Homeschooling Kindergarten Curriculum

Kindergarten is a transition from carefree playtime with mommy to a world of serious schoolwork. Most adults fondly look back at naptime and finger painting in their kindergarten years. For many homeschool parents though, it is often hard to separate playtime from school time in these younger years. Some useful tips will help keep your child engaged in his or her early education.

Kindergarten is not just about beginning academic learning. It is also a time to socialize and learn how to interact with peers. Make sure that your child is involved in group settings—at the library or park, or through clubs and sports—so that they learn to share, take turns, and recognize other opinions.

Each child has its own individual learning style, so choose the best one for your child. Every kindergartener should be introduced early and often to the basic skills of reading and writing. Read to them from picture books, asking questions along the way. Questions will keep them listening and foster analytical skills. Let them read to you, but stop and ask questions to make sure they understand. Kindergarteners should also learn writing mechanics, how to hold a pencil, and how to form letters. Finally, it is important to teach number sequences and patterns. Make a game out of arranging stuffed animals, adding more, and taking some away.

It is important to remember that kindergarteners can only focus for about 15 minutes at a time. They are not used to focusing on learning, so lessons should be short and scattered throughout the day. Make sure to incorporate hands-on activities into the daily lessons so that they look forward to learning and feel involved in the process. Schoolwork should not feel like a punishment, which takes them away from other activities. Short lessons don’t need to be confined to a desk, but instead can take place outside as long as the student is still focused.

Remember to always keep it fun as well as educational. This should be an enjoyable, memorable experience for both the parent and the child. Planned curriculums can be used as a guide, but if a program is not working for your child, then do not hesitate to try something different. You should not feel enslaved to a set schedule. This means that if your child is having a bad day, then put off a lesson until later.

Little ones respond particularly well to out of the box, creative techniques of learning. Let them spell out the alphabet in pudding or form words with letter magnets. Whiteboards are always a favorite, so don’t limit schoolwork to a pen and paper.

At the end of the year, kindergarteners generally know the letters of the alphabet, the days of the week, basic body parts, colors, numbers, animals, and common nursery rhymes. They should typically be able to do simple addition and subtraction, read simple words, organize events chronologically, write their own name, and recognize rhyming words. In all cases, incorporate these tasks into daily life. One way to do this is by having your child fill out a library card application by him or herself, so the child is motivated to learn to write his or her name.

Homeschooling is a challenge, but it can have outstanding rewards for yourself. At the same time, it can be reat for your child. Just be sure to take it very seriously and try to make an effort to separate your roll as an everyday parent with your roll as a home school teacher.


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