Pros & Cons of Kindergarten

[Winkie]

My ds will be 5 in June. Although I lean towards unschooling for the early years, I've started looking into homeschooling methods more in depth. I got the My Father's World catalog & it looks great! It doesn't look too expensive (comparitively speaking - it would still be a big chunk for us).

I'm feeling torn. Do we *need* to do something formal? He loves doing the pre-K workbooks that I get from Dollar Tree. Also, I got "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" from the library & he's reading already! He loves it - I'm so glad. :hearts It looks like a big focus of MFW K & 1st grade is on phonics, in prep for reading, so do we *really* need to spend the money? Or can I do the rest on my own? Or do *I* need something more structured? My own devotional time is in the toilet right now :blush, so I'm not imparting much biblical teaching to my children - having something written out for me would be a help in that area.

Ok, enough rambling. Any thoughts from y'all?

[Mamaka]

I think whatever you want to do would be fine, especially at that age. I'm sort of the personal opinion that a formal K program, especially for hs, is not really necessary. There are all kinds of unschooling type things you can do that would be just as valuable (maybe even better). It sounds like what your are doing is producing good results.

[hearttender4]

I think you could definitely do it without spending much money. I didn't use much formal curricula for kindergarten and just worked on certain skills in a short amount of time each day.

[lumpofclay]

Honestly, I wish I would have let K go! I felt like I needed to do something with Chandler (now 7). I wasn't pushy or overbearing, although we did have our bad days. :( I didn't order a big curriculum or anything. I did, though, have some books that we worked on/through. I would feel guilty when we wouldn't do our "bookwork." If I had to do it over again with her (and this is what I'll do with Maddux and Truman) I'd just read a bunch of great books (story & "learning") and do whatever crafts/projects I could (from some different books I have), and read the Bible daily. :) I wouldn't spend a ton of money on "curriculum" per se. I'd spend more money on creating a learning environment (legos, blocks, pretend play like puppets and dress-up, manipulatives, etc.).Then again, an unstructured day is pretty good for Chandler. Oh, you mentioned that your DS loves the pre-K workbooks. My DDs love workbooks too (as long as they can complete them whenever they feel like it). So I would invest in some workbooks too. My girls got them for Christmas :P and they were so excited!

[Winkie]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts - it's helping me to get my own thoughts together on where we want to go in the future. So, I've got 3 opinions against Kindergarten :lol Any opinions pro-K?

[Sara]

Well, we definitely did K. Dd consistently asks to do school and we've had a really great year. We used Five in a Row (such a nice, gentle appraoch to learning), Simply Phonics for reading instruction, and Simply Numbers for math skills. We also have Handwriting Without Tears and dd usually does one page each time we do school (takes her less than 2 minutes) but sometimes sits down and does as many as 10 pages depending on her mood. I think that whatever you decide the key is to not push your children to do things they aren't ready for. I don't think there is anything wrong with using some different resources (I probably wouldn't be classified as an unschooler ;)) as long as you aren't cramming it down your child's throat. I know that some kids really don't like doing school, but I have to be honest - whenever I pull out our books, dd is delighted. :shrug

[hearttender4]

Oh we definitely did kindergarten. We just didn't buy an expensive packaged curriculum. We picked up McGraw Hill workbooks at the bookstore, got a Pathway reader from ebay, Starfall reading website, bought Explode the Code for phonics, Handwriting workbooks, printed math sheets off the internet, read history and science from a used What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know book, etc. Just mixed and matched for well under $50 and tried to keep it light and fun. :)

[ChristineG]

I have taught two children to read using 100 Easy Lessons. Both took off beautifully right away after and rapidly became excellent readers simply because they practiced so much on their own. I know this isn't everyone's experience with this particular method, but for me, I was certainly glad that I hadn't invested in any more phonics stuff. It would have been flogging a dead horse! It could have very easily turned the kids OFF reading, instead of re-inforcing things.

My vote is to really take it easy with the kindergarten year. Make sure whatever you do is fun and cheap. Before you know it, you will be completely full-into homeschooling and won't have nearly the time and freedom you have now. In a way, it reminds me of what a friend (mother of 3) said to me a week before I was due with our first baby. She said, "Okay, all this week, every day, suddenly decide you want to go somewhere, grab your purse, jump in the car and go. You will never be able to leave the house this quickly again." :) She was SOOOOOOO right! Not that we would give it up for anything in the whole world, of course, but just like having babies changes your life (and your independence), homeschooling changes it in a way, too. A lot of those are good ways, but some do involve sacrificing things that are good for things that are even better. For example, I find that it is impossible for me to be involved in half the things I would like to be during the day because, otherwise, my children just aren't getting the liberal (and relaxed) education I want them to have. If I am having friends over all the time, participating in mid-week women's Bible Study or taking them to several outside the home lessons for homeschoolers, it is pretty hard to spend tons of time snuggling on the couch reading good books together and taking nature walks outside. :cup

Enjoy this year, a lot! According to the extensive studies and research of the Moore's (Dorothy and Raymond), who have written several homeschooling books, children who do not do ANYTHING academic for K-gr. 2 and then enter the school system in grade 3 are consistently caught up to their peers by the end of the year. While I am not an unschooler, knowledge of this REALLY helps me relax in those early years, both in the amount of time I am spending on 'schooly' stuff and the amount of money I spend. :heart

[hearttender4]

My vote is to really take it easy with the kindergarten year. Make sure whatever you do is fun and cheap. Before you know it, you will be completely full-into homeschooling and won't have nearly the time and freedom you have now.


I totally agree. :tu I really enjoyed your post Christine. :)

[Winkie]

Yes, thank you! :)