Kindergarten Plans

I've made our plans for kindergarten and ordered curriculum. So excited for the next step on our homeschooling journey! Our basic education philosophy/framework text is The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home. It goes from K-12th grade. They suggest a soft start to kindergarten and then schoolwork really picks up in first grade. Annie and Jacob want to "do school" so we are using some of the WTM kindergarten suggestions and then adding a first-generation homeschool curriculum called Learning at Home. Learning at Home gives us the lesson plans for "fun kindergarten"--little books to make, art projects, Bible, motor skill activities, read-aloud suggestions, etc. We are going to use Right Start math. It has lots of hands-on games and activities that Jacob will love. Annie has picked math up intuitively (she does not think like her mama!) and already knows most kindergarten math. But I think she will enjoy this program as well and I will pick topics to challenge her in. For reading, we are going to continue on with Phonics Pathways. It is a simple program to teach and is working well for us. Jacob is ahead of Annie in reading, so it all balances out. ;) We are going to implement a great idea I borrowed from a fellow homeschooling mom who has four children about the same ages as my kids--"Rotation Station." This way each child will get 15 minutes of my undivided (for the most part, anyway) attention, while the other munchkins work on an independent activity. For handwriting we are using Zaner-Bloser. Annie and Jacob know how to make most of their letters and numbers, but we can use the review and practice for sure! For science we are using a fun preschool text called Rainbows, Bubbles, and Worms. Sophie will enjoy these experiments, too. I am going to begin teaching the older two piano later this summer. They want to learn so we are going to give it a try. We are in a homeschool support group that plans great field trips, and each child has picked one independent activity to do: the girls picked ballet, Jacob wants to do soccer and tball again, and Nora goes to toddler storytime at the library. Then we all go to Bible Study Fellowship--I love it for me and their preschool program is fantastic. So there's our plan for kindergarten...we will see how it goes when we start in September!

Daily Lesson Plan
Prayer and calendar
Right Start math lesson (4x week)
Rotation Stations:
With Mama:
Annie and Jacob: Phonics Pathways, beginning reader
Sophie: concept awareness
Nora: Slow and Steady Get Me Ready activity
Independent:
Art project or worksheet
Free play
Puzzle or manipulative
Art or music exposure
Recess/outside play
Learning at Home activities
Handwriting
Read aloud
1-2 weekly activities

Weekly Activities
Science experiment
Art project
Field trip or play date
Piano lesson and practice
Game

Independent Activities
Annie ballet
Jacob soccer (fall), baseball (spring)
Sophie ballet
Nora library story time
All Bible Study Fellowship