Guys, I have an incoming kindergartener! I haven't homeschooled a kindergartener yet (we came late to the homeschooling party) but I am very much looking forward to it, despite feeling quite inadequate. It is humbling to realize that this first year of formal lessons will set the tone for all the other years of school lessons. I think we are off to a good start, though, with having maintained some good habits and expectations. She is excited to learn how to read and to start her very own nature journal and just officially join in on the learning, like her big sisters. :)
I thought I would post my plans here for any who are interested. We use Ambleside Online for our curriculum and while I am pulling some books from their Year 0, we are waiting till 2021 to start Year 1. I have no qualms about this as I know how tough the books get in just a short amount of time. The AO years are so rich and I don't want to rush the maturity with some of the books.
Let's first remember what Charlotte Mason said that a child of 6 was capable of. Here is the famous list of attainments for a child of this age:
1. To recite beautifully, six easy poems and hymns.
2. to recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm.
3. to add and subtract, numbers up to 10, with numbers or counters
4. to read -- what and how much will depend on what we are told of the child
5. to copy in print-hand from a book
6. to know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows.
7. to describe the boundaries of their own home
8. to describe any lake, river, pond, island, etc. within easy reach
9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early English, and 3 from early Roman history
10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views
11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them.
12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees
13. to know 6 birds by song, color and shape
14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed
15. to tell three stories about their own "pets" - rabbit, dog or cat.
16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences
17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song
18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations
{a Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six - a reprint of a curriculum outline from a CM school in the 1890's, reprinted Summer 93 Parents Reviews published by Karen Andreola}
Phew. I know that I cannot complete this entire list myself at my current age! It's amazing the high standards she set for the children. So, here are my humble plans (which might be altered here and there as we go along). The beauty of a younger child joining the school table, is that she is already doing many of these things with us informally and unofficially, so it makes the transition to school so much smoother!
Bible: I haven't decided if I am going to use the Bible or Catherine Vos' Children's Bible (which is what we are currently reading from) but regardless, we will read from both the OT and NT each week.
Artist Study: Titian (prints from Riverbend Press), Jan Vermeer (prints from ahumbleplace.org) and John Singleton Copley (prints from ahumbleplace.org) These artists were picked for the time periods of my oldest girl's history studies.
Composer Study: Beethoven, Franz J. Haydn, and Antonin Dvorak - I will use the music selections suggested by AO. This is our second time with Beethoven - we studied him our first year with my oldest girls but he is so important that we are taking another listen to him! I probably also will read Opal Wheeler's books on Beethoven and Haydn with her (we already have the Beethoven book).
Poetry: I plan to read each day from these poetry books (one book per term):
Nature Study: lots of outdoor time and she will be given her first nature journal! She is very excited - this child has been watercoloring nearly every day since she was two.
History: I *think* we will read Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggleston. It's coming in the mail, so I still want to look through it but it looks pretty great. I will also read the Dalgliesh Thanksgiving Story and her 4th of July Story book and we will read Squanto by Eric Metaxas at Thanksgiving (great picture book).
Science: Term 1 - Among the Forest People; Term 2- Among the Barnyard People; and Term 3- maybe the Burgess Seashore Book ? Not sure yet... I also plan to have on hand more living natural history books like the One Small Square series, A Seed is Sleepy and others by Dianna H. Aston - these look perfect for little people. We also have The Year at Maple Hill Farm that hasn't been read too much so I plan to use this to introduce the months of the year.
Literature: Term 1- Winnie the Pooh! Term 2- Beatrix Potter (we have read a ton of these and have most memorized but there are a few we haven't read yet) and Brambly Hedge; Term 3 - Aesop's Fables
Language Arts: We will be working on daily copywork - letter formation and gentle introduction to spelling using SCM's Delightful Reading Level 1.
Math: I ordered Charlotte Mason Elementary Arithmetic Series Book 1 from SCM, but I am not sure if I am going to use it this year or wait till next. I want to look through it first. I definitely want this to be a gentle math year so if she isn't ready for it, we will default to the Reception Year of MEP. Has anyone used either of these for Kindergarten?? I'd love to hear.
Hymns: I have a list of family favorites that we are working through. We will be singing these twice a week the older girls.
Folksongs: I just ordered this new folksong book because we've sang our way through the previous one we had. :) This new one looks super fun for our family, plus it lays flat thanks to the spiral binding. This is a super big bonus for me! We typically learn 1-2 a month depending on how popular it is.
Recitation: I will have her memorize Bible passages along with myself and the older girls. She already does this with us, so it won't be anything new for her. I am amazed at what the small children can memorize without any seeming effort. This year we are planning on Ephesians 6, Matthew 6, Psalms 46, 121 and 127 (the Psalms are short!). I also plan to have her memorize 6 poems (TBD) throughout the year.
Chores: She will continue to do her daily jobs and we might add one by the time school comes around. Each morning she: makes her bed neatly, gets dressed, brushes her hair, brushes her teeth, feeds her fish, feeds the dog, and puts away all silverware from the dishwasher. She also puts away her clothes when we do her laundry.
Piano: This fall, I will begin teaching her piano. I have taught my older girls starting when they were about 5 and it is time for her to learn. I kind of just expect that they will learn to play because I feel it is a basic requirement in studying music. It is a skill and since it is one I can provide for free, it is the best option. :)
Exercise/Outdoor Time: I usually have the kids spend at least an hour outside, year round. During the nicer months, I encourage them to do more. I also have some specific physical goals for Julia to improve on over the course of the year. She lags a bit but I know tons of outdoor time helps with that.
Handicrafts: This child LOVES to do embroidery. I probably will continue that and I am not sure what else at this point. I think practicing cutting and gluing is a good skill for 6 year olds, so we probably will do some projects with that in mind.
So, that's about it. It kind of looks like a lot but it's really not. This is all very easygoing and half of these things she is already doing.
What about you? Have you tried any CM kindergarten ideas? I'd love to hear your feedback, if so!
This is a great post!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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