[jenny_islander]

For a kindergartener, it looks a lot like unschooling. We read the Bible at breakfast, pull out the storybooks ad lib., do math while we cook, work on birds/trees/directions as I run errands downtown, spend as much time as possible running around in the yard or at the beach or in approved indoor run-around spaces if the weather is bad, practice drawing/scribbling whenever they like, etc. Music and art appreciation consist mostly of having the good music on the radio and putting up art prints, although I sing whenever I get the chance. Language lessons will be ten minutes a few times a week and consist at first of a simple verb game where I read the imperative tense and they do the action. Our first craft will be finger knitting. I don't have a set schedule for any of this except dance class on Saturday, rather a list of what I want to do today that I go down as opportunities present themselves.

Much of the education at this age is focused on learning to pay attention and practicing good habits. The other basics are good ("living") books and lots of time spent outdoors and/or handling real, grown-up things or working models of same. I have found that just letting the kids mess around usually teaches them more than saying, "It's time to learn something," and trying to "do school." Dropping something in casually also seems to be more effective than sending "Stop what you're doing, this is important" signals.