Affordable Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum 2020
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It is 2020 and my eldest child will be going into his Kindergarten year. When it came to choosing a kindergarten homeschool curriculum there were many things to consider.
I’ll list a few in case you can relate:
#1 Affordability – it had to be something we could realistically afford.
#2 Fun – Jack has been doing some school since around 4.5 years but I have always intended to keep it fun and lighthearted for at least the first couple years of homeschooling.
It is so important to foster a love for learning during these early years. Instead of focusing on bookwork, I want to focus on the enjoyment of learning.
After all, it is well documented that children his age learn best through play. Too much heavy bookwork can actually be detrimental.
#3 Thorough and wholesome – Whichever curriculum we went with needed to be comprehensive as well as good and wholesome.
So let me tell you about what we settled on after many hours of reading and watching reviews and opinions from other homeschool moms.
Kindergarten Homeschool Subjects
For this first year, I really had to hold myself back. It was difficult not to buy ALL. THE. THINGS. but I really don’t want to overwhelm my son.
There will be plenty of time in years to come to cover all manner of learning subjects.
For his kindergarten year we are keeping it simple with:
- Language Arts
- Reading
- Math
- Handwriting
- Bible
I’ll break this post into subject sections so that I can share which products and curriculum we settled on. You can get a free copy of an editable homeschool schedule by signing up below.
Language Arts
This was quite possibly the easiest subject to settle on because I fell in love with the curriculum from the getgo.
For his kindergarten year, Jack will be using The Good & The Beautiful Language Arts course.
He has already completed their Level Pre K workbook and is almost finished the Pre K Primer.
I have no complaints and we have both thoroughly enjoyed both books.
They are comprehensive and yet colorful and fun at the same time.
There are so many different learning activities that your child is very unlikely to get bored.
They’re also laid out in a way which allows you as the parent to determine how many lessons your child should complete.
Each learning activity has a checkbox next to it so that you can stop at any point if you feel that your child has done enough for the day.
The Good & The Beautiful Level K Language Arts covers several subjects in one book and I’m so thankful art appreciation is part of that.
The lessons are beautiful both in the way they are written as well as the pictures.
I ordered it in the PDF version and printed it at home using my Epson Ecotank. It was incredibly affordable to do so and it means I won’t have to repurchase the curriculum for my younger children.
You can read about how to print homeschool curriculum affordably right here.
The reader that accompanies the Language Arts course comes spiral bound but I wished it to be perfect bound instead.
So, I purchased the PDF and had it printed via LuLuXpress.
I’m very pleased with the way it turned out and plan to continue to do the same in the years to come with the other readers.
We plan on doing 1 lesson 4 days a week.
Reading
The Good & The Beautiful Language Arts definitely covers reading, but we started Jack using another reading program last year and are just over halfway through it.
I talked about it in the post about our Pre K Curriculum.
It is How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.
He didn’t love it immediately, but once he had his letters mastered he has grown in leaps and bounds using this book.
We’re currently up to lesson 59 and I plan on continuing with it until I feel he’s done enough.
This is something that I do with him in the evenings before bed so that it is quiet and he can concentrate more easily.
I do this with Jack 4 nights per week.
I should mention that I was strongly considering using the Five in a Row Curriculum, even if it was just once a week.
Next year, I may do this with my daughter who will be preschool age.
However, I ultimately decided that it was just a bit too much to add in for Jack’s kindergarten year.
Math
Math was definitely the kindergarten subject that I struggled the most with deciding which one to choose.
I was humming and hawing between Math Lessons for a Living Education and The Good & The Beautiful for a really long time.
The simplicity and Charlotte Mason approach of Math Lessons for a Living Education (MLFL) really appealed to me, but in the end, The Good & The Beautiful won out.
For my son who learns best through doing, The Good & The Beautiful level K Math really nailed it.
They have a wonderful array of games that he will be able to learn from.
In fact, he’s already been doing math for the last couple of months and it is his favorite subject. Most days he’s just playing educational games, but I love that we can do it together.
It isn’t just learning, but also a time for us to bond and be together doing something fun.
Jack will be doing half a math lesson 5 days a week.
Handwriting
Honestly, I didn’t do a lot of research into a handwriting curriculum because The Good & The Beautiful had one that looked good so I just got it.
I’ve read about others such as Handwriting Without Tears but unless this one that we have doesn’t work for us then I can’t see us needing to switch.
I do love that in later years The Good & The Beautiful teaches cursive writing.
I’ll be having Jack do 4 pages of handwriting per week.
Bible
This is the only subject we’re not actually using a curriculum for. Right now we’re reading through the Bible Story series by Arthur S. Maxwell.
It is so wonderfully written and perfect for the age of my children.
Once we’ve made our way through that I intend to use Our 24 Family Ways.
I actually got it from my mother who used it when she homeschooled me and my siblings. It is still highly recommended by homeschool moms today.
Kindergarten Subjects We’re Not Doing
Science – We’re not doing any formal science this year but will likely do some next year. I’m thinking that we’ll be doing a unit style study.
History – We’re not doing formal history this year but next year I’m excited to use the Simply Charlotte Mason curriculum that will cover Bible, history & geography all in one.
I hope that sharing our homeschool kindergarten picks for 2020 was helpful. We’re so excited to get started and are looking forward to a brand new school year.
