She’s also very enthusiastic about doing “schoolwork” like her siblings, so I knew she would want a program that would challenge her and be able to grow along with her ability.

So when I got the opportunity to review ShillerMath Kit A and ShillerMath Language Arts Foundations, I was thrilled! This was just the kind of program I was looking for!

If you’re considering a Montessori homeschool kindergarten approach, take a look at how ShillerMath curriculum makes learning math and ELA into an interactive experience for young kids! Plus, see how you can score a discount on a ShillerMath order of your own!

And for books your early reader will love, check out our simple homeschool kindergarten reading list!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

Montessori Homeschool Kindergarten: ShillerMath Language Arts Foundations

When I opened my boxes from ShillerMath, I really didn’t know what to expect, so I was amazed by how complete the curriculum is.

Language Arts Foundations is a relatively new program from ShillerMath, which is designed to introduce ELA to children aged 4 to 5 (think: preschool through kindergarten).

The program includes lesson plan books and manipulatives – so, so many manipulatives. There is no way kids will get bored with this curriculum.

I have been aware of the Montessori method for some time. I haven’t used it with my children, but I have always liked the idea of helping children to take ownership of their education through hands-on learning, which is what Montessori teaches.

But – I’m not a Montessori teacher and I was unsure how to go about using this method with my kids. Which is why ShillerMath is so awesome. You don’t have to know the Montessori method to use it. It’s all outlined for you in the lesson plan!

This is one of the lessons in ShillerMath Language Arts Foundations. As you can see, the entire script is laid out for you. You can truly just open the book and read the instructions. Which is exactly what we did!

For this lesson, we used the movable alphabet, some playdough, and the grain. (All of this is included in the box, by the way.)

Once we identified the letter C, we spent a little time working with the wooden letters on the work mat. We turned them backwards and upside down until we recognized how to place them so that we could read them correctly.

Then it was time to break out the grain. As instructed, I gave my little one a small bowl and let her pour the grain herself. She was so psyched to do that on her own.

Of course, she had to have a little sensory play in the grain before continuing with the lesson.

We traced the letter C in the grain for some fine motor skill practice and a sensory experience.

Then it was time to make some playdough letters! We rolled out some dough and made playdough ropes.

Then we just shaped them into the letter C! We decided to do an uppercase letter C and a lowercase letter C.

That’s an example of the Montessori method in action. Instead of just showing a child the letter, you get to let them explore the letter in as many forms as possible. My kindergartner had a blast with it.

Keep reading to see how ShillerMath approaches Montessori math for early grades!

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Which thrills me. There is no more important skill in life than the ability to read. I firmly believe that a love for reading is the most important part of a good education.

But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be fun, right? So, for this year, I wanted to create a simple kindergarten homeschool reading list that my little one could complete without pressure and have fun while doing it! Take a look at our reading selections for this year and see if you can’t find some new stories for your family!

For more on our kindergarten plans for this year, take a look at how we’re planning a minimalist homeschool kindergarten curriculum!

Images c/o: StockUnlimited

Kindergarten Homeschool Reading List

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1. My Mouth Is a Volcano! by Julia Cook

2. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

3. Pete the Cat: Pete At the Beach by James Dean

4. Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

5. Curious George: The Donut Delivery by H.A. Rey

6. The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak

7. There Is a Bird On Your Head! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) by Mo Willems

8. What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada

9. Enemy Pie (Reading Rainbow Book) by Derek Munson

10. Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña

11. Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

12. They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel

13. The Day The Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt

14. What’s The Difference? Being Different is Amazing! by Doyin Richards

15. The True Story of The Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

16. Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

17. This Is How We Do It: One Day In the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World by Matt Lamothe

18. Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

What books are you reading with your kindergartner this year? Share your kindergarten homeschool reading list in the comments!

Try these other tips for planning your kindergarten homeschool year!

Get more tips for teaching early grades on my Learning for Little Ones Pinterest board!

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But last year, we decided to streamline our homeschooling materials and practice minimalist homeschooling. Which is using the least amount of materials necessary to teach our kids. Instead of feeling tied to using up everything for each grade level, we focused on what they needed to learn and let them explore the rest on their own. It was life-changing.

So when it was time to plan to move on to planning our homeschool kindergarten program for her, I decided to stick with the least amount of materials necessary to do it.

Which is why I was thrilled to have an opportunity to try ABCmouse – an online early learning academy for kids ages 2-8! With this program, we’ll be using a simple homeschool kindergarten curriculum that requires almost no prep at all from me. And I’ll need all the extra time I can find, since my oldest is starting seventh grade this year. *scream*

Read on to see how we’re using this program to get our kindergartner off to the right homeschooling start!

Disclosure: I received access to this program in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.

Simple Homeschool Kindergarten with ABC Mouse

ABCmouse is the most comprehensive digital early learning resource for kids in grades PreK through 2. The program covers over 8,500 different educational standards, so you can easily find out which ones your child knows and which ones he or she needs to master.

To get started, just go to ABCmouse.com and sign up for the 30-day trial. You can set up your parent profile and then enroll up to three children. From there, your child can create an avatar (Piglet loved this) and then take an assessment to find out what lessons they should start with.

The assessment takes about 45 minutes from start to finish, but that’s 45 minutes straight, which my four-year-old couldn’t handle. We ended up breaking it into three separate sessions of about 15 minutes. That way, she didn’t get irritable from sitting too long.

Since she’s already been doing preschool work for the past nine months, we gave Piglet the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, which tested her on 13 different skills, including shape recognition, picture recognition, early phonics, counting, and more.

Want to see the assessment in action? Take a look at this quick video!

The third time we had Piglet sit down to work on her assessment, we wised up and used the ABCmouse app on our tablet, which is super easy to navigate and follow. She could just select the answers with her little fingers and move along at her own pace.

By the way, when you sign up for ABCmouse, there are several apps you get access to that you can use without Wi-Fi, including ABCmouse Zoo, ABCmouse Music Videos, and ABCmouse Mastering Math. These apps are available in the Apple AppStore and in the Google Play Store. In fact, we used it with our Amazon Kindle Fire just fine.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg with ABCmouse.com! There are so many lessons, games, and activities that make learning fun! In fact, we had to tell Piglet “That’s enough school for today. You can do more tomorrow.” Which is a pair of sentences I didn’t think I’d ever utter in my life.

Ready to get your early learner off to the races? Visit ABCmouse.com and sign up for a free 30-day trial to see how much fun your child can have learning!

Check out these other early learning resources!

Want more tips for homeschooling early grades? Follow my Learning for Little Ones board on Pinterest!

The post The Simple Homeschool Kindergarten Method We’re Using This Year appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.