My oldest daughter is just starting Kindergarten this year. We've just ordered our Kindergarten lesson plans but I'm wondering what is the goal for the end of Kindergarten? Where should she be and what will she learn this year? Is reading the focus, writing, math??? I just want to be prepared and know what she needs to learn this year. Thanks in advance!!
There are TONS of free things that you can use for this age online, and cheap workbooks and things if you choose to go that route. I had never in a million years planned to spend much on our K curriculum, but I found McRuffy Press and love everything about them... so I bought Phonics, Math and Science from them, and will make up Social Studies as we go (holidays, community, family, self, local geography, etc) using the subscription sites I have (abcteach.com, teacherfilebox.com) and other free resources. Art, music, health and PE will just fall in naturally because at that age they just do Ok, edited out my link... it's not there for some reason.. I have used that site for YEARS as a guideline when planning and looking... hmmmm wonder where it went? Anyone know?
Thanks so much!! I love that abcteach.com, wish I would have known about that in PreK. There are soooo many activities on there. Thanks again!
ok.. here is the Worldbook link I wanted... they must have changed the adress. http://www.worldbook.com/typical_course_of_study.html You can get an abcteach membership through homeschoolbuyerscoop.com for $20 a year
We also use the World Book link to help guide us. An excellent link with good stuff! We're also McRuffy fans too!
I am looking into getting the McRuffy K Math, Phonics and Science and so far love the sample pages it shows online. I have never heard of World Book but I am going to look into that. I would also like to know what would be good to focus the most on this year.
mom of bree... if you like the looks of it online you need to open up the box with all their awesome goodies inside it... it was like Christmas here.. and I can't keep my kids out of it!
I am pretty sure that is what I will be going with and if you say it was like Christmas at your house, then I am sure it will be that way at mine when ours comes in!
Our first grade McRuffy Science and Math came last week and I don't know who's more excited....DD or me!
Sigh.... Kindergarten expectations. They vary from person to person, from district to district. Kindergarten was ORIGINALLY to teach all the "readiness" stuff a kid needed to know before first grade. They wanted them to know their numbers, colors, letters. Kindergarten was to TEACH these concepts; reading for the most part was considered a "first grade skill". Now, pre-k teaches all these, and they better know them BEFORE kindergarten!!! I am a firm believer that at this age, kids are all over the board. There's some that are already reading and doing addition and subtraction. There's others who don't know their letters and numbers yet. That's the beauty of homeschooling; you can individualize the instruction based on what they NOW KNOW, and where you want to take them from here. VERY BASIC goals, imo, are: 1) Knowlege of upper/lowercase letters and matching them. An understanding of letter/sound relationship; being able to identify the beginning/ending sound in a word, possibly reading simple CVC words 2) Being able to recognize one's own name in print 3) Can continue a basic pattern 4) Know colors 5) One-to-one correspondance, can rote count past 20, can count objects, understands concepts of "one more" and "one less", can compare groups of objects, can do easy addition/subtraction with counters 6) Understands that the written word has meaning, reading goes from left to right, top to bottom 7) Can answer comprehension questions concerning a story just read, can re-tell a familiar story, can sequence events in a story How's that for starters? 6) Understands cause and effect
World Book is the World Book Encyclopedia. Their site has a typical course of study that a lot of people use as a general outline for planning their curriculum year to year. A sort of brief "what's taught when". Of course, some districts or states vary widely from this list, but it's still really useful. You can also look up your own state's DoE website -- they may have their general curriculum on it, and it may be called various things, like Grade-Level Expectations, or Course of Study, or xth Grade Skills, or something else. Look all over it; since the NCLB thing, most school systems put theirs up.
How old is she? In my state legally we don't have to report until a child turns age 7. For my dc at age 5 (K) we cover: -Phonics using Explode the Code Primers (orally if they don't wish to do the writing), I had one dd begin reading at 5 and the other at 4 from this method. -Handwriting without tears Preschool book (they have used the letter pieces at age 4). We don't do the program just use the book to practice how to make letters. -Listening in to any history, science, literature that the older dc might be doing, if they wish. They are usually in the room, but I don't force them to sit there if they prefer to be doing something else or if they don't want to sit and quietly color or play while reading is going on. -Read aloud time of Sonlight's Core B selections geared for them. -Math, we start Math-u-see primer and work at their pace, no mastery of concepts expected, just fun exposure. -Things such as holidays, communities and other social studies are just covered in daily family life. As are cooking skills and handicrafts and free art. -I do have a 5 year old do chores daily as they are able. I do have set chores. -Most important focus is on family, getting along with siblings, care and treatment of babies (I use my little ones as a living unit study), manners, respect, and so on. -We have very little seat work. I do check over the Worldbook Typical course of study as previously mentioned at the end of each school year. We school year round and our new year begins in January. So I just like to look over all we have covered, without it even being our focus. It always makes me feel good I think that's the box checker side of me. :wink: Enjoy your little ones K year.
on the check list that they gave me back in the day when I was out teaching little ones they had Tying your shoes too in the kindergarden requirements. As well as ABCS numbers to 100 reading and writing words with simple spelling. Math now is simple addition of one number below ten I believe? colros and more complex shapes
