Homeschooling kindergarten and preschool parents often ask, “What skills do I teach my children? Taking the time to be familiar with the skills suggested below and learning how to focus on these skills with hands on learning in daily activities is worth the effort.
Some parents beginning the adventure of home schooling kindergarten children prefer to buy a general curriculum as a guide, and then adapt the activities to fit a more relaxed learning environment. Other parents prefer following a step by step program.
Children develop physically and progress academically, socially and artistically at different rates. The time it takes for children to learn the following skills will vary. All children learn by playing, asking questions, testing and testing again. Having them fill in loads of busy work type worksheets will rob them of the time they need to invest in exploratory learning experiences.
Home schooling kindergarten math
- Sort and classify objects using one or more attributes such as size, color, shape
- Recognize and print numbers up to 30
- Count orally by ones, five, and tens
- Name ordinal numbers first through tenth
- Add and subtract using manipulatives (blocks or other objects)
- Understand spatial relationships (top/bottom, near/far, before/behind)
- Compare quantities
- Use graphs to gather and order information
- Recognize patterns and shapes
- Have an awareness of time(morning, afternoon, evening
- Name and count coins
- Say the days of the week and months of the year
Home schooling kindergarten language arts
- Listen attentively
- Follow instructions and repeat spoken directions
- Engage in discussions with others
- Be able to wait to speak
- Write first and last name
- Recognize and write all of the letters of the alphabet in upper and lowercase forms
- Learn sounds corresponding to vowels and consonants
- Use initial consonant sounds and sound patterns to read words (for example, p + an = pan; h + ot = hot)
- Identify several easy sight words, including names of colors
- Recognize and use rhyming words
- Retell a story with details
- Put the events of a story in order
- Print simple sentences using sight words and known letter sounds
- Work as a team to problem solve
- More literacy skills here
Home schooling kindergarten science
- Use all senses to observe and experiment
- Awareness of weather and temperature
- Complete list here…
Home schooling kindergarten social studies
- Work in groups
- Collect information from observations
- Share information in a variety of ways
- Recognize similarities and differences of families and cultures
- Be aware of different community roles
- Complete list here…
Other
- Art and music: Experiment with different materials and methods
- Health and physical education: Learn essentials about nutrition and functions of the body
Learning with games…
Playing ABC and Math games. They motivate children to pay attention to letters and numbers.
See classification games and number games for more ideas for games to play while home schooling kindergarten or preschool children. Have fun, relax and play with your children as they learn.