Our Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum for 2022-2023

First a bit of backstory. I was a high school teacher prior to deciding to stay home with my kiddos and homeschool. So when my oldest was going into Kindergarten, I was still very much in the public school mentality. I knew I didn’t have to do “school at home,” but I was still only loosely familiar with Charlotte Mason’s philosophy. And I certainly didn’t understand the concept of quiet growing years before age six. I began Kindergarten with my oldest very eager to totally nail this whole homeschooling thing. So we did alllll the things.

And while we certainly enjoyed the year, looking back on it I see that I put too much pressure on us.

Now that I’ve learned so much more about Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, I know that Mr. Five’s Kindergarten year will look quite different. Because it’s not just about the curriculum we’re using, but it’s about our entire approach to Kindergarten and making sure we preserve those quiet growing years as much as possible.

With all of that said, let’s dive into the curriculum we’ll be using!

OUR KINDERGARTEN HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM FOR 2022-2023

A FORMIDABLE LIST OF ATTAINMENTS FOR A CHILD OF SIX

Okay, so this isn’t a curriculum at all, but I’m starting here because this list of attainments provides a lot of guidance about what types of riches to include in our Kindergarten year. I want to make sure that we’re not so focused on the “curriculum” side of things that we forget to do these other beautiful things.

For us, many of the attainments are built into our homeschool days already, because Mr. Five does A LOT of school with Mr. Seven. We all do handicrafts together, go on nature hikes together, we do morning basket together in which we read literature, history, natural history, some geography, and poetry. Mr. Five is familiar with the artists and composers we’ve studied, and even joins in for our Solfége lessons.

But I’m using this list to make sure that Mr. Five can attain these skills on his own, not just in his big brother’s shadow, if that makes sense.

KINDERGARTEN HOMESCHOOL READING CURRICULUM

For reading this year, we are going to be using All About Reading’s Pre-Reading curriculum. We LOVE this program! I used it with my oldest son, and it was a delightful, gentle introduction to the alphabet and The Big 5 Skills that kids need prior to beginning to read (see my full review HERE). And also, they LOVE Ziggy the Zebra!

Alongside All About Reading, I’ll be using the Pre-Reading lesson guide that A Delectable Education put together. It gives examples of what Charlotte Mason pre-reading lessons should look like, along with lots of activity suggestions. I think it will pair perfectly with AAR’s Pre-Reading Program!

KINDERGARTEN HOMESCHOOL MATH CURRICULUM

The decision about how to approach math with my Kindergartener was actually a tough one. I had several options that I was considering, and in the end, I realized that I love the Charlotte Mason approach to math so much that I didn’t want to start with anything else.

The hesitation I had about using this book with Mr. Five was two-fold.

First, I JUST finished it with Mr. Seven, and he’ll be doing Book 2 this year. I didn’t want Mr. Seven to feel like he was somehow behind in math with Mr. Five being right behind him. (It turns out, I was worried about nothing and way overestimated how much they care about stuff like that.)

Second, because Mr. Five isn’t in formal lessons yet, I didn’t want to begin anything that might be too rigorous. I don’t consider this to be a rigorous curriculum, but I also didn’t want to start too soon. But I just decided that instead of moving at the same pace Mr. Seven did, we’ll go very slowly – one number per week – and make sure to take plenty of time for practice, hands-on manipulatives, and number exploration.

And you guys, I’m SO EXCITED! We love this curriculum (you can see why HERE), and can’t wait to go through it again!

KINDERGARTEN HOMESCHOOL LITERATURE CURRICULUM

I am very thrilled about the books we’ll be reading this year! Not only will we continue to read seasonal picture books from Read Aloud Revival’s Around the Year in Picture Books lists, but we’ll be reading some beautiful, classic children’s literature this year.

For the first term, we’ll be reading Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. That will pair perfectly with poetry, as we’re reading A.A. Milne for Term One.

During our second term, we’ll be reading Beatrix Potter. We have A Beatrix Potter Treasury, and we were actually gifted the beautiful World of Peter Rabbit box set, and I’m soooo excited to incorporate them into our morning basket!

And then during our third term, we’ll be reading Brambly Hedge. We clearly love stories that feature talking animals as the central characters.

A YEAR OF PLAYING SKILLFULLY

I first bought A Year of Playing Skillfully when Mr. Seven was only 4, and we used it as the base of his preschool year. We absolutely ADORED this curriculum, so we have just continued using it a little each year. It’s such a beautiful, play-based, wonder-filled curriculum and it has led us to make so many treasured memories as a family.

I’m thrilled to begin this in earnest with Mr. Five this year!

If you’d like to read my full review, you can find that HERE.
And to see how I organize this curriculum, head right over HERE.

And that’s it, friends! I’ve probably said it too many times already, but I’m very excited about this year. I’m praying it’s a joy-filled, beautiful year!

What about you – what curriculum are you using for your kiddo’s Kindergarten homeschool year? I’d love to hear from you below!