Little Wanderers Kindergarten: A Charlotte Mason Kindergarten Program
Somehow I blinked and suddenly my little 6 pound newborn baby is ready to start kindergarten in the fall! I’m excited for this last year of quiet growing time with him and also missing the days when he slept snuggled in the sling during school hours.
When my daughter was old enough for kindergarten, I was so excited that I began Ambleside year 1 with her. While it has ultimately worked out, it’s not something I would recommend homeschooling families do. Now that my son is ready for kindergarten, we’re going with a different approach. Part of that difference was writing his kindergarten year for him.
“To introduce children to literature is to install a rich and glorious kingdom””
While many advocate for Miss Mason’s philosophy of not doing formal lessons until the age of 6, it is abundantly clear that Mason expected children to be educated in some capacity during these early years. The primary educator being the parent (or nurse) in the home. As evident by her list of attainments for a child prior to the age of 6, she held high but achievable expectations of children.
A majority of the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten years are developing the love and habit of learning. It’s also a time to inspire wonder, and get your feet under you as a home educator. The wonderful thing about the early years is that children don’t take much to develop a love of learning.
In a Charlotte Mason kindergarten, learning is approached with joy and wonder. Through living books, children are introduced to captivating stories and rich language that ignite their imaginations. Whether it’s exploring the adventures of Winnie the Pooh or marveling at the wonders of the natural world, kindergarten sets the stage for a lifelong love affair with learning.
This is exactly the type of quiet growing time I want for my son. Next year we will be using the program I wrote, Little Wanderers Kindergarten, A Charlotte Mason Kindergarten program designed to foster a love of learning and hold respect for children during this wonderful year.
Little Wanderers Kindergarten is a 36 week long program with a gentle booklist rooted in the Charlotte Method. Children will read through a variety of subject areas like nature lore, history, literature, poetry, and science. It also includes recommendations for faith formation if you wish to schedule that in. I intentionally scheduled books that are easy to find and will grow a love of beautiful literature from an early age.
““In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mother’s first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it spent for the most part out in the fresh air.””
The Booklist:
Science:
Among the Farmyard People by Clara D. Pierson
Tales:
A Ring of Tricksters by Virginia Hamilton
Fables by Arnold Lobel
Nature Lore:
The Curious Lobster by Richard W. Hatch
The Burgess Seashore Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
History:
A Child Through Time: The Book of Children's History (DK Panorama) by Phil Wilkinson
Classical Literature:
Eric Carle’s Treasury of Classic Stories for Children by Eric Carle
Literature:
Abel’s Island by William Steg
Children of the Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren
Cricket in Times Square by George Selden: Revised by Stacy Lee
Poetry: (Choose one)
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children by Jack Prelutsky
Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year by Fiona Waters
Little Wanderers Kindergarten was written to provide and attainable way to bring the Charlotte Mason method for your kindergarten student. With a booklist requiring no more than 30 minutes of reading a day, copywork, nature journaling, recitations, coloring pages, and timeline cards, the feast that Charlotte asks to be laid before the child is present.
Little Wanderers Kindergarten also includes a teachers guide to help families learn more about the method and feel confident with applying her principles to their homeschool.
I’m so excited for the year of learning ahead with my son and to bring Little Wanderers Kindergarten to you!
