crunchymamamaine:

I'll stick with capital letters because they are easier for little ones to write

I found some printables on Donna Young's site that were very useful. The worksheets help young children with writing readiness. Sadly, I expected my daughter to work on one sheet a day, she did a week's worth in one sitting. I would suggest having them all printed in case you have a motivated learner.

Brightly Beaming is a good resource to start with as well. It's a fun and frugal approach to early learning. I don't believe the site was ever completed with the info but it has a good bit to work with.

My mom told me that she had me tested for public school kindergarten, but I didn't get in.  I was at my daycare for a good 3 or so weeks before my mom figured out that the teachers realized I was ready for kindergarten and just had me switch classes.  So I started K5 (which was the only kindergarten level that existed at the time -- I'm 29 now) at age 4.  And I graduated high school and started college at age 17 -- not a huge difference and one I'm grateful for now.

My daughter is smarter than me -- and I can admit to that!  LOL  She was reading and writing around 3 1/2; and she out-thinks me in a lot of areas I'm not prepared for most days.  I enrolled her in a preschool in a 2 1/2 year old program where they went for 3 hours in the morning.  Then at age 3 she went to the next level of preschool.  This will be her third year at the school.  They use the Waldorf method there and I think that's part of why I like it.  Yes, there is structure, but there is a lot of time for free-play.  My daughter BEGS to stay for the afterschool program (called Lunch Buddies and Afternoon Adventures) and I'm okay with that, but we limit it to about 2 days a week.  From day 1 of school my daughter was the one who cried when I picked her up to go home; never when I dropped her off.

It is amazing how it's all changed.  By the time my kid finishes high school she'll have been school for 15-16 years -- that just seems crazy to me!

I don't know how much you all use the computer in your homeschooling, but here is an educational site you may be able to use:

 http://www.starfall.com/

In our area kindergarten children should know their full name, and write it.  Tie their shoes and go to the bathroom without help. ( I know grown men who have trouble with that one).  Children have to know their ABC's, numbers to 20, cut and color inside the lines. 

Do you remember the time that they taught you those things when you got to school.  People are homeschooling their children and don't know it.  Even after they get into higher grades they do more (home) work than (school) work.  My friends who have kids in p.s. say they do an average of 3 hours after school from about 4th or 5th grade on up.  They say w/ends are just as bad or worse.  What is the purpose of sending your kids to school if you do all the work after school and on the weekend.

Our sate has half day kindergarden, and one of the top test score rates in the country- MN.  They also don't have any state sponsored preschool. Sadly, the drop-out rate continues to climb, but I think the half day kindergarden is still doing fine.

One reason I am changing my first grader to the parachiol school is less homework.  I couldn't believe the amount of homework she had in kinder!  I talked to the teacher and said I really don't think whe needs that, and it was not considered a "strike" against her grades.  The parachiol school gets most of it done at school, then in 7th grade they start a study hall. 

I'm a proponent of half day for 5 yo's and time off in the evening for everyone. 

I am 51 and never went to kindergarten and neither did my two younger brothers.  It was not a requirement in those days.  My mom always worked at least part-time (at night as a nurse's aide) and I often think it would have given her a little break.  I don't remember it being a real impediment when we began first grade; I was always a pretty good student and enjoyed school for the most part.   But one of my younger brothers would probably have benefitted because he ended up needing to repeat the first grade; I've always thought he has a slight learning disability that, in those days, was never caught or labeled as such.  We also went to Catholic school and I remember at least 3 homerooms of about 60 kids each - there were LOTS of us!  It would have been easy to get lost in the crowd under any circumstances.  We played outside all summer long --- when we weren't trying to cool off in the only house on our street with an air conditioner!  Those were the days; we had a blast and all the moms in the neighborhood kept their eyes on us.