• Home
  • About
    • Our Family
    • Our Purpose
    • Our Beliefs
    • Our Christmas Letters
    • Other FAQ’s
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Shop
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Flanders Family Homelife

Living, Loving, & Learning Together

  • Home
  • Love
    • Respect your Husband
    • Love your Wife
    • Get Along with In-laws
    • Find Time for Intimacy
    • More on Marriage
  • Learn
    • Why Homeschool? Our Family’s Reasons
    • Occupying Toddlers
    • Kindergarten Plan
    • Choosing Curriculum: Cultivate Your Child’s Love for Learning
    • Report Cards
    • High School Transcripts
    • CLEP/ Dual Credit
    • High School Diplomas
  • Parent
    • Tips on Potty Training
    • Stop Sibling Squabbles
    • Chore Assignments
    • Computer TIme
    • Adult Children at Home
  • Eat
    • Breakfasts
    • Breads
    • Salads
    • Soups
    • Sides
    • Main DIshes
    • Desserts
  • Celebrate
    • New Year’s
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Easter
    • Summer Vacation
    • Independence Day
    • Back to School
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
  • Save
    • Kids Eat Free
    • Budgeting Tips
    • Earn Cash Back w/Ebates
  • Read
    • Recent Reads
    • Books We’ve Authored
    • Reading Rewards
    • Free Books!!
  • Travel
    • Vacation Planning
    • We Flew FREE to Europe
    • Sample Itineraries
  • Organize
    • General Tips
    • Goal Setting
    • Mom’s Notebook
    • Kitchen
    • Bedrooms
    • Garage
  • Print
    • Calendars
    • Chore Charts
    • Coloring Pages
    • Math Drills
    • Prayer Guides
    • View All >
  • Subscribe
You are here: Home / Home Schooling / Early Education / Kindergarten Recommendations: Lay a Foundation

in Early Education· Home Schooling· Mailbag

Kindergarten Recommendations: Lay a Foundation

I use Mondays for cleaning out my mailbox. This week, I’m fielding a question about what kind of kindergarten recommendations I would give parents of young children.

Kindergarten Recommendations

Question: Do you have any specific recommendations for kindergarten?

Dear Jennifer,

I am wondering if you have specific recommendations for Kindergarten. I am currently homeschooling my daughter in Pre-K, and I just don’t know where to go with her next year!

I would love to do Story of the World, but do you think Kindergarten is too young to start? I am wondering the same thing about the Apologia Young Explorer’s series. I would love to do them but don’t want to introduce them too early if she really isn’t ready.

Any other specific suggestions? We have used Bob Books, the Get Ready for the Code series, and a Critical Thinking Company math book this year, and those have been great fits.

Thanks,
Kelsey

Laying the Foundation for a Lifetime of Learning: practical suggestions for preschoolers

Answer: Make sure you lay a good foundation

Hi, Kelsey.

I asked that same question of a trusted homeschooling mentor nearly twenty-five years ago, when my oldest children were approaching kindergarten age. She gave excellent advice — which I followed with great results — so I’ll begin by sharing with you the suggestions she shared with me (after which, I’ll address your specific curriculum questions):

Don’t get in too big a hurry to do desk work with your little one. She likely has years of “formal education” ahead of her. You needn’t rush to get started.

There are better, more effective ways for her to learn during this season of her life than crouched over a workbook with pencil in hand.

My best kindergarten recommendations

  • Take walks
  • Go on a nature hike, take a stroll around the block, or try an outdoor scavenger hunt. Set a leisurely pace — it’s not a race. Stop and smell the roses. Point out bugs or birds or flowers you see along the way, and teach her the names of the ones you know. Let her pick up rocks or pinecones or pieces of bark to take back home and display on a shelf in the family room.

  • Play games
  • Teach your little ones to play checkers, chess, or other board games like Memory and Sorry. Work a puzzle together. Shuffle a deck of cards for a round of Old Maid or Spoons or Go Fish. Our family has been on a Bananagram jag lately. My older ones play by the rules — it’s a great game for practicing spelling skills — but my preschoolers just like to sort and stack the letter tiles, or use them to spell simple words they know (and not necessarily connected like a crossword puzzle).

  • Read books
  • Board books. Picture books. Chapter books. Reference books. Reading to your child is one of the best investments you can make in her education. Read what she loves. Share what you love. Give your child books as gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Build a home library of favorite books to read over and over and over again. Or get a library card and bring home a stack of new books every week. Or better yet, do both!

Read to your children!

  • Cook together
  • Let your little one help with meal preparation. Teach her to make simple dishes, like soup. She can peel carrots, add spices, pour in the water, and help stir — all with your supervision, of course. When baking, let her measure the ingredients, and show her how two half-cups (or three thirds or four fourths) make a whole. Experiment in the kitchen together and rate the results.

    Kindergarten Recommendations - Cooking Lessons

  • Sing songs
  • Make music a part of your daily life. Don’t just listen (although listening is recommended, too), but get involved with your own voice, and teach your child to do the same. Sing to your little ones and with your little ones. Sing praise songs and lovely old hymns, counting songs and spelling songs, songs that teach important concepts and songs that are pure nonsense, songs that you’ve loved for many years and songs you make up on the spot.

  • Memorize verses
  • Don’t underestimate your little one’s ability to learn things by heart. Capitalize on it. Teach her Scripture, poems, nursery rhymes, and historical speeches. I often combine this activity with the one above, and set whatever memory work we are doing to music. My own children have learned the times tables, the states and capitals, the planets of the solar system, the Preamble to the Constitution, and countless Bible verses (or even entire chapters) this way.

  • Go places
  • Take your little one on lots of “field trips.” Go to the park, the zoo, the science museum, the art museum, the children’s museum, and the planetarium. Take tours of any factory or business within driving distance that will give you one.

    When my oldest four were all six and under, their dad worked two days a week in Fort Worth, Texas, in the heart of the cultural district. The job was about an hour from our home, and he worked 11 hour shifts, so the children and I would often ride with him (otherwise, we’d hardly get to see him at all on those days), and spend the hours he was at work exploring all the area parks and museums. We learned SO MUCH doing that — without ever cracking open a schoolbook!

  • Do crafts
  • Give a little guidance to get her started, if necessary, then stand back and let her create. Or, better yet, sit across the table and work on your own creation while she labors at hers. You can spend a lot of money on art supplies, but at this age, that really isn’t necessary. A little glue, some construction paper, and a few colored markers will go a long way in encouraging your child’s creativity. You can also save tin cans, egg cartons, cereal boxes, and milk jugs, and challenge her to make something wonderful out of those objects. She may just surprise you.

  • Keep active
  • Your little one doesn’t need to sit in a desk for hours on end. Go outside and toss a frisbee, play tag, jog around the block, or go for a bike ride. Do whatever you can to keep your body and hers moving on a regular basis. (If you want a lot fun ideas for staying active as a family, check out my book, Get Up & Go.)

Get Up & Go: Fun Ideas for Getting Fit as a Family

  • Stay curious
  • Most children are naturally curious. Do your best to share, encourage, and cultivate that curiosity. Look for answers to your child’s burning questions together. Answer the questions you can, and show her where to find the answers you don’t know. Talk about other curious people. Let them inspire you. Familiarize your child with history’s great thinkers, inventors, and explorers, and note some of the modern day conveniences we have because of their curiosity and persistence.

My purpose for sharing this list with you is not to discourage “book learning,” but to balance it. Education can and should be far broader than workbooks and drills. Don’t buy into the notion that learning is something that happens only when the “school books” are out and open. That’s the whole beauty of home education — parents are not confined to a classroom, but can take advantage of all these other means of imparting knowledge, communicating truth, and fostering a lifetime love of learning in their little ones. (Of course, parents whose children are in private or public school also have the privilege of doing the things this list suggests — their families just have fewer hours together to squeeze such experiences into.)

As for your specific questions, I love Story of the World and Apologia’s Young Explorer’s series, as you already know if you’ve looked over my curriculum page.

Although I have never used either to teach a kindergartener by herself, my little ones have definitely listened in while I’ve read all those books to older siblings (and have learned a lot by doing so). Both series have lots of great suggestions for hands-on experiments and activities that your Kindergartner will remember for years to come.

So if you are itching to get started because your child has been eating up everything “bookish” you’ve done this year or is eager to begin “real school” (a common attitude among little girls), then by all means, go for it and cover the material at whatever pace you and your child are comfortable with.

But if you are just thinking about adding history and science because you feel obligated to do so, and it will mean making your already fidgety child sit still even longer (a common problem among little boys), then I’d advise you to stick with the above list of activities for Kindergarten and save the textbooks for later — maybe when a younger sibling is old enough to cover the same material.

Related

Leave a Comment

« Free Books: Start Building Your Home Library Today
In the Word on Wednesday: Ephesians 6:10 »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




meet the parents

Doug & Jennifer Flanders - www.flandersfamily.info

We love Jesus, love each other, love our 12 children, and love the life God's given us. We started this blog as a way to share resources with others who want strong marriages, happy families, & healthy homes.

Read more

connect with us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

looking for something?

freebies in your inbox

Join over 19K other subscribers and get sunshine delivered weekly to your inbox.

Unsure? Browse my newsletter archives to see what you're missing

get your family talking

Table Talk Book

cook gourmet meals at home

HelloFresh delivers great recipes and fresh ingredients to your home each week.

start your day right

make over your mornings

If your mornings don't run as smoothly as you'd like, this course can help. Good for night owls & early birds alike!

join the conversation

  • Jennifer Flanders on Super Simple Scherenschnitte Projects and Patterns
  • Jennifer Flanders on Pretty Printable Bible Memory Cards
  • Valerie on Pretty Printable Bible Memory Cards
  • Jennifer Flanders on Gospel Tracts for Valentine’s Day
  • Jennifer Flanders on 2024 Calendars for Advanced Planning
  • Jennifer Flanders on I Have a Dream! (Free Printables for MLK Day)
  • Brenda Ginther on I Have a Dream! (Free Printables for MLK Day)
  • Jessica on Super Simple Scherenschnitte Projects and Patterns

Readers' Favorites

Name that Line - Christmas Movie Game

Name that Line Christmas Quiz

Shares: 39502

How Well Do You Know Your Christmas Carols

How Well Do You Know Your Christmas Carols?

Shares: 28689

Age-Appropriate Children's Chore Chart - IG

Age-Appropriate Chores for Children

Shares: 92699

Make Every Month More Meaningful

Make Every Month More Memorable

Shares: 53475

most popular posts this week

  • Free Editable High School Transcript Template
  • 2023 Calendars for Advanced Planning
  • Number Writing Practice Sheet (Free Printable)
  • Free Printable Greeting Cards for All Occasions
  • Punch Cards to Encourage Kindness
  • One-Year Bible Reading Plan
  • Free Printable Home Health Care Chart
  • Free Printing Practice Sheets
  • Pretty Printable Bible Memory Cards
  • Conversation Starters for Winter Days

earn free books and bibles

Tyndale Rewards Club

This is a great program, and it's FREE! Bonus: when you sign up through this link, you get 25 points (& I get 10 -- so, thanks!).

free starter set

Free Starter Set from Grove Collaborativefree starter set from Grove

unleash your child’s creativity

agathon web hoting
Christian Family Blogs
  • Home
  • Faith
  • Family
  • Food
  • Fun
  • Freebies

visit jennifer’s blog

Jennifer Flanders' Blog: Loving Life At Home Loving Life at Home

visit doug’s blog

Doug Flanders' Blog: All Truth Is God's Truth All Truth is God's Truth

privacy policy | disclosure statement

shop our books

25 Ways to Communicate Respect to Your Husband 25 Ways to Show Love to Your Wife
Sit Down & Eat Get Up & Go

thanks for dropping by

Thank you for visiting our website Let's Get Social
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

looking for something?

recommended resources

as seen on:

America Tonight ABC Australia BBC Tyler Morning Telegraph

The kids and I enjoyed a leisurely bike ride along The kids and I enjoyed a leisurely bike ride along the Florida coast while Dad and Nana were out computer shopping.  #flandersfamilytravels #freshairandsunshine
I’m behind again… not on reading, but on posti I’m behind again… not on reading, but on posting the books as I finish them. My second read for the year was an audiobook by Robert and Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth called You Can Trust God to Write Your Story.  I found it both enjoyable and encouraging. The authors take turns reading the book, detailing the stories of biblical, historical, and modern day believers and sharing the journey God has taken each of them through for their good and His glory.  #flandersfamilyreads #godisgoodallthetime
We enjoyed some gorgeous sunsets in Florida last w We enjoyed some gorgeous sunsets in Florida last week, including this one on Laguna Beach.  #flandersfamilytravels #goodtimes #floridabeaches #ontheroadagain
We got one more State Capitol stamp in our passpor We got one more State Capitol stamp in our passports.  #ontheroadagain #flandersfamilytravels #louisianastatecapitol
Does the new year give anybody else the itch to ta Does the new year give anybody else the itch to tackle home improvement projects?  We’ve been gaining a lot of good woodworking experience over here for the past week (and dirt work/stone laying before that). Today our new picket fence (hopefully) gets a coat or two of white paint!  #householdchores #fixerupper
Finished my first book of the new year: Deep Work Finished my first book of the new year: Deep Work by Cal Newport. It was very inspiring! I’ve already begun implementing several of his suggestions, hoping to spend less time splashing around in the shallows in order to dive deep into 2023!  #flandersfamilyreads #goals
Today is National Take Down Your Christmas Tree Da Today is National Take Down Your Christmas Tree Day, so I guess I’m going to box this beauty up for another year, along with all the other trees scattered through my house.  Except the tree in our bedroom. I may just decide to keep that one up all year and switch out the ornaments to match the seasons: hearts for Valentine’s, birds, nests, and birdhouses for spring, stats and stripes for Independence Day — you get the idea.  Anybody else have a hard time clearing out all the decorations after Christmas is done and dusted?  #ochristmastree #ochristmastree #howfaithfulareyourbranches
I took the grandkids to have their teeth cleaned t I took the grandkids to have their teeth cleaned today. The best thing about being the last patients of the morning? Getting to go for an impromptu picnic with your dentist-aunt on her lunch break.  #brushandfloss #brightsmiles #ilovemydentistdaughter
Our year in pictures: 2022 highlight reel 👍🏻 Our year in pictures: 2022 highlight reel 👍🏻
There is never a shortage of aunts and uncles clam There is never a shortage of aunts and uncles clamoring to hold the baby when grandkids come to visit!  #bigfamilylife #babiesareblessings

Copyright © 2023 · Market theme by Restored 316