Kindergarten Curriculum Choices 2023-2024 | Homeschool Curriculum for Kindergarten Subjects

[@SevenInAll]

Stay tuned for the next video to hear the behind-the-scenes process on WHY I settled on these curriculum choices, and other options I considered.

[@racheletter-phoya2461]

I'm looking forward to your next video. I'm grateful for all you've shared as we consider homeschooling. We have boys just a bit younger than yours with three nationalities in the mix. Living in/from the country of the story you once shared, 'Galimoto' ;) I'm really curious how you actually use two maths curriculums side by side and why you choose MWC as the base over MUS. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts in the next video about why you don't simply go with Sonlight K and just use the science. I'm also searching for a German language curriculum in a similar style to your use of Spanish. So it's a joy to hear how you're integrating Spanish and the journey for you and the boys in this.

[@SevenInAll]

@@racheletter-phoya2461 I will also have an upcoming video showing 1st grade MWC and MUS Alpha side by side to talk in more detail about both of those!

[@JoyfulNoiseLearning]

Do I have a Kindergartener next year? No. Do I love just watching curriculum videos? Yes. 😂😂

[@SevenInAll]

We can admit this to ourselves. :P

[@JoyfulNoiseLearning]

BFB Around the World is SO GOOD! So excited for you 🎉🎉

[@SevenInAll]

I'm really excited! We'll actually be starting that in April, so it's coming up real soon here!

[@BearBettermentSchool]

My daughter turned 6 two weeks ago, and I say she’s in Kindergarten, but we haven’t been doing anything below a 1st grade level since she started last Fall. For me, her “grade” is age based. Her “level” is completely independent of age and grade.

[@SevenInAll]

That's exactly how I approach it. Skill-based work is the level that fits his actual skills. Grade is based on age.

[@homeschoollifemom]

Can’t wait to hear the thought process behind them. Also would love to see a flip through or inside look at MWC grade 1. Planning as of now to use with my daughter this fall!

[@SevenInAll]

I will definitely be showing a closer look at MWC 1 sometime soon! And look for that thought process video coming soon!

[@StaceyYoder]

Lots of great choices! I love how much you enjoy homeschool and so does your son. Can't wait for the next video.

[@SevenInAll]

Thank you so much! I'm so thankful for this lifestyle of learning together!

[@kara3930]

I definitely think Beautiful Mundo lends itself to "growing" with the student. I plan on us going through it a few times.

[@SevenInAll]

I very much agree! Getting the books allowed us to build a little Spanish library here at home and now we'll get more and more out of those books and engage with them better as they grow.

[@roseylove1543]

We love Math with Confidence too. My little one will “technically” be in Kindergarten next school year and she will be in 1st grade MWC as well. All About Reading looks very solid. We have been using and LOVING the new language arts from TGTB 😊

[@SevenInAll]

I was taking some time to look through MWC 1 when I was getting ready to film this video, and it was making me excited to continue on with the next level. :)

[@brynn8188]

My youngest kids are 11, and i still love your videos for your young ones. Looking forward to your older sisters' plans too! I purchased a used core 200 after watching your video at the beginning of the year.

[@SevenInAll]

Aww, I love hearing that! I love so many books in that Core 200! Planning to share more of their schoolwork soon.

[@mommyonthemove25]

All about reading has been a great fit for us.

[@SevenInAll]

That's awesome to hear!

[@brittanyolga]

These are some awesome choices. I would love to see your behind the scenes thought process. I love brain dump videos. ❤

[@SevenInAll]

haha, that one is coming soon! You know there's a lot of thought that goes into all these curriculum picks!

[@ET-np8if]

Love your opinions on curriculum picks. We started Math With Confidence 2 with my second grader this year and absolutely love it. It’s been a great fit. I’m looking for my Kindergartener and I’m a bit nervous teaching him how to read (This is the first time I’ll be homeschooling one from the beginning). Thanks for the info.

[@ET-np8if]

I’ve heard LOT of good reviews for All About Reading. I’m leaning that way and like you suggest, taking it slow and steady.

[@SevenInAll]

Taking it slow and steady, and being willing to offer other decodable readers to add variety and more practice worked well for our initial journey into reading (when starting with AAR1, look for readers that stick to short vowel words, and don't include long vowels or phonograms like ar,er,or, etc.). I can completely relate to being nervous about the learning to read process.

[@HomeschoolwithRachel]

Fantástico! Looks like a great year ahead for your kindergartener. I’m all for milking a good curriculum for all it’s worth as well!

[@SevenInAll]

haha, yes! And I think Beautiful Mundo is a good one for repetition--we haven't focused much on the vocab lists, as most of those are basics that they know...but still, even with having a solid foundation of basics, when it comes to reading books and poetry, and singing songs, there is so much rich vocabulary to grow into!

[@cyn8733]

You are so helpful! I enjoy all your videos ❤

[@SevenInAll]

Aww, thank you so much!

[@cynthia_christine_]

Our choices with reading/ math are the same ! lol i’m also doing MWC with my soon to be kindergartener and will probably doing MWC 1 in the late summer/fall also ! I added in mathematical reasoning because he keeps wanting to do more but I don’t want him to just go super speed through the math. Have you looked at Simply charlotte mason Arithmetic 1? I wonder if you think it would be a good compliment to MWC, it seems mostly oral.

[@SevenInAll]

The mathematical reasoning books look awesome! I haven't looked into the Charlotte Mason Arithmetic....The reason I went with Math-U-See as a complement to MWC is very practical--my mom already had Math-U-See in her homeschool 'collection', and my son tends to love worksheets....so basically this gives us extra worksheets. haha!

[@cynthia_christine_]

@@SevenInAll lol yes i totally get that! my son loves the worksheets too! I appreciate your videos because I can relate so much with the love of worksheets and that some boys do love to write even at 4! My older boy does MUS , we love it. I think it might be a good investment so I dont have to keep printing things everyday lol thank you for sharing!

[@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable]

This all looks very fun! I can’t wait to see how you like Beautiful Feet and Science K. 😊 We love AAR and Explode the Code in our home too. They compliment each other very well. ❤

[@SevenInAll]

I'm excited for some of these new-to-me resources! This video was filmed a little bit ago...actually ended up already pulling in Explode the Code book 1 and as predicted, he loves it. lol!

[@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable]

@@SevenInAll That’s awesome!

[@faithfullyinfertile]

Looks like a great year ahead! I look forward to following your journey!

[@SevenInAll]

Looking forward to the next year!

[@RockSimmer-gal4God]

We love rabbit trails with geography!!! I love the idea of including your son’s aunt!!! I don’t worry about grade levels!!!! We love sonlight science but we’ve only used their high school science levels!!!

[@SevenInAll]

I think the girls will really love getting to 'explore' some countries of the world with us! I used some elementary Sonlight Science when I was a kid but they have made major changes to the programs since then.

[@dianamangold8621]

Very helpful as always! I‘d love to hear what readers you are using with AAR - since they introduce certain concepts like the various functions of e relatively late, I find it hard to match up with traditional decodable readers. Thank you!

[@SevenInAll]

it can be hard to find readers that truly just stick to short vowel sound words and not much else. My answer may not be that helpful, my mom has the old "Sing, Spell, Read, and Write" series of readers--which is a phenomenal series of readers, very carefully designed, and the first six books (fairly long books containing multiple short stories within each) don't have any long vowels. But...as far as I can tell, they're out of print. Which is why that isn't a very helpful answer. Sometimes they can be found second-hand. He's also been able to read some of the Usborne first readers (the ones that have "partner" stories, where the adult reads one side and the child reads the other side)--those are fun, but only about the first 4 of those stick to the kinds of words he's learned to read so far.

[@anissamiracle4862]

Loved seeing your choices!

[@SevenInAll]

Yay, thank you! :)

[@oursweetiebirdshome]

Looks like wonderful choices! ❤

[@SevenInAll]

I'm excited for the year ahead!

[@nishacongrove6238]

Fun to see what you'll be doing! I used Pata Pita with my first two as a supplemental resource for reading. :) Do you plan to start that as soon as you've gone through Llamitas? Or at the same time? I know Llamitas has some phonics, so doesn't it overlap some? Will you be using any other resources for teaching reading in Spanish?

[@SevenInAll]

I have the Nacho book as well as La Pata Pita...my thought right now is to start reading through those once we finish up Llamitas...there's definitely overlap, because Llamitas is doing exercises with sílabas which is helping lay that groundwork, but I'm hoping that the overlap will help just make it easy once we start just reading through the short lessons in those...and hopefully once we get through that I can find some easy reader type books (I have one of the Rafi y Rosi books but most of our picture books aren't actually designed for kids to read). Teaching reading in Spanish definitely intimidates me although I do realize it's not actually that difficult...it's just that it's new ground.

[@katrinalamphere5700]

I’m so excited for your next video!!! ❤

[@SevenInAll]

Thanks! I love hearing that! It will release tomorrow!

[@budgetnutritionist]

Are you still planning on doing G+C sequence 1 and the next level of their Nature curriculum?

[@SevenInAll]

I'm planning on doing G+C Sequence 1 in 1st grade (Primer was very doable for my son in Pre-K but I think Sequence 1 will be a better fit when he's truly a 1st grade age level....hence our adventures 'around the world' for kindergarten. :) I may possibly do Nature 3...it will depend...the theme for that one is tied around food & farming if I remember right...and I think it doesn't release until next summer.

[@mikeandambermotsch9122]

I believe it’s the gentle classical that you left out 😄

[@SevenInAll]

That'll be a change! Stay tuned for the next video to hear my plan and 'why'...

[@amandab.6815]

Can't wait for the follow up video!

[@SevenInAll]

That will be coming soon! Chatting about different options I considered and how I ended up with these choices.

[@amandab.6815]

@Seven In All That will be so fun! I have basically the same line up as you for my current 4.5 year old. He is currently working through K math with Confidence and AAR 1. Next year we will continue with those and then move onto the next level. And we will be doing Around the World with Picture books as a family in the fall!

[@amandab.6815]

So I guess the "missing" material would be the Sonloght core. And maybe because you have a lot of literature already with Beautiful Feet and your Spanish curriculums...

[@SevenInAll]

;) I'll be sharing more about that decision soon!

[@lisaroper421]

Looks like a great year! I have a question that sort of fits in this area. My two boys are about the age of your two boys (5 and 3.5), and I am having a hard time not having them be a little class the two of them. I think the older one really has more he can learn at this stage, but the younger is also picking most of it up! Do you try to separate your boys in math and reading? Or do you just let them learn together, and younger brother will just trail away when he wants, or what? Am I making a deal out of nothing? I just worry about future prombles if I equate them at this stage.

[@SevenInAll]

My boys are together for all of our 'story' subjects--books and memory work--and my little guy picks up a lot from that. But they aren't really together for math and reading. My little one sometimes wants to join in our math games (even when he doesn't quite know what's going on...he just plays on my team) and definitely picks up stuff but he just runs in and out of the room while I work with my older son. Then I'll sit down with him on his own to color, cut and paste, talk about letters and numbers--he's just 3, will only be 3.5 this summer, and has a very different temperament, so he's quite young for a lot of what my older son is doing. IF your younger one has a temperament where he WANTS to get involved and try at his own level and he's capable of it...then I'd let him...but I'd also still give him individualized attention to make sure skills that he may not be ready for right now still get taught when he is ready. (i.e. how to form letters correctly, for example). I will have an upcoming video on my preschool plans for my little one!

[@lisaroper421]

@@SevenInAll That's good advice. It can be hard to tell if things are mountains or molehills, can't it? Just me? 😅 Definitely looking forward to preschool choices and thought processes!

[@g.palmer]

For Llamitas did you purchase the digital copy and print it yourself? Last time I purchased a digital file, Staples quoted me over $200 for color (over 1000 pages)so I haven't purchased a digital curriculum since.

[@SevenInAll]

I have the digital copy and started by printing it myself at home (later, the curriculum creator wanted to sponsor a video and sent me the physical copy, so the bound copy I show in this video is the print version that they offer). I do think that buying digital and printing yourself can save money, but ONLY if you have a printer at home that can do the printing--and you can do things like use the settings that save ink, use cheap paper, etc. Once you have to send out to Staples and similar places, the prices are typically MUCH higher than those offered by the homeschool company itself. There are also a few homeschool printing services that exist for the purpose of printing digital homeschool files, and those tend to be more affordable than Staples. One I've used before is Family Nest Printing (affiliate link: lddy.no/t747 ), but I know there are other homeschool print services out there, and they usually let you test out prices by putting in the number of pages, color, double sided, etc, and see how much. Also, on the topic of saving a few dollars, I have an affiliate account with Llamitas now so I have 10% off code in the description of this video.

[@grace2you598]

Bible, History? Love your choices!

[@SevenInAll]

You noticed those gaps! Will talk about it in my upcoming video!

[@brookeally1346]

How old do you start kindergarten? I know in the school system my son would be technically going to prek. But his birthday is January (he will be 5) So starting August we will start kindergarten. He’s also a little ahead in most areas so that’s another reason.

[@SevenInAll]

I'm following the typical recommendations as far as what I'm officially calling this grade level (i.e. my son turned 5 this spring and so this upcoming school year is what I'll call his 'kindergarten' year, officially.)...but as far as what level of subject to choose...I'm going with what he can do, which is why, we'll be doing a 1st grade math program and probably getting into a reading program that's also more of a typically 1st grade level. Does that make sense? As far as "official" naming of the grade goes, I stick to my state's recommendations, but I work with the child's pace as far as what level of work we're doing. This one has a natural knack for and interest in numbers and letters, so I started some 'kindergarten' level work with him when we started Pre-K last fall.

[@brookeally1346]

@@SevenInAll ok I gotcha! Makes sense. He just started mwcK because we completed preschool math at Home months ago so I didn’t want him to get too far off track. By the time we get to kindergarten he will probably be doing first grade mwc too. Next year he will be in “pre-k” but most of the core subjects will be kindergarten level. Thank you! I was just wondering because Homeschool is just so different and I was private and public schooled. Learning all that I can and it’s a lot to learn. Phew 😅

[@koralswinney4823]

How do you do time management with one kid being in kinder and the other in preschool?

[@SevenInAll]

My oldest definitely spends more time on his schoolwork than my younger son--as is appropriate for their differing developmental levels. Our usual routine looks a lot like this: When they wake up, I make breakfast and we do 'morning storytime' over breakfast--this includes Bible, storybooks, and memory statement cards from Gentle + Classical. Some of these are more aimed at my oldest, but I always include shorter, simpler picture books aimed at my youngest, because while he'll sit through his older brother's stories, he's not as advanced with being able to answer questions about those stories and discuss them. Then they play while I do some morning housework, then I'll call one or the other to the table for schoolwork. It's a bit easier if they'll come one at a time, but a lot of times, they want to do schoolwork together, which means a little bit more to juggle on my part, but I make it work--usually by having one of them do something he can do with less instruction while I instruct the other one. My preschooler has a morning binder that we go through, plus some simple tracing/coloring activities (some of which are more just open-ended coloring, so he can 'work' on those while I'm focusing on big brother). My kindergartener has math, phonics, and Spanish lessons plus a couple of workbooks or some days, adding to his notebooks, and his schoolwork takes longer. Whenever the preschooler is 'done'...he'll go off to play while I continue working with my oldest. If we have a craft or art activity or some other activity that is more exciting than our normal storybooks and schoolwork, I'll pull together supplies later in the day while they are playing, and call them together for that activity (whether it's a preschool craft or a kinder experiment...these boys are fairly inseparable, ha!).

[@koralswinney4823]

@@SevenInAll This really helps thanks!

[@jerzeegirl4783]

Hi can you please link the science curriculum?

[@SevenInAll]

This is it: www.sonlight.com/science-k

[@jericarae]

If you had to choose between Beautiful Mundo or Llamitas to learn more conversational Spanish for younger children, which one would you pick to start with?

[@SevenInAll]

My first question would be whether you/your kids already have a background in Spanish? There's a lot I love about Beautiful Mundo, but jumping into reading the picture books and singing the songs would probably be intimidating if you don't already have some background in the language. Llamitas has more support for non-Spanish-speakers but it also has a more academic focus--learning to count, identify shapes, identify the correct initial sílaba in a word, following instructions, listening comprehension...(so...those things are not necessarily conversational skills) I have a Spanish curriculum comparison video talking about those two options as well as the Spanish curriculum from Homeschool Languages already filmed that will go live next week--if you're talking about beginning Spanish conversations skills without a Spanish background, the Homeschool Languages program is probably what I would recommend the most. If your family DOES have a Spanish background...I think Beautiful Mundo has a wider exposure to rich vocabulary, and Llamitas is more of a fun intro to foundational academic skills in Spanish.

[@jericarae]

That is a great question! haha I have a very basic background in Spanish - think 2 years of Spanish high school many moons ago. I know the alphabet, I know some basic words/sentences, a tiny bit of grammar.

[@SevenInAll]

@@jericarae All of that will be helpful no matter what curriculum you end up going with. I do think Beautiful Mundo is probably the least user-friendly for those who have minimal-to-none Spanish backgrounds since the songs and books are VERY rich in vocab (a good thing...but can obviously be overwhelming for those starting out) and since there isn't as much audio support. My Spanish curriculum comparison video is scheduled to come out on April 24.

[@BearBettermentSchool]

I’m guessing you are using Bible Curriculum from How’d You Learn That?

[@SevenInAll]

Good guess! Close one!

[@faithfullyinfertile]

Hahaha!!! I do the same for covers! 😂

[@SevenInAll]

I can appreciate the artistic work that goes into creating them but...I don't actually have to spend my ink on them...lol....

[@Hookhamhomestead]

Look forward to hearing why GC didn’t make the cut

[@SevenInAll]

That really is going to be quite a bit different for him--not having G+C as the base of his schoolwork. Short answer is that I want to wait till actual 1st grade for Sequence 1, since that's the level it's intended for. But G+C is not going away completely...I do have that 2nd kid, after all.... ;P Longer answer will be in the upcoming videos!

[@Hookhamhomestead]

@@SevenInAll super interesting. I figure with using first grade math with confidence you may have just gone with the place you were at. Cool to have another option to use this year though

[@Thehomebasedlife]

Have you ever considered Right Start Math? I’ve used Preschool Math at Home and we are currently working our way through Kindergarten Math with Confidence.

[@SevenInAll]

I have seen it in videos but not in real life. My initial impression was that it had a lot of specific manipulatives and generally seemed like a bigger time and space commitment...to me, Math with Confidence was a good combo of conceptual math that included work with number sense...but also straightforward and easy to implement.

[@bdhesse]

@@SevenInAll I use RSM, and keep most of the manipulatives in a photo organizer, so they actually aren't too bad as far as space goes. The time commitment isn't too bad either. We can get through a lesson in about 10 minutes most days. It's really only if we have a game like war that it takes longer. But my daughter is fairly mathy and has ADHD, so she likes doing lots of little hands-on activities in a short amount of time. I could see how it could be overwhelming for some kids if they prefer to do one or two activities per lesson.

[@Thehomebasedlife]

@@SevenInAll Thank you for replying! Do you think Math with Confidence is enough on its own after first grade?

[@Thehomebasedlife]

@@bdhesse When did you begin using Right Start with your child? I’m trying to decide if I should move on to RSM for first grade or continue on with Math with Confidence.

[@SevenInAll]

@@Thehomebasedlife After first grade? I've really only looked closely at the first grade of MWC so far, haven't looked closely at 2nd yet...I will be showing 1st grade in detail in an upcoming video and contrasting it with other options. We often use two math resources in our family...not because I don't think one is "enough"...but my son really enjoys math. And I am using 1st grade with a math-advanced kindergartener...one option if a math program doesn't seem challenging enough is always to move more quickly through it and end up at a higher grade level. Or use a second math program for more fun worksheets, like we are doing with Math U See (he, thus far, loves math worksheets). But as for what I think about Math with Confidence and the quality of instruction--I think it's phenomenal.

[@rejeagro1]

You didn't have Bible in there however grate choices for your family

[@SevenInAll]

You found the missing piece! :) Will chat about that in my next video!

[@hannahl1092]

History, not doing story of the world anymore?

[@SevenInAll]

I actually haven't started introducing history for my little boys yet--I'll address that in the upcoming video! (My youngest sister has used Story of the World.)