I received the curriculum items at no cost and I was compensated for my time to review this product. However, I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are honest and 100% my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.
Do you enjoy reading quality picture books with your kindergartner? Do you like finding ways to connect the story to Scripture and stories from the Bible? Does your child get excited about completing learning activities in connection to the themes from the story? And would you love to have everything preplanned and outlined for you so you don’t have to spend hours of time scouring the Internet and Pinterest for ideas?
Sounds amazing, right? If you agree then the Kindergarten Stepping Stones curriculum by Kendall Hunt Religious Publishers is a must-see for you!
Kindergarten Stepping Stones is a comprehensive Christian faith-based curriculum which includes nine literature-based thematic units with four main picture books for each. The primary goal is for the student to make the invisible God visible while reading rich literature together and having your child complete inquiry-based discoveries which encourage exploration and discovery.
This summer my twin five-year-olds are working through the Moving On! theme with the spiritual connection that God wants us to follow Him. We are reading through all four picture books, reading supplementary books and completing some suggested activities across the subjects of Bible, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, Art, Music, Dramatic Play and Technology.
Our Experience with Kindergarten Stepping Stones
Using the Kindergarten Stepping Stones Moving On! thematic unit has been a rich experience for us this summer. There are so many connections to be made as we work through the literature and themes of the books. Not only are we exploring westward expansion, quilt making, the prairie, trains, trees, and more, but most importantly, making the connection to trust and follow Jesus.
Here’s a brief glimpse into a few of the things the girls have worked on so far this summer.
We looked at animal life cycles. (This is a printable from the included CD-ROM.)
My girls loved completing this Prairie Math journal.
We completed some of the hands-on activity suggestions.
And we explored and discussed.
After exploring quilts and quilting, the girls are now interested in making their own! They’ll have to work with their great-aunt who is a quilter and made these beautiful quilts for them.
Moving On! is just one of the nine thematic units so if you complete all nine units it will take you through a whole school year as you read one literature title per week. With the amount of activities and supplementary reading some homeschoolers may want to spend more than one week on each picture book.
One of the things that I adore about this curriculum is that there are so many wonderful supplementary book suggestions to further explore themes and topics. I took out many of them from our library system but not all of them – there are even more suggested titles than what’s shown below. Lots of living books to make the subject come alive for your child!
Kindergarten Stepping Stones is a Complete Curriculum
I changed direction with my two Kindergartners earlier this year to include more literature-based studies. I find that my children retain so much more when we use picture books for learning. The curriculum I decided on for the girls at that time, is also literature-based and themes emerge as we study various aspects of art, history, geography, science and make connections to scripture. While we enjoy that aspect of it, I often feel the need to add activities and supplementary books to each unit, which can be very time consuming as I spend hours looking for the perfect additions to make the units more meaningful.
Because I’ve spent lots of time prepping for our units this past spring, one of the main benefits I noticed about the Kindergarten Stepping Stones curriculum is how complete it is. Between the activity suggestions for each book broken down by subject, printables (CD-ROM included), supplementary book suggestions, scope and sequence and lesson guide, there is no need for extensive planning or to search for anything more to add. This is perfect for those homeschoolers who don’t have the time nor enjoy planning their own units.
Kindergarten Stepping Stones is presented in the context of a Seventh-day Adventist worldview, which I am not, but I found the material to be relevant to our family’s Christian faith. As with all curriculum, I made a few minor adjustments as necessary.
And while I typically don’t gravitate towards classroom curriculum, as this is geared for the Seventh-day Adventist classroom, I found this curriculum to be relevant to homeschoolers and easily adapted to our own homeschool.
Why Kindergarten Stepping Stones?
With this faith-based curriculum, you’ll make precious memories with your kindergartner while cuddling on the couch reading together, having meaningful discussions and completing purposeful activities.
I definitely recommend it for all Christian homeschoolers who are looking for a comprehensive kindergarten curriculum and are interested in making connections to Scripture through literature, working through literature-based thematic units but don’t have the time or interest in creating their own.
Next Steps
Interested in purchasing this awesome curriculum? You can visit Kendall Hunt Religious Publishing.
Want to learn more? Be sure to visit the Kindergarten Stepping Stones website.
And for all the latest news and offerings be sure to follow Kendall Hunt RPD on Facebook and Twitter!
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