April 03, 2006

Learning Enrichment Ideas for Kindergarten and First Grade

The first list I wrote like this covered our beginning year of homeschooling, and in case you are just tuning in, my children were 2 and 4 when we began homeschooling. We spent a year in private school when my kids were 3 and 5. When they were 4 and 6, we brought them home to do Kindergarten and First Grade.. and this list stems from things we did that year. I hope you can use these ideas and have as much fun with them as we did. Hopefully our third and fourth years homeschooling will not be far behind… (we're in the middle of our fourth year). as soon as I can get them all typed up I plan on posting the two years following this list as well. The next set in the series will be 1st and 2nd Grade (2004-5 School Year). Pop back in from time to time and see how I’ve progressed getting them all posted to the blog. Hopefully by the end of May, this blog will be taking on a new face and searching/reading will be much easier.

As with the previous list, the ideas may or may not have had to do with our curriculum. I used an eclectic mix of curriculum, and I got ideas from a variety of sources. At this point, I couldn't tell you where they all came from. I apologize for any repeats from the previous year. I typed them all in the same document (Excel), hoping to catch any ideas that we had used previously, but I might have duplicated a few items that were on the earlier enrichment list. I hope these ideas inspire you to add some extras to your lesson plan book that will make your learning more FUN! Kids enjoy one-on-one time with you… Mr. Rogers Style! Enjoy your homeschooling!


MORE Learning Enrichment Ideas
for PK, K, 1st Grade & Up...

Write your address and phone number
Sit down, discuss goals for the year
Learn to use office tools (copy machine, computer, pencil sharpener…)
Learn good hygiene and basic body care skills
Review shapes
Watch missionary videos from other cultures
Telling time worksheets
Play in the McDonald's Playscape tunnels
Count the months on a calendar and name them
Learn about punctuation marks in sentences
Play board games (Cadoo/Scrabble/Sorry!/etc.)
Practice writing your alphabet
Learn some Spanish
Crossword puzzles
ABC dot-to-dots
Look things up on the internet with parental supervision
Free time to read or look at books
Free time to play educational PC games
Run and play in the yard with stick horses
Take piano lessons
Color by number worksheets
Play with Legos
Do daily chores and use a chore chart (start getting allowance)
Matching/Coloring/Cutting/Pasting
Look up countries you learn about on a globe
Visit friends and play together
Take a reading comprehension quiz given by mom
Discuss the trees and plants you see outside
Play on the playground with other kids
Learn about opposites
Keep a chore or assignment chart
Help grocery shop
Read a daily devotional
Make a prayer list and pray each day together
Do a service project for someone in need
Volunteer some time for a local charity or your church
Learn to tell time (use a manipulative clock)
Discuss the movies you see
Learn to write a letter and address an envelope
Learn to recognize coins and skip count
Copywork (practice writing sentences from your favorite books)
Learn about electricity and safety
Keep a journal
Practice upper and lower case letters
Learn to use a ruler to measure
Learn to ride a bicycle
Catch a lizard and study it before releasing it
Melt broken crayons and pour into molds
Pick up trash at a state park
Say the pledge, sing the Star Spangled Banner
Learn about homophones (words that sound alike, but are spelled differently)
Create a mini book about nocturnal animals
Look at things under a microscope
Look at rock samples and learn about volcanoes
Visit museums online
Look at bat wing anatomy online and print out
Weekly Bible Class at Church
Take a placement test
Keep a count-down calendar until school ends
Measure yourself at the beginning and end of the school year
Learn to name the continents
Take your pet to the vet
Go eat lunch with Daddy
Look at an aerial photograph - find your house!
Count to 100
Play an "echolocation" game
Send a get well card
Learn patriotic songs
Learn to write your full name very well
Work out with a video in the living room
Plant apple seeds
Chart the sun for a day at different times
Write or dictate a story, and illustrate it
Call a relative who lives far away
Play Spelling Bee Bingo
Have a Thanksgiving Day Party with friends (get your face painted)
Make angel lapel pins and snowflake bead ornaments
Spend time with cousins and family
Celebrate holidays and create family traditions
Mail a birthday card
Visit a homeschool book store
Discuss differences between city and country living
Learn vocabulary words with each topic you learn about
Learn where to separate numbers with commas
Watch animal videos/shows
Keep a behavior stop light (green for great, yellow for watch out, red for trouble!)
Learn the difference between AM and PM
Decorate the house for Christmas
Do speed drills with addition and subtraction facts
Play with money - set up a play store
Sing the months of the year in Spanish and English
Go Christmas shopping with parents
Use vocabulary words in sentences orally
Learn days of the week
Watch Reading Rainbow
Watch Between the Lions
Put together a 500 piece puzzle in a hotel room
Watch a documentary about famous gold medal Olympic winners
Learn to tie your shoe
Sing and listen to Christmas music
Visit someone else's church
Bake holiday sweets for others
Help prepare a holiday meal
Watch a video about frog eggs hatching
Act out a Bible verse
Take a walk/Ride a bike
Write a poem for Valentines
Make home-made Valentines cards
Decorate allowance jars (one for savings, tithe, and spending)
Make candles
Carnation experiment (use colored dye to tint petals through the water in the vase)
Science experiment (spin colors in milk with a drop of detergent)
United States 50 piece puzzle
Send messages on IM to Daddy (especially if he's overseas)
Look up and do Presidents Day activities from online websites
Browse and read National Geographic's Kid Magazine
Play "Mother May I?"
Sing the books of the New Testament
Play with Snap Circuits Jr.
Ride bikes and chase the ice-cream man
Make a mini book of your child's artwork with their own creative spelling/writing
Make thank you cards
Easter Egg relay contest & egg hunt
Make a plant collage from the specimens in your back yard and identify them
Catch a gecko and play with it
Retell a story in your own words


Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 comment:

~~Audrey O.~~ said...

We are learning about homophones right now. I have been searching the internet to figure out how to make it fun (maybe a game). Do you remember if you had any great ideas that you wouldnt mind sharing? :) Thanks in advance.

 

Disclosure

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links or sponsored links. I receive a small commission whenever a product is purchased through an affiliate link. Sponsored links are paid for by a company who wishes to improve their Google ranking, but I always check to make sure these are reputable sites and never allow any links that are questionable to be placed.

The links in my "Sweet Linkage" section are either sponsored links or personal links that I find interesting (including the links to the blogs that both of my teen children run).

I occasionally run ads on my blog in exchange for money or traded advertising, or receive products in exchange for a review or giveaway posts. I also participate in campaigns by brands that offer to pay me to write about their products after using them. Any post that is sponsored will be noted as such. All opinions expressed on Sprittibee.com are my own, and any review, give-away, sponsored post, graphic ad, or product that I mention or link to are ones that I believe are reputable and worthy companies.

Stats

blog design:

blog archives