It’s my 2nd time teaching Kindergarten and I have to say, it’s probably my favorite year to teach!
You might notice that this year’s picks look a little different from when I did it 4 years ago with my eldest. This is intentional. I did it because they are both different persons with very different strengths, interests and skills.
My eldest, for example, did a lot of independent reading at this stage. We also focused on a lot of history and biographies because he was so interested in these! My youngest on the other hand, is very good with crafts. He loves to make his own toys out of paper, origami and handicrafts. So, I make sure we have a lot of time for drawing and hands on activities.
So here’s a list of my Kindergarten curriculum picks for this year. As always, hope this helps you on your own unique journey!
FAITH & CHARACTER
- “The Biggest Story”: This is currently our favorite children’s Bible. We read 1 story per day.
- “The Ology”: Theology for kids
- Memorize hymns like Amazing Grace, All Creatures of Our God and King
- Memorize Bible verses like Psalm 23 and Psalm 1
- “Book of Virtues” and “Children’s Book of Virtues”: We read these as part of our “Snack and Poetry” sessions
* NOTE: (We do these during Morning Time. Read more about having a Morning Time routine here)
ENGLISH
- “All About Reading 1“: I did this also with my eldest and it’s been effective with my second as well.
- “All About Reading 2”: We are starting on this because he finished the first one early. Unsure if we will stick with this to the end. I didn’t do this with my eldest.
- “Reading Literature The Primer”
- A lot of picture books for read aloud! With special focus on Beatrix Potter’s books and Brambly Hedge
- AA Milne’s “When We Were Very Young” and “Now We Are Six” for poetry
MATH
- “Dimensions Math” Kinder A & B
- “Dimensions Math” 1: Because he finished the Kinder books early
- Supplemented with “The Good and the Beautiful Level K Math” (more on for the hands on activities)
- Twinkl for Philippine Money worksheets and additional drills
SCIENCE & NATURE STUDY
- “Nature Stories for Young Readers” by Florence Bass
- “Let’s Read and Find Out” book set: Was supposed to be a supplement but my youngest really loves this! So we are going through the books one at a time. Linking the set at Shopee because they sent me a set and this is what we use, but these books are being sold a lot at secondhand shops and you can just pick the titles you like
- “First Look at Philippine Birds”
- “First Look at Philippine Flowers”
- “First Look at Philippine Fish”
CHINESE
- No workbook
- Read aloud Mandarin picture books
- Practice writing simple words and his name
FILIPINO
- “Bandila: The Story of the Philippine Flag”
- “The Myths and Legends of the Philippines: A Seek & Find Book”
- A lot of Filipino read alouds: Same as what I do in English, we read a lot of storybooks but in Filipino
- Memorize and sing Filipino folk songs such as: “Tong, Tong, Tong,” “Ako ay May Lobo,” “Bahay Kubo,” and “Magtanim ay Di Biro”
GEOGRAPHY
- “Seven Little Sisters Who Live on the Round Ball That Floats in the Air”
- Introducing simple map work like giving a blank map and labelling countries that we are talking about in the story
ART
- Introduction to various artists such as Henri Rousseau, Frida Kahlo, Wassily Kadinksky, Leonardo da Vinci, Banksy and Pierre Auguste Renoir
- Focus on handicrafts such as origami, clay sculpting and nature crafts
* NOTE: I recommend starting with Van Gogh and Monet if it’s your first time to introduce the kids to art history. You may check out these articles I’ve written previously to help you get ideas: “Van Gogh for Little Kids” and “Anholt’s Artist Series”
MUSIC
- Introduction to Vivaldi by reading “Four Seasons in One Day” and listening to his Four Seasons pieces
- Introduction to Tchaikovsky by reading “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker” and listening to his pieces
- Introduction to Mozart by reading picture books and listening to his pieces
- Violin lessons
* NOTE: I always start with these 3 then I add Beethoven after. These are my favorites to teach at an early age.
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Kindergarten is such a wonderful time to explore a variety of topics and interests! It’s also so much fun to get to know our child better at this stage. Hope this list helps you as you plan for your kindergartener’s year. If you’re looking for more ideas, you can always follow me on Instagram, where I post a lot of our projects and day to day things!
You can always check out the links below for more!
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