Kindergarten Schedule with the Trivium

For our two older children kindergarten consisted of learning to read using The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and a bit of math.  But this year is different: our youngest has seen the other two doing school at home for the past 3 years and now expects the same treatment.  And so the search began for quality curriculum that not only would keep a 5 year old entertained, but also would provide the classical style of education I love so much. As I always do, I first wrote down my goals for the year and then came up with a schedule.  After that all I had to do was find the curriculum to fit.

While searching for books which focus on phonics I came across Veritas Phonics Museum.  This program incorporates history, art, and music to teach reading.  It seems that some who have used Phonics Museum disliked the music, but my youngest asks to listen to the CD daily.  Also, another complaint was the beginning few books.  The first few stories are a bit stilted as it is quite difficult to write a good story with only a few letters and one vowel, but my child liked even the first book after I explained a few of the sentences and we discussed what was happening.  Another thing I especially like is the way they teach handwriting and I am not sure if any other program does this.  The child doesn't trace the letters, but fills in a bubble like letter.  I believe this takes away some of the frustration for those children who do not have a steady hand.  After using the program for about 6 weeks my youngest has better handwriting then the 4th grader.

I believe there are two drawbacks to the Veritas program.  The major one is price.  This is an extremely expensive curriculum, but there are many places to purchase it used which I was able to do. Another area in which you can save some money is by not purchasing the teacher manual.  The workbook is pretty much self explanatory.  Now and then there is an instance where a picture needs clarifying:  i.e. is it an ox or a cow? But this is few and far between and I hardly ever open my book. The second issue is this program may not be enough on its own to teach reading, but with another book like Ordinary Parents Guide I feel my youngest is getting a wonderful phonics background.

For history I am using History Stories for Children by Dr. John W. Wayland and for science I chose The World God Made published by Christian Liberty Press.  For both these I will supplement with books from the library and those we own.  For extra reading and to add a bit of fun I purchased coloring books to coincide with fables, tales, character stories or poems and while I read my youngest colors the pages.

When it comes to religion I read a Bible story out loud, my child then retells it and I copy the sentences down.  Then my youngest draws a picture to go with it.  This way at the end of the year there will be a mini Bible story book illustrated and dictated in my child's own words.  Also, at the beginning of the week we memorize a Bible verse to corospond with the letter of the week.  A for example is "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23.

I absolutely love Singapore Math and that is what we are doing not just for Kindergarten but for all grades.  A really wonderful math program.

An average day takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  So far it has been quite enjoyable for the both of us.  I have a link to my schedule if you are interested.

Kindergarten Schedule