It pains me to think this will be my last year teaching Kindergarten! This is one of my favorite ages for learning.

I really want for our Kindergarten year to be fun and gentle! We’re going to be introducing more subjects and more formal learning, but not stressing about getting everything done. I’ve learned that every child learns at their own pace and I want to make sure that we focus on that this year. We’re not going to be starting all of this curriculum at once, but it will be there for when we’re ready.

Spine Curriculum (History, Geography, Science, Art, Bible)

While I don’t normally stress history in the early years, we do a lot of family style learning. So, if my older son is learning something…my youngest is probably learning along side him! This year we decided we’re going to to read through The Little House on the Prairie series together!

We’ll be using…..

• Playful Pioneers from The Peaceful Press. I can’t wait to start this curriculum. Playful Pioneers covers history, geography, science, and art for the whole year. The only thing not included will be our core subjects (Language Arts and Math). Some of the things this study covers are:
  • U.S. states and landmarks
  • Immigration in America
  • Weekly nature study
  • Science experiments
  • Cooking projects
  • Poetry, art, bible readings, and hymns

Language Arts

• Handwriting. I plan to use two handwriting curriculums with my son this year. We’re going to be starting off with Handwriting Without Tears: Kickstart Kindergarten . I like how Handwriting Without Tears teaches letter formation. This is still a skill we need to work on. Once we’ve completed this book and we have a better idea on how letters are formed, we’ll be moving on to The Good and the Beautiful Level K handwriting workbook. Both books are short and should be easy to finish in a year!
• Reading. All About Reading Level 1. As I said before, the great thing about homeschool is being able to find curriculum that meets each kids needs. While I loved using TGATB for reading in the past, I do think it is a little more advanced and I knew my Kindergartener would struggle to keep up. I’ve heard so many great things about All About Reading and we’re excited to dive in!
  
  Before we start with this program, we’re going to continue focusing on mastering our letters and sounds. All About Reading does have a pre-reading course that covers all of the letters and sounds, but I honestly didn’t think we needed another year going over all of that again so we are going to start Level 1 when we feel ready!
• Phonics. Explode the Code: Get Ready for the Code. I’ve seen these books floating around and I’m finally ready to explore what they’re all about! Get Ready for the Code consists of three books. We’ll be completing 1-2 pages a day from these books for extra phonics practice.
• Grammar. Evan-Moor Skills Sharpeners Grammar and Punctuation Level K. Since All About Reading isn’t a full language arts program, we’ll be using this book to provide some additional grammar practice every once in awhile.

Math

• The Good and The Beautiful Math Level K. This will be my second time using level K and we’re all excited to dive in!
  
  I think TGATB’s math course is great for the Kindergarten years. It’s colorful, open and go, easy for parents to use, and it has lots of fun games throughout the course! This course comes with a math box that has manipulatives (like cars, dice, pawns, counting sticks) that be used with lessons.
  
  This math course, like all of TGATB’s courses, uses the spiral method of teaching. That means that a student will learn a skill, move on without mastering it, and continue to work on it throughout the year. This is compared to the mastery method of teaching (where you have to master the skill before you move on to the next thing). Often times in mastery, the skill isn’t revisited. I personally love the spiral method because kids are less likely to forget math skills when they are revisiting them often!

Science

As I mentioned, Playful Pioneers does cover some science. However, the one thing I’ve read is that it often doesn’t seem like enough. So, I wanted to have an option incase we want to add in more science (especially since my oldest loves science)!

• TGATB Little Hearts and Hands: Bones and Stones . We have used a lot of the Little Hearts and Hands books and we have loved all of them! This course covers paleontology, dinosaurs, stones, minerals, volcanos, maps, and more. I love that some lessons have audio narration that kids can follow along with. There are also stories from the Big Book of Science Stories that correlate with lessons. Lessons are short and sweet, and I think they are a great introduction to science!

Enrichment

• Art Factory. This year, both of the boys will be attending a homeschool co-op one day a week at Rainbow Art Factory. They’ll spend a few hours doing art, playing outdoors, and playing with other kids. Their very excited to try this out and I’m looking forward to seeing how they like it!
• Spanish. My oldest has been expressing interest in learning a new language. Since we do family style learning, I’m sure my Kindergartener will want to join in. We plan to try out an introductory Spanish class with Outschool ! We’ve used Outschool before, and have loved their classes.

That’s a wrap! Looking for last years curriculum picks? You can find all of our 2024-25 Curriculum picks here!