~HELP~ Homeschooling a kindergartener!?

In K the kids should learn their letters and start working on writing them; know how to write their numbers to 10 and learn to count to 50-100 out loud (number songs and games help with this a lot); differentiate between more and less (which box has more cars in it?) and bigger and smaller (which pillow is bigger? Which is biggest?). They should learn colors, painting is a fun way to do this…you can mix and have fun with so many colors! Read library books with him, talk about why things happen on a simple level and point as you read so he can start to figure out that letters come together to make words. A lot of K is just discovery, singing, painting, and playing; these skills should prep him pretty well for first grade. (As far as time telling skills – these are generally too abstract below first or second grade. Many boards of ed are requiring them now in an attempt to “get ahead”, but honestly, most kids below 7 or 8 just plain don’t have the abstract thinking to grasp them yet.)

Try going to the board of education site for your state. They should have a listing of what they expect kids to know by the end of each grade.

I am in Missouri. The little guy I watch after school just finished Kindergarten. He can write his first name, count to 100, knows most of the alphabet and the sounds the letters make. He also knows his colors and shapes, his address and phone number and his parents names. From what the board of ed says here he should also know the basics of the clock and how to recognize money. He is supposed to be able to add single digits as well. I do not think he knows any of that though. So sad.

I liked Ruthie’s answer the best; truly, kids are ‘supposed’ to learn more in kinder than what the other posters said. My mom taught kinder in public schools for 20+ years and taught them a whole lot of stuff. The major thing is phonics. When kids finish kindergarten they should be able to tell you all the short and long vowel sounds plus the sounds of all the consonants. They should be able to read [or sound out] 3 letter short vowel words such as ‘red’ and ‘let’ and ‘man.’ Many of them [but not all] will be able to sound out 4 letter long vowel words such as ‘main.’ Some of them will be able to read short books. They should know a few sight words such as ‘the’ and ‘of’ and ‘to.’ They should already know their colors by the time they enter kinder – that is a preschool thing.

I don’t know what your price bracket is, but I would definitely recommend A Beka Video School for them. It is an extremely well balanced curriculum, and they will be reading by the middle of kindergarten, if not before. And, you can know that you are giving them the best education. I have seen the results, and love it. Hope this helps.

http://www.abekaacademy.org/

Wal-Mart has a thick workbook called something like “The Everything Book.” It was WONDERFUL for providing a backdrop for teaching preschool/kindergarten concepts. I paid about $5, that with some crayons, scissors, and a glue stick was the foundation of my kindergarten program. I just supplemented with library books.

I just listened to an old show on http://www.homeschoolingradio.com/Getting%20Started.html

called “2006 September 27 “Preparing Your Child for School” Stacey Kannenberg” She went over a bunch of stuff about kindergarden and first grade. She also had books on the topic….

Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten! (Let’s Get Ready Series) (Let’s Get Ready Series) by Linda Desimowich, Stacey Kannenberg, and Joyce Babel-worth and

Let’s Get Ready for First Grade! by Linda Desimowich and Stacey Kannenberg

http://www.starfall.com

http://www.handwritingforkids.com…

http://www.enchantedlearning.com…

http://www.abcteach.com

http://www.homeschooldiscount.com…

http://www.sonlight.com

http://www.abeka.com

http://www.homeschoolstockroom.com…

http://www.rocksolidinc.com

http://www.christianbook.com

http://www.earlychildhoodlinks.com…

http://www.kn.att.com

http://www.first-school.ws

http://www.wxdude.com

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/star…

http://www.members.aol.com/don

http://about.com/education

http://www.freeworksheets.com

http://teacher.scholastic.com

http://www.tlsbooks.com

http://www.mathsisfun.com

http://www.coolmath.com

http://www.dltk-kids.com

http://www.auntlee.com

http://www.funbrain.com

http://www.brainpopjr.com

http://www.iknowthat.com

http://kidsites.com

http://www.spelltime.com

http://www.eclectichomeschool.org…

http://www.rainbowresource.com

http://www.donnayoung.org

http://alphaphonics.com

http://www.triviumpursuit.com

http://themathworksheetsite.com…

http://startwrite.com

Also look at http://www.aophomeschooling.com you can download two different scope and sequence charts to give you an idea what to cover. The one I like best is the one that goes with their Horizons curriculum, but its advanced. The other goes with their Lifepac curriclum, it is more typical, and might be a better guide for the situation you described. Since you are only using them as a guide, you might pick and choose.

Thier is a site called starfall.com and they have some stuff that might help you out.A kinder sould start on reading at public schools they are working on the abc’s numbers,colors and phonics as well as math. I found out about this site through my childs teacher and its mainly for the phonics aspects of the grade.

Two web sites we have always enjoyed require a small yearly membership fee of $20.00 but they are well worth it.

You can check the sites out for free, but you need to be a member to print off most of the materials.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/

http://www.abcteach.com

Most of the following are free; they are not just for kindergarten but many are; sorry about the standard list.

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/month…

Weather/Meteorology (the weather dude).

http://www.wxdude.com

Astronomy

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/star…

Mr. Donn’s history sire – unit studies.

http://www.members.aol.com/don…………

Free weekly tips, worksheets,lesson plans, resources , and curriculum.

http://www.tlsbooks.com/kidspagearchive….

http://about.com/education/

http://www.freeworksheets.com/

http://teacher.scholastic.com/

Math:

http://www.tlsbooks.com/mathworksheets.h…

http://www.mathsisfun.com/worksheets/ind…

http://www.algebra.com

http://www.coolmath.com/

http://www.coolmathalgebra.com/………

http://www.coolmath4kids.com/

Geography

http://www.dltk-kids.com/world

other:

http://www.dltk-kids.com

http://www.dltk-kids.com/color…………

Typing-keyboarding

http://www.auntlee.com/easytyp…………

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/…

http://www.funbrain.com/

http://www.brainpopjr.com/

http://www.iknowthat.com/

http://www.kidzone.ws/

http://kidsites.com/

http://www.spellingtime.com/

You can teach them anything they can absorb.

Kindergraden was usually rudimentary music with sticks, blocks, triangels and other percussion instruments.

Stories.

You can get wood blocks and teach them letters, numbers.

You can even start rudimentary words, like spelling their name out in wood blocks.

You can teach them on the computer to draw with a paint program. I’ve seen 3 and 4 year olds do this.