It’s the beginning of September and most of us have started our homeschool year. Right now we are connecting with other homeschool parents on social media and watching YouTube videos from our favorite homeschool accounts. With some pretty big transitions happening right now in our family, we are starting this year a little differently. In today’s blog, I am sharing our homeschool plans for the 2021-2022 Kindergarten year.
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Having recently sold our first home, and in the process of buying our second, I have decided to start our official homeschool year on October 1st, 2021. I am kicking the year off with a fun Friday outing and then diving in that following Monday. This will allow me to get us settling into our new environment.
As Eclectic Unschoolers, what we do is directed by the learner themselves. My role continues to be that of a mentor and observer. Over this past year, I have noticed that my oldest is really into writing books and creating stories. Because she is just turning six years old soon, this looks like her illustrating and me writing down the words for her.
I have also noticed her interest in gaming, dance, and engineering. These observations allow me to bring certain materials into the environment and our daily rhythm.
Our Kindergarten Year Plans
Here is what “curriculums” we will use this year unless she does not find them useful. I put curriculum in quotes because whatever we plan can always change because the child is the true curriculum.
However, as eclectic unschoolers, it means I pull from many different curriculums and philosophies to create a learning enviornment that is personalized and specific to the child.
Morning Jolt Basket (aka Morning Basket) Torrie at The Oglesby Ohana
One of my favorite homeschool moms on YouTube is Torrie at The Oglesby Ohana. In one of her recent videos, she talks about having two-morning baskets, one being called a Morning Jolt Basket. The idea behind this basket is to start the day screen-free and independent.
This idea reminds me of a morning play invitation or a mini-level toy rotation. I plan to have a Morning Jolt Basket for both of my girls who in October will be turning six and two.
Watch Torrie’s video for some ideas on what you can include in a Morning Jolt Basket. Once we start the school year, I will create an entire blog post sharing what is in our Morning Jolt Baskets.
Shelf Rotations (Montessori and Reggio Inspired)
In our new home, we don’t have a dedicated homeschool or playroom space. So, I will be utilizing a shelf for toy and activity rotation to stay organized and minimal. I plan to do more research and be more intentional this year with our rotations.
The activities and toys will likely be Montessori and Reggio inspired. You can learn more about these styles in my free ebook.
Read-Alouds
Read-alouds are the heart of our homeschool and I must admit, I have slacked this past year. My hope is that we will read a family read-aloud together in the evening. This read-aloud will likely be our chapter book or classic reads. During our homeschool day, I plan to read at least one picture book a day as a read-aloud.
Visit Sarah MacKenzie’s website for amazing booklist and if you haven’t already, read her book asap.
If you have not visited my Usborne Books & More website, this is where you will find read-alouds and core learning books (not your traditional textbooks). About 90% of our home library is of books from this publishing company.
Brave Writer’s Jot It Down Program
Must of our homeschooling is a mix of different ideas, resources, etc. and not an open and closed curriculum. Julie Bogart, creator of The Brave Writer program, has a great beginners writer “curriculum” for 5-8 year olds. Her program is awesome for all homeschool styles, even unschoolers.
We are using her Jot it Down program with our oldest because it sounds right up her alley basedc on her current interest in writing books. What is so cool about this program is that your learner is not physically writing, which developmentally, children should wait until age 7 or 8. Instead, the parent is the child’s transcriptionist, and the child is telling the story.
My oldest illustrates stories often and will ask me to write down the words for her. Instead of making her try to write it herself, which she is not developmentally ready to do, I excitedly write it down and will read it back to her. The Jot it down program has 10-developmentally appropriate writing projects to last the entire school year. This is in fact, the beginning stages of writing in my opinion and why we will be using Jot it Down this year for “kindergarten”. Find out more on Julie’s website.
What About Field Trips, Math, Science, Phonics, Etc.?
At this age, we are not doing anything too formal. We will save that for around age 7 or 8, when the brain is a little more developed. For now, these things will be learned naturally through play and exploration. Even in a pandemic, I plan to do a weekly outing that is safe and related to the writing project or whatever I observe my learner is interested in.
COMMENT
When did you officially start the homeschool year? Are you using any new curriculums? Did your learner go back to their local school? Share with us in the comments!
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