Tina Robertson

10 Best Homeschool Phonics Curriculum For Kindergarten

September 30, 2022 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Choosing the best homeschool phonics curriculum for kindergarten is one of the first places to start when choosing kindergarten homeschool curriculum.

After all reading is the foundation of every other subject you’ll be teaching.

And teaching phonics to your child doesn’t have to be as frightening as some make it sound.

10 Best Homeschool Phonics Curriculum For Kindergarten

In addition, many programs teaching reading have a public-school mindset meaning the earlier the better in teaching a child how to read.

While that may work for some children, other children benefit from waiting longer before you introduce a phonics program.

However, all children benefit from direct phonics instructions whenever your child has his start.

Also, arming you with tips after 20+ years of teaching children how to read, I want you to be confident to trust the process.

Homeschool Phonics

However, to trust the process, you need to understand the process.

And it will help you if you know some of the mindsets which exist in the reading world.

When I started homeschooling there was still much debate between whole language teaching versus direct phonics instructions.

As I mentioned that was over 20 years ago. I feel the debate goes on still.

However, I feel that children use both skills to read.

Do all children need the same amount of exposure? Absolutely not. But they all benefit.

Unfortunately, some homeschool families who think their child needs less instruction do not find out until later.

The real struggle or lack of instruction does not show up until third or fourth grade. Sometimes even later.

What is the Science of Reading

So, I remember the first time I heard the term the science of reading. I delved into it.

Basically, it means to understand that research has been developed into how a child learns to read.

Because we want to teach in a way that nurtures how the brain learns to read, we need to be aware of the process.

As you can tell, reading and understanding the science of reading is a comprehensive topic now.

Homeschool Phonics Kindergarten

Instead of trying to understand the science of reading which can take professionals years, focus on knowing that teaching phonics in a sequential approach with 1:1 teaching is the most effective.

Sight words have a place too. But what are sight words?

Sight words are words that teachers expect kids to know (memorize) by sight. Children are wired to articulate or sound out words. But some children with strong memory skills can learn sight words. Basically learning a sight word just means recognizing a symbol and deciphering it.

Children with special needs or who may not have strong memorization skills can fall behind with this process.

If that is the case, work through the other senses to help a child with special needs or a struggling child.

For example, you can:

point out the part of the sight word your child may be able to articulate. Some sight words have a pair of letters which make a sound your child may know.
play games with the sight words.
have the child write the word and then take away the first or last letter and have him write it in. This can help to makes strong connections in the brain.
use sensory writing. Have your child write in shaving cream, in rice, on the wall.

So, take time to help your kids learn sight words while you choose the best homeschool phonics curriculum for kindergarten.

Also, I’ve included hands-on manipulatives below too.

Other Homeschool Kindergarten Phonics Resources:

Then, you’ll love these other phonics resources below:

11 Best Phonics for Homeschool Kindergarten

Teaching kids how to read doesn't have to be hard, you just have to have the right tools.

You'll love these phonics resources.

Photo Credit: www.allaboutlearningpress.com

All About Reading Level 1

Package includes: one Teacher's Manual, one Student Packet, and three readers

Evan-Moor Daily Phonics, Grade 2, Homeschooling, Phonemic Awareness, Decoding, Word-Study, Teaching Editions, Reproducible Worksheets

Provide explicit, systematic phonics instruction and practice in just 15 to 20 minutes a day!

Daily Phonics, Grade 2 helps students in second gradeincluding students learning Englishdevelop the phonics skills necessary to become proficient, on-grade-level readers.

The 32 weekly units in grade 2 cover:

Photo Credit: www.starfall.com

Welcome to Starfall PreK & Kindergarten

Starfall.com® opened in September 2002 as a free public service to teach children to read.

Since then it has expanded to include language arts and mathematics for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and third grade.

Starfall’s emphasis on phonemic awareness, systematic sequential phonics, and common sight words in conjunction with audiovisual interactivity has proven effective in teaching emergent readers

Explode the Code 4 Books

Explode the Code is a research-based, multisensory program geared to improving literacy with direct, systematic, phonics instruction.

Photo Credit: www.progressivephonics.com

Progressive Phonics

Progressive Phonics all-in-one reading program that is easy, fun, and totally FREE---that's right, totally and completely free.

And with Progressive Phonics, ANYONE can teach a child to read and write in just a few minutes a day, which makes it ideal for parents, teachers, tutors, volunteers and home-schoolers.

Photo Credit: www.opensourcephonics.org

Free Phonics Materials for Teachers, Tutors, and Families Literacy is a civil right. The research supporting phonics is too strong to ignore. All families deserve access to high-quality phonics materials.

Foundations by Logic of English

Help you child learn to read and spell - while having fun. Teachers and parents are raving about it! This first step in the Logic of English Foundations series opens the door to reading with phonemic
awareness activities, fun lessons that practice the sounds of a-z, and creative blending games

Horizons K Phonics and Reading

Prepare your child for a lifetime of reading and successful learning with the Horizons Kindergarten Phonics & Reading Student Book 1 from Alpha Omega Publications.

Photo Credit: winterpromise.com

Early Language Arts Overview - WinterPromise

Adventures in Pine Hollow is designed to engage students so thoroughly that whether they can’t wait to read or would rather wait forever, they are pulled into a forest world, where they join critter adventures and forget there’s learning going on!

First Start Reading, Book A

First Start Reading covers consonants, short and long vowels, 45 common words, and manuscript
printing, accompanied by artist-drawn coloring pictures and drawing pages for every letter.

Alpha-Phonics Primer

Mr. Blumenfeld created Alpha-Phonics (spiral-bound) to provide parents, teachers and tutors with a sensible, logical, easy-to-use system for teaching reading. It is an intensive phonics instruction
program based on the author's many years of research and experience in the reading instruction field

How to Make a Wigwam Craft for a Fun Native American Unit Study

September 29, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I’m sharing how to make a wigwam craft for a fun Native American Study.

This wigwam craft is simple and can be done mostly independently by your preschooler or kindergartener.

Younger kids probably need help with the house base.

How to Make a Wigwam Craft for a Fun Native American Unit Study

But this craft will give them an understanding of how the house was built and what it looked like.

This is a great craft for Native American studies and is perfectly timed to go with a fall season theme too.

Start first by explaining to your kids what are the pre-colonial days.

And learn a bit about the Powhatan Tribe of Eastern Virginia. However, they were not the only Algonquin tribe to build wigwams.

Some of the other tribes which built wigwams were the Winnebago, Kickapoo, Wampanoag, Pequot, Sauk, Fox, Abenaki, Shawnee, Ojibwe and Oto.

The Algonquins and Wigwams

They did not live in teepees rather they built longhouses or wigwams for shelter.

Longhouses, while built very similarly, were more permanent structures.

On the other hand, wigwams were quicker and easier to build.

They were often used as more temporary houses like in hunting camps.

Wigwams were made from birch bark, branches, and poles that were gathered by the men.

And the women would heat up sap from the trees to create a kind of glue or sealer to hold the bark onto the structure.

Today, our glue will be the tree sap and our construction paper the bark.

This Powhatan Indian Toob is a great addition to turn this craft into a dramatic play activity.

The Powhatans were a tribe of Algonquin Indians, named for the language they spoke.

You could also add this set of Jamestown Settlers.

Then, talk more about the interactions between the natives and the newcomers.

Powhatan Facts for Kids

Wigwams were roughly 15’ wide.

Grab a measuring tape and mark off 15’ inside your house or out in the yard.

Do you think you could live with your immediate family, and sometimes extended family the way the Native Americans did in this small space?

Fires were centered inside the wigwam.

So, it was important to leave a small hole at the top of their structure to allow the smoke to escape.

The ground was covered in animal hides and platforms were used for sleeping.

More Powerful Powhatan Facts

One of the most famous Powhatans was Pocahontas. She was the daughter of chief Powhatan, whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh.
Powhatan children did more chores and less play than most children do now. But they did play with dolls and toys like a miniature bow and arrow and hand-held ball games. They learned and played together.
Powhatan means “waterfall” in the Algonquin language.
The Powhatan territory was known as Tsenacommacah. It covered all of Tidewater Virginia and the Eastern Shore. Find Virginia on a map and compare where it is to where you live.
Their main mode of transportation was dugout canoes.

How to Create a Wigwam Kindergarten Native American Craft

You will need

Smooth scrap cardboard
Brown construction paper
School glue
Foam paint brush
Scissors

To construct the frame for this craft, cut a rectangle out of a thin cardboard box.

I raided the pantry for this cracker box.

You can make it whatever size you like. I tried to keep mine reasonably scaled to the figures I had.

Then, once you have cut your rectangle, roll it into a tube.

Also, cease it a bit around the roll. This will help it maintain a more rounded shape.

Unroll the cardboard and tape the ends together to form a cylinder.

Cut down from the top about 2” every 2”.

Bend those tabs downward to form the domed roof similar to the way they would have bent poles to form their structure.

Secure with tape or hot glue.

Since it is going to be covered in paper it doesn’t have to be pretty.

Leave a small opening in the center to create a smoke hole.

Now, the fun part for littles. Get them to tear up paper.

I like to task the kids with doing this instead of doing it myself because

. It gives them more ownership over their activity and
It is a good task for fine motor skill building.

Also, encourage them to tear them up fairly small and in different random pieces.

More Native American Resources

Too, look at some of these other resources:

Continuing on with the craft, you are probably going to want to lay down a shower curtain liner or plastic tablecloth. This next part gets messy.

Pour school glue into a bowl.

Then demonstrate for your child how to dip the torn pieces of paper into the glue on both sides.

Scrape excess away on the lip of the bowl.

They can use their fingers or a foam brush to coat everything well.

A foam brush can also help smooth the pieces on the structure.

Let them cover the entire house with their “bark”. This will need to dry overnight at least.

If your child covered the smoke hole that was left you can cut it back out with scissors.

Explain that the smoke needed a place to escape so the Native Americans wouldn’t be closed up with it.

You can use the wigwam to create a simple diorama.

Also, add it to a sensory bin or simply leave it on the shelf with your other resources for your native American study.

Longhouses were similarly built-just long but still dome shaped.

You can recreate one of those as well with the materials and compare the living quarters.

How To Study Human Anatomy For Science:Build An Edible DNA Model

September 28, 2022 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

How to study human anatomy begins with the basics which is DNA. Today, for a human body unit study, we’re making an easy edible DNA model.Also I have this Human Body Crafts page for more fun ideas.

An anatomy unit study begins with the smallest building blocks of a cell and works its way up to DNA, genes, and so on.

DNA is usually a big part of a study of human anatomy so that is where we will focus for this activity.

How To Study Human Anatomy For Science:Build An Edible DNA Model

This hands-on project turns a simple lesson on DNA into a tasty edible treat.

But the best part is that teaches your kid’s what DNA is made of, how it works, what changes it, and more.

Whether you’re using a boxed or all-in-one curriculum or piecing together your own study, this activity is a fun way to teach your kids about the structure of DNA.

Add in a couple great books, some videos and you have a mini DNA unit study.

If you are studying anatomy and physiology with an older child, there is no reason it needs to be dry and boring.

As a matter of fact, hands-on is proven time and again to make a bigger impact on what a child retains.

DNA Resources for Kids

So, look at a few videos to get your children learning about what is DNA.

In addition, here are a few simple books that provide great reference for DNA material.

Basher Human Body
My First Book About Genetics Coloring Book
The DNA Book

Then, here are a few DNA facts.

DNA Facts for Kids

DNA is short for -deoxyribonucleic acid.
DNA is made from just 4 substances-Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, and Guanine.
There are 46 chromosomes in the human body, arranged in 23 pairs.
DNA can be used to identify someone, just the way a fingerprint does.
No one has the exact same DNA, except twins.
Siblings share about 50% of similar genes.
You have about 25% similarity with grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
It is found in almost every cell of your body.
Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA in 1869.
DNA from a single cell if stretched out would be 6 feet long.
Mitochondrial DNA comes from your maternal (mothers) line.
A single gram of DNA can hold up to 700 terabytes’ worth of data. Cool!
After a cell divides, it makes and exact copy of itself, all cells carry the same code.

Human Body Lapbook

In addition, you’ll love my human body lapbook.

Dynamic and Fun Human Body Lapbook for Multiple Ages
$5.00 Add to cart

And start out by introducing the candy and what each part represents as well as what it’s made of.

Color code everything. Give it as separate color to avoid confusion.

Make paper labels to identify each part. Also, identify which two bases can be combined for reference.

The gummy rope is the backbone. It is comprised of sugar, deoxyribose, and bonded with phosphate.

It does not contain any genetic information, but it is important because it binds everything together.

Then the small gummies are the 4 chemical bases that make up the two types of nucleotide bonds.

These building blocks are hooked together to form a chain of DNA.

A nucleotide is composed of 3 parts:

five-sided sugar,
phosphate group,
and a nitrogenous base.

Bases store information and give the DNA the ability to code the phenotype – a persons visible traits.

This is called a complementary base paring.

And they are bonded together via hydrogen bonds, which are broken apart when the DNA needs to unzip and duplicate itself.

Human Body Crafts

How to Study Human Anatomy Resources

Also, look at these other human anatomy resources:

Finally, let’s make this hand-on edible DNA model for our fun study of human anatomy.

How to Make an Edible DNA Model

You will need:

Sour Straws, Twizzlers, or other long gummy rope shape
4 colors of gummy dots, bears, marshmallows, sour bites, etc
Toothpicks

Directions:

Separate 4 colors of gummies or marshmallows out of your package and label each Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, and Guanine.

Make four different piles of nucleotides.

Create base pairs by pressing two candies onto a toothpick.

You can only combine Guanine with Cytosine, Adenine and Thymine to create proper chemical bonds.

The colors can go on either the left or the right side.

However, the colors must be paired correctly to create a proper chemical bond

Once you have enough pairs you can then create the backbone pieces by pressing a long length of chewy rope to each side.

Press each toothpick through until secure.

This double helix is what holds everything together.

Here is what your completed model looks like.

Finally, you will want to twist in one direction from the top and the opposite direction from the bottom to demonstrate what the 3d double helix looks like.

Now you can deconstruct your DNA and enjoy tasting it.

Create more than one to compare or compare siblings to see the different versions of DNA

The Geronimo Stilton Book Fourth Journey Fun Egypt Game

September 27, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today in the Geronimo Stilton The Fourth Journey Through Time in the Geronimo Stilton Books, we’re making a fun DIY Egypt Senet Game.

So, I’m combining a love for Geronimo Stilton, Ancient Egypt, and board games into one fun and educational activity.

The Geronimo Stilton Book Fourth Journey Fun Egypt Game

Flipping through the Geronimo Stilton The Fourth Journey Through Time, particularly the first adventure which is Cleopatra’s Reign in 48 BC we decided to learn about games.

So, we created the oldest known board game in the world which is Senet.

Many Egyptians were found buried with a Senet (or Game of Passing) game to represent passing to the afterlife.

Geronimo Stilton Book Pictures

This Geronimo Stilton book is just like the others.

The pages highlight great vocabulary words for the theme and show fashions of the time period.

And beautiful architecture like Cleopatra’s Palace.

This is a great way to introduce your child to ancient Egypt, the symbols, customs, and one of the ways they passed their time.

While this Geronimo Stilton story didn’t mention Senet, I love to think that Cleopatra sat around on a lazy afternoon playing a game of Senet.

And sipping on a favorite beverage while obviously being fanned and hand fed her favorite foods.

The oldest evidence of Senet we have are pieces found as far back as 3100 BCE.

And the hieroglyphics resembling Senet in the tomb of Merknera.

The rules were lost, but they have been put together using context clues, paintings, and the rules of similar games.

We checked out as much information on the internet as we could.

And we put together what we think is roughly the rules for the game.

Rather than dice they used colored sticks to determine how many moves to make.

The object is to move all your pieces off the board. It feels similar to backgammon or a very primitive chess game.

How to Make a Kid’s Egyptian Senet Game

Now, let’s make our own version of Senet.

You will need:

stiff cardboard
4 wood craft sticks
A ruler
Colored sharpies or other markers
White and black clay

Then, here are the directions for creating the game.

Paint or color 4 sticks black on one side and a bright color or you can draw patterns on the other side.

Cut a piece of cardboard to roughly 5” x 12”.

You could make it smaller or larger.

I used the carboard back from a pack of cardstock.

You could upcycle a cereal box or whatever type of cardboard you have on hand.

Mark of 3 rows of equal width with your ruler and draw the lines with a pencil.

Next, draw 10 vertical lines so that you have 3 rows of 10 squares. These squares represent “houses”.

Trace over all the lines with a black marker.

The original game does not have numbered squares, but you will want to mark yours at least lightly in the corner to track it easier.

The numbers snake back and forth.

Instead of starting at the first square in the 2nd row you will drop down from 10 to 11. Then, move toward the left and drop down from 20 to 21 and move right.

On each of the following squares draw the symbols for each:

Square 15-House of Rebirth, Ankh
Square 26- House of Happiness, bird
Square 27-House of Water, three squiggly lines
Square 28- House of the Three Truths, three dots forming a triangle
Square 29- House of the Re-Atoum, Eye of Horus

Finally, you want to create tokens to move.

You can use pawns from another game, glass gems (flat marbles) or create your own by using air dry or oven bake clay.

We tried to make ours to look similar, but simpler version of the original tokens.

And we formed the black ones into drops and flattened out the white ones like this. Bake or air dry according to package directions.

Then, create rules for your game.

Creating Rules for Ancient Egypt DIY SENET Game

Look at some of these rules.

Place pawns along the top row, alternating colors.

Player 1 takes first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth houses. Player 2 takes second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth houses

Toss your “dice” and make your move according to what side lands upright:
4 colored side up- move 5 spaces and throw again
3 colored side up- move 3 spaces
2 colored side up- move 2 spaces
1 colored side up- move 1 space

Two tokens cannot occupy the same square. So, if you land on a square with someone else’s pawn you move theirs back to where you were.

But if they have two or more pieces next to each other the house is protected and you will not be able to move their pawn or finish your turn.

Meaning of Special Places in DIY Senet Game

If you land on space 27 you go to Space 15 (House of Rebirth).

Every piece must stop on Space 26.

In some versions you must throw a certain number to leave the space (you can make this a house rule if you like).

For example, if you are on 25 and do not throw exactly one move you must stay there until your next turn and continue throwing until you can move the exact number of places to land there.

Space 27( House of Water)- if you land here, you are sent back to the House of Rebirth. If you fail to throw the correct number on space 28 or 29 you are sent here.

Space 28 (House of Three Truths)- You must throw a three to leave here, otherwise you are sent back to House of Water (27).

Space 29 (House of the Re-Atoum) You must throw a two to leave, if not you are sent back to the House of Water.

When you land on the last house you must toss your sticks each turn until on 1 colored stick is facing up and then you may remove your piece from the board.

Other Geronimo Stilton Book Activities

Then, add some ancient Egyptian activities.

Ancient Egyptian Hands-on Activities

Finally, because you’ll already have The Fourth Journey Through Time to use as a literature, add some of other Ancient Egypt homeschool hands-on activities.

Learning homeschool history should be just as much about doing as reading living history books.

Day 16 Practical Tips for Learning Styles and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp

September 26, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Day 16 practical tips for learning styles is our next topic for the 31 Day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers.

What you come to appreciate more about homeschooling is that being a first-rate teacher is not as easy as it may seem and it requires work.

You’ll want tips for learning styles so you’re armed for the personality of your different children.

In the beginning, new homeschoolers spend more time choosing curriculum than they do improving their ability to teach.

Day 16 Practical Tips for Learning Styles and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp

Remembering that you are teaching a child and not a curriculum should motivate you to want to understand more about the learning process.

Learning tips and tricks of the trade takes time, but you should begin reading about learning how to teach rather than focusing exclusively on choosing curriculum.

{My curriculum sale last year.}

Too, applying knowledge of what you know now about learning styles will help you to tame the curriculum colossus.

Instead of focusing on learning about ALL curriculum this year, you can focus on just what your children need.

There will be plenty of time to come up for air and survey other options as you plod along.

Tips for Learning Styles

Along with my next post Day 17: How To Choose Curriculum Other than the “Looks Good” Method, I want to put in a nutshell what I have learned in my 20+ years or so of homeschooling and in my 10 years of advising other new homeschoolers. Easy?

Absolutely not because each family has different circumstances, but you need a starting point that works.

Between aligning curriculum that fits your child’s learning style and arming yourself with the strengths and weakness of each curriculum, your first year will be less daunting.

Look at some tips below.

Determine what your children like and don’t like and then you can see ways to teach that fits their learning style.

For example, if you have a child that learns best by hands-on, should you waste your time looking JUST at workbooks?

Workbooks have their place, but you are not trying to follow pubic school thinking where some feel that finishing a workbook equals learning.

It does not. I finished many work books when I was in elementary public school, but it did not always equal to mastery of the concept because I was lousy in math though I was a good student.

Who is Tina Robertson

But before you can appreciate how I can help you here are are a few things about me. Sure, this free new homeschooler boot camp is all about you.

However, you need to know that I’m not new to the homeschool world.

It has been several years since I wrote this series and I want to update you on my successes. And I’ve helped HUNDREDS get on the road to homeschooling.

Too, I have 3 homeschooled grads. So I’m well past having my oldest kid being 10 years old.

But the best part is that what I have for you works.

Also, look at a few other things about me.

I am the author of the book Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers: When You Don’t Know Where to Begin

And I have a detailed self-paced online homeschool Kickstarter course. It is a detailed comprehensive course for first time homeschoolers.

That is enough about me.

This new homeschoolers free boot camp is about you. I’ve not only been helping new homeschoolers in person, but here at my site for years.

Also, I have created an easy course where you don’t have to wait to learn about learning styles.

Here is another example if you have a child that is a Competent Carl.

If he already excels at math, does he really need a lot of your help? Will purchasing a drill and kill workbook and your over explanations make him enjoy the first years of homeschooling?

On the other hand, if you are busy helping other children and you know that your Sociable Sue prefers one on one time with you, have you allowed time in your schedule to give her or him your undivided attention?

Refer back to these tips on what each personality likes and dislikes.

Ask yourself: “Am I the kind of teacher that “I” would want to learn from?”. If not, make improvements. It is a hard pill to swallow to make honest assessments, but homeschooling is for the brave and the humble.

Preparation is key to making sure your children enjoy you as a teacher.

Do you see some teaching tips you can implement now?

New to Homeschooling Start with the Basics

1 – 7 of the 31 day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers

8-14 of the 31 day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers

15 – of the 31 Day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers

15: Discovering Learning Styles