I’m going to preface this by saying I spent a lot of money on materials, and I certainly didn’t choose the easy route to create a complete curriculum. I discovered the all-in-one curriculum by Sonlight early in my research, and I loved the idea of it but thought it might be too expensive. I realize now that it would have been easier and cheaper than what I’ve done!
A lot of people have asked me what curriculum we used for kindergarten. This has kind of become a hobby for me, and so I’ve actually loved piecing together an entire curriculum covering all subjects, including the many covered by the Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling. It’s typical to make reading and math the core of a kindergarten curriculum, adding science and social studies through little activities and literature throughout the year. So had I stuck to just reading and math, I wouldn’t have spent entirely as much as I did. But I want to own every good book that is out there. This is not necessary!
Please do not feel overwhelmed if you came here looking for an idea of what you would need to purchase to homeschool your kindergartner. There are too MANY options out there. I personally like the all-in-one literature-based programs, including Sonlight and My Father’s World. (For a non-religious version of Sonlight, check out BookShark.) There are others I considered (and am still considering for future years), such as Master Books. They’re definitely worth taking a look at.
Edit: I forgot to mention Ambleside Online. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of it until after we had begun our kindergarten year. Oh, how I wish I had! The purpose of Ambleside Online (AO) is to offer a free curriculum that is as close to that which Charlotte Mason used in her own schools. It’s not a curriculum in the sense that most of us think about; it’s a thorough guide to quality books and when to include them for the various subjects. The plans are organized by weeks and terms. Because Charlotte Mason didn’t begin formal academics until age 6, AO suggests introducing gentle academics for kindergarten and provides a great list of book suggestions. I’m using the AO plans for Year 1 (first grade) to complete our curriculum for the coming year.
Don’t be fooled by Ambleside Online’s very simplistic, modest website. (They have a reason for the simplicity.) It is an excellent resource with high-quality literature.
Morning Time
Bible
For our Bible lessons, we stuck with the original plan to read through The Jesus Storybook Bible, focusing on one story each week. There were a few weeks when we had to double up on the stories. This worked out well since the stories about Jesus’ birth fell in December, and the ones about His death and resurrection fell around Easter. We began the week with the story and then the rest of the week we would read from a devotional, the actual Bible, or Psalms or Proverbs. We also often read other Bible stories from The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes. Before we began our reading lesson, Molly colored the corresponding page in her Bible coloring book.
Our Bible lessons took place at the table during breakfast. I loved that we started this way, making the Bible a part of our everyday lives and not just another school subject.
Memory Verses
At the beginning of the year, I didn’t approach this well. I treated it more as a quiz. Then I listened to Cindy Rollins describe her morning time and realized all the memory work we do should be a family endeavor. We needed to be reciting it together. I would often pause and let Molly fill in the blanks, and she often demanded to recite the verses herself. In the end, we both learned all of the following verses. And even two-year-old Mac can fill in a lot of the blanks!
- Psalm 19:1
- Genesis 1:1
- Romans 3:23
- Psalm 128:1
- Hebrews 10:23
- Psalm 34:18
- Romans 8:28
- Isaiah 41:!0
- 1 Chronicles 16:34
- Mark 12:30-31
- Psalm 23
- John 14:6
- Matthew 6:21
- Matthew 6:33
- John 14:15-16
- Ephesians 2:8-9
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
It was so important that this be an enjoyable experience. Every morning during Bible verse recitation, I reminded myself that I wanted adult-Molly to have positive memories of this part of her childhood. It should in no way feel like drudgery.
We use this very effective method for memorizing.
Breakfast Time “Readings”
There was a stack of books on the dining room bookshelf that we rotated through after our Bible lessons. It was the perfect way to add those readings that were difficult to fit into our school routine and a struggle to pay attention to during our other morning basket activities. Our favorites included:
Hymns
I always liked the idea of teaching my children hymns since they’re not exposed to traditional hymns at our church and because of the rich theology found in the lyrics. I didn’t begin the school year with a clear plan, but a couple months in, we opened our “morning basket” time with a hymn and stuck with it, changing the hymn each month. There really is nothing to it.
Truth be told, it felt a little awkward at first, but now it’s one of our favorite parts of the day. I use the following resources to choose hymns, and we sometimes watch the videos to learn them. For the most part, though, we just sing them a cappella. Well, more accurately, Mac and I sing them and Molly does ballet. 😉
Hymns for 2019-2020
- “Holy, Holy, Holy”
- “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
- “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”
- “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
- “Be Thou My Vision”
- “In Christ Alone”
Poetry and Other Memory Work
Like the hymns, I didn’t start with an actual plan. We just read the first poem so many times that we memorized it. Then I added a poem as went. There was no deadline for memorizing them; we just recited them regularly. Memory work also included other important information.
- “Try, Try Again” from The Children’s Book of Virtues
- “God, Make My Life a Little Light” by M. Betham-Edwards
- “Father, We Thank Thee” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Who Has Seen the Wind?” by Christina G. Rossetti
- “All Things Bright and Beautiful” by Cecil F. Alexander
- “La Primavera” by Antonio Machado
- Psalm 23
- The Pledge of Allegiance
- Address
- Mom and Dad’s phone numbers
Music Lessons
We were a ways into the school year before we started using the videos from the Children of the Open Air YouTube channel, which I had heard about on the Your Morning Basket podcast. Closer to the end of the school year, we began the singing lesson from Sing Solfa. The Sing Solfa lessons actually incorporate some of the videos from Children of the Open Air. We liked the short lessons from both of them. They’re well organized and were very easy to include during morning basket. This coming school year, we’ll start over with Unit 1 from Sing Solfa.
Spanish Songs
Later into the school year, we began adding a Spanish song to morning basket. Most of them came from Whistlefritz albums.
- “Baila, baila, baila” – Whistlefritz ¡A BAILAR! (Amazon Music)
- “Me gusta viajar” – Whistlefritz Cha, Cha, Cha (iTunes)
- “Los números” – Whistlefrtiz Cha, Cha, Cha (iTunes)
- “Mi dia” – Whistlefritz ¡Sabor! (Amazon Music)
- “Buenos Dias” – Caramba Kids by José-Luis Orozco (Amazon Music)
Manners
After hearing Jamie Erickson speak on a podcast, I was inspired to include manners and etiquette to our morning basket. I’ve always believed manners need to be explicitly taught, but finding the time to do it and being consistent is difficult if it’s not already a part of a regular routine. Morning basket was the perfect spot for this.
- List of 100 Manners to Teach Your Kids (digital download for $2.99)
Reading Instruction
I loved Foundations by Logic of English and its unique approach to phonics. Molly completed levels A and B, though she probably would have benefited from moving a little more slowly through the lessons and finishing level B next year. I say more about Foundations here.
Before settling on Foundations, I almost went with All About Reading. It’s also a quality program very similar to Logic of English. It’s worth checking out.
Math
Molly completed levels KA and KB of Dimensions Math by Singapore Math. I knew this curriculum was considered top-notch, and I’ve been completely satisfied with it. I will say more about Dimensions Math in future post!
Spanish
Several weeks into the school year, I made the decision to switch from Whistlefritz to Calico Spanish. I think that was a good decision. Calico Spanish is super easy to follow, and Molly loved the different characters. The curriculum is perfect for lower elementary. I purchased the online subscription and printed materials as we needed them. There are currently four levels available, and I believe a fifth level is in the works. We completed level A and are about halfway into B.
We also periodically watch the Whistlefritz videos that I had already purchased with the curriculum. The videos don’t follow the curriculum, and so they’re good to put on for fun. Molly and Mac both enjoy them.
I tried incorporating other activities, like a game here and there. We did some of the math lessons in Spanish. It took some prep-work on my part, as I had to write down phrases in Spanish and translate the objects on the workbook pages. For example, I’d ask, “Cuantos peces hay?” for “how many fish are there?” and she’d have to count them in Spanish and say it in a complete Spanish sentence. I hope to do this more next year.
Nature Study
For science this year, we did nature study using Exploring Nature with Children. Throughout the year I worried that we weren’t doing enough. I repeatedly reminded myself that we were already doing much more than is required for science in the public schools. I also worried that we should spend more time on the scientific method and experiments. But for now, nature study is enough. It has been the perfect way to introduce Molly to to the world around her. Science starts with observation and inquiry, and nature study has trained Molly (and myself!) to pay attention, engage all of her senses, take note of details, and ask questions.
I’ll be honest: I wasn’t quite sure Molly was learning much through nature study. Sure, it was “pretty” with the nature walks, beautiful living picture books, and nature journal filled with sketches, but I didn’t know it was making a real difference because there was no real way of measuring it. However, I now notice Molly talking a lot more about nature and what she knows about it. She points all kinds of things out when we’re outside. She constantly asks questions. She enjoys being outside a lot more than she did last year. (She used to complain after a short amount of time, and she didn’t care for hikes. Now she loves it all and could be outside all day.)
So I think nature study was a real win! I plan to use Exploring Nature with Children again for first grade. I might pull in other activities to explore the scientific method a bit, but I’m not going to feel bad if we don’t. I’d like to do a lot more with the nature study curriculum and to expand on what we did last school year. We might have an actual science curriculum for second grade, and if not, then definitely in third grade.
Social Studies
I had no real plan for social studies. Molly learned a lot through the books we read. For first grade, we’ll be studying ancient history and will have a concrete plan.
Art
The goal was to do an art project once a week, but there were some weeks we didn’t get to it. I planned art lessons based on what we were learning that week. They usually went with either the nature study topic, a holiday, the season, or a book. I used the following helpful resources to find ideas.
Learn More About All Your Options
Watch curriculum reviews on YouTube. I found these to be THE BEST way to see inside the books and how they’re used.
Follow the companies on Instagram. I’ve found their posts to be super helpful.
Probably not the end of this post…
I’m having a hard time organizing my thoughts this summer. I’m sure I didn’t include everything we did this year, but I want to go ahead and get this posted for everyone has been asking me what curriculum we used this year. I’ll add to and edit this as I think of more. I hope this has been a little helpful!
