You can Homeschool Kindergarten: 5 Tips for Teaching Your Child

 

Some posts contain affiliate links, see my disclosure

You’ve decided to homeschool your kindergartener (hurray!), but you don’t know where to start.  Allow me to share 5 tips as you navigate your homeschool journey.

At the time of this article I’m  in my 9th year as a home-educator. My class roll consists of  3 high schoolers, 3 elementary schoolers and 1 inquisitive, talkative, super cute toddler.  You can see them all here.

Alright, now that we have the introductions out of the way. Let’s move on to the tips.

1. Consider your child’s learning style

Learning styles include the following labels:

• Auditory (hear it )
• Visual (see it)
• Kinesthetic (do it)

It’s okay if you’re child learns best using more than one learning style.  As a matter of fact, research shows that using more than one learning style or pathway can help to increase your child’s understanding of the concept being taught.

Not sure of your child’s learning style? Check out the following books:

The Way They Learn

100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum

 

2.  Choose a philosophy of education

Here’s a list of some of the more popular philosophies & methods:

• Charlotte Mason
• Classical
• Unit Studies
• Traditional
• Delight directed
• Montessori

If you’ve already started researching curriculum you know that there are lots of options!  Choosing a style now doesn’t mean you can’t change it as your child progresses through school.

It does, however, mean a more simplified approach to curriculum shopping.  No need to look at Charlotte Mason curriculum if you intend to use the Traditional approach.

3. Consider a “box” curriculum

If this is your first year homeschooling, you might find it helpful (not to mention time saving) to purchase a “box” curriculum.  These type of packages typically include all the necessary teaching texts for the student and a teacher manual with pre-planned lessons. You do however, have to add in the math curriculum of your choice.

Publishers who offer this type of curriculum include: *My Father’s World, Sonlight & *Abeka  (*denotes curriculum I have used)

4.  Simplicity is Your Friend

Our family’s personal focus for Kindergarten covers four areas:

• Bible literacy (Hearing Bible stories & Scripture Memory)
• Math (we use Math U See)
• Phonics (we use My Father’s World Kindergarten for this)
• Handwriting (we use Handwriting Without Tears)

5. Consider everything else optional

Subjects like art, music, science, a formal study of history can really be seen as optional at this age.  My current kindergartener has the benefit of viewing science experiments (if he desires) thanks to his older siblings.

Art, at our house looks like having paper, crayons & colored pencils stocked and ready for use.  Our elementary age children enjoy drawing pictures they see in library books that interest them (trains & bridges are their favorites).

We enjoy singing hymns each morning and we listen to Classical & Christian music throughout the day. And while it’s not a formal study of music it’s exposure to music.

Alright, you made it to the end of this post! Now that I’ve done all the talking; I’d like to hear from you.

Question: What other homeschool questions do you have?

Be sure to check out my post Before You take the Plunge: 6 Things to Consider Before You Homeschool

If you found this post helpful, please consider sharing it on social media using the icons below.