We are officially (for the second time) entering into Kindergarten this year with a strong likelihood of moving on to first grade in the new year. We are excited for the resources and curriculum that we are using! Here's what we are planning for 2018-2019 school year for K and 1st:

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My review of Sonlight: 

For last year, we used the full Sonlight curriculum which was perfect because I had no idea how to piece together a Charlotte Mason style literature based approach to homeschooling. I was overwhelmed and getting one big box of stuff in the mail was exactly what I needed. 

What we loved about Sonlight:

A literature based curriculum that you don't have to piece together yourself!! 

Everything out of the box and ready for you

The schedule is completely done! You just use it you are good! 

We absolutely adore the books from Sonlight

Here's what didn't work for us: 

We did not care for the Bible curriculum. The Bible itself was fine. But it was extremely dry and the allotted time they had for K-2nd grade was far too long. Especially with all the other reading. 

It was hard for us to stick to the schedule. It became hard for us, even when we were trying to be flexible. 

We found that we never used the discussion guides and leaders guide. This is supposed to be a huge benefit of Sonlight. but for these grades, we found it entirely unnecessary to look up discussion questions. It was far more trouble than it was worth. We just naturally discuss the books with the kids. (this would be a lot more helpful I think as they get older)

So while we won't be doing the full sonlight curriculum, we WILL be using their books each year but then doing our own thing. Overall, we still highly recommend Sonlight! And I have a few friends who are looking for more structure in their homeschool day. For them especially, I think it's 100% worth it!  

Our Approach to Kindergarten: 

As I shared in our podcast last year at the beginning of the year, our educational style is very Charlotte Mason inspired, especially for these young ages. So that includes a TON of outdoor and unstructured play. Our actual homeschooling doesn't take very long. 

Typically it looks like 15-30 minutes of sit down at the table doing their math and hand writing. The rest of our subjects are done through books at the couch, outside, on the boys bed, etc. 

What we are using: 

100 Easy Lessons to Teach Your Child to Read (we LOVE this handbook! And you can use it again and again!)

New handwriting books we are trying for $4.99

Math U See Kindergarten

Then our science, history, and everything else will be mainly through reading. 

Masterbooks: Their living education math, writing, and more. They have a full preschool and kindergarten curriculum, creation science materials and more! 

Usborn Books: 

The Usborne Outdoor Book - Includes ton of outdoor activities to do! We will use for science 

It All Starts With a Seed...How Food Grows - Science

A Look Inside a Castle - History

Count to 100 - Math

How Big is a Million? - Math

Lift the Flap - Telling the Time - Math

My First Reading Library - Language Arts

Children's Picture Atlas - History 

Amazon Things We Ordered: 

Melissa and Doug Magnetic Calendar