The years had flown by, and here we were, ready to begin our new adventure. In my last post in this series, A Homeschool Journey, Part 5: Choosing Curriculum, I shared some of what went into our decision about what materials to use in our school. We had settled on a simple spiral-bound guide, filled with ideas for teaching young children. There were no textbooks. Each day's lesson plan had recommendations for library books that related to what we were learning about. These were real books, filled with pictures and stories and fascinating facts. And they were free!
The second component of our curriculum was The Writing Road to Reading by Romalda Spalding, originally published in 1957. A complete guide to teaching phonics for speech, writing, spelling, and reading, this book has no bells or whistles. It is a manual for the teacher. The book teaches 70 phonograms and spelling rules (some of which I, myself, had never learned), and contains a spelling list that begins with "me" and ends with "rendezvous". Obviously, this is not a book just for teaching kindergarten -- it would be used for many years. Additionally, it includes a list of books for children to read all the way through sixth grade -- well-written children's books and classic children's literature, rather than those mediocre readers that I had been subjected to in school. Some homeschooling parents are intimidated by The Writing Road to Reading, but I studied it carefully beforehand, and our kindergarten curriculum included a step-by-step, simplified approach to using it.
As we eagerly awaited the big day, we went shopping for school supplies. Our daughter chose a pretty three ring binder to keep her papers organized. And we bought fun things, such as colored paper, crayons, glue, and scissors just for her. We already had the obligatory globe, and we had a small American flag. Our children would learn the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star-Spangled Banner, even if they didn't go to a "real" school. And so it began.
Four days each week were school days, and Fridays were reserved for field trips and the library. Our subject areas were Bible, Reading (including writing and spelling), Arithmetic, God's World (science and social studies), Health and Manners, Art and Music, Physical Education, Character Building, Story Time, and Bible Memory. Some subjects were covered every day; others, we did twice a week. It was a very well-rounded education for a child in kindergarten. And it only took 90 minutes a day!
Be sure to come back for part 7 of A Homeschool Journey!
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