Organizing Kindergarten Curriculum

[4Homeschoolin'Girls!]

Good Morning,

I am new to Memoria Press and homeschooling. I have received all of my materials in the Kindergarten Curriculum pack, as well as the Read Aloud and Science / History Enrichment programs that correspond with the full curriculum.

I am having trouble getting all of the materials organized so that I am not fumbling between all the books each day. I want to keep the pace of the days swift, but find that even when having all the books ready to go, there is still lost time / fumbling to get things moving.

What are some ways you have organized your Kindergarten Curriculum so that things are at your fingertips and ready to go?

Thanks a bunch!

[Fireweed Prep]

I use metal magazine storage containers to separate each subject and then little page marking “tabs” from Office Depot or Target to mark where we are in each book so it’s open and go for the things that go in chronological/page order.

[Mom2mthj]

We use a milk crate...I spiral bind my teacher’s manuals so I can keep them open to the correct page. I keep the books in order the order I want to tackle them in the crate.

[Colomama]

I group weekly read alouds together in a bankers box away from little hands. So week 1 storybook and science book are together at the front of the box. With 36 is at the back. As we move through the year, the used books get shuffled to the back, but the front books are always the next week's.

I also tag each spine with a piece of matching duct tape (all of our books this year have a dancing pink unicorn on their spine). This allows me to quickly find school books that have wandered off under the couch or onto a child's book shelf in their bedroom.

[Beorn]

A lot of great ideas here and a lot of similar ideas.

We have a little shelving system right next to our main work table and the books are divided into six sections: Math, FSR & Phonics, Poems & Enrichment & Crafts, Copybook & Composition & Sketchbook, and lastly Curriculum Manual & Story Bible & Books for the Week & Two Folders. One of the two folders is for previous work done and the other is for sheets yet to be done for the week and blank composition sheets. All the other books not currently in the rotation are ordered and stashed away in a Banker's box until we will need them.

First thing in the morning (or night before if I am ambitious), I get all of the materials that are to be used that day. I re-mark the pages we will be working on with tape tabs and I put them all in one pile in order with the top being the first book we use to the bottom being the last book we will use. As our Kindergartener completes his work, the book gets put away where it belongs.

We have a whiteboard right behind the work table and on the whiteboard is the art for the week, the flashcards for the week, his last craft project (positive motivation), opening and closing prayers, and blank space for whiteboard work we will be doing that day. One top of the shelves is a bin for crayons, pencils, glue and scissors and a briefcase with his phonics and math flashcards organized and ordered.

Everyone's system is a bit different and a lot depends on how many students you have, what space you have to work with, personal preferences, etc. Do what works best for you and your kids in your school space.

[Amanda Z]

I use a lot of sticky notes. I go through all of the teacher manuals on the weekend and write down what I need to do on sticky notes, which I then put in my lesson planner over the correct day and subject. When I finish a lesson, I throw away the sticky note. This allows me to trim down the lessons to just the parts my child needs (math lessons can get really lengthy), review what I need to do, and cuts down on the pile of books I need to wrangle. It takes under an hour each week, and I usually do it when I send my kids out to play after school on Fridays or early Saturday morning before they get up.

I also color code our read aloud books, like many others have suggested. I organize the student materials on a file organizer that hangs on the wall. I keep the student materials stacked in order with pages marked with even more sticky notes.

Honestly, at first it's going to be a little chaotic and disorganized until you find your groove. Most of the lessons follow the same pattern, and I find myself having to write less and less down for myself. My daughter has started to fall into the routine as well, at 7 weeks in, and that is making transitions easier too.

[4Homeschoolin'Girls!]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I am spending a lot of time trying to organize so that our days run smooth. I just feel like it's taking WAY TOO LONG for me to go through everything to get organized, so I figured there's got to be a better way. My situation is also unique in that I have my Kindergartner, but I am also trying to navigate keeping my 4, 2, and 1 year old occupied during school!

Jen

[enbateau]

I use a basket for my youngest because we don't stay tethered to the bookshelf, but I do keep his overflow books on our shelves.

And I just wanted to add that as a former professional teacher and veteran homeschooler, that feeling of bumbling around and not looking polished goes away with practice. Disciplining yourself to look over the manual the night before and mark/flag pages is a wonderful goal to look toward. I spent about 2 days pre-prepping crafts and pre-printing templates. When my eldest was younger, every Sunday, I would pull relevant phonics flashcards and post-it flag pages I'd be referencing in Classical Phonics. I'd also flag the poem in A Child's Books of Poems or Animals, Animals. It doesn't take but 6-8 weeks to form the habit, and my husband is so kind now that he plays with the kids and makes me a hot cup of tea on Sundays when I prep my materials and whiteboard for the week.

[KF2000]

Totally agreeing with the comment that the bumbling-around feeling goes away with time and practice. And don’t be surprised if it recurs at the beginning of each year, too! No matter how much experience you have, there’s always cha he’s to adjust to.

AMDG,
Sarah

[jen1134]

4Homeschoolin'Girls! I’m attaching a picture of our setup in case it helps . The basket holds all of our math and phonics flashcards, word cards, alphabet tiles (used in MP’s Simply Classical), Latin recitation cards for my older kids, and our Classical Phonics book. I keep it next to me so I can pull whatever is needed during a lesson. For the kids’ books, they each have a bin that they bring to the table when it’s their turn for school. In Kindergarten, you can just keep the TM’s in there too. For my older guys, I have a separate TM basket.