DIY: Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Planner + Free Printables

kindergarten


Oh, hi there! It's been a while since I last wrote a blog post about our homeschool journey - err I haven't actually posted anything lately. LOL! The reasons for that would be for a different post. ;-)

In April, we officially closed our school year and capped it off with our version of moving up ceremony. We created and signed Little V's Nursery completion certificate, and baked a chocolate cake for the celebration. We decided to celebrate, however simple, because it's a milestone worth remembering.

In March, I brought Little V to Catholic Filipino Academy, a homeschool provider, for an orientation and assessment. I learned a lot about their services and support. In addition, our son's academic skills were assessed; he was considered for Kindergarten-1 this coming June. Prior to attending, we have been contemplating if we are to enroll him in a homeschool provider or if we should continue homeschooling independently. We had to consider the fact that I'd be giving birth in a few months and bringing Little V at a weekly class/activity may not be feasible since we don't have a helper at home.

After weeks of weighing our options, we have discerned it's best to continue homeschooling our son independently in the coming school year. This means that we won't be accredited with a DepEd homeschool provider and we have to create our own curriculum or get it from abroad - which is still awesome because we can customize his curriculum. For the past few weeks I have been doing research and was working on our DIY curriculum planner.

I'd like to share with you the kindergarten curriculum planner I made. Please do note that this is half-baked. It doesn't contain yet any topics or lessons since this blank planner aims to help you plan your own topics, lessons, activities and schedule based on your family's needs. This will be the first time we will be using a planner so I bet there are rooms for improvement with this tool.


Materials needed:
  • 3-hole puncher
  • 3-hole binder
  • Computer, printer
  • Paper
  • Washi tape
  • Paper protector/pocket (plastic, pre-holed)
  • Folder tabs
  • Pencil

Tabs for easy reference


Parts of the planner:

Calendar and Goals Tab

I will be homeschooling one child so I opted to use the yearly calendar as our attendance tracker. I've placed the legends below. This would greatly track the days we are able to homeschool, go out on a field trip, and the rest days.

DIY attendance tracker
Calendar and attendance tracker


Our goals for the year will focus on academics and character-building. Here we divided our goals into four quarters to help us spread out the lessons and activities. I suggest you use pencils when writing down your goals and plans; this would help you make any adjustments necessary in the future.

WIP - first draft of our goals





Standards and Competencies Tab

Using the DepEd standards and competencies for Kindergarten as guide, I have laid out these tables with subjects: language arts, math, and science. Since these competencies are for five year-old kids in Kindergarten, we may have to use this again for the school year 2016-2017. Depending on our son's progress, we'll see what we would be able to accomplish this year.

We also added Montessori Practical Life Exercises in our curriculum. 

Hubby and I intended to include values formation (includes religion) as a daily activity. I wasn't able to make a table of competencies for it because I plan that we focus on a particular trait each week (e.g. honesty, respect) and then reinforce them.

Kindergarten Learning Standards and Competencies
Kindergarten Learning Standards and Competencies
I placed them inside a pre-holed plastic pockets since I don't have
to write on them.




Game Plan Tab

This section of the planner includes a quick glance on the resources (books, curriculum, website, manipulatives) we will use and the monthly game plan for each subject. 

Resources page
I placed some blank areas for additional subjects we may consider in the future


The monthly game plan would help us spread throughout the school year the subjects we need to cover. This, of course, can change as we go through them so it's best to use a pencil when writing them down.


Here are examples on possible topics that we'll have to distribute throughout the year: 
  • Math
    •  Sorting and Classifying
      • 2-dimensional shapes
      • 3-dimensional shapes
      • describing objects according to shape, size, and function
      • grouping alike objects
      • sorting objects
      • comparison
      • patterns
  • Science
    • Body and Science
      • identifying body parts
      • five senses
      • taking care of one's body
  • Practical Life Lessons
    • Daily Exercises
      • setting table
      • dressing and undressing
      • sweeping
      • wood polishing
      • pouring (dry and liquid)
      • zipping
      • scooping
      • tying shoes
      • buttoning
      • cloth folding




Weekly schedule 

Some planners include what needs to be completed for each day of the week. I reckon we don't need that yet since we are planning to have some subjects completed just once or twice a week. And based on our experience last year, it's best for us not to plan ahead which day we'd focus on a particular subject. We work well with just focusing on what topic to cover that week and choose (usually the beginning of the week) which day/s to work on them. 

Weekly Lesson Plan



Miscellaneous Tab

In our miscellaneous tab, I have included a copy of the DepEd standards and competencies in case I need to refer to it in the future.

Also, I made a few pages for our field trips and activities. This would be a great reminder and tracker of the interesting things we will be accomplishing in the future.




Tips:
  • Put washi tapes on the area of the paper you need to punch holes on. This would help strengthen and lengthen the "life" of your documents
  • Use a pencil instead of a pen when completing the planner. I tell you, not all plans will be followed 100% so it's easier to edit them when it's pencil-written
  • There's no perfect curriculum out there. So don't stress yourself too much. As long as you are able to customize it according to your child's needs and readiness, you're doing a great job.



If you like my homemade curriculum planner, you can view and download a copy of this here: PMW Kindergarten Curriculum Planner.


This planner is a work-in-progress and I'll share with you any changes or additions I'll make in the future. If your children study in a regular school, you can still use this as an after-school planner for them. 

I hope you found this post and document helpful in your homeschool planning. Cheers! :-)


Comments

  1. Wow! Ang galing, mommy Kat! In all our 4 years of home schooling, I've never successfully created a planner that comprehensive. :) Good job!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Mommy May! :-) (kinikilig ako. hihihi) The internet was a great resource for this project :)

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  2. OMG Thank you soooo much!!! :) I just downloaded your planner. Weee! ♥

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome! Thank you, I hope it fits your requirements :)

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  3. Kat! Will link this to my article in The Filipino Homeschooler. Target is next month :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow ang galing Mommy! ma trabho pala to..I will let hubby read this blog. Parang gusto ko sya and i just need more time to explore.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am actually thankful to the owner of this web site who has shared this fantastic
    paragraph at at this place.

    ReplyDelete

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