I want to home school my daughter for kindergarten, but i am just not sure where to begin or what she will nee

Question

I know she needs to learn her Abc and numbers, I am not sure how to go about teaching her to read and write

Answer 1

In addition to what Jen, Ozboz, Angel, & Sunrise have to say, I'd also throw in to learn your DD's learning style - and yours.  Once you know her learning style, you can choose curriculum to meet it.

The homeschool convention season is coming up.  Attend one in your area for not only information sessions, but also for the vendor hall, where you can touch, see, and hear different methods.

I agree with the "What Your X Grader" book series has to say.  It's published by the Core Knowlege Foundation and their sequence is wonderful.

You can see the academic standards for your state at your state's board of education site.  That is IF you want to follow them.  My curriculum, K12, is much more rigorous than our state's standards and it meets or exceeds all 50 states' standards.  We've used them for over five years.

Here is a good site for educational standards:

http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?cur...

And the Core Knowledge site:

http://coreknowledge.org/CK/index.htm

There are many phonics and handwriting programs.  We used K12's phonics - a two-year (K & 1st) program that's incredible.  K12 uses Handwriting Without Tears for writing instruction and it's also wonderful.

http://www.k12.com

http://www.hwtears.com

There are MANY programs/curricula to choose from.  If you search through the archived questions here, you'll find good links for HS'ing materials.  I know I posted some just in the past couple of days.

We started HS'ing in Kdg, too.  My son LOVES it and never wants to go to a B&M school.

PS - don't listen to the naysaying trolls on this forum.  They know nothing about HS'ing.

Answer 2

At such a young age the most important thing about kindergarten is learning to interact with other children. In my opinion it would be best for you to send her to kindergarten because she might be too scared to start first grade after the comforts of home. I know it is probably difficult for you also, but she will have to leave some time, holding her back might leave her feeling resentful.

Answer 3

In addition to all the great advice you might want to order some catalogs like Sonlight.com and Rainbowresource.com  It does not have to be expensive at all if you don't have the cashola check out amblesideonline.com  It's great, it's an adventure that you will never regret.

Answer 4

K12 curriculum

We started in Kindergarten.....dd is moving forward and starting second grade material in first grade.

They have the best phonics...language arts and math program.

Depending on if your state has a cyber academy you may be able to get the curriculum for free.

Answer 5

go to the internet or go to the local library or christian schools they have lots of information on homeschooling, or check for listings of other moms in your area that have home schooled this is a good bonding way for you and your child

Answer 6

There are many resources for homeschooling kindergarteners.  You can find workbooks at any bookstore or mega stores like wal-mart.  Get a hand size dry-erase board for him to use and a bigger one for you to use.  It will help.  See if there is a teacher store in your area.  They will have boards of the alphabet, numbers, clock, weather, days of the week that you can put up so your child can learn that.  

I started doing a letter a week.  Out of a medium size poster board I made the upper case and lower case letters.  Then on Primary paper (the kind with 3 lines) I would show him how to write the letters and his assignment would be to make 5 of them a day.  We made a letter box and when we found something that began with that letter we put it in the box, like apples, art supplies, andrew(a picture of his cousin) etc.  I would read books that had the theme of the letter of the week.  With numbers I would play counting games and play with pennies and count them into a box.  We would play with dice and he would learn how to read it.  We would play the game 'War" with cards so he can learn value of the numbers.  

Just be creative and have fun.  Just search kindergarten games online or homeschooling kindergarten and a bunch of things will come up.

This will be the best thing you ever did for your child!

Answer 7

Hey,

Well I'm home schooled and... DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO ALL THAT PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT THE ONLY IMPORTANT THING IS SOCIAL LIFE, THEY SHOULD BE THINKING (like you) IN  THEIR CHILDREN EDUCATION MORE, NOT ONLY ON WHO WILL THEIR FRIENDS BE.

Any way, you can use an on line program like

http://k12.com/

OR some of these..

http://homeschool-curricula.suite101.com...

You can also go to a kindergarten school near you and ask them about their curriculum, basing on that you can create your daughter her own curriculum.

Hope you and your daughter have a great time learning together!!

Answer 8

Get Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  It teaches phonics based reading and letter printing in each lesson, and she will be reading at a 2nd grade level by the end of it.  If she finishes it.  Most parents I know (including myself) who use it say their kids take off running with it and don't want/need the book any more somewhere in the 70's numbered lessons.  Take it easy on her writing skills as each child's motor development is different.  Go to the library and check out tons of stories, there are oodles dedicated to letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and social skills.  You could also pick up kindergarten workbooks at a book store, my girls loved them.

Answer 9

If you are planning on putting her into school for grade 1, best thing to do would be to find out what the expectations are for children entering grade 1. You could talk to your local school or look up your state's standards online.

I would recommend checking into the following resources for teaching reading and writing: Phonics Pathways or Reading Reflex. Reading Reflex requires more preparation on your part than Phonics Pathways, but both are complete programs. As for actually learning to print, there are plenty of workbooks out there. You should still show her on the side how to do it, then let her practice in the workbook or on other paper.

ADDED: Please ignore the comments about socialization, friends and "they have to leave the house sometime". First of all, if you make socialization and friends part of your plan, they will be fine in that area. Society was fine for thousands of years like that. Second, the whole "they have to leave sometime so might as well be K or whatever grade" is faulty logic--we might as well hand our kids over to professionals raising 30 kids the same age at birth!

Answer 10

I'm sorry you've been getting so many negative answers that do not support your desire to homeschool your child.

The first thing you need to do is check out the laws of your state regarding homeschooling: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/dire...

Children learn at different paces, and have different needs.  The first thing you need to do is to make contact with homeschooling groups in your area, to provide you with support, and to give your daughter a group of kids with like-minded parents. You can do a search on the above website to find the group nearest you.  There are many, many activities and groups for homeschooled kids.  In addition, there are "after-school" groups, such as the Girl Scouts, art and dance classes, and the like.  Your homeschool daughter is just as qualified as any other kindergertener to take advantage of such opportunities.

After that, the world is your oyster!  If she is ready for her ABC's or simple math, go for it.  Otherwise, relax.  Read to her and allow her interests to lead your teaching.

Forget about that "kids need to go to school to be socialized" nonsense.  What kids learn kindergarten about socialization is: bullying, exclusion, pecking order, competition for attention, the need for permission to take care of bodily functions, and, of course, that some kids are "smart" and some are "dumb."

I have provided you with a link below which will provide you with tons of ideas for your child.

Have fun!

Answer 11

Moonwake...give me a break!  My kids are all at least one to two grade levels ahead and they socialize far more than when they were in school.  You make it sound like we lock our kids in a room and never take them out anywhere.  Get your facts straight before offering criticism.  Just by being their mom, I'm more attuned to and more qualified to fulfill  their educational, emotional and social needs.

Answer 12

We did that with our daughter and we would not even think of doing it again.   Kindergarden isnt about ABC's or even numbers, its about  brain games and learning to communicate and interact with others.   You are making a mistake doing this.

When she goes to  1st grade she will be totally lost socially,  now  knowing here ABC's,   that she will do just fine.

I am totally against home schooling,  ive seen enough of that in my family to know it is not a useful thing to do  Deep down,  we are trying to protect our children from the "evils" of society and that  just plain isnt possible in the long run.  Sure if you got a good science education and a good liberal arts educatin you can educate your child better than the public schools,  but that alone doesnt determine sucess in life.  As a big component is  competition and inter-relatinships with otheres good or bad.    That is so important that I think home schooling ought  not to be even considered if you want the best for your child.

Answer 13

Your child needs steps i feel the first step is to allow her to have friends to learn and help with then think about homeschool when she is social

Answer 14

As a former school teacher I recommend that you do not home school your daughter!  They get so much from being around the other children that they cannot get by being alone with you!  The teachers are professionals and they know how to get the best result for your daughter and if there are any developmental issues they will recognize the problem and you will not.  Sending her to school may be tough to see her go off and be with other people but in the long run she will get a better education!

Answer 15

I actually bought the book "What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know" (from the Core Knowledge Foundation). Then I went onto the site of the local school district to see what the kids there were learning. From these 2 resources I was able to establish what I was going to do and that made it easier to come up with a plan.  I didn't use everything from both resources, but I was able to come up with what worked for us. I also bought the Hooked on Phonics program. My son LOVES the computer game that comes with it. He has learned much from the overall program.

Good Luck!

I have read a couple of the responses besides mine...Socialization can be done in many ways. School is NOT my idea of the place to socialize my kid. My son actually started Kindergarten at a public school. He was constantly being reprimanded for being a NORMAL kid.  There was also a situation where his teacher accused him of spitting on another kid. Well, it turned out that he had 3 other kids who rode on a school bus to school (I drove my son to school and picked him up) were spitting at each other and at him. He was the one that got caught and ended up in trouble. One of the other kids told his mom about it because he felt bad that his friend got in trouble for it. She drove him to school the next day and talked to the teacher. She did NOTHING. That wasn't the only thing that happened, just one of many. Anyone who gives you the socialization argument just proves that they know very little about homeschooling.

Answer 16

Start here, there is a wealth of information:

www.hslda.org

Don't hesitate to homeschool! There is nothing more rewarding. I've been homeschooling for 15 years. Our oldest graduated last summer, and we have 5 to go. It is not easy, but nothing worthwhile is!

Answer 17

First, ignore the idiots who keep bringing up socialization, they can't help it, they are socialy crippled by being brought up to think that you can only make friends in school.

Next, there are many great curriculums for teaching the ABC's and Numbers, and many other things as well.

I really like Alpha Omega Horizons:

https://store.aop.com/aop/67.cat

I also like lapbooks

http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/Shop-L...

There are also free activities available on-line:

http://www.letteroftheweek.com

http://www.childcareland.com/