YMB #76 Homeschooling Kindergarten: A Conversation with Rebecca ZippPin
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Nothing strikes fear in the homeschool mom more than starting kindergarten with that first child. I remember wondering how I was ever really going to make this work. (Pssst — it has!) I am joined on the podcast today by Rebecca Zipp, a homeschooling mom who has put much thought into a gentle kindergarten.

We have a message for the new homeschooling moms out there. It is going to be ok. Of course we also spend quite a bit of time talking about how Morning Time fits into the homeschool kindergarten (hint: they are a match made in heaven), how much time you should spend doing kindergarten, and what are the goals of a kindergarten education. Listen, mama, and be encouraged!

Pam: This is Your Morning Basket where we help you bring truth, goodness, and beauty to your homeschool day. I’m Pam Barnhill, your host, and I am so happy that you are joining me here today. Well, today’s topic is all about kindergarten. What do we do with those little a five-year-olds? If you are a first-time homeschool mom, this podcast is especially for you. We want you to come away from this one feeling good and empowered about what you’re going to be doing for kindergarten this year, and how Morning Time can fit into that homeschool kindergarten. You may be surprised at how it fits in. Now, if you’ve been around the block of time or two and you’ve done kindergarten before, there is still something for you in this podcast as well. All about kindergarten today, right after this word from our sponsor. [spp-transcript]

This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Your Morning Basket Plus. Okay, I’m so excited guys. New in the Your Morning Basket Plus subscription is our Morning Basket Explorers Club. Now, this club features our brand new Morning Basket Explorations Kit. Each month, we present a new themed set of explorations on kid-favorite themes. Coming up in the next year, each month, we will be exploring a new theme, themes like flowers, apples, the farm, gratitude, Christmas around the world, arctic animals, George Washington Carver who is a favorite Alabama son, the solar system, the Holy Land, gardening, the flag, and sharks. And oh boy, we are just getting started. We have so many other ideas.

Each month we will put out an exploration guide for moms to set up these explorations. And these will include a do-it section of things to do during your Morning Time, a Strew-It section with ideas to strew for your kids that they can explore on their own, a Further Exploration section with ideas that your family can do outside of Morning Time, like something you can do in the kitchen or a field trip. We’re also going to have level-up ideas that are going to help you bring your older students, your middle school students, into the exploration with the rest of the family. It’s going to be age-appropriate for them.

Now, the guides also feature memorization and music to go with each theme, and we’re going to include MP3 audios of the memory work and the songs so just to make it super easy for your family to memorize or sing along.

But the Explorers Club doesn’t stop with the guide each month. We’re also going to have two live events with your favorite Morning Time teachers that go along with these explorations. And if you can’t make it to the events live, you’re going to have access to the replays. Plus, your family is going to be able to submit your findings and activities at the end of each month and receive a special tracking form and monthly stickers in the mail to document your family’s journey as Morning Basket Explorers. Your kids are going to love this. It’s going to be so much fun. We are so excited about this new journey we get to share with your family. The Explorers Club is part of the Your Morning Basket Plus subscription, along with over 40 sets of done-for-you Morning Time plans that are also in the subscription. You can join today and get more information by heading to a pambarnhill.com/subscriptions for monthly and annual options. We cannot wait to see you there. And now on with the podcast.

Rebecca Zip was first introduced to Charlotte Mason in 2013 after exploring other educational philosophies, and she knew immediately that this was what she wanted for herself and her children. She enjoys the freedom found in the Charlotte Mason education and the fact that it not only nourishes the minds, hearts and souls of her children but hers as well. With a degree in art history, she also appreciates Ms. Mason’s emphasis on exposing children to fine art. Rebecca is a regular contributor to Commonplace Quarterly, and she also writes at her website, ahumbleplace.com, where you can find her Charlotte Mason-inspired kindergarten curriculum. Rebecca, welcome to the podcast.

Rebecca:
Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. It’s great to be here.

Pam:
Well, I am so happy to have you here. And you know what I love about reading your intro is the emphasis that you are educating yourself along with your kids.

Rebecca:
Yes. Yeah, that has been such a wonderful sort of side effect of doing the Charlotte Mason method and just really realizing how much I have to learn, but then also being able to learn it in such a wonderful way.

Pam:
Yeah. Yeah. It makes me think of Cindy Rollins. I often like, boy, when I get to retire from this and get to read everything I want to study.

Rebecca:
Yes. Yes. The amount of books that she’s able to read. Often I’m just like, “Oh, I’m so jealous.”

Pam:
Yeah, yes.

Rebecca:
I want to be able to do that too.

Pam:
I’m looking forward to my homeschool mom retirement so I can continue my education. Not that I’m looking forward to the kids to leaving, but you know what I mean.

Rebecca:
Yes. Yeah. There is a side of it that’s nice to be able to have that free time to also pursue things for yourself too.

Pam:
Yeah. Yeah. I think most homeschool moms really, when you get down to it, there is a large component of, I want to keep learning myself, and this is a good excuse to get to do that.

Rebecca:
Yes, definitely.

Pam:
Well, tell me a little bit about you and your family, and how you came to homeschooling.

Rebecca:
Okay. Well, my husband and I, we live in Colorado, and we’ve been married for 15 years and we have two children. My son is nine and he just finished his year three. And then my daughter just finished her kindergarten year. She’s six. And I knew from the beginning that I wanted to homeschool. But as you read in my biography, I just wasn’t sure how that could look for us. And so when I did find Charlotte Mason and decided that was the way to go, so thankful that I found that philosophy and that method so early on because we’ve been able to do that from the beginning. We just finished our fourth year homeschooling, which is really hard for me to believe because it doesn’t feel like it’s been four years. It’s just been such a wonderful experience for us.

Pam:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, one of the things you focus on, on your website, is kindergarten curriculum. You said you were an art history major. What was it that drew you to focusing on kindergarten?

Rebecca:
Well, what I usually tell people is that it was out of necessity. My son’s birthday is in August, which is kind of a difficult time to sort of figure out where to place a child for school. He turned five, and most of his friends were being enrolled in kindergarten programs. And he just felt so young to me. He’s only a few weeks out from having been four.

And so my husband and I decided that we really just wanted to wait another year. I had started school later on as well, just a month before I turned six. And we just felt like that would be the best option for us. And so as that year went by and he had more about unstructured time, I started looking at what our options might be for when he did turn six and whether or not that would be sort of a first grade or kindergarten year.

And I found booklets and curricula that were mentioned in different places and laid out, but I really felt like they were either… It just seems like a lot to me for a child who had just turned six or I didn’t really care for the book choices that were included in them. And so I decided to pull together some resources that I had found of different book lists and things like that, and just sort of put my own together. And I knew that it was something that other people were also looking for, for sort of a transitional phase from going from a less academic time in a child’s life to a little bit more structure but doing it in a gentle way, that I decided to start offering it to others.

Pam:
Right. I love that, born out of necessity, but I have this, I’m going to share it. I’m going to put it out there and share it with other people.

Rebecca:
Right.

Pam:
Well, let’s talk a little bit about Morning Time and how that fits into a kindergarten curriculum. What do you think are some of the benefits of a Morning Time for that five, six-year-old student?

Rebecca:
Well, in general but especially for children that age who sometimes still have a hard time with transitioning to a new activity, I feel that Morning Time is a wonderful way to do that transition in a very gentle way. We have breakfast, we do chores, and we have that time together in the morning, but then we come together in our family room, which is where we do our school time.

And instead of diving into something that’s a little bit more academically rigorous like math or doing one of our assigned readings or scheduled readings, we do things like pray together and read poetry, and sing songs, and look at arts, and listen to music and things like that. These have been the things that my children have really enjoyed the most as part of their education. And so we do those things first to sort of ease ourselves into that more, okay, now we’re going to go a little bit more in-depth later on. But right now, we’re going to do these things that we enjoy doing together as a family.

Pam:
Okay. Yeah, I love… Actually, I was thinking about this today that probably more needs to be talked about, more needs to be written on transitioning in homeschool because it’s one of the places where everything just can completely fall apart.

Rebecca:
Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

Pam:
And I think it’s because if you’re in a classroom setting, it is so structured that they go from sitting in their room playing with Legos to having to do math in like 30 seconds flat.

Rebecca:
Right. Exactly, yes. Yeah.

Pam:
Yeah, I love the idea of using Morning Time as a way to transition. Dr. Christopher Perrin has come on the podcast before and he talks about how Morning Time kind of sets the disposition for the school day, creates that disposition of learning.

Rebecca:
Yes. Yes, exactly. Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Pam:
Yeah.

Rebecca:
Yep, and I think, again, for that age that’s just so important because they’re still really struggling with those transitions.

Pam:
Yeah, I think so too. Well, and honestly, even as they get older.

Rebecca:
Yeah. Yeah, that’s probably true as well.

Pam:
Well, what does a kindergarten Morning Time look like? What kind of things… Let’s just let everybody know, we’re going to talk about this from a number of different standpoints. We’re going to focus a little bit first on, if mom is at home with a new kindergartner and that is their oldest child or their only child. And then we’ll approach it later from the other viewpoint as well, like what do you do if you have older kids.

Rebecca:
Okay.

Pam:
For right now, let’s just focus on, I’m mom, I’ve decided to homeschool this year, I’m keeping my kindergartner home. We probably have a lot of moms who are going to be doing that in the fall.

Rebecca:
Yes.

Pam:
And what do I do with my kindergartner during Morning Time?

Rebecca:
Well, for us, for my son’s year, like I said, it was my first time ever homeschooling anybody. It was only about 25 minutes and I really wasn’t sure how to incorporate Morning Time into it in the first place. Up to that point, my understanding, what I thought was my understanding of Morning Time, was that it was more for families with multiple children and so I wasn’t actually going to include it. But then as I started looking at the things that I wanted to include in our school time but wasn’t sure where to fit them, they just fit so well in sort of a Morning Time format.

And so for us, just that year, it was we would open with prayer, and then we worked on memorizing the Lord’s Prayer that year because that wasn’t something that he had learned yet. And then when we did our hymn and our folk song, and we read our poem for the day. We did our Bible reading during that time. And then we would close with a benediction and sing the doxology together. It was really simple, but it was just a really nice way to include all of those little things that were important to our family, but I wasn’t really sure where to fit them in among the other things that we were doing.

Pam:
Okay, and so that was when you used it. Now, at that point, did you have any little tagalongs?

Rebecca:
I did. Yeah, my daughter was two at the time and so she was in the room with us. And she wasn’t really paying attention during Morning Time. But what was really funny was that sometimes later in the day I would hear her singing one of our folk songs, and so she had just kind of picked it up just by being in the same room and listening with us. And I think that was a time where she wasn’t really able to sit down and listen while I was reading something to my son, but it was a time that she could sort of be part of if she wanted to and it required less mental effort on her part.

Pam:
Yeah. Yeah, I love that. And it’s so funny. You hear that all the time how and probably not so much the five year old/two year old year. But as you moved into the six year old/three year old year, she probably started up some of that memorization too without-

Rebecca:
Yes.

Pam:
Yeah.

Rebecca:
Yeah. All of the poems that we worked on that year, a lot of them she had memorized by the end of the year as well. She learned the Lord’s Prayer that year, so yeah, it worked really well for us.

Pam:
Yeah. Now you mentioned that your Morning Time was about 25 minutes long. How did you land on 25 minutes as the length of time that you were going to spend?

Rebecca:
Well, I didn’t aim, that’s just kind of how it worked out. The total kindergarten time that we would spend was only about 45 minutes to 50 minutes, depending on what we were doing. And so it just ended up being about half of our school time at the time.

Pam:
Okay, so let me ask you this. I almost want you to repeat that. We need to highlight that and make it stand out. Like, “Okay, we’re only spending about 45 or 50 minutes, and half of it is Morning Time.” And so what did you do with that other bit of time?

Rebecca:
The other half was when we did really simple, gentle math, just a lot of counting and things like that. And then we would do our readings. And then if we had a handicraft, we would work on it during that time. But sometimes, usually the handicraft would be later in the day. Really that time, the rest of it was just reading together. There was copy work done but just very simple things.

Pam:
Very simple and very short amounts of time.

Rebecca:
Yes. Yeah, definitely very short readings, nothing very long or rigorous. I did not require any kind of narration or anything during the kindergarten year. It was just really a time for us to spend together.

Pam:
Yeah, and for new moms that we might have who aren’t familiar with, the idea of narration, it’s telling back, what you read to the child you have them tell back what they’ve heard. And it’s a Charlotte Mason technique. And usually in Charlotte Mason education, it’s not required until the child is six, unless they just spontaneously want to do it.

Rebecca:
Right, which they often do.

Pam:
Sometimes they do. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes that’s the best way to encourage it is to just-

Rebecca:
Right.

Pam:
Yeah.

Rebecca:
Yes.

Pam:
Very much so. Okay, so I’m loving this. We have short days and we have half of the day filled with these subjects that are beautiful and wonderful, but you’re like, “How do we get them done?” And we get them done by grouping them together and giving them weight, by giving them a name and a time in our day.

Rebecca:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yep, that’s exactly it.

Pam:
Okay. Has your daughter done kindergarten now?

Rebecca:
Yes, she just finished her kindergarten year. Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Pam:
Okay. So how did her kindergarten Morning Time look different than the one you did with your son?

Rebecca:
It was a little bit different. Because he has a separate Bible reading list or schedule, I decided to move hers out of Morning Time. But it was right after Morning Time because I really wanted to emphasize the importance of that, being one of the first things that we did. And then I also included things in it that were just specific to her. He had some things that were specific to him, like doing some Spanish review and things like that, but then I would read a nursery rhyme for her during Morning Time and we would work on her recitation poem during Morning Time.

But the rest of it, it’s always been really this thing that we can do all of the things that we want to do together. And so, like I said, like picture study, composers study, our hymns and folk songs. We work on memorizing different things, so longer passages of the Bible are memorized during the Morning Time. We just read them together every day. It’s not like rote memorization or anything like that. And praying together and things like that. It didn’t change a lot, but I wanted it to be for both of them. And so I wanted to include her in that as well, to let her know that it was important for her to be a part of this as well. And that she’s one of the big kids now, as hard as that is to say.

Pam:
It’s breaking your heart, but she is.

Rebecca:
I know, it is. Yes.

Pam:
Has the length of time that you spend during morning changed?

Rebecca:
As I’ve tried different things in it, it has, but I think it’s still just for us. And my son just finished form one, so as he gets older, I do want to include more things in Morning Time, like reading longer books together and things like that. I just haven’t started doing that yet. It was still only around about a half hour, so not too much longer.

Pam:
Okay. Okay, so let’s tell everybody Form One, and you’re going to have to help me, is that-

Rebecca:
Oh, sorry.

Pam:
He’s just finished third grade?

Rebecca:
Yeah. First through third grade is about Form One.

Pam:
Okay. You’re making me exercise my Charlotte Mason muscle today.

Rebecca:
I’m still trying to get it down, so I don’t know the other forms very well.

Pam:
Goodness. Okay, so let’s talk a little bit about what you think as somebody who has developed your own kindergarten curriculum and you have this available on your website. What do you think are important things that a mom needs to focus on with a kindergartner?

Rebecca:
Well, I think the kindergarten year probably there’s a few different things that I think are really important. That year is a lot about developing good habits for your child. They’re transitioning into this more structured educational setting, and so developing habits like paying attention, sitting for longer periods of time, which is hard for some kids that age, not interrupting, and things like that.

But also I think it’s really important to use that year to really set a good foundation for instilling a love of learning in them. And I think you can do that so well with well-written, rich-living books that present fun, not fun in sort of a flippant way, but beautiful ideas, wonderful ideas that children enjoy reading and listening to. And then doing these things together. Enjoying that time together with your student and they can enjoy that time for you. Sort of getting the idea in their head that this is a time that you’re together, you’re learning together, And it’s a beautiful time.

And then also, not trying to do too much, and allowing for a lot of still unstructured free time for them, because I think that is still so important at that age for them to be able to still explore the world to a certain extent on their own terms.

Pam:
Yeah. Okay, so the second part of my question was, how does Morning Time help with these things? And I’m sitting here mentally ticking off my boxes when you were talking about learning to pay attention and learning not to interrupt, and loving learning. And Morning Time is perfect for kindergarten.

Rebecca:
Yeah, it really is. It really is. And like I said earlier, the things that my children have really enjoyed, engaged with the most, are the things that we’ve done during Morning Time, like singing these songs. And my daughter loves picture study, which just speaks to my heart, and we do that during Morning Time. And reading poetry and things like that, these things that are just so beautiful that we do together have mostly happened during Morning Time.

Pam:
Yeah. Yeah, and it really does create that love of learning. Well, I know we have a lot of moms who are going to be potentially starting with a kindergartner this fall. And I think we kind of get it in our heads that, “Oh, this is real now. We’ve got to get serious. We’ve got to buckle down.” And the urge comes to like, “I’ve got to buy a box, I’ve got to buy this complete curriculum.” What would you say to the mom who, who feels like she needs to do that? Do you have something, a message for her?

Rebecca:
Yeah, I think it’s so easy, especially for parents, we always want to do what we believe is the best for them. And homeschooling parents, I feel like in particular put a lot of pressure on themselves to do all the things. And especially in this society that we live in where there’s such an emphasis on starting children at a really young age, and if they haven’t learned X number of things by the time they’re five or six years old then they’re behind and they’re going to struggle, and it’s going to be really bad.

And I think what I have learned from just educating my own children and then getting feedback from other women who have had children this age who’ve gone through this as well, is that simple is really the best thing at this age and keeping it really, like I said, just really simple. And not trying to start too soon, not trying to do too much, working on those good habits, and then enjoying that time together.

Because when you’re putting all of this pressure on yourself and your child, it can be really difficult to enjoy that time. You’re putting so much stress on yourself that it’s less about that time being spent together and the habits and what your ultimate goal is for how they view education. It’s more difficult to focus on those things rather than like, “Okay, we have this checklist of things that we need to learn. And we need to do this and we need to do it all right now.” I think that that really just doesn’t set up a good educational foundation for your child.

Pam:
Right, right. Well, as we’re looking at kindergarten and if we’re not going to do that boxed curriculum, so what are some of your favorite resources for kind of a meaningful kindergarten, and not just a meaningful kindergarten, but a meaningful kindergarten Morning Time? Can you just give me one or two things that you really love to use?

Rebecca:
I really love book lists. There’s a lot of them out there and I’ve found them all so helpful. The internet can be extremely helpful. There’s a couple of books that I’ve really enjoyed, Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt. And looking at what other women have done for Morning Time has also been helpful.

But then what you offer is also, I think, is wonderful. Especially for first-time homeschooling moms who aren’t really sure what Morning Time can look like or how they want it to look like, it gives them a way to see what it can look like. But then also if they’re already feeling overwhelmed with kind of diving into this homeschooling thing, it offers them a way to have it all done for them so that they don’t have to have that extra stress and pressure on them.

Pam:
Yeah. Yeah, and I have a feeling that your Morning Time has a lot of good stories and literature in it.

Rebecca:
I’ve tried. I’ve tried to include that. My children haven’t complained.

Pam:
When you ask a mom what’s your best resource, and she’s like, “A book list.”

Rebecca:
There’s some really great ones. Yeah, yeah. I’m so thankful for them.

Pam:
Yeah, we can actually link to a few different book lists in the… Well, Honey for a Child’s Heart, of course, as a book resource but also some other book lists as well. Let me make a little note for myself.

Rebecca:
And then one thing that has been helpful too is your list on things to learn for recitation or memorization during Morning Time. I’ve used that so many times too. That’s been really helpful.

Pam:
Oh yeah, the 100 Things to Memorize. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, that’s a really popular one.

Pam:
Okay, so let’s talk a little bit about your kindergarten curriculum that you have put together. Can you tell me a little bit about what makes it different than what moms might find elsewhere?

Rebecca:
Well, it is a lot shorter, from what I know, and I believe it’s a lot more gentle than what other ones you might find out there. I really wanted to include things that would make the time together special and meaningful. I just wanted a way to introduce my children to homeschooling, and myself in the beginning, that would give them a love of learning. And so I’ve tried to sort of keep that goal in mind as I chose books for it.

Rebecca:
It’s only two readings a day. Like I said earlier, half of it is math. It’s a very gentle math… Half of it is not math. I’m so sorry. Half of it is Morning Time. It’s a very gentle math, that’s very short. It’s just a really relaxed form of kindergarten. It’s not rigorous or anything like that. And I think in that, from what I know of other kindergarten curriculum, it is different in that regard.

Pam:
Yeah. Once again, that goes back to what you were saying about our Morning Time plans. It’s completely laid out.

Rebecca:
Right. Yeah.

Pam:
If you are a new homeschooling mom and you’re diving off into this for the first time and you’re looking for something, it’s completely laid out for you.

Rebecca:
Yeah. I wanted to make it as easy as possible so I put out weekly schedules and there’s term schedules, but then I also feel like it’s really flexible. If there’s a book that’s on your shelf that you feel would be a good replacement for one of the books that I’ve listed, then I encourage moms to do that, to just really make it theirs and use it as sort of a foundation for what they want their kindergarten year to look like.

Pam:
Yeah, yeah. And it is lovely. What do we do, if I’m a mom, maybe I have or have not ever homeschooled before, but I have a 13 or 14 year old and maybe the kindergartner’s my baby. How does Morning Time look different than do you think?

Rebecca:
Well, like I said earlier, as my son gets older, I really do want to start including more things in there, like longer books that cover different topics like theology or even fiction, some of the free reads that we have for our curriculum. And so I think it’s important to also be flexible with your younger student. And so, one thing that I had for my daughter was that if we were doing something that it wasn’t necessarily for her, it was for my son, she had freedom to color or play with Legos or do something that was fun for her, but if she wanted to, she could still be in the room. She could look at books or things like that.

I think, for me, it was just more about being flexible and saying, you know what, if this isn’t something that applies to her or that isn’t being read for her, that she could do something else during that time.

Pam:
And that’s such an important part of that habit training. It’s like, “Okay, it’s not just for you. The whole world doesn’t revolve around you, so here are your options.”

Rebecca:
Right.

Pam:
And it’s such an important lesson to learn.

Rebecca:
Yeah. Yeah, and then also transitioning back to something that was for her and expecting her to put aside what she was working on or what she was doing and coming back for her time. Which it actually worked out so well for us to do it that way because that’s how it’s going to look going forward.

Pam:
Right. Right. And so it’s just very good practice for her or any child to be able to do that. Those skills are so important. And it goes back to the heart of the habit training is what’s really, really important about those kindergarten years, so much more than getting to a certain reading level or something like that.

Rebecca:
Right. Yep. Yep, I definitely agree with that.

Pam:
Well, what words of encouragement do you have for moms who are preparing to do kindergarten?

Rebecca:
I think just, my heart always goes out to moms who are starting that and feeling a lot of pressure. I really just want to say, just enjoy this year and don’t put too much pressure on yourself because education itself is a long road. And there are so many opportunities throughout your child’s scholastic career to learn things. And the kindergarten year, as I said, is just really about spending that time together and developing that love of learning. And again, just don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I know it’s so hard not to, but..

I’ve received some emails from moms saying that they were really scared that they were going to mess their child up during that kindergarten year. And I just always want to emphasize to them that you’re capable and you can do this, and you’re not going to mess your child up.

Pam:
Yeah, I think we should just dispel that one right now. We’re saying it right here, right now, there’s no way you’re academically going to mess your child up in kindergarten. It’s not possible.

Rebecca:
No, it’s pretty much impossible.

Pam:
We’ve stated it. There it is.

Rebecca:
Yep, it’s there. It’s fact now.

Pam:
There you go. Yeah, I think that’s so important. I’m scrolling your website a little bit, looking at your curriculum as you’re talking about it. And I’m like, “Oh, if only I had a kindergartner. Where was this when my oldest was in kindergarten?”

Rebecca:
Yeah, it’s been such a wonderful thing for us and I’m just glad that I’m able to share it with other people because I feel like it’s just a nice way to spend the kindergarten year, yeah.

Pam:
Yeah, it really is. It really is. And the fact that Morning Time was about half of it. Just got to love that.

Rebecca:
Yes. Yeah, it was a very important part. Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Pam:
Well, Rebecca, thank you so much for coming on today and helping encourage moms about kindergarten, what it can look like and how Morning Time can be part of it. I really appreciate it.

Rebecca:
Well, you’re so welcome. Thank you again for having me on this. This has been an honor.

Pam:
Well, tell everybody where they can find you online. And I just want to point out before you do, not only does Rebecca have her kindergarten curriculum on her website, but she also has picture study resources as well because she has a background in art history. Tell everybody where they can find that.

Rebecca:
Well, my website is ahumbleplace.com and everything is in my shop. I have the kindergarten curriculum and then I also offer picture study aids and picture study prints that can be shipped to them. Yeah, that’s the main place to find me.

Pam:
So many good things. And then the seasonal art devotion-

Rebecca:
Yes. Yep.

Pam:
… Lots of loveliness there, so do go check it out. Well, thanks so much.

Rebecca:
Yeah. Thank you.

Pam:
And there you have it. Now, if you would like links to any of the books and resources that Rebecca and I talked about today, including those book lists and Rebecca’s website, ahumbleplace.com, you can find them on the show notes for this episode. Those are at pambarnhill.com/YMB76.

Now, also on the show notes are some instructions on how to leave a rating or review for the Your Morning Basket Podcast on iTunes. The ratings and reviews that you leave help us get word out about the podcast to new listeners, and we really appreciate it when you take the time to do that so thank you very much.

Now, we’ll be back again in a couple of weeks with a very special guest. Sally Clarkson is going to be coming onto the Your Morning Basket Podcast. She has been a mentor of mine for a long time in the homeschooling space, and I cannot wait to get to chat with her. We’ll be back with that interview in a couple of weeks. Until then, keep seeking Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in your homeschool day.

Links and Resources from Today’s Show

Honey for a Child's HeartPinHoney for a Child’s HeartCharlotte Mason-Inspired Kindergarten Curriculum (2020-2021)PinCharlotte Mason-Inspired Kindergarten Curriculum (2020-2021)

 

Key Ideas about Homeschooling Kindergarten

Doing Morning Time as a part of a kindergarten curriculum is a gentle way to include a variety of subjects and create a disposition for learning in your children. It also gives them a chance to practice good habits, like paying attention.

For kindergarteners, their entire school day should be short, allowing for plenty of unstructured free time. Morning Time should also be short and delightful, maybe only taking up half of the entire school day. Keep it simple!

Remembering that education is a lifelong pursuit can alleviate some of the pressure moms feel to get everything just right.

Find What you Want to Hear

  • [4:23] meet Rebecca
  • [7:30] why Rebecca felt drawn to write kindergarten curricula
  • [9:30] benefits of Morning Time for 5-6-year-olds
  • [11:58] what to include in a kindergarten Morning Time
  • [15:10] ideal length of Morning Time for kindergarten
  • [17:37] kindergarten Morning Time when you have older students
  • [20:10] what to focus on in kindergarten
  • [22:47] advice for the mom who wants to buy a boxed curriculum
  • [25:00] Rebecca’s favorite resources for a meaningful kindergarten Morning Time
  • [27:07] how Rebecca’s Kindergarten curriculum is unique
  • [29:22] balancing younger and older students in Morning Time
  • [31:50] words of encouragement for moms who are preparing to do kindergarten
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Leave a Rating or Review

Doing so helps me get the word out about the podcast. iTunes bases their search results on positive ratings, so it really is a blessing — and it’s easy!

  1. Click on this link to go to the podcast main page.
  2. Click on Listen on Apple Podcasts under the podcast name.
  3. Once your iTunes has launched and you are on the podcast page, click on Ratings and Review under the podcast name. There you can leave either or both! 

Thanks for Your Reviews