I've been homeschooling for 8 years and I can't express enough the importance of finding the right curriculum for your each of your kids. That's right, each kid. One curriculum may work perfect for one child but it doesn't mean it will work quite the same for the rest. My firstborn Levi is pretty easy to teach. We used the Sonlight curriculum for him for years. He is 4 years older than my daughter Miya and so by the time Miya was ready for homeschooling we've accumulated enough materials to start with her confidently. But... I was wrong. Her learning style was totally different from Levi. But I didn't listen to her needs. I forced into her what we already had in order to save money. I was already comfortable with Sonlight and so to have to learn a new curriculum was a no go for me. But Miya's learning style was not being met, therefore, homeschooling with her was impossible! I cried, complained, bribed, and tried all sorts of ways to make her want to do school. Finally, when I was READY to listen to her needs and really OBSERVE how she learns it was better. She doesn't like just sitting down listening to stories which is a big part of Sonlight curriculum. It was a lot of reading. Levi loved it but she didn't. She needed hands on learning. Now that I'm homeschooling 3 kids (4th grader, Kindergartener, preschooler) I'm learning the importance of really observing how each of them learn and investing on the right books and curriculum for each one.
Here's a list of curriculums for Kindergarteners that you can choose from:
1) Sonlight Curriculum - The good thing about Songlight is that it is already all set up for you. There's no need to prep for hours! It's already scheduled for you and all you need is to follow the weekly schedule. The downside to this is that if you do miss a day for any reason, you may easily "feel" behind. I've heard this a lot from other moms. Sometimes they feel like they could never catch up. Sonlight is a reading curriculum. If you're kids are into reading this is for you. YOU, the mom, will be doing a lot of the reading. This could be hard if you are homeschooling multiple kids in different levels or grade.
https://www.sonlight.com/
2) Abeka - We've never used this curriculum but I've heard great things about it. Most people that have used it said that it is very academic. Just like Sonlight, Abeka is also a reading curriculum. They DO offer a lot more worksheets than Sonlight offers. Meaning less reading for mom and more "hands on" activity for the kids. If you're kids prefer the reading style of learning go with Sonlight but if your kids like to do "homework" go with Abeka. We've used their Math books before for Levi and he loved it!
https://www.abeka.com/
3) Alpha Omega Academy - We've never used this one but have met some who do. This curriculum is an online accredited school with one on one teacher interaction. The good thing about this is that even though it's online the students can complete their lessons at their own pace. The parent or the student can choose their own schedule and you won't feel behind when missing a day or two. If you are ok with your child being doing all their work in the computer then this curriculum is for you. You could always add on printable worksheets if you want to :) Alpha Omega also offers different kinds of curriculum to cater different kinds of learning style. They have Monarch which is a media rich online curriculum. They have Switch on Schoolhouse which is a digital computer - based curriculum. They have LIFE Pac which is a student paced self-directed work text curriculum. They also have Horizons which is more of a teacher- led workbooks curriculum.
https://www.aop.com/
4) My Father's World - To me this is the most Christian based out of all of them. We've never used them before but this was the first homeschool curriculum I saw in action. My friend was homeschooling and this was the curriculum she was using. We hang out at her house a lot and seeing all the fun stuff you get and how fun the kids were learning gave me my first interest in homeschooling. This curriculum is fun and could be used as Sunday School Curriculum for smaller kids! This curriculum is a great way to start if you want to focus on building a strong foundation on Christianity and the world right away. Just like Sonlight this curriculum involves a lot of reading. The good thing about "reading" curriculum is that you don't have to do it all in one sitting. We did a book or two in the morning, another book after lunch and another book before bed time. To this day, Levi and I reads a chapter book every night before bed. Our favorite is the Boxcar Children. He hopes to read the whole set!
https://www.mfwbooks.com/
5) Five in a Row - We've never used this one before but this curriculum is not as intimidating as the rest because the whole curriculum is comprised into 4 manuals only covering all the subjects you need. They focus on visual, auditory and kinesthetic type of learning. Meaning you get a variety of stuff including books, a lot of story disks and workbooks. If your child likes to listen to stories through disks then this might be a good one for you.
Thank you for reading and I hope you find the right curriculum for you and for each of your kids.
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