Homeschool World Forum

[asugars]

I am getting started in looking for things for my kindergartner this year. I am wondering if getting some workbooks, flash cards, art projects, and a library card will be sufficient in teaching her this year. I do plan to do other various activities of course. I was just wondering if anyone who has experience could give me some suggestions. Do I need to buy more curriculum to teach, or will reading to her, having her do workbooks, flashcards, projects, and things I make up for her to do be enough? At the moment I am on a tight budget and need some cheap substitutes for boxed curriculum.
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mommy of 3

[hscoach]

I think that the things you have planned will definitely be enough. For kindergarten, you do not need to spend a lot of money! There are many free educational resources online and using the library will be wonderful, because it is free too. You might want to use a scope and sequence as a general guide just to make sure you have covered everything. Here are two links for that.

http://www.worldbook.com/typical-course-of-study.html

http://www.educationworld.com/standards/state/index.shtml

You could also get the book What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know at the library. You could check it out and just read it to your daughter.

I've never bought a boxed curriculum. I've always just put different things together, like you are doing.
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Laura L. Barth
http://www.freehomeschooladvice.com

[asugars]

Also, If my child has mastered a grade level is it fine to move on to the next, regardless of age? Thanks
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mommy of 3

[hscoach]

Yes, that is okay and quite common in homeschooling. You might want to consider giving your daughter an achievement test to make sure she has mastered a certain grade level. (You can check the homeschooling laws for your state. Some states require testing; others do not.) It is also common for homeschooled students to be at different grade levels for each subject. For example, she might be at a first grade reading level but working on second grade math. Homeschooing offers that flexibility.
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Laura L. Barth
http://www.freehomeschooladvice.com

[romacox]

Here is a free video that teaches how important it is to enunciate the phonic sounds correctly so that children do not have difficulty learning to blend the sounds to from words:
http://www.youtube.com/user/RomaCox1#p/a/f/0/2dlCPVeWtIk

Here is a free video that shows how to teach young children to read the fun and easy way (most of them hate flash cards):
http://www.youtube.com/user/RomaCox1#p/a/u/1/t4LyG4ieFdE

Here is another free video that shows you how to teach comprehension:
http://www.youtube.com/user/RomaCox1#p/a/u/0/bW-kQlEYWXc

[romacox]

Here is an article that should be helpful
How To Homeschool
http://www.read-phonics.com/how-to-homeschool.html

[hteam5]

You probably already have your answer, But my 5yr old is doing k, and 1st grade work. We have no formal curriculum. Just a hodgepodge of material we liked. It seems to be working just fine us. In fact our pre k daughter is picking up on allot of it just being in the room playing along.

[itsrks]

[Theodore]

Kindergarten is a mixture of regular play stuff (finger paint, kid-safe building blocks, etc.) and learning letters, numbers, and phonics. You don't really a formal curriculum for any of that.
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[Blessings4all]

That will probably be just fine. You can make a lot of manipulatives from household objects, i.e. butter tubs and beans for doing counting and other math activities. It's fun to use whipping cream or shaving cream for drawing letters and numbers in. Beads can be used for matching and sorting activities.

[romacox]

Knowing your child's learning style before purchasing any curriculum will save tuns of money. Here is a resource for that. http://educatorssite.com/?p=718


Also this article: Grade Level Requirements:
http://www.read-phonics.com/how-to-homeschool.html