Kindergarten Course of Study

In the chapter 'Freedom from Guilt' in Seasons of a Mother's Heart, the Lord really spoke to me about not "depending on formulas to know if we are 'doing it right,' but on Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God in our hearts." I started asking the Lord what He wanted me to do for kindergarten. He impressed starting at the beginning with creation.

You will find the specifics covered in the weekly posts for Kindergarten.

BIBLE

• Main Ideas
• I am God's creation
• Memorize Psalm 139
• God loves me and takes care of me
• Memorize Psalm 23
• I can trust God
• Memorize Psalm 62:5-8
• Learn about Christians who have trusted God through biographies, etc.
• George Mueller
• Books to use:
• My Picture Story Bible by Dena Korfker
• Because I Love You by Max Lucado
• You Are Special by Max Lucado
• Just In Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado
• The Princess and the Kiss by Jennie Bishop
• Mrs. Rosey-Posey and the Chocolate Cherry Treat by Robin Jones Gunn
• Mrs. Rosey-Posey and the Treasure Hunt by Robin Jones Gunn
• Mrs. Rosey-Posey and the Empty Nest by Robin Jones Gunn
• The Tale of Tuppence and Tiffany retold by Pat Wynnejones
• The Tale of Geronimo Grub retold by Pat Wynnejones
• Muffy and the Mystery of the Stolen Eggs by Ethel Barrett
• Sylvester the Three-spined Stickleback by Ethel Barrett
• Gregory the Grub by Ethel Barrett
• God and a Boy Named Joe by Ethel Barrett
• Stories from Other Lands for Boys and Girls edited by Al Bryant
• Missionary Adventures by Carol Allison
• Missionary Stories with the Millers by Mildred A. Martin
• Wisdom and the Millers by Mildred A. Martin
• Storytime with the Millers by Mildren A. Martin
• My Heart -- Christ's Home Retold for Children by Robert Boyd Munger
• Short & Sweet: Short Stories with a Message Volume 2 by Katherine Loop
• Does Money Grow on Trees? by Catherine Mackenzie
• The story of George Muller; theme is 'We can trust God'

• Memory Work:
• Psalm 23
• Psalm 62:5-8
• Psalm 139
• Bob Jones Catechism #1 - 8 and 20 - 28
• Days of Creation

SCIENCE - God's Creation; I'll use books we have and books from the library, videos, and experiments. Here are listed the main ideas I want K. to learn and discover.

Resource books:

1. Science Experiences for the Early Childhood Years 7th edition by J. Harlan and M. Rivkin
2. 365 More Simple Science Experiments by R. Churchill, L. Loeschnig, and M. Mandell
3. The Creation retold by Pamela Broughton

Topics:

• Planets (Gen 1:1)
• Rocks and Minerals (Gen 1:1)
• Light (Day 1)
• Air (Day 2)
• Water (Day 2)
• Plants/Trees (Day 3)
• Sun, Moon, Stars (Day 4)
• Oceans and Lakes and their Inhabitants (Day 5)
• Birds/Flying Animals (Day 5)
• Land Animals/Insects (Day 6)
• Humans (Day 6)
• Weather

HISTORY (dates are approximate)
A Child's History of the World by Hillyer
Usborne World History: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler

• Creation through Abraham (5000 BC - 2000 BC)
• Isaac through Red Sea (2000 BC 0 1400 BC)
• Wilderness Wanderings through Samuel (1400 BC - 1000 BC)
• King Saul to Babylonian Captivity (1000 BC - 500 BC)
• Captivity to Birth of Jesus (500 BC - AD 4)
• Birth of Jesus through John on Patmos (AD 4 - AD 100)
• AD 100 - AD 500

MATH

• NUMERATION
  • Identify 0 to 100 – sheet with numbers on it; say numbers and cover them with green disk
  • Write 0 to 100
  
  NUMBER THEORY
  • Ordinals: First through Sixth
  • First, Next, Last
  • Before, After, Between
  • Patterns
  • Place Value: tens/ones
  
  COUNTING
  • Count to 150 by 1's
  • Count to 100 by 10's – dimes
  • Count to 50 by 5's – nickels
  • Count on
  
  ADDITION
  • Sums to 10
  • Equations: horizontal and vertical form
  • Money
  • Oral word problems
  
  SUBTRACTION
  • Differences to 10
  • Equations: horizontal and vertical form
  • Money
  • Oral word problems
  • Take-away
  • Comparison
  
  FRACTIONS
  • Equal Parts, halves, thirds, fourths
  • Halves of a set
  
  GEOMETRY
  • Flat Shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, symmetry, same shape – shape lotto
  • Solid Shapes: sphere, cylinder, rectangle solid, cube, cone – shape lotto?
  • Top, middle, bottom
  • Left, right
  • Over, under
  • Inside, outside
  • On, off
  • Front, back
  • Patterns
  
  ESTIMATION
  • Number of objects
  • Length (centimeters)
  • Weight (more/less)
  • Capacity (more/less)
  
  MEASUREMENT
  • Size: larger/smaller
  • Length/height
  • Longer/shorter
  • Measure length with non-standard units, inches, centimeters
  • Weight: more/less; pound
  • Capacity: hold more/holds less; cup, quart, gallon, liter
  • Temperature: Hot/Cold
  • Use: ruler, scale, thermometer, cup
  • Time: hour
  • Calendar: days, weeks, months, year
  • Money: penny, nickel, dime, quarter
  
  PROBLEM SOLVING
  • Oral word problems
  • Graphs
  • Probability
  
  STATISTICS AND GRAPHS
  • Pictographs
  • Bar graphs
  • Tallies
  
  CALCULATOR
  • Digital numbers
  • Make numbers
  • Count up, count back
  • Addition, subtraction

READING
K. wanted to learn to read and then took off reading while I was still teaching her phonics before she was five years old. If your child isn't reading yet, see the phonics and reading posts for 4 year olds.

• Books
• We will be using the first grade Bob Jones (published 1989) texts
• Blaze and the Forest Fire by C.W. Anderson
• Marty's Monster by Nancy Ellen Hird
• The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto by Natalie Standiford
• Games for Reading by Peggy Kaye
• COMPREHENSION (read this post)
• Picture reading
• Literal, interpretive, critical, appreciative levels of questioning
• Predict text, make inferences, draw conclusions, predict outcomes
• Compare, sequence events
• VOCABULARY
• Meaning from content
• Looking up new words in the dictionary
• LITERATURE
• Read a variety of genres; family stories, informational articles, fanciful animal stories, poetry, Bible accounts, realistic fiction
• Distinguish reality from fantasy
• SILENT READING
• Read for specific information and author's message
• ORAL READING
• Communicate message of the author
• Communicate in a natural manner
• Portray a character
• Respond to punctuation: period, exclamation point, question mark

WRITING

• Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye
• Capital Letter Stories published by Mead
• I made my own practice pages for numbers and lower case letters

FINE ARTS
In my posts I didn't specify when we did these things. We did Swan Lake during the winter, Sousa during June/July, etc. We watch the ballet in short segments, and didn't watch the whole thing. This is more for exposure.

• Peter and the Wolf
• John Philip Sousa, Sousa Marches, and Patriotic Songs
• Lives and Times: John Philip Sousa by Jennifer Blizin Gillis
• If you don't have any, borrow CDs from the library of Sousa's marches. K. loves to march around the house waving a flag.
• Swan Lake
• Listen to the music (tape or cd)
• Watch the ballet (video)
• Read Swan Lake by Zwerger
• Grand Canyon Suite
• The Moldau
• Hansel and Gretel (Opera)
• The Orchestra
• Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art with Children by Gladys S. Blizzard
• I checked this book out of the library and set it on our coffee table. Every so often when K. and I were sitting there I'd pick it up and we'd look at and discuss a picture/painting.
• I renewed this book as many times as I could, so we ended up having it a long time.

SKILLS
I've picked skills I want K. to learn or get better at and will concentrate on a couple during each month of school.