For Kiddos

Kindergarten Curriculum Round-Up

Dear Sis,

I start aggressively researching and buying curriculum in January. I usually finish up by April or May, so that we are ready to begin using the next years of school as soon as we complete the previous year. We school all year round, to allow for a more relaxed schedule and better information retention. Much of my inspiration came from Timberdoodle again this year, but I’ve included source information beside specific each item.

Kindergarten

Art

  1. Animal Postcards painting set by Aquarellum (Timberdoodle)
  2. Art Lab for Little Kids by Susan Schwake (Torchlight)
  3. Bug Scratch Boards art kit by Deco (Timberdoodle)
  4. Preschool Paper Crafts by Stefania Luca
  5. Paper Crafts for Kids by Stefania Luca

We find that art is an easy subject to accomplish with very little actual curriculum. We use a lot of craft kits form Dollar Tree and Michaels! Also, many of the projects form our Kiwi Crates also falls into the category of art.

William enjoys looking at Timberdoodle’s curriculum catalogue as much as I do. He was excited about the painting and scratch art kit, so we added them to our order.

When we feel like having a formal art class we use Art Lab for Little Kids. We finished about a quarter of the 52 projects in our Pre-K year, so there is still plenty of use left in the book for our Kindergarten year!

Although William’s cutting, pasting, and folding have greatly improved over the past two year, I still feel that continued practice is needed. The two paper craft books listed above, contain 25 projects each! 

Bible Study

It took me three attempts during our Pre-K year to find the perfect study bible. I still haven’t found the perfect one for our Kindergarten year. Honestly, I might just reuse the one from last year: Read and Learn Bible: Stories form the Old and New Testaments by Scholastic.

Character and Emotional Development

  1. The Adventures of Mali & Keela: A Virtues Book for Children by Jonathan Collins (Torchlight)
  2. Chicken Soup for the Child’s Soul: Character-Building Stories to Read with Kids Ages 5-8 by Jack Canfield and Mark & Patty Hansen
  3. Happy Sad Feeling Mad by Yasmeen Ismail (Timberdoodle)
  4. What Should Danny Do? by Ganit & Adir Levy

The past two school years we focused on learning about different kinds of emotions and how to manage them appropriately. This year, I would like our “emotional intelligence” to take on exploration of character as well. All of these books are new to myself and William, we’ll see how it goes:)

We enjoyed What’s Going On Here? conversation cards by eeboo so much, we may order a different set, for Kindergarten too.




Foreign Language

  1. Mis Primeras 1000 Palabras by Betty Root and Kate Naylor

April 22nd update: Today we stopped at Half Price Books. We found this book of Spanish vocabulary. The way things are trending, I expect that by the time William is grown, Spanish will be as common place as English in the United States, so I plan to learn it with him over the years. With any luck we will all be bilingual in the end:)

Geography

  1. A Year Full of Stories: 52 Folktales and Legends from Around the World by Angela McAllister (Build Your Library)
  2. Cooking Class: Global Feast by Deanna F. Cook (Build Your Library)
  3. Greetings from Somewhere ten book series by Paris Harper (Torchlight)
  4. Flags Around the World Ultimate Sticker Book by DK (Build Your Library)
  5. World Atlas by National Geographic Kids

These books are scheduled in a compilation call Global Greeting Geography. I put many weeks into developing a solid geography curriculum for the early years, since every curriculum we’ve tried so far falls short. Even little ones need geography, so they can learn to love it! 

If you are looking for a less rigorous, but equally indepth geography program for young children, check out our Geography for Little People which we are currently using in our Pre-K year.

Health and Fitness

  1. Learning About My Body, K-1 by Evan-Moor (Activity Book)
  2. The Human Body, K-2 24 Full-Color Picture Cards by Evan-Moor (Text Book)
  3. Weekly Swim Lessons

William is so interested in science! Health falls into that umbrella for him, so I wanted an in-depth look at different body systems with a lot of hands-on activities. These books are designed for a classroom, but I think they will work nicely in our home school as well. I’m not sure if we will finish it this year, or if we will do half this year, and half in first grade. Time will tell.

We started weekly swim lessons during our Pre-K year, and we will keep using them until he can actually swim independently. We may also add a homeschool gym class offered through our YMCA, still waiting to hear back about that:)

History

  1. A Child Through Time: The Book of Children’s History by DK
  2. Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

History is another hard subject in the early years. The second half of this year we began reading the Magic Tree House series starting back at book one, Dinosaurs Before Dark. We use the fun piece of fiction as a spring board for research. William selects three pieces of non-fiction from the local library, and I throw in a hands-on project to go with it. There are so many Magic Tree House books we are at no risk of running out of material before the completion of Kindergarten!




Language

We loved the ShillerLearning Math 1 by Shiller Learning so much in Pre-K, we also purchased their language program, ShillerLearning Language Arts A. We like it, but it too repetitive to call it love in the long term!

I also purchased Foundations A by Logic of English last year, so we could use components of it our Pre-K year, and the main curriculum in Kindergarten. I’m not sure I love the idea now, but I feel like we have to try it before we move onto something else…

The second half of our Pre-K year we started Get Ready for the Code from the Explode the Code series. It has really added to our language lessons, since we were getting board with our Shiller Language A routine. I plan to get him the next workbooks in the series when we finish!

I will probably also purchase some of the items from this earlier post for another homeschooling mama: Teaching Reading at Home.

Math

  1. Clumsy Thief Jr. card game by Melon Rind for practicing adding to ten (Timberdoodle, last year)
  2. Jump 1 card game by Melon Rind for practicing addition and subtraction (Timberdoodle)
  3. Mathematical Reasoning A by Critical Thinking Co.
  4. ShillerLearning Math 1 by ShillerLearning

We love game schooling as much as possible, so we snatched up these two game suggestions from Timberdoodle. 

We love ShillerMath 1 so much! I can’t say enough good things about now this Montessori program takes abstract math concepts and find creative concrete ways for me to introduce them to William.

We also love the Mathematical Reasoning series. We’ve used it for the past two school years. It’s a marvelous workbook that we use as practice work!

I also have a stash of things saved for learning to tell time and counting money, but I’m not sure it we will get to that this year or next:

  1. My Book of Easy Telling Time by Kumon, for learning hours and half-hours (Timberdoodle)
  2. My First Book of Money: Counting Coins by Kumon (Timberdoodle)
  3. Play Money Set by Melissa and Doug
  4. Time Activity Set by Learning Resources

Music

  1. Piano Lessons
  2. The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine

Last year I created Music Appreciation for at home music study. This spring we also added weekly piano lessons, which we plan to stick with for our Kindergarten year.

April 22nd update: Today we stopped at Half Price Books. We found this book that includes a CD with 37 listening samples that go with the text portions!

Science

  1. Learning About Animals by Evan-Moor
  2. Learning About the Earth by Evan-Moor
  3. Learning About Plants by Evan-Moor
  4. Learning About Weather by Evan-Moor 
  5. The Usborne Big Book of Experiments by Alastair Smith

Science is William’s favorite subject! These books are designed for a classroom, but I think they will work nicely in our home school as well. I’m not sure if we will finish it this year, or if we will do half this year, and half in first grade. Time will tell.

Additionally, we have a Kiwi Crate subscription that supplements this subject nicely! If you haven’t tried them yet… you should:)




Sewing

We started hand sewing pre-punched felt projects in our Pre-K year and we will continue to do so in Kindergarten. Most of our kits are from Michaels. 

Sewing is one of my many hobbies that the kids see me working on all the time, so they are naturally curious and eager to try it themselves. We find that it has really helped built patience and fine motor skills too!

Thinking Skills

  1. Apple Twist logic game by Smart Games (Timberdoodle)
  2. Can You Find Me? K-1 by Critical Thinking Co.
  3. Gobblet Gobblers game, tic tack toe with a twist by Blue Orange Games (Timberdoodle)
  4. Mind Benders, Level 1 by Critical Thinking Co.
  5. Smart Farmer logic game by Smart Games (Timberdoodle)
  6. Story Time Chess (Timberdoodle)
  7. ThinkPlay STEM Jr. Xtra by Morphun (Timberdoodle)
  8. Thinking Skills K by Kumon (Timberdoodle)

William absolutely loves logic games! He usually finishes them early and we purchase an extra one so we can do some all year long. He is very excited about Apple Twist and Smart Farmer:)

Gobblet Gobblers and Story Time Chess are games we will play together. My husband has been giving William chess lessons off and on for the last several months. I think William will really excel once we start Story Time Chess. We’ll bring it to his fun loving level!

The ThinkPlay building set is from our Pre-K year. We were supposed to build two-three models each week, but we cut it back to one, so we have plenty of models to continue building in our Kindergarten year.

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b

Other Curriculum Inspiration by Grade:

Preschool

Pre-Kindergarten

A Yellow 1860s Dress for Charlotte

Dear Sis,

Charlotte is enamored with the color yellow! It is her absolute favorite!!! We happen to have some remnant from the day dress we made Mama Jenn last year. It is a yellow cotton/linen with large white window pane checks woven into it. During my planning phase, I usually try to find an originial for inspiration! I found one this CVD:

The original is likely a pale blue cotton. This girl is a bit older than Charlotte, but the window pane check is too perfect a match to pass up!!!

Although drafting patterns for children is not difficult, I usually start with Elizabeth Stewart Clark’s Infant Dress bodice patterns to save time. The pattern includes most variations: Two bodice cuts: one with an armscye and the other with a sleeve that creates its own armscye when sewn to the front and back panels. Both bodice styles can be made smooth, gathered, or pleated. It also has sleeve variations: long and short with smooth and gathered options. 

The shaping of this bodice requires the sleeves to be sewn to the front and back panels creating their own armscye in the process. My children are so long and lean the infant dresses fit well into 2T and 3T, I just have to lengthen them accordingly.

I started with a white cotton petti-chemise patterned and assembled exactly the same way as the dress with a thin band of eyelet around the hem, neckline, and sleeve bands. My only regrets: I wish I would have accounted for the length difference in the dress sleeve that is roll-hemmed vs. the chemise bodice that has a 1/2 inch eyelet. Then the two sleeve lengths would be more like the original image. But alas, I don’t care enough to actually fix it…lol!

The dress went together quickly. The only slowdown was the hand stitching needed to secure the dark brown braid and hook and eye tape closures in place. I also piped the neckline to give it a nice finished edge that would wear well. 

We are ready for our even this coming weekend!

Love,

b

 Clicking on an advertisement helps cover the expense of hosting our blog. Thank you!




Hi Ho! Cherry-o

Dear Sis,

Last month we spent sometime with Aunt Cil and the cousins when we went to Indiana for cousin Alicia’s wedding. The kids really enjoyed the visit! The memory of playing HiHo! Cherry-o with her cousins was so strong that she picked it last night when daddy took her to the toy store today:)

March 25, 2022

This Morning

Charlotte is doing so well learning to count. She is such a big girl!

Love,

b

Preschool for Eve, age 3-4

Dear Sis,

I’m sure you noticed by now that I love homeschooling, from the time on the couch reading with my little humans, to the selection of the actual curriculum itself. This compilation for Evelyn is the best of what I’ve stumbled upon in the past three years! Many of these items are curated by the folks at Timberdoodle. We have purchased both their preschool and pre-k kits in recent years. You can see those reviews here: Timberdoodle Preschool Review & Timberdoodle Pre-K Review.

We focus on play-schooling and read-alouds, so this list is pretty light on workbook suggestions:) The workbooks that are suggested are very gentle and require very pencil work. Individual lessons take 5-15 minutes to complete! I’ve included printable checklists for a 36 week program that can spread out over the course of a full calendar year, if desired. I’m able to lend you many books and materials, all the items that are consumable… or my kids won’t part with, are linked so you have a shopping list of sorts. 

Curriculum by Subject

Art / Fine Motor

Any set of lacing cards will do, but if you haven’t invested in these yet, this Wooden Alphabet Double-Sided Lacing Cards by Melissa & Doug are a great pick!

Any set of geoboards will do, but we will be lending you this set by Guidecraft, which pairs well with the geoboard letter patterns provided in the Pre-K Curriculum Handbook, 2020-2021 Edition by Timberdoodle.

Please order this pair of cutting workbooks: Let’s Cut Paper! & Let’s Cut Pater! Amazing Animals by Kumon.

Please order this guided drawing book: Little Children’s Drawing Book by Usborne.

We purchased these as part of Eve’s birthday gift! Play and Learn ABC, 123, and Shapes and Under the Sea by Do-A-Dot Art! with this set of “dot” or “dauber” markers.

These Tri-Finger-Grip Writing Tools are a must! We are giving you our old set of crayon rocks (since yours were chewed up by little people) and a Write Size Pencil with a Tri-Hold Pencil Griper. You will need to purchase your own Kum 4-in-1 Pencil Sharpener, that can sharpen wide pencils, and a chunky eraser.

A play dough mat set by DJECO. They swap out the kits periodically, this list includes what is on Amazon at present. You can choose from the following depending on what skills you think need practice: Prints and Shapes Dough Craft Kit (practice flat rolling and cutting) and/or Dough Circles Shaping Kit (practice rolling balls). We had another one that focuses on rolling long skinny strips, if you’d like to borrow it!

Emotional Intelligence / Health

We have these illustrated Feeling Flashcards by Todd Parr you can borrow. For those who don’t already own a set, it might be better to choose a set with real human faces:)

My Very First Body Book by Usborne

Language

 

Any Alphabet Books! We are lending you three of our favorites A is for Apple, Montessori Letter Work, and The Usborne IllustratedAlphabet.

Any Alphabet Puzzles! We are lending you a pair of Upper Case and Lower Case puzzles with the writing strokes beneath each piece.

Please order this pair of alphabet workbooks: PlaySmart Alphabet, Ages 2+ & Ages 3+ by Gakken Workbooks. I’ve scheduled each one workbook for each semester.

Wimmelbooks, set of 4: we are lending you Animals Around the World, Cars and Things that Go, and On the Farm. You will have to purchase a fourth book because William is not giving up Dinosaurs! There are several others from which to choose.

Picture Book Activities: Fun and Games for Preschoolers Based on 50 Favorite Children’s Books by Trish Kuffner (Try to get through 20-25 books this year! That will save 25-30 books for your Pre-K year!)

Mathematics

Any counting/number games! We recommend Count Your Chickens and Snug as a Bug in a Rug by Peaceable Kingdom, Uno by Matel, and Dominos by Melissa and Doug. This domino set only goes from 1-6 and is color coded to help little ones. An adult set goes to 12 and is black and white. We put three games in your loan pile!

Any counting/number manipulatives! We are lending you our Montessori Bead Stair and Wooden Number Peg Boards.

Any counting/number puzzles! My kids are still using ours so you will have to source your own. We like these by Melissa and Doug: See-Inside 0-9 Wooden Peg Puzzle and Self-Correcting Wooden Number Puzzles, 1-20.

The Usborne Big Book of Things to Spot by Gillian Doherty

Please order: Mathematical Reasoning, Beginning 1 by Critical Thinking Co.

Please order: My First Sticker by Numbers Book by Price Stern Sloan.

Preschool Math at Home: Simple Activities to Build the Best Possible Foundation for Your Child by Kate Snow

Science & Engineering

“Koala Crate” monthly subscription from Kiwi Co.

My Very First Our World Book by Usborne

Nature’s Wonders by Alejandro Algeria and Gustavo Mazali

Primary Science Set by Learning Resources

Plus-Plus Big building set with weekly model patterns in the Preschool Curriculum Handbook, 2019-2020 edition by Timberdoodle.

ThinkPlay Preschool building set by Morphun

Social Studies

A Street Through Time by DK (Second Semester History)

Any Globe and World Wall Map! Yes, the inflatable Globe from Dollar Tree and the quilted map of the world wall quilt I made for Grant’s room count!

Any U.S.A. and World Floor Puzzles! Simple puzzles, without a bunch of graphics crammed on each landform are best, but harder to find!

Great Buildings by Mack van Gageldonk (Second Semester Geography)

Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney (First Semester Geography)

Montessori Map Work by Bobby and June Goerge (First Semester Geography)

My First Atlas of the World by National Geographic Kids (Second Semester Geography)

Now and Then by Peter Firmin (First Semester History) I purchased this out-of-print Osburne book on Bookshark.

Preschool Tips & Clips: Neighborhoods: Community Patterns and Activities by Marilynn G. Barr

What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry

Thinking Skills

Please purchase Building Thinking Skills: Beginning 1 Workbook by Critical Thinking Co.

Bunny Peek-a-Boo puzzle game by Smart Games

Day and Night puzzle game by Smart Games

Please purchase this pair of workbooks: Play Smart Brain Boosters, Ages 2+ & Ages 3+ by Gakken Workbooks (One for each semester)

Please purchase this pair of workbooks: Play Smart Skill Builders, Ages 2+ & Ages 3+ by Gakken Workbooks (One for each semester)

Now that you have rounded up all your curriculum and materials, its time to pace everything. I like to work with 36 checklists. Sometimes the checklist is done is done in a week or so. Sometimes it takes a month. I don’t care as long as we finish within a calendar year!

Printable PDF Weekly Check Lists

These checklists are by 9 weeks, because that is the shortest book cycle. Print a new list each week and circle the week number to stay on track.

Printable PDF Book Cycles

This printable includes book cycles as follows: What Do People Do All Day? 2 (18 week cycles), My First Atlas of the World 2 (9 week cycles), Then and Now 2 (9 week cycles), Great Buildings 1 (18 week cycle), and Out World Book 3 (12 week cycles).

I cut these lists out and tape them inside the respective books so I always have quick access to our weekly reading portions.

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b

P.S. New This Year from Timberdoodle

Each year Timberdoodle updates their curriculum kits in April. I just received the new catalogue and placed our kindergarten order for this coming school year. In any case, I thought I’d add the updates below incase any look like something you and Eve might enjoy:)

LANGUAGE

A-Z Magnatab, also available in lower case. This learning tool replaced the alphabet puzzles, of recent years.

MATH

“Farmland Math” has been updated to “Town and Farm Math” by Timberdoodle in a new edition. 

Bata-waf card game by Djeco

THINKING SKILLS

Little Match card game, also by Djeco

I Can Do That! Sticker Superstar by Gakken

Animal Playground game by Djeco

SOCIAL STUDIES

Jumbo Puzzle Map of the World by Mudpuppy

The ART kits are new too, but they often are from year to year!

 Clicking on an advertisement helps cover the expense of hosting our blog. Thank you!




Geography for Little People

Dear Sis,

I recently posted Global Greetings Geography, a full year of cultural immersion for elementary homeschool families. This is what I plan to use for our 2022-2023 school year. 

This post is the prequel. We are using what I am call Geography for Little People this year. This is a single semester (18 week) geography immersion for your littlest learners, (Preschool – 3rd grade). It can be used with a single student or family style. Eventually, I hope to post an 18 week health and safety class for littles that can be paired with this course for a full 36 weeks of programming in a given time block. 

The Text

Beginner’s World Atlas (spine)

Beginner’s World Atlas by National Geographic Kids

This link leads to the 5th edition, which came our in July of 2022. We bought our book before that date, so we have the 4th edition, published in July 2019. Either will work for this course.

Children Just Like Me (spine)

Children Just Like Me by DK

This book develops the cultural side of geography, because geography isn’t just places… its people too! Occasionally this book is used heavily. On such weeks, you may need to break the reading into two sittings. One do half, break for the sticker activity, and then do the second half.

World Atlas Sticker Activity Book

(consumable)

World Atlas Sticker Activity Book by Nation Geographic Kids

This book adds a hands-on aspect! What little person doesn’t like stickers?! Please note that you will need one copy per student.

The Manipulatives

Every homeschool family needs a globe and world wall map! If you haven’t invested in these items, please do! The inflatable globe from the Dollar Tree is a good place holder until you can invest in a good quality globe (might be a good item for a birthday or holiday wish list). Just don’t let your kids pop it, like mine did on the very first week of school…lol. Our wall map is actually a wall quilt I made in 4H a few decades ago, but it works great.

Lastly, this compilation makes use of a world map floor puzzle. There are countless purchasing options here as well!

Without further ado here is the schedule, so you can get started teaching your littles geography!

Geography for Little People Curriculum Schedule PDF

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b




Teaching Reading at Home

Dear Sis,

There are numerous wonderful reading/language arts curriculum available to purchase. We already own Language A by ShillerLearning and Foundations A by Logic of English.

A friend recently asked me if I felt a big boxed curriculum set was necessary for teaching reading at home. I quickly told her, “NO!” This post is for her, but hopefully it will help other too:) 

As the core of an at home reading program, I suggest one of two books shown below. Both options hang around the $20 price point. Use the “Look Inside” option on Amazon. Read and or watch YouTube reviews to get an idea which book would be the best fit for you (the teacher), and your child (the learner.)

The Reading Lesson: Teach your child to read in 20 easy lessons

Each lesson is broken into a phonetic grouping and will take more than one sitting to complete. For example, lesson one covers letter sounds c, o, s, a, and t in 20 plus reading/workbook pages. 

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

This one really looks like 100 lessons that can be completed and/or reviewed, if your student hasn’t fully grasped the concept, in a single sitting. Before starting, there is a section for the parent  to study so they can understand exactly how to present the information to the child.

You can absolutely stop here and use the public library system and pre-reading toys you likely already have at home!

This is a list of some of our favorite pre-reading and reading supplements. Many of these suggestions are actually toys, games, or music. I think most parents would agree that learning through play is a great option for young children. 

Any Alphabet Book(s)

Don’t forget to check the local library! Here are some we recommend!

We happened upon A is for Apple trace and flip board book published by Tiger Tales at a yard sale. Since then, it has become our most used alphabet book!

Our second favorite book is Montessori: letter work by Bobby & June Gorge. It is sequence by pre-writing stroke instead of alphabetically. It would probably be our absolute favorite if the texture or the sand letter was a courser and it had flaps…lol.

Early Readers

Our public library has some early readers titles form these two series. Check yours!

These Bob Books: Set 1, Beginning Readers published by Scholastic in our shopping cart for next school year because they come so highly recommended by so many parents. It appears that the original series is sold in 5 books sets, in 5 levels. There are many supplementary sets and even a workbook series available.

These First Little Readers, Level A are also published by Scholastic. I don’t plan on ordering these right away, but these sets come with 25 readers per level, in levels A-D! More advanced levels are sold in 16 book sets in level pairings: E&F, G&H, I&J. 

Any Alphabet Game

My kids really enjoy Alphabet BINGO! by Peaceable Kingdom. There are countless other brands and printable versions of this learning material.

A good set of uppercase and lowercase letter flash cards can be used to play games like memory and go fish. 

We also use these free printable Beginning Sound Game Boards by 123 Homeschool 4 Me along with our plastic magnetic alphabet letters to create a game of alphabet soup. To keep the printout dry, place it in plastic page covers or laminate them. We fill a mixing bowl with a bit of water, drop in all the letters for that game board, and use a slotted spoon to scoop them out. We use a piece of candy as a place keeper and William enjoys eating it when the game is complete. 

We have made letter pairing sensory bins with Bananagram tiles and rice or lentils. Pinterest is a rabbit hole of wonderful ideas and free printable!!!!

Perhaps our most used, and most understated learning game/tool is an alphabet poster that hangs low on the wall and the Dollar Tree pointer that hangs above it. We use it in a variety of ways. Sometime I say a letter name or sound and William identifies it with the pointer. Sometimes we run around the house pointing to things that start with a specific sound. The options are only limited by the size of human creativity.

Any Alphabet Puzzle(s)

If you don’t have alphabet puzzles yet, here are some we really like and recommend!

This Wooden See-Inside Alphabet Peg Puzzle by Melissa & Doug is a great first puzzle that will grown with your toddler/preschooler.

These ABC Double-Sided Picture Boards by Melissa & Doug are particularly great when a learner is working to pair lower and upper case letters.

These Self-Correcting Wooden Alphabet Puzzles (52 pieces) by Melissa & Doug can be presented in small groups, so a child how is just learning to match a letter to a sound isn’t overwhelmed.

Yes, I’m partial to Melissa & Doug. Wooden puzzles last longer then cardboard ones that dissolve when your baby/toddler puts them in their mouth! I also like the sturdy storage wooden trays that don’t collapse when a kid stand or sits in them. Learning Resources and Educational Insights make high quality materials too! Also, if you frequent thrift stores, they are a great place to look for low cost learning materials!!!

Alphabet Songs

For auditory learning and FUN!

We really love this isolated portion of the Logic of English program. It can be purchased separately and used independently form the rest of the curriculum. These beginning letter sound, phonogram songs with an optional corresponding picture books are wonderful! You can try these listening samples on their official YouTube playlist.

Pre-Writing Letter Formation Activities

ABC Playdough Mats by All About Reading are one of many free downloadable resources for activities and games for teaching pre-reading and reading! We printed them on card stock and laminated them for weekly use. William enjoys using them with homemade play dough and Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty. 

In the same vein of thought, Wikki Stix offers an Alphabet Card Set to use with their wax cover bendable yarn strips. These are a fun deviation form routine for use.

A dry erase letter tracing tablet. We have the Trace with Me Pre-Handwriting Tablet by Carson Dellosa Education. I like this book in particular because it sequences letters my stroke instead of alphabetical order.

Printable DIY versions are available all over the web. You can slip them into plastic page covers or laminate them to make them dry erase ready.

A Montessori sand tray is a great DIY projects. Ours is made with a lidded container and green sand from Dollar Tree. Alternately, you can use quinoa or rice.

Check Pinterest for more ideas. I’ve seen variations with flour, sprinkles, shaving cream, etc. Some parents switch it up on the regular so their learners stay interested.

Inexpensive Workbooks

Can be found anywhere!!! dollar stores, Target, Staples, Walmart, etc. My son really likes the ones that incorporate the use of stickers like those published by Gakken Workbooks and Kumon. That being said, we’ve used countless other workbooks too. Just flip through to make sure the workbook looks like a good fit for your learner’s level and preferences to avoid frustration.

That completes my list of suggestions for teaching pre-reading and reading without an expensive program. These also make great supplements for those who are using a curriculum bundle or reading program. If I missed any of your tried and true favorites, please add them in the comment section!

Happy Homeschooling!

b




Music Appreciation – Pop

Dear Sis,

This is the eighth of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson. 

Popular Music

Note to parents: I’m sure you’ve notice by now… I’m careful when selecting videos. If I’ve missed any questionable content, please let me know in the comment section. I’ve left out sample four completely, because I couldn’t find a way to present it appropriately! 

Week Twenty-Seven

Approximately 25 minutes

Read playful narration “Pop is…” text.

  • Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
  • If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote

Watch the What is Popular Music? video.

Week Twenty-Eight

Approximately 25 minutes

Read “POP” history text.

Watch The History of Popular Music video.

Listen to Sample One: “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees (pop rock)

Listen to Sample Two: “Vogue” by Madonna (electronic/dance-pop)

Listen to Sample Three: “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction (pop rock)




Week Twenty-Nine

Approximately 20 minutes

Watch What is Commercial Pop? video. 

Take time to discuss with children how popular culture effects your family and young people as a whole. It might be a great time to explain to your kids exactly why certain aspects of pop culture aren’t welcome at home! 

Listen to Sample Five: “Happy” by Pharrel William (funk/soul pop)

Week Thirty

Approximately 20 minutes

Watch What is a Verse, Chorus, and Bridge? video.

Listen to Sample Six: “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake (disco pop)

Take the time to figure out which part of the song is verse, chorus, and bridge. Listen to the song a few times as needed.

Alternately, you can use one of your child(ren)’s favorite songs for this diagnostic process instead of sample six.

Please tell us about your experience in the comment section. Stay tuned for the ninth installment: Rhythm & Blues (Weeks 31-32).

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b




Global Greetings Geography

Dear Sis,

I love the idea of literature based curriculum, but I learned last year that the prep work required to keep up with Torchlight was more than I can manage, from week to week. Also we do read aloud as a family for fun, so I don’t want to do too many subjects with a literature approach. 

As I’m pieces together a plan for our kindergarten year, I’m finding we lack a fun engaging way to study geography material. This literature based compilation borrows some material from the reading lists of both Torchlight Level K and Build Your Library Level 0, which both have a global theme.

This elementary program can be used for a single student or as a family. Adding the optional cookbook, and using it on the weeks when time allows, will greatly enrich your family experience. In addition to the books below, the curriculum schedule includes prompts for an eight week family geography/history journaling project.

The text: Books will be labeled as consumable (one per student), spine (plan to purchase for reoccurring use), single use (can be borrowed from library to cut cost).

A Story Series (single use)

Greetings from Somewhere by Paris Harper, is an illustrated chapter book mystery series. Ethan and Ella bring adventure into your home as they travel the world with their parents, for their mom’s job as a travel writer for the local paper. Each book can be read in one or two sittings. Your upper elementary students can take turns helping with the reading too! Over this 36 week program we will read all ten books in the series.

Collection of Folktales (spine)

A Year Full of Stories: 52 folktales and legends from around the world by Angela McAllister, provides short stories arrange by the twelve months of the year from a wide variety of places and cultures. Many of the stories cover various holidays from around the world.

The Atlas (spine)

We have the 4th (2013) edition, of the Kids World Atlas by National Geographic, because we got a great deal on it. The layout is consistent between additions, so the 5th (2018) or 6th (2021) editions will work too.

Update: March 19, 2022

I was able to preview the 6th edition, thanks to our local library. Here are the main changes that aren’t cosmetic or stat/map updates!

  • A two page spread was added in the Physical World section addressing Endangered Species.
  • A two page spread was added in the Political World section addressing human Migration.
  • The East Africa spread was divided into two spreads: Eastern and Central Africa. 
  • The games in the back of the book have been removed.

Please note that page numbers on the schedule will be a bit off with newer additions, so work by content instead of page numbers. Also, the games for the final week will not be available to those with newer text.

The Consumable

Ultimate Sticker Book: Flags Around the World by DK

The Cookbook (optional spine)

Cooking Class Global Feast!: 44 recipes that celebrate the world’s cultures by Deanna F. Cook

This is a 36 week homeschool program. We prefer to do all the weekly activities on a single day, but it can be broken into two or three small portions each week, if that is preferable to your family. Print the schedule to get started.

Global Greetings Geography Curriculum Schedule PDF

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b