Silas is 5 1/2 {very important to add the 1/2} and in "kindergarten" this year. I hesitate using a grade "label" for him, as some of his work is preschool level and some is kindergarten/1st grade level.
I believe homeschooling should be fun, especially in the early years. I do not allow our "school" each day to go over an hour, and most of that hour is fun! Here are the books Silas is using daily:
Handwriting: He is using the Beginning Manuscript Handwriting workbook daily. This workbook is great for beginning writers. There is one page a day to complete, and it takes him maybe 5 minutes {including coloring the adorable pictures on each page!}.
Math: Silas is working through Essential Math B right now. We don't do this book every day, as some days we use fun things to learn math. {Some of my favorite resources below!}
Readiness Skills: Silas is using Rod and Staff workbooks to work on his cutting, gluing, rhyming, and other thinking skills. He usually works around 3 pages a week in these books. Right now, he is using Finding the Answers.
Fun Schooling: Silas is working through this Fun-Schooling Journal for ages 3-7. He has a variety of pages to complete in here each day and the number of pages he does varies from day to day. I really just take cues from him on when to stop. Some days, he may want to do 5 or 6 pages, and some days he may do 1 or 2. Here is my review post on this journal.
Art First - Dyslexia Games Series A: Silas is also working through Dyslexia Games Series A, Art First. He has to complete patterns and pictures which helps his visual discrimination skills. He usually does 3 pages a week.
He is also using All About Reading, pre-reading. We are still working on recognizing lowercase letters. He has finally gotten most of the uppercase! Yay! We haven't worked on sounds yet, but we will get to that. AAR takes him around 20 -30 minutes a day. We review the letters he knows using play-dough, flash cards, craft sticks, and other things to form letters. He learns a few new letters each week.
I know that it looks like a lot of workbooks, but he only has around an hour each day of "workbooks". The rest of the time is spent with educational toys, puzzles and games. I am going to mention a few of our favorites!
These number flash cards are great for tactile learners. The sandpaper is fun to feel, and the kids can really "see" how to form the letters by rubbing them.
Counting bears are so much fun. They are great for sorting by color and size. I found these pattern cards on ebay a few years ago, and they are a lot of fun for working on patterns!
Silas loves to complete the pattern cards, and I printed off the alphabet cards to help him learn his letters. All of my kids enjoy these pattern block cards.
I love these flash cards. They are not only colorful and textured, but they are great for learning letters, shapes, colors, and working on vocabulary.
We have several different lacing cards, but these Very Hungry Caterpillar ones are my favorite! They are so colorful and fun, and the lacing is great fine motor skill practice.
There are so many more things we use: puzzles, games, sorting, beads... The main thing to remember is:
Homeschooling Kindergarten is a lot of fun!
Linking up with Meg and Cristi at Blogging Through the Alphabet.
I miss teaching kindergarten already. My baby is now in 1st grade.
ReplyDeleteAww! I have one more after Silas. Kind of sad to think that will be it!
Delete