Setting Up Kindergarten

Summer is flying by quickly.  I am still ordering pieces of school here and there.  Despite having five daughters, this is the first year I have ever taught Kindergarten.  Up until now my daughters all did Kindergarten in public school.  While I know it is a bit unreasonable, I am a little nervous about Kindergarten.

There are so many variations, depending on the curriculum and the state, on what should be covered in a quality Kindergarten program.  As I read through different scopes and sequences, I realize that this foundational year is a time to grow skills, not a time to feel stressed about a bunch of standards.   It's a time of hands-on fun and reading together, a time of cutting and pasting and coloring and counting.

As I pull together Megan's Kindergarten year, I realize that I am definitely more on the "Better Late than Early" mindset.  While I believe that lots of learning can take place, I don't want to push my little girl so hard that she gets frustrated.  While I believe in building skills slowly, line upon line, precept upon precept, I want to feel that we can take those skills at the best speed for Megan.

Yes, there will be things that aren't fun to learn.  She will have to learn them anyway.  But at five, I want her to see the wonder of God's creation, and feel a sense of achievement in learning.  She is a child full of questions.  I love that she is so curious about the world around her.  I plan to use that curiosity.