I have been a homeschooling mom since 2012 and wanted to share with you some tips that I have picked up over the years of homeschooling. Bailey is almost done with 5th grade and Bekah just finished her Kindergarten year.
Here are 5 Kindergarten Homeschool Tips for any mom that is homeschooling a Kindergarten aged child. Tip number one is to keep it short. Tip number two is to keep it fun. Tip number three is to use an All-In-One Curriculum. Tip number four is to be patient. Finally, tip number five is to feed your child a healthy breakfast.
These are just a few tips that I have picked up over the years and have found them helpful in our own homeschool. I hope these tips help you with homeschooling your Kindergartner.
Tip #1: Keep it Short
I have learned over the years it is better to keep the learning to short intervals. Both of my children are the play outside very active type children. Bailey more so than Bekah. When I first started teaching Bailey, I had to teach him a skill or subject and then give him a 5 minute break. During this break, he would get water, go to the restroom, and just move around to get the wiggles out. Then he could come back to the table ready for the next part of the lesson. Bekah is more of my sit down child and get it done. So with her, I did not have to take some many breaks. But I did break it up so she was not sitting during the entire lesson.
Below are two example videos of who I would break up the skills and lessons. In the first video, Bekah is over at our daily wall calendar. I always start a lesson at the table and when that lesson is finished, then we move over to the wall to work on something different in a different location. In the second video, you will see Bailey working on blending sounds. This is just a short skill he would work on in Kindergarten and then would move on to something else.
I hope all of this information helps you to understand what I mean when I say keep it short.
Tip #2: Keep it Fun
When you keep learning fun, children are learning and sometimes they do not even know they are learning. When children are in Kindergarten they require a lot of one on one work. They do not always have to learn by sitting still or doing a bunch of boarding worksheet.
Below are two videos that give you examples of how we keep it fun. The first part of the first video, shows you how I work with Bekah on sight words. She is stilling at the table using a worksheet, but we keep it fun for her by adding candy. In the second part of the first video, you will see Bailey throwing a small football at paper plates with sight words on them. This was a fun way for him to learn and be active at the same time.
Tip #3: Use an All-In-One Curriculum
I highly recommend My Father’s World, God’s Creation from A to Z. I started using this curriculum with Bailey and have not looked back. He is now in 5th grade. I also used this curriculum with Bekah this past year. I find My Father’s World curriculums to be very organized and easy to use. That is why I always recommend it for homeschooling beginners.
“MFW created and designed God’s Creation From A to Z to teach kindergartners about the natural world using the Creation story from Genesis. MFW created and developed hands-on units about plants, animals, geological features comprising creation. MFW chose hands-on exercises, classic literature, fine arts, and character development resources for each of its units based around Creation.”
I stand by my word that I think My Father’s World is the best curriculum, but I wanted to give you another option. I used it with Bailey in preschool. It is called Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool.
Easy Peasy states, “We exist to help families homeschool. We enable families to homeschool who thought they couldn’t because of a lack of finances, a lack of time, or a lack of know-how. Others join EP just because it’s easy and fun and they’re confident of the quality of education. EP seeks to free families from the burden of pursuing the “perfect” and encourages them to let it be “enough.” Each family and each child is different and we seek to provide the resources to enable your family to be who you were created to be.”
Tip #4: Be Patient
As a homeschool mom, I have heard so many people say, “I do not have the patience to homeschool my child, or you must have a lot of patience.” We are all human and have our good days and bad days just like our children. But being patient with your child is a tip that applies to homeschooling and in everyday life
Being patient when teaching your child or children is important. If you get aggravated or frustrated, they will pick up on that and will fell the same way. If you start to fell this way, take a break. Flexibility is the best part of homeschooling, you can do what works best for you and your child or children.
Tip #5: Feed Your Child a Healthy Breakfast
I know you are thinking, seriously?! But I have found over the years that feeding my children a healthy breakfast makes a huge difference on their ability to do their school work. Here is an example for you. If I feed Bailey yogurt with a tone of sugar in it, that sugar cause him to be more fidgety and less focused. If I feed him a cheese omelet, he tends to be less fidgety and more focused. This is just a fact that I have learned for teaching him over the years.
These above tips are my own opinion and what I have learned from teaching Bailey and Bekah over the years. I hope these 5 tips help you when you start teaching your child Kindergarten. Also you will find a video below that talks about the 5 Kindergarten Homeschool Tips.
What qualifications do you need to homeschool your kindergarten child?
According to the Coalition For Responsible Home Education or CRHE, most states do not require parent qualifications to homeschool. But there are 11 States that require a High School Diploma, GED, College Credits, or the completions of a Homeschool Study Course.
Here are the 11 states that require qualifications for you to teach your child at home. Please make sure to check what your state’s qualifications are in the link above.
- Georgia
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
How do I start homeschooling my kindergartner?
The first thing you need to do before you start homeschooling your kindergartner is to check your state’s laws and regulations for homeschool. I recommend the Home School Legal Defense Association or HSLDA. Make sure to check every year to see if any of your state’s laws and regulations have changed.
The second thing you need to do is to determined were to start. If your child has not done any preschool work, like writing their name, knowing some colors, some shapes and some of their ABCs that is the perfect place to start.
The third thing is to start looking at homeschool curriculums if your child has mastered some of the above preschool skills. This may seem overwhelming at first but it does not have to be. Most Kindergarten curriculums contain the same basic information. I will cover Kindergarten curriculums a little later.
Last is to just have fun! Take it slow at first until you and your child get the hang of homeschooling. There will be some bumps in the road, but you know a lot about your child and this will help you along the way.
What subjects are required for kindergarten homeschool?
Some states require you to teach certain subjects in kindergarten so check your state’s laws and regulations. If your state does not require you to teach specific subjects in kindergarten, here is a list of the subjects that I am currently teaching Bekah:
- Bible
- Handwriting
- Phonics
- Social Studies
- Science
- Math
- Reading
- Arts
The above list is a suggested list and a starting point for new homeschoolers. If you buy a curriculum, it will provide or suggest the subjects that you need for Kindergarten.
How long should I homeschool a kindergartner?
It usually takes us about an hour a day to homeschool at the Kindergarten level and we homeschool 4 days a week. Some days it may not take the entire hour and some days we may go a little over.
During that homeschool hour we work on Bible, Handwriting, Phonics, History, Science, Math, and reading. At this level you may work on different subjects at the same time. For example Phonics, Reading, and Writing may be combined into one lesson. It may sound like a lot for a Kindergartner, but so far it has worked for us.
Every state has laws and requirements that homeschooling families must follow. Check to see what your State’s laws and requirements are for homeschool days and hours. The HSLDA is a great resource for this information. My State does not have require a certain number of days or hours.
What your child should know at the end of kindergarten?
Here is a general list of what your child should know at the end of kindergarten:
- Cut along a line with scissors
- Follow directions agreeably and easily
- Hold a crayon and pencil correctly
- Know the eight basic colors: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, black, white, and pink
- Recognize and write the letters of the alphabet in upper- and lowercase forms
- Know the relationship between letters and the sounds they make
- Recognize sight words such as the and read simple sentences
- Spell his or her first and last name
- Identify numbers up to 20
- Count by ones, fives, and tens to 100
- Know basic shapes such as a square, triangle, rectangle, and circle
- Know his or her address and phone number
- Reading very simple stories
- Counting objects
- Writing numerals
- Preparing and understanding charts and graphs
- Comparing
- Classifying
- Sequencing and understanding ordinal numbers
- Fractions (whole/half)
- Clocks
- Money
- An introduction to addition and subtraction.
I have Decided to Homeschool, Now What!?
