Kindergarten Curriculum Picks

If there is one homeschool year that feels especially close to my heart, it’s kindergarten.

Years ago, I had the joy of teaching kindergarten in the public school classroom, and it has always been my great love. There is something absolutely magical about watching children learn their first letter sounds, read their first word, and realize, “I can do this!”

So I am just tickled pink that I get to jump back into kindergarten this year with my little boy. 😊

Before I share our kindergarten homeschool curriculum picks for this year, I want to mention something important: our formal instruction time will be an hour or less each day. And it doesn’t need to happen all in one sitting!

Homeschool kindergarten is such a beautiful season for short lessons, lots of play, reading aloud, exploring, and following your child’s curiosity. Little minds are learning all day long—not just during “school time.”

Here’s what we’ll be using this year:

Math 

We’ll be using The Good and the Beautiful Level K. I love the way their kindergarten math curriculum builds a strong foundation while keeping lessons engaging, hands-on, and approachable.

Kindergarten math should feel exciting. Children are naturally curious about numbers, patterns, shapes, and problem-solving, and I love resources that encourage that curiosity while building important skills.

The lessons are simple to implement, open-and-go (no prep needed!), and the pages are beautiful and colorful for my little boy. This detail matters to me. I've found that children are more easily engaged with soft, colorful pages than simply black-and-white. 

Kindergarten Readers

For reading, we’ll be using The Good and the Beautiful Kindergarten Readers.

I’ll admit it… I’m a little bit of a reader snob 😉 After teaching kindergarten and helping many children learn to read over the years, I’ve seen a lot of early readers out there, and some of them just don’t make sense from a phonics perspective.

But these readers hit the mark.

I love that the phonics progression feels very intentional. They do a beautiful job of building one skill on top of the next, helping children experience success as they gain confidence.

These readers are filled with beautiful illustrations and sweet stories that make learning to read feel like a joyful experience.

First Steps to Reading 

I don’t use a reading curriculum because I feel very comfortable teaching reading without one after doing it for years.

The exact method I use for teaching reading is laid out in my First Steps to Reading course. If you are newer to teaching reading at home, this course is a wonderful companion to your curriculum, helping you make the learning process more playful, more sensory-driven, and will give you ideas of how to take reading off the pages of worksheets and workbooks. The more hands-on, the better! Brains are wired to learn through tactile, play-filled experiences. 

Learning to read does not have to feel stressful or like a checklist to complete. It can be filled with laughter, movement, games, and moments of discovery.

Handwriting 

We’ll be using The Good and the Beautiful handwriting books. In my opinion, these take the cake among handwriting books. I've never found ones I like better. 

We use these handwriting books along with the Handwriting Made Happy Workshop.

And I mean this when I say it—I have not had a child cry while learning to write. Not once.

We keep it fun!

So how do we make learning to print letters playful?

First, we make it hands-on and get the senses involved. (I’ll show you how!)

Second, we give those letters stories, personalities, and sound effects. The kids love it. They smile, they giggle, and it helps the “how-to” of forming letters stick so much better.

In the Handwriting Made Happy Workshop, I walk you through all 52 uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet and show you how to teach letter formation using stories and sound effects. We also bring in sensory experiences to help the brain better encode letter formation.

American History

My little guy will be joining in with big sister for American History Through Picture Books from Simple Learning Together.

Now, I want to add a little note here: he is only joining because I’m already doing this with his big sister. If he were my only student, I would not be adding a formal history curriculum in kindergarten just yet.

Kindergarten is such a wonderful time for picture books, stories, conversations, and simply building a love for learning. But since we’re already studying history together as a family, he gets to tag along and enjoy the stories with us.

Science 

My little boy will be joining in with big sister’s science studies and using the age-level workbooks from The Good and the Beautiful. This year, we'll be doing a Bird unit in the fall and a Botany unit in the spring.

I love family-style learning in our homeschool, especially when younger children can listen in, ask questions, explore alongside older siblings, and simply be surrounded by learning.

The True Wonder of Winnie-the-Pooh

This year in our homeschool co-op, I’ll be teaching The True Wonder of Winnie-the-Pooh. 😊

My children have already completed this unit with me at home, but they are excited to experience it again with friends.

Together, we’ll explore the life and imagination of A. A. Milne, meet the real little boy who inspired Christopher Robin, learn about the real forest that became the Hundred Acre Wood, and discover the real bear whose name sparked a legend.

This study pulls back the curtain on the history behind the stories, helping children see how imagination, childhood, and everyday life came together to create Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends.

I love learning that feels like an invitation into a story rather than just another assignment.

Bible 

We’ll be using Lithos Children’s Bibles for morning reading. (Code KINSEY will snag you a sweet discount!)

One thing I appreciate about Lithos is that they stay true to the text while presenting Scripture in a way that is accessible and engaging for children. Morning Bible reading has become such a meaningful part of our homeschool morning routine.

Morning Menu

We’ll also be using the Morning Menu, which is a wonderful addition to a kindergarten through 3rd grade homeschool morning routine.

I love simple tools that help us practice important skills consistently without adding a lot of extra to our day. You simply slide the pages into a plastic page protector or menu cover, and children can use them again and again with dry erase markers.

Inside the Morning Menu, children can practice:

• Weather and temperature
• The four seasons
• Calendar skills
• Days of the week and months of the year
• Writing the date
• Telling and writing time
• Number tracing and writing
• Shape tracing
• Line tracing
• ABC tracing
• Name practice
• Address and phone number
• Birthday
• Gratitude
• Chores
• Country, continent, and hemisphere
• Bible verse reflection
• Poem reflection
• Book reviews

It’s a flexible resource that grows with your child and works beautifully for kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and third grade homeschool years.

And of course…

Lots and lots of great books.

Kindergarten is such a special season. It’s not about rushing through skills or trying to recreate a classroom at home. It’s about building confidence, curiosity, and a love for learning.

I’m so excited to soak up this year with my little guy. 💛