Today I’m sharing our kindergarten homeschool curriculum choices for the 2019-2020 school year, along with why I made these choices for this particular child.
(You can also read about this year’s curriculum choices for my second grader and fifth grader.)
(And see my end-of-year review of these curriculum choices here.)
Before jumping into my kindergartener’s curriculum choices, please remember that you and I may be working toward different requirements for homeschooling, depending on where you live. So please inform yourself about your local homeschool laws! (I talk more about the importance of that here.)
Ok, on to our particular choices…
(Our general weekly schedule is toward the end.)
2019-2020 Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Choices
(This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using the links. See my disclosure for more information.)
Group Subjects
In years past, I tried to save time in our days by doing history and science as a group. This worked pretty well for our first few years of homeschooling, but became more difficult as the boys grew older and their personalities and learning preferences became more apparent.
Last year, after defining what I know of their Learning Preferences so far, I realized that a group environment was not an ideal way for any of my boys to learn. So I let go of the group paradigm for the most part. For now, we still do our memory work (religious studies, poetry memorization) and read-alouds together.
Individual Subjects
This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using the links.
Morning Work
This is the first year that my little kindergartener is doing Morning Work. Morning Work for us is a binder that includes calendaring activities and any other work that either can be done quickly or doesn’t really fit in anywhere else.
For now, all I have in his Morning Work binder is a set of calendar pages that I’ve created for him in order to get accustomed to the way a calendar works. He updates our wall calendar with the appropriate date, then updates his Morning Work calendar.
Later on this year I plan to add some copywork/tracing of personal information, like first and last name, home address, and phone numbers.
Bible
The Beginner’s Bible is my absolute favorite Bible storybook because the Bible stories are faithful to the original without being dumbed down, and the language is for the most part accessible to early elementary students. I chose this book because my older two read through this book in past years and loved it so much that it’s now falling apart! Hopefully I can keep it in one piece long enough for my youngest to enjoy it this year.
Math
Math-U-See has been a staple in our homeschool from the start, so I decided to use Math-U-See Primer for my kindergartener. I chose this curriculum because I like its mastery approach to teaching math, and also that new concepts are introduced only once a week or so (the way we use it), with intervening days being dedicated to practice and review.
You can see my review of Math-U-See here.
Phonics
Hooked on Phonics was my choice for my little one because I’ve used it with my older two boys in the past with great success. My youngest actually started the kindergarten level of Hooked on Phonics almost a year ago, so he’s almost done with it. When he’s done with the kindergarten level, we’ll move on to the first grade level.
You can see my review of Hooked on Phonics here.
Besides Hooked on Phonics, we also read a “real” book each day. Right now we’re working through the Bob Books sets that I have. My son LOVES these little books, and they’re a great way for my little one to feel like a big boy with a big boy book.
You can see my review of Bob Books here.
Handwriting/Grammar
My kindergartner used the pre-k level of Handwriting Without Tears to learn how to write his uppercase letters last year, so we’re continuing with the kindergarten level to review uppercase letters and learn how to write lowercase letters. I chose this curriculum because I love the gentle and clear instruction and have used various levels with all of my kids.
You can see my review of the pre-k level of Handwriting Without Tears here.
Science
I really didn’t have it in me to do a lot of science experiments this year, so I wanted a science curriculum that didn’t have science experiments as an integral part of the program. And besides, I need my kindergartener to learn the very basics of science.
I chose the Carson Dellosa Interactive Science Notebooks because they are a fun, hands-on way to learn and organize new science concepts, they make suggestions for simple “experiment” types of activities that I can handle in this season of life, and they provide a way for my little student to process what he’s learned in his own way.
We tried out this Kumon Sticker Science workbook last year, and my son loves it. We’ll incorporate it into his other science studies this year.
You can see my review of this Kumon Science Sticker Activity Book here.
History
My kindergartener will not be going through a formal history curriculum this year because I feel that it’s important that he get a better understanding of the world at large first by learning a little bit about geography, but he will be participating in some American history activities with my older two boys.
Geography
For geography I’ve chosen Skill Sharpeners Geography, Grade Pre-K. I actually meant to purchase the kindergarten edition, but this arrived so I guess I got a bit click-happy in Amazon. After looking at it, I determined that it’s appropriate for my kindergartener. I chose it because it has fun, simple activities that are age-appropriate.
Art
There are only so many hours in the day, so the subject of art has low priority in our homeschool. But after learning how to hold and use a crayon correctly last year (thanks, Handwriting Without Tears!), my little one developed a love of drawing and crafting in general. So I wanted to give this newly revealed Delight its place in my kindergartener’s school work.
I chose this Scholastic Step-By-Step Drawing Book because the drawings look age-appropriate and I think that, after becoming accustomed to it, my son will eventually be able to work out of it independently.
Extracurricular
Cub Scouts – My kindergartener is so excited to join his brothers in Cub Scouts! I was somehow surprised by how much learning happens in Cub Scouts. The many shared experiences are a great way to make friends, and it’s also good bonding time with Daddy since my husband deals with all the Cub Scouts stuff.
Homeschool Co-op – We recently joined a local low-stress homeschool co-op that focuses on social activities like park days with some educational opportunities thrown in. Just another way I’m trying to socialize my kid. 😜
Those are our homeschool curriculum choices … for now. I usually evaluate how things are going in December – adding, subtracting, and/or changing as needed.
2 thoughts on “Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Choices – 2019-2020”
Pingback: Homeschool 5th Grade Curriculum Choices 2019-2020
Pingback: Homeschool 2nd Grade Curriculum Choices 2019-2020