Setting Up for Kindergarten

Wow!  We had our first day of Homeschool Kindergarten here with CJ and it was a blast!

Here's a little insight to our Homeschool Schedule for Kindergarten and how I got set up.

Remember last year in Preschool B how we utilized subject cards to identify what we're going to do when?  Preschool is just the next step in the same concept.

To me, kinder is going to be an hour a day of instruction. (20 minutes scripture study, 20 minutes reading lessons, 20 minutes math lessons)  As the year goes on we may add more time to each of the subjects as needed.  For the rest of the day there will be plenty of learning going on, just not teacher directed.

We've added a couple of subject areas this year.  Download the Kindergarten Subject Cards here for FREE.

Or hour of instruction time goes as follows:

Pledge of Allegiance

Scriptures:

• Prayer
• Scripture Story
• Article of Faith - We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which guides our scripture learning.  Before we work on memorizing passages of scripture we're going to work on memorizing the founding elements of our beliefs called the Articles of Faith.

Reading:

• Read to Mom
• Mom Read to CJ
• Narration
• Answering Questions
• Writing

Math

• Touch Math
• MathUSee Video and Activity

Our schedule is posted on CJ's large magnetic board (just an oil pan from Walmart for $12 and screwed to the wall). Though they aren't very fancy you can download them for FREE here. During our 1 hour instruction time he gets to pick the order that we do the Math and Reading lessons.  For that reason there are two copies of the math and reading cards.

There will also be times during the day that CJ has to spend on his own (like when I'm doing preK with EMan).  During this independent learning time CJ has the opportunity to set his own schedule.  This is where the subject cards come in.  He can pick which ones he wants to do for the day and visually make a plan for his independent time.  The list of ideas (on the download above) is as follows:

On Your Own:

• Scriptures
• Scripture Stories
• Article of Faith
• Reading
• Audio Books
• Books
• Magazines
• Writing
• Journal
• Write books or stories
• Write cards or letters
• Math
• Touch Math
• Math U See
• Art
• Art Cards
• Computer
• Typing
• ABCmouse.com
• Plan ideas
• Write ideas down
• Clean up

It will take a few weeks to teach him what each of these activities means and what his responsibilities around the activities are.  For yourself you can set the limits and expectations that work for your home.  

The third aspect of Homeschooling Kindergarten will be learning together at different times of the day.  This can include:

• Making Snacks, Baking or Cooking
• Music of any sort
• Science of any sort
• and other interests that pop up

During CJ's independent time he has the opportunity to write/draw any ideas that he'd like to do together at a later time in the day.  This will hopefully foster an opportunity to contemplate and make a plan of attack so we can be focused on what's important to him.

The last aspect of Homeschool Kindergarten that we'll be doing is extracurricular activities.  The recreation center opportunities that we're taking advantage of this year include: swim lessons, drama camp, and possibly other rec center activities such as gymnastics, wrestling, and art.  Other activities that we'll be doing with our friends will include field trips, nature walks and hikes, and learning to ride a bike.  It's also possible that he will be starting piano lessons, I'm just not certain how to fit that all in :)

Remember that all of these things take time.  Today was our first Homeschooling Kindergarten day and we simply spent an hour and a half setting up the basic one hour learning session and practicing it very slowly.  Each day will get faster and we can add new elements as the time presents itself.

Happy learning!