What do you recommend for curriculum?
Actually, I don't believe in curriculum for Kindergarten. I believe that "The work of children is play"- and that for the years of preschool and kindergarten, play is very important. What research has been done on the topic, has shown that children who have a play based kindergarten year, do better in the long run than kids who have academic experiences in kindergarten. As a result, I create a playspace that is designed to help my children develop, learn and grow. If you want to read a pretty serious piece on kindergarten and why play is important, this article might help- http://www.thestrong.org/sites/default/files/play-studies/Crisis_in_Kindergarten.pdf
Here is my list of essential items to have for Kindergarten:
Wooden Unit blocks - Using the large unit blocks builds hand strength, needed later for writing and other skills. Unit blocks are a great hands on way for a child to learn math- shapes, sizes, directions- above, below, shorter, taller, adding and subtracting, can all be games you play with your child during block time. They also provide for learning early physics and engineering, and for valuable imaginative play- houses, roads, castles, and zoos, just to name a few, have all come to life from our block set. For a wonderful discussion on the importance of block play, I recommend reading this article:http://barclayblocks.com/about_blocks.htm at Barclay Blocks, a company that makes hardwood maple blocks here in the USA.
Art supplies are a must; including pastels, crayons, paints, papers, glue scissors Art helps children develop fine motor skills, again needed for writing, but also for every day tasks, like buttoning their clothes and tying their shoes. Learning to cut on a line developes hand- eye coordination, that carries over into hundreds of other skills. Pinching small amounts of glitter onto paper strengthens small fingers. And creating a piece of art your child is proud of, develops self-esteem. Feel free to introduce a wide variety of crafts, while keeping in mind your child's skill level. A child with fine motor delays may enjoy stringing beads on a pipe cleaner instead of a more difficult string- but with a little thought, you can figure out how to make activities the right amount of challenging for your child.
Games- I love games, as a learning tool for social skills, life skills, and often math, logic and problem solving. When you play a game with a child, they learn how to take turns, how to succeed, and how to fail. And then how to play again after a failure, a life skill doesn't get enough credit. I really like the games by Family Pastimes, which are all cooperative games that encourage children to learn how to work together with others for a common goal, and all the players win or loose together.
Puzzles are also a classic toy that develops visual perceptual skills, problem solving, logic and reasoning. In my home, we have a wide variety of puzzles available- both simple and complex- which I can work with the child, and with a number of topics to choose from. We have a puzzle of a map of the US, and other places, to learn geography. I also love the puzzles made by Chelona.
They have a wide variety of creative puzzles with layers showing plants growing or chicks hatching.
Dress up clothes, allow children to see themselves differently, to imagine adventures and makes the cutest playdates ever. I also love how children get to practice dressing skills, over and over, learning to do zippers, buttons, and even velcro- though if you can find some dress up clothes that are not all velcro, even better! Check out your local thrift stores for interesting pieces for you child to experiment with.
Child sized tools, like a mop, broom, rake, knife or even a sponge cut in half to fit a smaller hand, allow children to help around the house, and to imitate adult work. I have a child's knife that my little ones can use to help cut up fruit for a snack. And my youngest loves to use her small mop to help with the floor, I have to use a towel to soak up the water when she is done- but she gets the chance to learn a life skill, increase her hand strength, and coordination.
Some kind of small men, dolls, or people- to have tiny adventures with are also necessary, in my opinion. Small animals, dwarves, or whatever can live in block houses, or wear tiny homemade clothes. They can also be a way for a small child to practice social skills, as their dolls fight and make up, talk to each other and work out problems. As far as I can tell, most of our dolls have horrible social problems my children have had to coach them through.
Books- just lots and lots of books. Read to your kindergartner- get books from the library, read even those horrible stories, like Captain Underpants, because that is what your child asked for. The more you read to your child, the better your child will learn to read when she is ready. And, honestly, a great stack of children's books can teach science, history, vocabulary, and almost everything a child of 5 needs to know. If you need a help choosing good books and thinking of things to do, the book Before Five in a Row is a great option. Yes, it is listed as a preschool book, but it really is a great set of books for kindergarten, and you can always expand on the suggested activities by taking a quick trip to Pinterest.
If you MUST do some academics, because your child is demanding them - Letters and Numbers for me- by Handwriting without Tears is the book all my children have learned to write with. And I recommend Zoo Phonics, Zoo phonics which is a great program, because it uses many different ways to explore letter sounds, including having physical movements to appeal to the kinesthetic learner, pictures for the visual learner, and of course plenty of talking together for my auditory learner. With one of my children I also started Life of Fred, Apples during the second half of the year, which is a very pleasant introduction to math. And all of them have gotten to explore online learning programs like Starfall which allows them to develop computer skills, and has some great math and reading games, that they can do while I wash the dishes.
No matter what your plan is, also remember that to a small child, almost anything can be a great field trip. A trip to a pet store is a zoology lesson- looking at the fish and talking about what they eat, or how they breath in water. Take your child to the post office, and see the rows of post office boxes, ship a package or mail a letter and talk about how it will get where it is going. Go to the grocery store and let your child weigh the produce. Go to the bank, and let your child help make a deposit. Take advantage of local museums, zoos, parks, festivals and wild life centers. Go pick apples or plant some flowers.
Whatever you do, enjoy this special year- you only get one chance to have the funnest kindergarten year ever!
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