How to Schedule a Homeschool Kindergarten Day
Free resource that accompanies this post:
”My Kindergarten Homeschool Schedule”
www.TheParentTeacherBridge.com/kinderschedule
Are you planning on homeschooling a kindergartener this coming year? Maybe this is your first child and this is all new territory, or perhaps it’s your first time to homeschool! This blog post is for you! I’ve homeschooled two kindergarteners so far, and I’m going to share with you some simple and effective ideas that are sure to not overwhelm you!
Maybe you’ve heard from friends that kindergarten should be 100% play and that you shouldn’t push reading. That sounds exciting for your child, but you want assurance that your child is learning something. You definitely want your child ready for first grade--especially if you decide to enroll your child in traditional school next year.
It can be difficult to find a balance between the amount of play and the amount of learning. But let me assure you that most of what your child has to learn academically in kindergarten can be learned in a hands-on way that is more play-like. Songs and games that teach kindergarten skills are in abundance! It does not take much of your day to teach kindergarten skills at home. Then, your child will still have loads of time for play, play-dates, and field trips.
Everyone has a different experience when it comes to entering Kindergarten!
Some children have attended a preschool that is very structured and academic. In that case, they might have reached most kindergarten goals PRIOR to kindergarten. These children might need to hone their skills, fill in some learning gaps, or learn a new skill or talent.
Some children don’t begin learning the ABCs until they turn age 5 and are starting kindergarten.
All of these children are still young, however, and do not require an 8 hour day of sitting at table with school work. Some children work slower than others, so I’m going to give a window of about 1.5 hours of instruction and practice up to 3 hours for a kindergartener. Some children are older kindergarteners and some can focus longer.
That does NOT mean 3 hours straight of sitting down doing school work. I would not have instruction or work lasting more than 20 minutes. I would give brain breaks as needed but definitely between activities. If you’d like to hear more about brain breaks, you can watch my video on Brain Breaks here.
What if your state has specific requirements about homeschooling a certain number of hours per day? How do you fill that time?
Consider this: There are many things you can do to fill up the rest that time with learning.
PE is part of homeschool
Art is part of homeschool
Music is part of homeschool
Not to mention, there are loads of educational shows that will expose your child to a wide array of topics that relate to science and social studies.
You could even have a time set aside for centers: sorting and categorizing things by shapes, colors and sizes, cutting and pasting, or even iPad time for educational games.
What else can you think of adding to your day for your child to learn and experience? Comment below!
I find it helpful to break the day into segments of 20 minutes (max) each.
Let’s take a look at some:
Reading activities (20 minutes max)
This might start with pre-reading activities like ABCs and rhyming, progressing toward….
ABCs, reading words by decoding
sight words, sight word phrases
Reading beginner level books
You might choose to purchase a curriculum that has everything ready to go for you. I recommend one that is highly rated by many people and that has a checklist to ensure you are getting the correct level for your child.
Listening to reading (20 minutes max)
Develop listening skills
Discuss with parent throughout the book
Develop comprehension
Hear proper fluency
Increase vocabulary
Learn content for character development, science and social studies from books . Some all-in-one curriculum have books that come with them, but really you can ready any combination of library books and bedtime books with your child.
Writing (20 minutes max)
Building words or spelling them out on paper
Handwriting
Drawing, labeling with sounds, words, then sentences. This is language expression on paper. It will progress throughout the year as long as your child is practicing regularly. You can purchase a curriculum of year-long plans from Teacherspayteachers.com or keep a journal.
Math (20 minutes max)
Counting and patterns
Writing and representing numbers with models
Comparing and manipulating numbers
Understanding addition and subtraction in numbers less than 10
Calendar math (days of week, months of year, relationships of time between the two)
Handwriting (20 minutes max)
Developing proper motor skills (gross, fine, cutting, pasting, etc.)
Developing pencil grip
Forming letters correctly
Make the schedule work for you!
This is NOT SET IN STONE. The time segments can be shortened or lengthened as needed. Take breaks where you need them.
You can do the segments in any order that works for you. I heard a parent comment the other day that she was going to do the reading aloud time after lunch to calm her child down. She said her child was more fresh in the morning to learn new things. I have found the same to be true for my own children, but you can try all of these segments and rearrange as needed. You may choose to do some prior to lunch with brain breaks, have lunch, recess, and then another one or two segments. Depending on whether you buy an all-in-one curriculum or piece the subjects together, you may even combine some subjects.
Make it visual!
Children work better with routine and with visuals, so feel free to write out your schedule or even add some clip art so your child can see things checked off throughout the day. If you choose to, you can use a clothespin to clip on sections of the schedule so your child knows where you are throughout the day.
Have a catch-up day:
I find it incredibly helpful to have a catch-up day in my schedule. For you, that might be Fridays only or even a weekend day. After all, these segments of direct instruction and practice only total up to about an hour and a half (more if your child takes longer). In our family, we homeschool year-round as a way to make up for crazy times, running errands, holidays, and unexpected events.
I hope this gives you a starting point to make your schedule and tweak it for your needs. Consider using sentence strips for the title of each segment. You can use magnets on the fridge for each segment so that you can rearrange the titles easily and quickly when you want to adapt the schedule. It may help you in the first month as you nail down what order is best. Teachers do this in school all the time. Some years, teachers don’t have the best schedule as far as lunch, recess, and specialty classes. The good thing for you is that you can always change what’s not working for you and customize it to your needs.
Here is a free sample of a kindergarten homeschool schedule :
www. theparentteacherbridge.com/kinderschedule
Here is my free guide “5 Quick Tips to Immediately Help your Struggling Reader” :
www.TheParentTeacherBridge.com/readinghelp
Do you have a friend who would benefit from this information? Share it with them.
Remember, you are your child’s most influential teacher.