalk, charcoal, oil pastels, calligraphy etc.), and we'll do that for a few years before we study Art History & Artists. Music this year will consist of learning names of instruments, continuing to listen to a variety of music, and teaching him to sing a few songs (this week we've been focusing on a few patriotic songs due to our study of Independence Day, and later we'll work on some Christmas songs because we're giving dvds of the kids singing Christmas songs as presents this year). We won't start music theory or music history for a few more years.
For Kindergarten we used a mixture of things. I used Math U See for math, Teach Your Child To Read for Phonics, Peterson Directed for Handwriting, and we made up science and social studies on our own (mostly just fun stuff).
I am not using a boxed curriculum. I used boxed when I first started, but now I have moved to what my child would like best and would work with my child. For phonics, I happen to have Explode the Code. I saw other phonics books I liked, and you really do not need a workbook for this, unless your child likes them or works better with them. For handwriting, I have Handwriting w/o Tears. But I also have liked Zaner-Bloser and A Reason for Handwriting. I also have phonics computer games and videos. Then, I have lots of easy reader and reader books. You can check those out from the library. I only have them because, well, I bought everything when I first started homeschooling. But you do not really have to spend the money. It is best to go with things your children will enjoy. Books like Alphaphonics and 100 Easy Lessons to Teach Your Child to read are good and fine for phonics. There are just so many options. For math, I am trying to keep it more hands on. I do have some workbooks, but I want to keep it fun and not feel school-worky. If my child were in a good school, he would not be doing workbook pages daily. So I happen to have a Judy Clock (this is less than $5), counting bears (you do not need, but I recommend Walmart for this as they are cheapest there), and we count things and add things and count backward and so on in every day life. Lately, he has been measuring things around the house. So much more fun and applicable than just measuring lines on a workbook page. He has a ruler and a tape measure. I also let him play with measuring cups and water. You will want to cover shapes too. Oh, and writing the numbers. Writing numbers is much more fun on a chalk board or dry erase board. I would just pick up some inexpensive workbook in case your child craves workbook pages on some days. Mine asks for workbooks on occasion, not often, but on occasion. I hope this helps! Oh..and buy a calendar that your child likes. So if your child is in to Thomas the Tank Engine, buy one like that. Kittens..puppies..etc..just something your child likes. Hang it on the wall and do the calendar every day. For special days and holidays, discuss it and tell about it and do some related activity, or several.
I have taught k in a chirstian school and this is what ace tells you to do: have the child sound out words that they know the sounds for ex: if they know the sounds for b a d teach them to blend ba, bad, ( i would us pictures of train cars and have each letter on a car, when they are all sounded out you have your train. i hope i have made that clear.
