Many of you may be wondering the same thing. So since this is a great time to be talking about the different curricula out there, here are some resources for you...
First of all, if you are new to the site, please take a look at some of my archived articles. If you are thinking about Kindergarten and what to teach, you'll want to read the following:
• Homeschooling Your Kindergartener, Part One - This article discusses how to structure your lessons.
• Homeschooling Your Kindergartener, Part Two - Discusses timing and the bilingual aspect of homeschooling.
• Homeschooling Your Kindergartener, Part Three - Discuss what exactly to teach in Kindergarten.
If you read these, then you should have a good idea about what your kids should be learning in Kindergarten. Your curriculum should be rich in manipulatives and literature. Now you can do one of two things: find resources/lesson plans to teach the various subjects, or buy a complete curriculum.
There are a ton of complete curricula out there in English. I began with Calvert and loved it. The whole thing really helped me learn how to structure our class time. Buying a complete curriculum is usually pretty pricey. But many will allow you to set up monthly payments.
A few other English curricula that I thought were interesting include:
• Oak Meadow - I haven't used this myself, but I have read a lot of very positive reviews and have never read anything negative about them. You can download a sample lesson on their site. It doesn't say it on their site, but I think that I remember reading somewhere that they take more of a Waldorf approach.
• North American Montessori Center (NAMC) - A complete Montessori homeschool curriculum.
• Simply Charlotte Mason - Everything you need to know about the Charlotte Mason method. The site includes free ebooks, guides, and worksheets.
• Ambelside Online - A free online curriculum dedicated to the Charlotte Mason method. Lots of people talk highly of this program.
Spanish curricula:
• Vista Higher Leraning (formerly Santillana)- The world's largest distributor of education materials in Spanish. They now have a US site, so you don't have to place an international order.
• Rod & Staff - A Christian-based curriculum. Lots of people have mentioned using this program, but when I called to ask questions about it, the person at the other end of the line spoke only English and didn't really know anything about it. Ummm...
• Nobis Pacem - A complete Spanish curriculum of 3 years of preschool, 6 years of primary, and 3 years of high school (which is divided school years in Mexico, but can be adapted to each country). Follows the Charlotte Mason method.
Spanish resources: (Note- if you go this route, please, please consider buying one of the Core Knowledge series books so that you know what you should be covering throughout the year.)
• Paso Partners - Science curricula for K - 3rd. In English or Spanish.
• Primera Escuela - Has lots of great worksheets in Spanish for kids. Especially Spanish alphabet printable worksheets and mini-books.
• Enchanted Learning has a lot of Spanish worksheets, too.
• Lectura Para Niños - Learning to read in Spanish. You can download some samples of their Kindergarten worksheets by clicking on the link in the MommyMaestra sidebar.
• Lastly, take a look at this page for resources on learning to read in Spanish.
Con mucho cariño...
