Homeschool Kindergarten
Ages 5–6
Kindergarten is the year the code cracks: letters make sounds, sounds blend into words, and numbers stop being a song and start being amounts.
Plan this yearEverything Kindergarten covers
The full scope and sequence, on the page. No signup to read it.
📖 Reading
All 26 letter sounds
Sees a letter and says its sound — not its name — quickly and without a run-up.
Blending sounds into a word
Reads c-a-t by saying each sound and pushing them together into "cat".
The first sight words
Reads the highest-frequency words — the, is, was, said, you, they — instantly, without sounding them out.
Understanding a story that's read to them
Answers who / where / what happened, and predicts what might come next.
✏️ Writing
Forming letters the right way round
Writes lower-case letters starting at the correct point and moving in the correct direction.
Spelling by the sounds you hear
Writes a word by saying it slowly and putting down a letter for each sound — kat for cat counts.
Writing a whole sentence
Writes a short sentence with a capital at the start, spaces between words, and a full stop.
🔢 Math
Counting to 100, and counting on from anywhere
Counts to 100 by ones and tens, and can start from 47 without going back to one.
Reading and writing numerals to 20
Sees 14 and says fourteen, hears seventeen and writes 17.
Adding and subtracting within 10
Solves 4 + 3 and 8 − 2 with objects, fingers, or by counting on.
Number bonds to 5 and 10
Knows instantly that 7 and 3 make 10, and can break 5 into 4+1, 3+2.
Flat shapes and solid shapes
Names circle, square, triangle, rectangle, hexagon, and knows a cube and a sphere are the solid versions.
Measuring and comparing
Compares length, weight and capacity directly, and measures with repeated units like blocks or footsteps.
🔬 Science
Living and non-living, and what plants need
Sorts things into living and non-living with a reason, and knows plants need water, light and air.
Pushes, pulls, and what things are made of
Describes a movement as a push or a pull, and sorts materials as hard, soft, bendy, or see-through.
🌍 Social Studies
First maps and position words
Draws a simple map of a familiar room and uses above, below, behind, next to, between.
Rules, fairness, and jobs people do
Explains why a rule exists rather than just naming it, and describes what different workers do.
🧭 Study & Life Skills
Sticking with one thing
Stays with a chosen task for ten minutes without needing to be re-directed.
Running their own morning
Gets dressed, packs their bag, and gets to the door with two or fewer reminders.
What you will have in June
- Attendance — days and instructional hours, derived from work actually finished.
- Report cards — one a quarter, with the level each strand started and ended at.
- A portfolio — finished work, collected as it happens rather than assembled in a panic.
- A reading log — in the app and off it.
We keep records. We do not give legal advice and we never certify compliance — check with your state’s department of education.
When to ask for help
- By the end of the year, still cannot name or sound out more than half the alphabet.
- Cannot hear that cat and hat rhyme, or that cat starts with /c/, even with practice.
- Cannot count a set of ten objects accurately with one touch per number.
- Still reverses most letters and numbers at the very end of Kindergarten, alongside real reading difficulty.
- Won't or can't sit for a five-minute task at home even one-to-one and with no screen nearby.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours a day is Kindergarten homeschool?
We default to three hours a day across 180 school days, and you can set it anywhere from one to five. At this age Fifteen minutes, split into two goes if needed. Reading a word for the first time is exhausting for a five-year-old — stop while they're still proud.
What if my child is ahead or behind in one subject?
Each of the six strands has its own level. A child can do this grade in reading and the one below in maths without any of it being a workaround — that is the normal case here, not an exception.
What records will I have at the end of Kindergarten?
Attendance in days and instructional hours, a report card per quarter, a portfolio of finished work, and a reading log. From Grade 9 there is also a parent-issued transcript with credits and GPA.