J's Kindergarten curriculum

When I led a preschool group out of our home, I used the Christian Homeschool Curriculum Horizons, published by Alpha Omega. It worked great for my little ones. I really liked how it was all written out and how easy it was to use! I found the bible lessons - walking through the 7 days of creation - really fun, and the worksheet pages thorough. I also liked their suggestions for songs, games, crafts and letter introductions. 

HOWEVER...
I kept recreating the lessons to make them my own. Because, for some reason, I really enjoy reading and creating curriculum. 

So, for Kindergarten I decided to use a mixture of some things I purchase, and some things I create! I know... more work for myself... but it's what I really love to do - - so I might as well!

READING - 
I felt like we needed a strong reading program. One that would combine phonics and sight word reading and help my little guy learn to LOVE to read. I purchased ALL ABOUT READING Level 1 by All About Learning Press. You should have seen my excitement when I opened the box!! Great workbooks, a fabulous easy to read teachers manual, little hardcover readers for J! J gave a little smile and continued playing Cars, so maybe he's not as excited as I am....

Either way, I've had a chance to read through it all and complete the first five lessons and we both really like it. I highly recommend the program, and by using it, I feel more confident I'm not going to miss something important in his instruction.

MATH - 

I fully intend to finish researching and find a great comprehensive math program for J to use by December, but for now we are going to finish using a program called Math Mastermind that I found for him at a local clearance bookstore and we started when he was doing preschool. I love how it's designed, first with an activity using provided manipulatives, then with a simple workbook page. It also included a great software and worksheet printable CD for the computer. 

BIBLE - 

If you have never checked out Hubbardscupboard.org for character building - you need to! On the main page click on Christian Resources, then choose character. She has an amazing library of activities, printables, crafts and educational games connected to bible verses sorted by character traits. I absolutely love all the choices, and we will be working through the traits all year long. In addition, I purchased J Fun Devotions for Boys - Gotta Have God ages 2-5 by Legacy Press. Each days devotion features a bible reference, story, questions, prayer and activity. They are short and simple, but (I have found) makes a big impact on my little guy. 

I'll work in handwriting each week with various activities, as well as science, social studies, art and P.E - primarily through integrating them into the different themes we will cover. With all of that going on, plus All About Music class, Spanish lessons, drum lessons, our library reading club, soccer at the rec center, and meeting with our homeschool co-op, I think we'll keep plenty busy! 

My Lesson Planner

Okay, I went back and forth about whether or not I should make a lesson plan binder. It was something I always did when I was teaching public school... but was it really necessary?

I decided in the end to do it, and I LOVE the way it turned out! I used several forms from one of my all time favorite websites - www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com - she has tons of amazing free printables. The planner cover page, year at a glance calendar, household rules chart and field trip planning form I got from purchasing her Homeschooling 101 ebook. I highly recommend it!

I then created my own lesson plan page. I found one at mamajenn.com that I really liked, but I wanted to change the formatting and add a bit more text so in Microsoft word I simply created a table and added in the headings (Bible, Reading, Math, Thematic Unit, Specials). Then I printed off a ton of copies and started adding in the dates! I figure this will be a good reference for me and if I ever needed to, I could use it as a tool for documenting hours we spend learning. Since my little guy J is just beginning Kindergarten I don't have to worry about doing that yet - - but I know it's coming!

Here's our plan for week 1! We're going to learn about Bears :0

Speaking of themes, I made a unit planning page in much the same way as I did my lesson planner... simply a bunch of empty boxes where I jot notes about all the fun things I want to do with a theme. For the bears planning page I referenced several workbook pages I have on hand, a unit in one of my mailbox learning magazines, a craft I found on deepspacesparkle.com, pinterest ideas, and a few field trip notes. That way I can plan out my thematic units in advance and keep a record of where I get the idea - so I don't forget all the fun things I find!! I also went through the page and made sure I had a fairly balanced number of math, reading, writing and science activities mixed into the unit. Now, even though I don't have months and months of lesson plan pages filled out I can work ahead on thematic units - making it easy to add them in when I do fill out the lesson plan pages.

Finally, at the back of the planning notebook I printed out several different versions of the Kindergarten Common Core Standards.

Voila! Now... I'll actually have to use it!! ;)

Our Homeschool Mission

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.  Proverbs 3:5-6

I am asked over and over, "Why did you decide to homeschool?" For the longest time, I didn't know how to respond... there are so many reasons!
* I want to stay home with my kids
* I want to watch my son learn
* I have a masters in teaching
* I love to learn and try new things
* I want my kids to have a strong foundation in Christ

As we embark on this new journey as a family, I know there will be challenges. There will be resistance. I will have doubts/concerns/fears and days when I just feel like giving up! BUT - I am confident that this is the right thing for our family...and I really can't wait to get started!

Our Mission: To guide our children to become confident Christian believers; full of desire to learn about the world around them; happily exploring - creating - reading - writing - experiencing life to the fullest. Ultimately pursuing their passions and using their God given gifts to be a blessing to others.