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I thought it would be fun to share my plan for teaching Caleb K5 at home this year. I think that K5 (aka kindergarten) should be relaxed and fun. I didn’t have a desire to invest in an expensive curriculum this year. I figure the most important things to focus on for our K5 at home are the three basis: Reading, Writing, and Math.
Our Simple K5 Curriculum Plan
Reading:
We are going to try out Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and see how it works for us. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book. However, I also heard from a friend of mine who said that this method did not work for her and her child. So, we’re going to try it out for this semester and if it doesn’t work for us we’ll switch to something else next semester.
I’ll also be continuing to read aloud to Caleb. Currently we’re working our way through the Little House series (SO nostalgic for me) and we’ll probably read some of the Boxcar Kids books next.
Writing:
For writing I have some simple workbooks from Aldi and Target as well as some basic kids’ writing paper, so that’s what we’ll be using for now.
Math:
To start, we’re going to use some of the fun workbooks that I already have. Once we’ve mastered the simple stuff in those we’ll be using this Kumon Book of Numbers 1-120 as well as the Kumon Simple Addition workbook.
I’m still wanting to get some math manipulatives so if you have a set you love please share!
Our Daily Schedule
My current plan is to do K5 at home with Caleb Monday – Thursday. On Fridays we’ll take time for extras like learning about different countries, doing simple science experiments, things like that. (For learning about other countries I got a great World Atlas sticker book from, you guessed it, Aldi! Love that store!)
My current plan (which is very much subject to change) is to do a little “circle time” every morning after breakfast with Caleb and Sofia while Lucas plays near us. During “circle time” we’ll sing our learning songs, review our letter of the week, go over flashcards, and things like that. We’ll also review whatever verses we’re currently working on and will practice various “scenarios” about choosing good behavior (the kids love doing this!)
During Lucas’s morning nap time I’ll sit down with Caleb to do his reading and workbook stuff. Since we’ll need to focus a lot for this I’ll probably let Sofia do an educational program on our Kindle fire during this time.
Whatever Caleb and I don’t get done during our morning school time we’ll work on after lunch once Sofia and Lucas are down for naps. After that Caleb will have his usual quiet time as well (and I’ll get a little break!)
So, that’s the plan. We’re starting today so wish me luck! 😉 I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated on how K5 at home is going and if we decide to change things up at all with our schedule or curriculum.
Are you doing K5 at home? What are your favorite resources? Please share in the comments!
