1.31.2012

Kindergarten Curriculum

I went back and forth for a long time about whether or not I would use a curriculum for Kindergarten.

I'm a fan of parts of so many different schools to thought regarding homeschooling styles.

I like letting Josie's interests guide our studies like in Unschooling.

I like the memorization and living books from Charlotte Mason.

I like themes, I like hands on, I like the arts.

I love planning out our fun extras and thinking up creative ways to show Josie about the World.

So picking a certain packaged curriculum just didn't seem like the best option for us.

On the other hand, I am also not sure how to be sure we are covering all that we need to.  I know Josie is at least on target with other kids her age, if not a bit ahead.

And I want it to stay that way.

So for this year, we are going to try a hybrid.

I'm using a curriculum for, what I consider to be, the four main subjects.  Then we are picking a different theme every month that we will learn about during our Extras.

I had a great time researching different curriculums and finally settled on what we will be using.

For math, we are using Math-U-See.

For reading, we settled on Explode The Code.

For Bible/character, we just started We Choose Virtues.

For writing we are going to continue rotating memory verse copy work and pen pal letters.

I did pick a science curriculum, but decided to wait to start that until next Fall.

We will work art into our extra themes every week too.

I am really excited about how much of my time this frees up.

For the next 6 months, these are our themes:

February - Under The Sea
March - My Body & My 5 Senses
April - A Bugs Life
May - Flowers, Plants, Trees
June - Food Groups
July - George Washington

We are officially starting Kindergarten March 1st.  I'm spending February laying it all out and planning our monthly themes for the rest of the year.

Oh, and taking the babies to Disney World!

2 comments:

Sarah said...

I couldn't agree with you more. That's why we hybrid too! I will say it is so worth every minute of planning ahead. I did that this past summer, and this year of schooling all 4 kids ages 7 and under has been very smooth because of it. Just in case you hadn't heard of it, A REASON FOR HANDWRITTING is a great program with all scriptures as copywork. My kids love it!

Have fun in Disney World!

Shanea said...

A hybrid is the best! I teach and I find that all sorts of things/approaches interest me and my students. Good luck this year.