The kidlets are eating a meal Japanese style after reading a book from Five in a Row whose setting was in Tokyo. They had green tea (ick), ate with chopsticks (fun!) and sat on pillows at a low table (the coffee table). They LOVED it!
My five year old triplets used Funnix2after completing 100EZ lessons. Funnix is a computer based program and is written by the son of the author of 100EZ lessons..
My kids enjoyed Funnix2 so much more than 100EZ lessons. The stories are so enjoyable and they are rewarded with colorful animated illustrations after reading the text. It is structured the exact same way as 100EZ lessons. Funnix2 comes with the last 20 lessons from Funnix1 in case they need some review. However, my kiddos didn't need any review and moved right into the first Funnix2 lesson.
After completing Funnix2, my boys were reading on a high third grade level and my GooseyGirl was reading on a low fourth grade level. I can't recommend Funnix highly enough! BTW- I bought mine on ebay for about $30. Or you can order through the company.
Handwriting Without Tearswas my choice for beginning handwriting. It is perfect for wiggly boys and lefties. The author has given you lots of ways to integrate gross motor skills into understanding how letters are formed and the "story" behind how numbers are made. My kidlets giggled a bunch through this curriculum. Get the Teacher's guides. They don't cost much and have some fun ideas on how to teach the letters. HWT
I utilized the small chalk boards and while I was miffed about the costs to buy them, I was glad I had them because they really helped my kids to understand how each letter and number is formed.
My kids would squeal with joy when I told them it was time for math. I'm serious! They even said they wanted a "Math U See" birthday party so they could teach all their friends math. Really... I'm not making this up. I think that is all the endorsement you need. My kids have blossomed with this curriculum and math is making sense to me for the first time too! If you are on the fence about a math program, order the free demo. You'll know after you watch it if this program is right for you. MUS
I thought I'd picked FIVE IN A ROW (FIAR) for the exposure to literature. I thought it would be a great way to get them involved in a character and develop a love of stories. Well, it did that but it also turned on a few other lights in the house I didn't anticipate. geography, art and character education being the bonus subjects.
I used this specifically for Character Education in First Grade. Some families use this curriculum without supplementing anything but math and phonics. For me, I preferred the systematic, methodical and sequencial approach to history and science that is advocated in the classical education model. For this reason, I used FIAR only for character education. FIAR
Five in a Row is a unit study centered around one top-notch kiddo book a week. We would read the same kiddo book for four days and do an activities that would bring the story and characters alive each day. It is perfect for Kindergarten and gives you lots of non-conflict time to talk about behavior. My kids really bonded with the characters in those books and use them as examples long after we'd finished the story.
An unexpedted benefit from this program was the amount of geography that they injested without any prompting from me. We'd talk about the countries that the stories are set in. We'd find it on the map and talk about it's neighbors. We'd color the flag of the country and try to find a travel video from the library.
For me, the hardest part of this program was making the vocabulary pages for each book. So, to save you some time and angst. You can download my vocabulary pages as pdf files. If you can't open these click on this star for the free Adobe Acrobat Reader Program.
Second Semester- I added some things halfway through our Kindergarten year. What can I say? They were having so much fun and I was itching to do more too!
First Language Lessonsis an easy introduction to grammar. It also provides a framework for early memorization skills and eases the child into copywork. It is extraordinarily easy to implement and the actual lessons are only about 5 minutes long. This book covers two years of schooling and has 200 lessons. We used it through second grade. FLL
Evan- Moor has some really wonderful teaching books and workbooks. Plus at their website you can look at every single page of every book they publish! Art
I used How to Teach Art to Children. We did one lesson every other week from this book to introduce the seven elements of art: line, shape, color, value, texture, form, and space.
Okay, so it isn't curriculum but this software program, Jumpstart Spanish, taught my kids a ton of Spanish words. The catchy tunes and fun games were a big hit!
Kindergarten should only take an 1.5 to 2 hours a day. Once you remove standing in line, passing out papers, etc. you can really condense the actual schooling time.
Also, since you don't have to follow the school's calendar you can choose to homeschool on the timeline that works for your family. Many families take the entire month of December off. We only homeschooled four days a week. Friday was our day to go to the library or take a field trip. And, yes, many of those field trip days and library days count a a school day. Plus, since we school year round, we enjoyed a six weeks on and one week off school rotation. Many families take the entire month of December off.
I'd start our morning lessons around 10am and we were done by noon.
We also belong to a homeschool group and participate in their field trips and gym days.
Our Schedule- only 4 days a week
The Complete Book of Arts & Crafts has easy, fun crafts. Many of the crafts integrate with the stories from Five in a Row which serve to extend the concepts out for all learning types. I used this book over and over again. Crafts
It is funny to think of writing paper as a curriculum choice but there are some really cheap, badly made papers out there waiting to frustrate your kiddos.
I have a perfectionist child who absolutely LOST it when he would make a handwriting mistake. He needed good quality handwriting paper that could stand up to vigorous erasing. I found Smart Start brand paper and continue to use this paper in our homeschool.
I especially love that the top line is blue for the sky. The bottom line is green for the grass and the middle line is the red fence. It just makes sense! I can say, "Start at the sky and pull down to the ground and my kidlets understand what I'm asking them to do.
"Character Education isn’t just one more thing on your plate. It IS the the plate."
Five in a Row
Five in a Row
I've included an explanation as to how I implemented Funnix with multiple students. It is a pdf file. If you can't open it click on this star for the free Adobe Acrobat Reader Program.
A fun thing to do with all the books you row is to make each student a passport as they journey through the world with each new book. Here is a link to a passport and location stamps for you to use in your classroom.
Here are some phonics magnets for your frig. Print these out in color on magnet sheets you can get from your local office supply store. The phonic blends and combinations can be used to play and build words with beginning readers.
We eased into Kindergarten. I just wanted to have fun and cover the 3 R's. We only had school 4 days a week with the fifth day being our library/field trip/errand day. Don't forget that anything and everything is a learning opportunity. It doesn't have to come from a book to qualify as curriculum.
I thought I'd picked FIVE IN A ROW (FIAR) for the exposure to literature. I thought it would be a great way to get them involved in a character and develop a love of stories. Well, it did that but it also turned on a few other lights in the house I didn't anticipate. geography, art and character education being the bonus subjects.
