I have some regrets when it comes to how I chose to homeschool kindergarten with my oldest. I was strict and expected at least 1 full hour of K5 seatwork every school day from my 4-year-old!
And all of it required handwriting – not exactly an easy task for a little boy! Now I am not claiming to be an expert by any means, but I have relaxed quite a bit and I don’t believe in forcing handwriting at a young age.
This homeschool article is sponsored by Reading Eggs. You can learn more and start a free trial at the end of this article.
Homeschool Mom Book List
The Unhurried Homeschooler: A Simple, Mercifully Short Book on Homeschooling
Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakable Peace
Homeschool Bravely: How to Squash Doubt, Trust God, and Teach Your Child with Confidence
The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids
Home Education (The Home Education Series) (Volume 1)
Homeschooling 101: A Guide to Getting Started.
7 Biblical Word Studies For Homeschool Moms eBook
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7 Biblical Word Studies For Homeschool Moms eBook
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How To Homeschool Kindergarten
In addition to character training (Bible) and life skills, these are the main things that should be considered important for a 4 to 6-year-old to be taught:
(be sure to check with your state’s requirements)
- alphabet recognition
- introduction to phonics
Reading Eggs Can Help You Teach …
1. Phonemic awareness: The ability to hear and manipulate the different sounds in words. Reading Eggs teaches phonemic awareness using a sequential series of skill-building activities that increase sound awareness.
2. Phonics: Recognizing the connection between letters and the sounds they make, the process of mapping the sounds in words to written letters. Children will learn how to decode words into sounds and encode sounds into words when they write and spell through activities that feel like games.
3. Vocabulary: Understanding the meaning of words, their definitions, and their context. Reading Eggs increases the number of words your child understands by introducing new words throughout the lessons with visual supports to provide context and boost retention levels.
4. Reading Comprehension: Understand the meaning of the text – both in story books and information books. To build active reading comprehension skills, Reading Eggs uses activities that scaffold your child’s understanding with a wide range of pre-reading activities to ignite their thinking. They will progress from learning words and their meanings to reading for meaning — moving from learning to read to reading to learn.
5. Fluency: The ability to read aloud with speed, understanding, and accuracy. In order to increase reading stamina, Reading Eggstakes your child from being a beginner to reading long chapter books – just like an exercise program, reading stamina increases over time with effort and regular practice.
Math, Science, & History for Homeschool Kindergarten
- numeral recognition
- counting to double digits & beyond
- awareness of God’s amazing creation (science)
- advanced colors
- continuing gross motor skills development
- nurture a love for HIStory through living books
How does that list translate into everyday life? Most of it is considered fun for the child because playing is learning and learning should be fun!
Here are several ways that some of the subjects from the above list can be accomplished easily and simply:
- encourage a LOT of time outdoors and bring attention to all of the things found in nature
- allow a lot of creative time (coloring, drawing, gluing, painting, etc.)
- experiment with paint and blending colors to make new colors
- teach your child to use scissors safely and master the skill (this is always fun for the child!)
- provide your child with a lot of building materials (such as Lego sets)
- read to your child every day (living history books for young children are a great educational option)
What about the more “academic” things listed?
Even alphabet and numeral recognition, phonics, and counting can be taught without seatwork. In addition to using screen time for teaching these subjects, you can incorporate learning opportunities into everyday activities.
- count your child’s snack with them each day and then help them form the number with the food (fish crackers, raisins, almonds, etc.)
- tell your child what letter their snack starts with, the sound it makes, and then help them form the letter with their food
- use a whiteboard or chalkboard to write letters and numbers and let the child practice in the same way
- play fun games where you write the letter or number and have your child name them or what sound they make
If you desire to have your child do seatwork and feel they are developmentally ready, then you can easily buy an affordable Kindergarten workbook or find printables online to place in a binder to create your own workbook. Seatwork should not be the focal point of their day and I would highly suggest doing less than 1 page each day with your child, perhaps alternating between number and letter worksheets each time.
The most important thing you can do as your child’s homeschool teacher is to spend time with them, talk to them and listen to them talk, play with them, read to them, ask them questions and answer their questions, provide a creative outlet for them, and just ignite their interest in learning.
I know that when you have several young kids, you may not be doing all of the above things all day or even every day, but purposefully encouraging their desire for knowledge and gently guiding them toward meaningful activities can make all of the difference for them.
Our goal at this age is for our children to love to learn. Be gentle, be intentional, put in an effort, and watch what a few minutes here and there of “homeschool kindergarten” each day can do for your child!
Homeschool Kindergarten Easily & CLICK HERE to Learn More About The Sponsor: Reading Eggs
I have been using Reading Eggs (and Mathseeds) with my elementary-aged children as a supplement. They think it is SO much fun, but they are actually practicing their spelling and times tables – so we’re all happy! Even my older children (13+) enjoy the activities while reinforcing language arts and math skills and filling in any gaps they may have. It is a great online program that makes learning phonics, spelling, and arithmetic fun.
I believe that Reading Eggs is a great way to teach kindergarten at home without causing your child stress. Read the below list of benefits to determine if it may be a good fit for your family!
- Reading Eggs is an online, multi-award-winning early learning resource and app (Reading Eggs – Learn To Read) that was developed by expert educators with over 30 years of experience. Put together by a team of elementary school teachers, writers, and developers, Reading Eggs helps children become fluent and proficient readers.
- Tailored to each child’s need, Reading Eggs is designed to be easy to follow, self-paced, and highly engaging for children between the ages of 2-13. Incorporating Reading Eggs at home means children will gain confidence where they feel safe, laying the building blocks for long-term reading and academic success.
- Over 91% of parents report a noticeable improvement in their child’s reading skills after using Reading Eggs.
- When children start the program, they complete a placement quiz to ensure they are starting at the correct reading level.
- The lessons use colorful animation, fun characters, songs, and rewards to keep children motivated.
- The program is completely interactive to keep children on task.
- Parents can access detailed progress reports as well as hundreds of downloadable activity sheets that correspond with the lessons in the program.
- The program includes over 2000 online books for kids – each ending with a comprehension quiz that assesses your child’s understanding.
- Children earn golden eggs as rewards for the progress they make. They can use these eggs to buy fun reward games and items for their avatar or house. Children also earn a printable certificate at the end of each map.
Start Your FREE trial for Reading Eggs and their math program, Mathseeds, HERE.
Sidenote: being prepared as the teacher to teach phonics as an introduction to reading means that you can gently incorporate phonics without a lot of busy work or seat work but through oral prompting & instruction. You can learn more about how I teach language arts (from PreK through elementary school) HERE.
Mindy says
Good ideas!
Susan K. Stewart says
This is exactly how every little one should be taught.
Sienna says
Thank you for sharing! I always have to remind myself of these things and have gotten better with it. Some children may not be developmentally ready for the “seat work” and that is okay. Each child works at their own ability and they are only young once and will have many many years to come of “formal” academics.
Amanda Jones says
I’m starting K with my 4 year old this year and reading your post reminded me to not feel that pressure.
Dandi D says
I am starting Kindergarten with my second oldest this year, so this is all great to read!
Denise W. says
Love this. I have TWO grandies that will be kindergarten this year!
Abijah says
Hi dear Clarrisa,always a joy to hear from you.
I am a new homeschooler from Kenya and i really enjoy your blog.I learn so much.
Thanks and God bless you.
Love,
Abijah
Megan G says
I definitely started out the same way. Lots of seat work right from the start. However I’ve been working on being more creative with them and doing more outdoor things so they can enjoy the nature around us.
Margaret says
I agree about not too much seatwork.
Takisha Allen says
I agreed with your advice about playing and listening to your child.
LeAnn Harbert says
This will be great to help me teach my granddaughters how to read.
Devon Pickford says
This is a great way of looking at it, I know a lot of parents are struggling with this right now
Heather says
While I am what many would consider to be a veteran homeschool mom, with seven kiddos in tow, I often am overwhelmed by the task, curriculum choices, daily training of littles, etc. and find myself slipping into less than fabulous habits of how and what I teach the youngest in our household. This year I am making a concerted effort to get back to the basics and heart of what I believe homeschooling could and should be. A fresh look at our curricula is in order!