10 Best Kindergarten Curriculum: A Complete Guide for Home & School

Several curriculums today aim to achieve similar goals, which makes choosing between them a bit challenging. So which kindergarten curriculums are the best? Read on for more information on the ten best kindergarten curriculum for home and school.

Top 10 Kindergarten Curriculum & Resources

An ideal kindergarten homeschool curriculum should have lesson plans with the perfect blend of education materials and learning activities, in addition to clear instructions, so you don't need to spend a load of time on prep work.

Below are some of the best kindergarten curriculums and resources available today.

1. Positive Action Kindergarten Kit

One of the best ways to teach kindergartners is by giving them a memorable experience. This is the path that Positive Action took with Kindergarten Kit, as their curriculum creates an engaging story for kids through two main puppet characters: Picks-It, a wise raccoon, and Nix-It, a young panda bear looking to learn.

These characters are brilliant for the kids. Your child will relate to Nix-It as he learns more from each of the seven units and looks at Picks-It as an instructor.

The Kindergarten Kit isn’t merely about textbooks; it uses a combination of pre-recorded lessons, activities, stories, posters, and games to give your children a stimulating experience.

There are 140 scripted lessons (10-15 minutes each), 38 activity sheets, 13 full-color posters, five games, three-story CDs, and two puppets of the main characters. There's also an instructor's manual in the kit, so you can decide how active you want your role to be.

The Kindergarten Kit can accommodate up to 30 students, so it’s an excellent package for both home and school!

2. Timberdoodle 2023 Kindergarten Curriculum Kit

Timberdoodle's Kindergarten Curriculum Kit is a handy one for parents who want to be directly involved in homeschooling their children but don't have much time.

It comes with a thorough guidebook and an online scheduler with a checklist to help you go through the lessons at your and your kid's own pace.

Timberdoodle focuses on STEM, and they use dozens of games to help kids learn about STEM-related subjects. For instance, ThinkPlay Gears Extreme explains physics concepts of movement, friction, and rotation by having the children build their tiny machines.

They also have a collection of 35 science experiments to wow your children and enrich their thirst for science.

3. Sonlight Kindergarten Curriculum All-Subjects Package

If Bible studies in your kids’ curriculum are essential to you, then you should check out Sonlight, a company providing Christian homeschool curriculums for all grade levels.

Their kindergarten package is huge, and you can even customize it to pick the subjects you’d like and the materials you want for your child.

You get eight subjects in the curriculum to mix and match: Bible studies, language arts, handwriting, reading and literature, math, science, geography, and history.

Each subject has a comprehensive list of books, but the catch is that they’re real books, not textbooks that focus on memorization skills.

The All-Subjects Package also includes everything a teacher may need, from three instructor manuals to read-aloud novels to chalk and a chalkboard.

There are also accessories for the kids to help with their journey, such as a markable world map, a history timeline book, an integer block kit, and more!

4. Abeka

Abeka is another curriculum with a focus on Christian values in education. Abeka has been one of the pioneers of homeschool since the 70s, and they have curriculums from preschool to grade 12 that are among the most popular on the market.

Abeka is also one of the largest homeschool curriculum and Christian education programs in the country. They offer various kits for different curriculum options, but the main ones are the complementary parent kit and child kit, focusing on the child's reading, writing, and counting skills.

They also come with a variety of games to help develop the child’s hand-eye coordination, perceptive skills, critical thinking skills, and more.

There are other kits like the student kit, teacher kit, a kit for each subject, and so on.

5. Calvert Kindergarten Complete Set with Starter Kit

It's essential for children to start their education with foundational skills in language arts and math, and that's what Calvert focuses on with their Kindergarten Complete Set.

Calvert's curriculum mixes online lessons and traditional books, which is unique in homeschooling, especially for a kindergarten program.

Each subject contains 160 lessons that are fun, easy to follow, and include diverse activities to keep the excitement in your child while sharpening his or her skills!

The lessons cover nine major topics in each subject, such as phonics, uppercase, and lowercase letters, sounds, colors, numbers, addition, and subtraction.

6. Alpha Omega Publications LIFEPAC Kindergarten 2-Subject Set

Yet another Christian organization that provides many Christian and non-religious kindergarten level curriculums is Alpha Omega Publications.

For example, they have their Monarch subscription program, a rich platform for Christian homeschooling, and Switch-On Schooling, a computer-based program for grades 3-8. However, the focus here is on their LIFEPAC Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum.

LIFEPAC is available both in online and print formats. The 2-Subject Set is a relatively affordable kindergarten homeschool curriculum that doesn’t compromise quality, as it offers 160 workbook-based lessons in both language arts and math so that your child can acquire the basic skills necessary for their elementary school.

The lessons come with corresponding teachers’ guides, so you can set your and your kid’s pace as you like. Each subject covers nine major topics with a review section in the end.

If you’d like, AOP also offers an online Christian school for any grade level called Alpha Omega Academy.

7. The Critical Thinking Co. Kindergarten Curriculum

Critical Thinking Co. is unique on this list. It doesn't offer a kindergarten homeschool curriculum but rather award-winning books that focus on one major topic or branch of a subject and leave the parents or instructors to figure out how they'd like to set up the curriculum.

The Critical Thinking Co. has three subjects for the kindergarten program: reasoning and problem-solving, math, and language arts.

The reasoning and problem-solving books use manipulation and language integration techniques to develop and sharpen the child’s skills, improve their vocabulary, and give them a deeper foundational understanding of math concepts to prepare them for later years in education.

The math workbook has many lessons as well, and it’s not just counting, addition, and subtraction this time, but also matching, comparing, ordering, basic geometry, measurement, and more!

The drawback here is that the teacher’s guide and manipulatives are sold separately, but you still have to give the company credit for such a robust curriculum.

8. BJU Press Homeschool K5 Complete Kit

BJU Press is another company focusing on Christian values in education, but it has both online and offline options for their kindergarten homeschool curriculum, kind of like Calvert.

However, BJU Press doesn’t combine the two. Instead, you can pick one of them for your child throughout the year.

Their online program, Distance Learning Online, lets you customize the curriculum as much as you need, and you can either buy the DVDs and textbooks for your child to follow the lessons along or have it all online.

If online learning isn’t your child’s thing, the K5 Complete Kit is here for the rescue. It offers all you need to homeschool your child to give them a foundation in language arts and math.

Before buying, be aware that Christian values heavily influence their course. Therefore, they teach using a religious motif, unlike other religious curriculums.

9. Oak Meadow

Oak Meadow also offers an online learning school and an independent-use curriculum for homeschooling parents, which offer a lot of flexibility and curriculum options.

In their online school, you as a parent are still the primary teacher, but an Oak Meadow teacher is there to help you as much as you need and communicate with you about your child’s progress throughout the semester and year.

The Oak Meadow teacher supports the parent by grading the child’s work and providing feedback, assessments, and narrated evaluations at the end of the semester and year. Oak Meadow’s office itself maintains records of this to give out a certificate of completion.

On the other hand, the independent-use curriculum is for parents who want to homeschool their children independently. It offers some neat homeschooling resources such as weekly lesson plans in language arts, math, social studies, science, art, and health.

There are some nice perks to the independent-use program, such as a planner, an assessment sheet to help you in the process, and consultation from Oak Meadow if needed.

10. Time4Learning Online Kindergarten Curriculum

The last curriculum on this list is Time4Learning Online Kindergarten, an online, interactive curriculum that involves the parent in their child’s learning process.

Time4Learning doesn’t pressure the students, as it lets them move at their own pace due to its ease of use and automated grading system.

Time4Learning focuses mainly on language arts skills and math skills at first, but as your child progresses, they get additional subjects such as science, social studies, and even a foreign language course if you’d like. It also includes activities to give your child a remarkable experience on their journey.

Parents have control over their child’s curriculum and receive thorough feedback on his or her progress. Time4Learning also offers accommodation for children with special needs.

What Is Taught in Kindergarten - A Complete Guide

A kindergarten curriculum should be easy to digest for your kid and include subjects that aren’t too abstract for a kindergartner. Essential subjects in a kindergarten curriculum are language arts and math.

You can also teach your child some additional subjects like science, social studies, and fine arts. Below are the most popular subjects in preschool and why they’re helpful to kindergartners.

Language Arts

Of course, language arts are the first thing everyone learns at the beginning. All kids start passively learning it in their infancy! But of course, children still need to spend time learning their ABCs, how to spell, read, write, correct grammar, and so forth.

Language arts include many kindergarten branches like phonics, reading, (hand)writing, and spelling.

It’s important to teach your child language arts in a way simple enough for him or her to digest. Lots of picture books, novels for you to read aloud, and coloring books are necessary at this stage to keep them attentive to the material. Cartoons also do wonders to develop a child’s language and grammar skills.

Math

In kindergarten, a math curriculum is usually all about developing a sense for math in your child. However, math concepts can be challenging for many people, not just children, so it's understandable if your child struggles even with kindergarten math at first.

Kindergarten math usually focuses on counting, simple arithmetic (addition and subtraction), identifying objects and finding patterns, basic geometric shapes, matching, and ordering. There are more, of course, but these are some of the basic ones.

For most kids, the best way to speed up the process is by giving them challenging yet fun activities, with rewards at the end. Some of the best and most fun games to develop a child’s math skills are number bingo, button sorting, flashcard addition, cup stacking, and even dominoes. Some of these are lots of fun, even for adults!

Science

A science curriculum is one of those things that seem a little too advanced on the surface. Still, some scientific concepts are basic enough for children to digest and will help them in the future, such as some fundamental physics concepts, like movement and rotation, and the basic biology and anatomy of different animals.

You don't absolutely have to include science in your child's kindergarten curriculum if they're not ready for it yet. Still, for kids who love science, many homeschool kits come with a science curriculum and tiny fun experiments to spice up the learning experience!

Social Studies

It’s important, and some would argue compulsory, for your kid to learn about some fundamentals of social studies such as history, geography, civics, and fundamental economics (basically how money works). But how do you explain these concepts to a 5- or 6-year-old?

The best way to teach social studies at that age is through narrating each concept as a story. Figurines, videos, and puppets can certainly help, too. And if you’re teaching geography, get a globe and Google Earth to show your child exactly what they’re learning.

Physical Education

Although physical education is rare in kindergarten curriculums, it’s essential to include it as it helps children start their fitness journey. After all, fitness is a building block of general health and well-being, and getting children used to sports and physical education is crucial and gives them a great habit that they’ll carry over.

It doesn't have to be complicated, of course. Some simple stretches and running are great in the very beginning; then, your child can move on to swimming, gymnastics, or picking up a particular sport they like. All in all, make sure that fitness is a habit of theirs and they'll be thankful for a lifetime.

Final Words

Hopefully, you now have a good idea of what homeschool curriculum to pick for your child. But to recap, the Positive Action Kindergarten Kit is your best bet. Our approach of turning kindergarten education into a narratable story with characters is very impressive and promising for the kids.