Year K - Updated!

Year K

Year K is designed for 5 year olds, and is provided as a very gentle introduction to schooling. As some areas require a Kindergarten year, this will provide some ideas. I mainly focus on learning to read, write, simple math concepts, and writing... plus working towards listening to chapter books.


Most of the time should be spent outside exploring.


Learn to Read

I like the looks of the Simply Charlotte Mason's "Delightful Reading" but have not bought it as of yet.

In general I suggest doing a combined method. Phonics by itself gets difficult and boring for the student because of the hard work decoding every word. Some students don't learn that you don't HAVE to decode words that you already know. Yet a straight "sight words / whole words / see and say" approach can leave the child with no clue how to read a word they haven't been "taught".

For the phonics side of things, we have used "Teach your child to read in Just 10 minutes a day" by Sidney Ledson. I like some things about this book, but not others. I have also looked at the free "progressive phonics" website and did a bit of it... I like the way they alternate parents and children reading... but the stories are twaddle and although the kids love it, I couldn't stand it after a bit. For my next children, I suspect I will find something else.

For the other side of things, We used the "Dick and Jane" readers

• (Dick and Jane) - We Look and See (these 3 are reprinted in a Treasury book)
• (Dick and Jane) - We Work and Play
• (Dick and Jane) - We Come and Go
• (Dick and Jane) - Guess Who (Reprinted in a different Treasury book) - ONLY if more practice needed.

Extra if time left in year and child can read the above (also recommended in Year 1)

• Fun with Dick and Jane (if you can get an old copy. a couple of the stories have been reprinted in a book of the same name)
• (Dick and Jane) - Our New Neighbours (only old copies available...)

or

• Primer - Harriette Taylor Treadwell
• First Reader - Harriette Taylor Treadwell

The McGuffy Readers might be fine at this stage.

Note that we don't want to keep using readers for a long time! We want living books. Using the actual Charlotte Mason method to teach reading, you could skip the readers entirely.

Math

• practice counting, up to 20
• matching, sorting. (playing cards, socks, toys, etc)
• MEP Reception Year

Literature (Read Outloud)

These are just some suggestions, and ones we have used. There are wonderful suggestions out there at various sights like Simply Charlotte Mason, Milestones, etc. Find ones that work for your child!

• Peter Pan (or Peter Pan and Wendy) - James M. Barrie
• Peter Rabbit, and other Stories from the Compete Works - Beatrix Potter books (more available if you do a search for Beatrix Potter)
• A House at Pooh Corner - A. A. Milne
• Thirty-Three Multicultural Tales to Tell - Pleasant DeSpain
• The Hockey Sweater - Roch Carrier - hear the author read it!
• Raggedy Ann Stories, or Raggedy Andy Stories (or both)

Canadian Literature:
See Canadian Literature Plan

Writing

Peterson Directed Handwriting. We used the Cursive First option within this program, but that is up to you. They have a free 6 week preparation "preschool" program to work on hand strength, directions, working to a rhythm, etc. Then continue with the program.

Music

• suzuki violin (or other music instruction - read post)

Phys Ed

• swimming lessons at the Y (or Red Cross)

Citizenship

• The Children's Book of Virtues - Bennett (Skip the Aesop fables, and "St. George and the Dragon" as they are used later. Also skip "The Little Red Hen if using the Treadwell/Free Primer)
• The 7 habits of Happy Kids
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• Little Bear at Work and Play

Drawing

Choose based on availability

• 1-2-3 Draw books by Freddie Levin - pick 3 or 4, (especially "Wild Animals", "Pets and Farm Animals")

or

• Draw Write Now (books 1-4)

Other

Kindergarten children can join with older students for things like Music Study, Scripture Study, Picture Study, etc. Take care that you don't overburden them!

Year K

See the Updated Version Here

Year 0 Philosophy

Here is my Year 0 philosophy - written in words so much better than I could ever have written (and believe me, I have tried!)

Are Speed and Ease Our Only Goals

Year 0 Music

On a message board I frequent, there was a question on what a mom can do about music instruction with their Year 0 (and Year K) children when they can't afford lessons and don't feel confident enough to teach them themselves. This mom did intend their children to do Piano when they were older. Here is my response.


What you can do at home on your own may depend a lot on what music skills you (or other family members) already have. Listening to good classical music is a HUGE part of music education, even if you can't do anything else. That can make a huge difference when the child later learns an instrument. Find quality recordings by good artists. (I'd buy the Suzuki CD's for the Piano, or whichever instrument you are thinking of for the future - even if you don't plan to do Suzuki.)

And as hard as it can be for an adult - for year 0 kids, I would say that repetition can be more important than a huge selection. (My 18 month old "sings" the notes to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Allegro" because she hears them so often. (My older kids do Suzuki violin, and the oldest is doing home-taught piano based on Suzuki Piano. So we listen to the CDs for Violin 1 and 2, and the CDs for Piano 1 and 2 every day) (As violin has 6 different rhythm variations of Twinkle on the CD, and Piano has 8 Twinkle variations on the CD - my 18 month old hears a variation of Twinkle 14 times a day at least from the CD's - and then hears it at least a couple of times from daily practice of the older kids.))

I know that not everyone can afford lessons..... but look into bursaries. A lot of programs out there do have bursaries or scholarships for people that need it. Sometimes deals can be worked on a barter system, if you have a skill that the instructor could use.

For older kids, some Orchestra's have programs to help teach kids musical instruments that aren't as "popular" - ones where there tends to be a shortage of players for the orchestra... (Things like Bassoon, or Oboe, or Tuba - I'm not sure which ones but there are ones out there...)

Back to what you can do now - besides the listening a lot - I would say that rhythm is a major thing. (If you do get the Suzuki CD's, you will here the Twinkle Variations that are different IMPORTANT rhythms in classical (and other styles) of playing. They were selected for a reason. I don't know the reasons for all of them, but as we go further in music, I see the rhythms over and over. Clap these, or other rhythms. Get some cheap rhythm instruments. We have used plastic coffee cans from Mike's for drums... we have real maracas, as well as some toy ones. Cheap tamborines from the $ store. Shakers. Some of this can be homemade - but I think that if you can get quality real ones, the sound is noticable. Practice "marching" to the beat. rhythm is SO important in music.

If you have a piano at home - start singing some of the notes. (make sure the piano is tuned!) Play a C key, and sing "Seaaaaa (C)" do the A key and sing "Aaaaaaa" (try to match the key). If you start doing this young enough, your child is very likely to develop "Perfect Pitch" which is loved by choir directors and music teachers of any instrument. If they don't develop "Perfect Pitch", they will probably still have a very strong "Relative Pitch", which is also very helpful. Note that you are not trying to teach the child where those keys are on the piano - you are teaching them that that tone or sound has a name, and this is the name.

Additions to Year 1

see here

In looking for more Canadian Content, I have found a couple of books that I am adding to Year 1.

They are both a picture book, but with a fair bit of story. These are free reads that shouldn't be missed!

• "A Fiddle for Angus" - Budge Wilson. Based in the Maritimes, is about a boy that chooses to learn the fiddle so that he can play music with his family. (Note that one of the illustrations includes Natalie MacMaster - a famous Canadian fiddler)
• "Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt" - Barbara Smucker Although mostly based in the States, a family moves to Upper Canada to avoid the Civil War. Generations of the family are tied together via a quilt.

Also for Year K, I have added "The Hockey Sweater" by Roch Carrier. You can hear the author read the story at the CBC archives!

Math Plan

My overall plan involves using the MEP (Mathematics Enhancement Program) for the first years of math, and "Life of Fred" for the later years. This is my goal, however math is a subject that needs to be catered to the needs of the student. On my Math Overview page, I list some free and inexpensive alternatives, enhancement activities, and basics on figuring out where to start if your student is not a year 1 student. For the later years, you may wish to change the order of topics if needed for other subjects (for instance, you may need Trig earlier for physics.)



Year 0


I do not advocate specific instruction on math for children in Year 0 (preschool ages) except for day to day life and regular play. However, many math concepts can be introduced lightly in life. Simple counting of real life objects. (With young children of age 2 or 3, start with the concept of 1, 2, and more than 2 - with real things. Don't proceed to higher numbers until this is sure.) The older child can do estimation of numbers with you using small items like seads. Other things I have done...

• provide puzzles of the right difficulty.
• Lego's and other building blocks provide math skills and engineering skills (just let them play)
• mosaic boards / peg boards.... light brites. (adds practice with fine motor skills too)
• Practice "Left" and "Right" through games
• Maze workbooks are fun
• The occasional Dot-to-Dot can be fun (but can be overdone too)
• Opportunities to play with playing cards
• • matching numbers
  • sort by colour
  • sort by number
  • sort by suit
  • sort numerically by suit
  • War - introduces Greater than and Less than
  
  
• Opportunities to play board games with adult/older kids (counting squares, dice numbers)
• Dominoes - matching, adding....

Children should get opportunities to do Year 0 activities throughout later years...

Year K

• MEP Reception Year

Year 1

• MEP Year 1
• Challenges Stage 1,2

Year 2

• MEP Year 2
• Challenges Stage 2,3

Year 3

• MEP Year 3
• Challenges Stage 2,3

Year 4

• MEP Year 4
• Challenges Stage 2,3

Year 5

• MEP Year 5a
• Life of Fred - Fractions
• Challenges Stage 3,4

Year 6

• MEP Year5b
• Life of Fred - Decimals and Percents
• Challenges Stage 3,4

Year 7

• MEP Year6a
• Life of Fred - Beginning Algebra (1st half)
• Challenges Stage 3,4

Year 8

• MEP Year6b
• Life of Fred - Beginning Algebra (2nd half)
• Challenges Stage 3,4

Year 9 - 12

Select appropriate "Life of Fred" books to match the goals of the student, and to match Graduation requirements where you live. If your student is going into a math intensive field, they should plan to do ALL of these.

• Life of Fred - Geometry
• Life of Fred - Advanced Algebra
• Life of Fred - Trigonometry
• Life of Fred - Statistics
• Life of Fred - Calculus
• Challenges Stage 5