Kindergarten should remain to be a fun time – a memorable time for both the parent and the child.

For my oldest child, I used a full-on curriculum from a Christian publisher for Kindergarten (I spent about $250) – and we did everything in the curriculum. The poor child. It seems that your first usually suffers the most while you learn what you’re doing.

For my next two children I used the following curriculum and programs that I put together myself.

Language Arts: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (Compare prices)

We tried Sing, Spell, Read & Write (Compare prices) first, but the songs were too fast for my daughter and she didn’t want to sing and play games, she wanted to read like her big sister did. So I sold Sing, Spell, Read & Write and tried this other book. I liked this book because it was relaxed and easy to use. You just climb up in the easy chair together for about 15 minutes a day, and they’re reading at a second grade level when you’re finished. And the book was very inexpensive too. I have always kept one on hand for the day I had grandchildren, in case they stopped selling it.

I always followed up with the Abeka 1st grade phonics book, Letters and Sounds 1, to insure they kept what they learned and had them reading in easy readers as soon as they were able. I found it best to have them read books that were a little easy for them so they would enjoy reading.

Math: MCP Mathematics K (buy direct) by Modern Curriculum Press

I liked this book because it was cute and efficient. I didn’t stay with Modern Curriculum Press, but for Kindergarten, this was my favorite book. I always added whatever hands-on items were necessary to help them grasp a concept or just to make it more fun.

Fine Arts: Art Projects K by Abeka Books

I liked this book because most everything was right there for you. There was no photocopying to do and the projects were cute and colorful.

Science and history were covered using library books and other resources I had around the house. Gardening and cooking are great science and math projects for young ones.

There are many other programs and curriculums out there, which are perfectly fine. This is what I found that I liked and worked for me. I was able to teach kindergarten for about $35 for the year and only $15 for the second child.

More Tips:

• Just remember not to be a slave to the curriculum. Let it work for you, and if it’s not working, try something else.
• Little ones can only sit for about 15 minutes at a time. You can scatter your teaching times throughout the day.
• Keep it fun, if they’re not having a good day, put it off until later or even the next day.
• Use play dough, paints, bubbles.
• Have them write their letters with their fingers in pudding. They love using the white board. Don’t limit them to the lines on paper this early. Just concentrate on forming the letters properly.