Kindergarten

I don't home school, but I have always lived near a local homeschooling collaboration. Their website may have useful info for you: www.homeschoolbuilding.org

Hi S.,

Congratulations on your decision to homeschool. I always believe that homeschooling is best for every child. We are Christians as well, and we have 7 children, 5 are old enough to homeschool.
Here's my advice on kindergarten. I started out with my 1st 3 experimenting with different programs - Abeka, Ace, teachers store books. The best teaching tool for reading that I have found is "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" by Engelmann. It is not christian based, but is very easy, and helps the child to read exceptionally fast. At the end of the 100 lessons, they're reading at a 2nd grade level.
For math - basically all they need to do at this point is to recognize their numbers up to 100, and be able to count to 100 by 1's and 5's. Depending on the ability of your child, you may try to have them count by 2's as well. That didn't come as easy to my kids. They can be taught basic addition as well, if you prefer.
Science - I don't recommend any books for science. The things that they teach you there can be taught at home for free. Just teach him about creation by reading Gen. 1:1-5. I also have them memorize it. Then, take him outside and show him the stars, and answer any questions he may have. When you're washing the table, teach him about germs. At this age, there really isn't alot that they are expected to learn above what they learn in everyday life anyway.
Just don't give up, and be consistent, and you will be successful. Again, good job, and I hope the best for you and your children.

Hi S.,
I would agree with Kim K that "My Father's World" home school curriculum is excellent! I have just started to get into some of the toddler and preschool stuff, but I have had many families tell me how much they loved it for their children (even their older ones). Good luck and God bless! :) http://www.mfwbooks.com/

Hi Stacey,
My sister is in your area and passed this along to me. I have a boy that just turned 5 and started reading when he was 3. I taught for 13 years in elementary school and I am currently homeschooling. He probably already knows all of his letter sounds if he has begun to read. My first advice is don't hurry. He really needs to be the one to set the pace and if he gets tired stop right away. He learns so much from that alone. The library is your friend. They have tons of beginning readers that you can give him. If you go to http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/results you can download McGuffey Readers for free. The have the phonics symbols which help break the code. The Primer is the first one. They are the readers school children read at the beginning of the 1900's and are very sweet. I printed them up and bound them in little binders. If you are a homeschool mom I would like to encourage you to look into the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling. It is phenominal and mostly literature based. Go to http://www.amblesideonline.org/ for more info about that. I hope this helps. Enjoy!
R.

HI S.
One of the best things is to limit tv/computer time, esp for boys. It slows down the development of one side of the brain, and reading is a whole brain activity. So it would be harder for boys if they watch a lot of tv. There's a really great book by Michael Gurian "Boys and girls learn differently" It talks about the difference of both, and how to help both excel, and over come the natural differences. Like boys should do some fine motor skill work, girls running games for gross motor skills. I found the book at the library. The more you understand about how they work the better you can teach to there needs.

I talk w/ my daughter about everything we see. I stopped in the park where I'd seen a bird's nest over the winter. The nest was empty, but the pond was full of tadpoles. I looked on like for a frog life cycle coloring page. Then try the life cycle of rain, ask him what next.
Were big on whats good for the planet, recycling, reducing waste, canvas bags, solar & wind power. I let my daughter put her hand out the car window in the park way (no traffic on her side of the car). Have her feel how the wind moves her hand when the finger tips point up, or down. Talk about wind power, go see a wind turbine in person or on line, make a wind toy for the yard. More on to solar power, fill a recycled glass jar with cold water, feel the water, put it in the sun all day, you could take it's temperature to get serious.
Talk about scientists, what they do, some of the great discoveries and who discovered them, this guy named Tessla discovered AC the kind of electricity we use today. Make an invention time line like when Nana's house got a TV, there weren't tv's before then, do the same with electricity, imaging living without it! I could talk about that all day.

Color educational pictures about plants(we grow some of our food), water, earth, air... Try to match an activity to each (wind/fly a kite)
I do nutritional coloring pages for veggies, w/ space to wright letters and why there good for you too.

My daughter ask a lot of questions, so for a lot I'm following her leads. She picked out all the water towers she saw. So I printed out a simple image of the inside, a picture of the zoo water tower, and had her draw her own picture. Then we all went to play at the beach. Talk about how waters good for the body.

This site has science clips
http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/science2009/09up_clos...

Happy learning, A. H

I am a Christian, actually missionary in Thailand right now. And have been a homeschooling mom for 3 years. My daughters are finishing 2nd grade and kindergarten right now.

I've found it best for me to buy a homeschool curriculum that is laid out for me and easy to use with little prep.

For teaching them to read, "Sing, Spell, Read & Write" is a great curriculum. My older daughter is 6 and reading chapter books around 3-4 grade level because this program gave her such a great foundation. I'm doing it with my younger one right now.

For math, we use singapore math.

And for the bulk of it, science, bible, history, etc. We've been using My Father's World curriculum. www.mfwbooks.com Their kindergarten is great and I've used "adventures in my father's world" and "Exploring countries and cultures" too and loved them. It's all laid out day by day and you get most of the books with it and can supplement with the library.

Just remember that working with them a little each day will give big results in the long run!

S., I have a son who is just finishing Kindergarten right now. This year they know all thier letters and the sounds that they make. They are working on word families right now (ie can fan pan man etc.) by switching out the first letter you can make many words. They are reading simple sentences. They have a word wall with these words they are expected to know by sight by the end of the year ( I see like to am can we what me the be you my a on are and in big she do yes is stop off he it no go look) They can recgonize and write their first and last name.
They have also been working on making an "information house" when they learn thier phone number it is written down on a triangle and it makes the roof, when they learn their full name first middle and last they get the square that makes the actual house then mom and dads full name will get them 2 windows their street address city & state will get them a door and their birthdate (month day and year) will get them a chimney. The information is written on each item before its pasted onto the house. For extra credit they have a flagpole and if they learn the pledge of alliegence they get a flag for it.
They have been working with coins identifying penny nickle dime and quarter how many is each worth then playing games to earn pennies and trading them up for nickles then trading nickles up for dimes etc.
They have been learning to tell time but only to the nearest hour. 1 o'clock 2 o'clock etc.
They also have been working on counting by 1's to 115 and by 10's to 100 and also by 5's and 2's. They have been writing out their numbers from 1 to 100 on a grid 10 in each row.
They have been making patterns red blue red blue or red red blue blue etc you get the idea. Stringing beads or better yet fruit loops is fun for this.
They also have an estimation jar (empty peanut butter jar with lid) every school day an estimation jar is sent home with a different student who puts something (all the same thing) in it. (and no more than 50) The children then guess how many are in the jar and then they count it.
In science they have been talking about things that are alive like animals and plants and classifying them, and things that are not alive like rocks.
They have also visited a fire station this year and had quite a bit about fire safety. And also what grown ups do for a living and what do they want to be when they grow up. I know they have done many more things than just this, but its all I could think of off the top of my head. I hope this is helpful to you.

Hi S.,
Science at this age can be a unit study on bugs, trees, anything you want to study. It doesn't have to be very detailed or formal. We have used a good science workbook/reader that Abeka has, it gives basic info with pictures for that age. You could also get a butterfly garden from Target or catalog and raise/monitor/study the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. That was fun for our kids. You could have him draw a picture of each stage and create a notebook. Sonlight Cirriculum also has science kits for K. I agree with the other poster, any science that you do needs to point to the Almighty Creator and how wonderfully He put things together.

For reading, faster and better will come with time. Our first child (boy) didn't start reading fluently till he was about 10. Don't let that scare you, he has a form of dyslexia that held him back a little. But everyone child is different, our 2nd child (girl) starting learning letters and reading simple words at 4yo. Now our 3rd child (girl) is finally starting to put things together at 7yo. One thing you could do is play lots of phonics and letter games with him. Kids at that age love games and they will learn a lot playing them. Little sis and brother can join in too. We have a book called "How to Get Your Child off the Refrigerator and onto Learning" that has lots of good homemade games and ideas in it. It was written by a hs mom with an ADHD child, but these games can be used by anyone. Also, our children are currently enjoying a phonics video by LeapFrog. Can he spell his name? If not, show him everyday just once or twice so that he'll know an important word and that should give him confidence.
Also, point out letters in words all around. Use billboards, signs, food packages, etc that way he can see that they're not just in books.
Bob Books are a good beginner series. They are small and start with simple words. Reading those books always made my children more confident. They liked the fact that they were "reading" a whole book. :)
Don't worry about trying too many things. Find what works right for him and you and have fun. This time in a child's life should be mostly play. Try to develop a love for learning in him, (sounds hard, but after 6 years of homeschooling I finally get it)that doesn't come from a demanding structured time right now unless that is where he learns best. There will be plenty of time when he is older for more intense subject studying. Enjoy the freedom of homeschooling, pick what you cirriculum or subject you want to study and change it to suit your family needs. Feel free to email me if I can be of any help. God bless! HTH

You can find Michigan's grade level content standards here:
http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-28753_33232---,0... You might need to cut and paste the link.

Scroll down to find Kindergarten. There is a document specifically addressing kindergarten science requirements. This might be a good guideline for you to follow to make sure you are touching on all the important concepts and skills he needs in the different content areas.

In kindergarden they learn basic math (simple addition and subtraction, patterning, making and reading graphs, etc), they should know up to 50 common words (like us, a the, look, house, etc.) by sight, know their letter sounds, and understand that by putting together these sounds you get words. They should be able to write thier name first and last, and be able to recognize/draw all other letters. They should be practicing (often by daily journal writing) spelling words by sounding them out, and should be able to spell thier sight words. In science they focus on simple things like the changes associated with the seasons, and other basic lessons that revolve around that, such as a butterfly from a chrysilis, how snow melts, how plants grow, etc. In computers they are learning about how to navigate a few simple programs. How to type their name in a word processor using a few simple fonts, how to use stamps and change colors in drawing programs, how to use print shop type programs to make a card. In art they are learn about color blending and primary colors. In health & saftey they learn about germs, handwashing how to do it and when, teeth brushing and about teeth in general, what to do in case of a fire, tornado etc, they have to plan an escape route for thier family in case of a fire, they also learn about street and playground saftey, etc. Their social science is primarily focused on important jobs in the community (police, fire, etc) and generally includes talk about elected officials as well and a real brief description of both their job and the process of election when it is around that time. They should also be able to count to 100, understand rhyming and also basic sentence structure. - This is just to be on par with public standards. I would suggest working with your two year old on some basics as well, if you are homeschooling for it's added educational benefits. I homeschooled for awhile and my oldest read at 3, and had already mastered simple addition and subtraction. (He's still a math nut at 9, lol -he calls out rediculous math problems in the car and we all race to see who can work them out fastest! I guess on the bright side he's keeping our doing math in our head skills sharp)! If you want to help your son read faster, (most kids go through a phase where they *can* read, but insist it is only "some things" or that reading all the time is "too hard" - I suggest, having encountered this problem with all 4 who have learned to read so far, just making him do it. Have him get items at the grocery store that he has to use reading for, ("hand me the box that says Crispy Wheats please") or give him the list and have him tell you what's next. If he gets stuck, ask him which sound the letter makes, but resist doing the "dirty work" of sounding it out for him. He needs to develop reading autonomy and only practice will help with that. Also, while he is reading he should be able to identify the main character, and answer questions about how characters in the story might have felt, what the problem they faced was, how they acted, and how they might have acted differently. Oh! And they should also be able to do sequencing (for example first picture snow, next picture boy making snowball, next boy rolling the snowball into a big one, boy making second snow ball, boy putting eyes and arms on snowman, boy putting hat on snowman, etc) This helps them not only with reading comprehension but also with understanding the importance of steps, which helps with math as well.

I have one that is in kindergarten right now. She currently is reading and of course writing. They add and subtract, they use money. As far as science they do worksheets and little mini books on animals, or recently about skin and cells, things of that nature. There really wasn't anything fun about it to be honest. Its school. My daughters teacher also focuses on how we treat others, cleaning up after ones self, just basic social interaction and how we interact with one another in ALL situations. Hope this helped.

My oldest daughter is going to a Charter School in the Fall for Kindergarten and the list of what they had to know was 2+ pages long, the list of what they would learn while there was equally as long. I still have it somewhere and would email it to you if you wanted it. It's just to long to list here. Off the top of my head I know that they will learn the 7 continents, be able to count to 100 by 1, 2, 5 & 10 both forward and backwards, write weekly in a journal and be able to read, among a lot of other things. I was really surprised at the curriculum at this school. However, we (my husband and I) wouldn't do it any other way. Let me know if you want the lists.

Hi S.
When I was teaching my children pre-k things over 25 yrs ago this is what I did to get them to read. I did a whole page of words that would make up little stories and they would have to connect the dots and then read me the story when they were done. I tought them basic math with a deck of playing cards, they learned how to count and add and subtract with the cards. By the time my children went to school they pretty much knew everything including counting, math and reading in spanish. What you're doing is great but try connecting the dots...you'll be pleased with the results. As far as science I think it might be a little bit to early for your 5 yr old to comprehend but you could start withthe basics of science like water trees, what god created etc. The connecting of the dots helped speed up the process of my children's reading. They were both above average students because of my home teaching techniques. We made games out of learning so they thought they were playing when they were actually learning. It's a great technique that has outstanding results. I didn't start on science until my children were in 1st grade...hope this helps...good luck and god bless...

THe kindergarteners at my school are reading, writing, doing time and money. To pass they have to be able to write 3 complete sentences with Capitals, spaces and end marks. For science, they study insects, mammals, etc.

I would contact the homeschooling building that someone else suggested or contact the local public school and ask to see a list of their standards.

There are science classes offered in various school systems' recreation programs. You could consider that for your son, as far as science goes.

And remember to apply any science learned to your Christian beliefs. How science fits in with Christianity and how to keep a balance. Maybe he like dinosaurs? There are sometimes programs that go on bone discovery expeditions. Or if he's interested in the stars, the planetariums are great! But it needs the balance of how God fits into the lessons, and vice versa.

S.,
You can to go www.michigan.org and look under educator, and curriculum. Look for Grade Level Content Expectations for Language arts, Science, Social Studies and Math for kindergarteners. THese are the state of Michigan GLCE or curriculums that every school in Michigan should follow and will let you know exactly what the state feels every kindergartener should know.

Hi S.,

I'm not sure where you live but we have a great educational toy store here in Grand Rapids, they also have a websight and they will ship right to your door! The name is Minds In Motion and the websight is gr8mindsinmotion.com, the phone number is ###-###-####. I know the store has alot of great science, math and reading tools to help you and you son keep learning fun. We've gotten alot for Christmas and Easter gifts for our daughter and twin nephews who are also six. I hope this helps to keep learning fun!
I think your doing a better job than Rockford Public school is, Lindy hasn't gotten into math at all. Your off to a great start:)

Hi S.,

I am a kindergarten aide at a Christian school. We are wrapping up our year and the kids are doing their rediness testing for next year. In a nutshell reading starts with word recognition, we have a book series that allows children to advance at their own pace but basically the stories are told with a few basic, repetative words and pictures. This is a huge year for phonics, phonetic spelling, and learning to write. Science is pretty hands on, we have a table where we rotate interesting items that let the kids explore nature, simple machines etc. Home schoolers have an enormous responsibility, there are many networks in every community. Don't underestimate the difficulty of this undertaking. Laws regaurding the educational achievment of home schooled children are becoming more strict and you really have to be up on all of that.Find a network and saturate yourself with this information. Best of everything to you and your young growing family.

cheboygan county suggests the first day of kindergarten tobeable to say first and last name, know their address and phone#, parents first and last names, print their first name,know how to use zippers, shoe laces, buttons, and can take outer garments off and put them on by themselves. speak in a voice loud enough for people to hear, know how to use a tissue and how to use one.use toilet paperect...know what to and what not to do with crayons, paste and scissors. take responsibility for their own actions ie cleaning up their own mess. listen and sit quietly while others are talking, can share things, take turns and play by rules.They also want them to beable to bounce a ball, count to 10 and write the numbers, trace basic shapes.And lots more!

There is an great nature center I take my boys to in Troy...The Loydd Stage Nature Center...it is on Coolidge between South Blvd. & I believe Square Lake. They have great volunteers that take the time to chit chat with the kids about anything in nature they can dream of and the nature trails are fun too(i bet you even see a deer or 2).