Oh, my goodness I can’t believe I just typed that title! Eeek! This is it. Our first official year of homeschooling! Although, we’ve been doing “school” for a while now, the fact that we are diving into full time studies is a bit overwhelming. Is this the case for any of you other mama’s starting Kindergarten?
With all the curriculum choices out there, I decided to go with one that was all inclusive. However, choices were slim since my son is advance in reading. A variety of programs didn’t give me the option to get the higher level readers. So, this year we decided to try Sonlight Core A. We actually purchased it last year and did some of it last fall. There are parts I like and parts I don’t, so we’ll see what happens.
Kindergarten
Bible: Sonlight & Awanas
History: Sonlight Core A Intro to the World: Cultures
Reading/Writing: Sonlight Language Arts 1 and All About Reading Level 1
Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears
Math: Saxon 1
Science: Sonlight Science A: Biology, Botany, and Physics
Extra: We’ll be using How to Teach Art for some intro to art lessons. Plus, he will be participating in soccer.
Other: Our family will be participating in a Co-op this year. The boy is very excited about it, mainly because he’ll get to take karate. Of course we will also be taking some time to venture out for some fun family field trips.
So that’s it in a nutshell. I’ll definitely be taking it one day at time.
Do you have any tips for this newbie?
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Oh wow! WELCOME to the best group in the entire world HAHA! The Homeschooling Momma one! I wish you lots of love, faith, patience, and the strength to tell yourself that THIS IS An AMAZING choice! 🙂 take it one day at a time for sure! <3 Trust in yourself and your sweet boys abilities! 🙂
Thank you so much Amy. I’m going to need all of those, especially patience!
Congratulations on beginning your first year! Advice? Doesn’t look like you need much because my #1 recommendation is to just enjoy each other and read good books! If you do nothing else it will be okay! : ) Don’t get too caught up in homeschooling — it’s easy to let it come before your own physical and spiritual needs.
Have a wonderful 1st year!!!
Thanks Kellie! Great wisdom!
We are just finishing up Sonlight Core A with LA 1, HWWT, Science A & Horizons Math K with our oldest. We are in week 33 and have loved it! Good luck and have fun! We’ll be moving onto Core B this year for him and doing P3/4 with our 3 yr old!
Thanks Danielle. I’m hoping that my son loves it too!
We’re on our second, and final, trip through core A. I was a little iffy about whether or not this particular little miss would sit for the chapter books, but four days in and she seems to be doing fine.
And don’t worry, it’s almost impossible to mess up K. I have a tip for using Sonlight with an advanced reader. My oldest daughter was off the charts with her reading when she started core A. So I got the level 1 readers because they were age appropriate reading material and she read them and enjoyed them. They helped her with confidence, fluency, and expression. Then I also let her help me read some of the read alouds and those challenged her ability. Worked out great for her. I’m sure you’ll have a great year.
Popping in from the blog hop.
Thanks for that tip. The first grade readers are going to be easy for my son too, but his fine motor isn’t ready for moving up any higher.
Your first year, how exciting! My advice to you is to remember that your curriculum and lesson plans are tools for you to use, you don’t have to be a slave to them. Often times in the early years, less is more when it comes to formal schooling. Enjoy learning together!
Thank you! I will take all the advice I can get! I definitely want this year to be fun and stress free for everyone!