🌱 Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum
June 2026 – June 2027 · Massachusetts Frameworks · North Adams, MA · 🌿 Vegan & Earth-Centered
🟦 Weekly Learning Blocks — 3 to 4 Days/Week
This curriculum runs 3–4 structured school days per week, intentionally leaving room for hiking, outdoor play, cooking, civic/character work, Spanish tutoring, sports, and family life — all of which count toward MA framework requirements. Blocks flow in whatever order fits the day — no clock needed. On Spanish tutor days, Block 4 extends to a full 1-hour session. Supplemental worksheets (ELA and science), games (chess, puzzles, card games, strategy board games), and educational activities are used as desired to reinforce any block. The remaining 1–2 days per week are reserved for hikes, recipes, civic reflection, sports, field trips, and free exploration.
🌤️ Morning Check-In & Song
Feelings check-in ("how is your body, how is your heart?"), one opening song, brief preview of the day's blocks. Sets a calm, predictable, joyful tone.
📖 Reading Block — Lovevery + Read-Aloud (~25 min)
Daily Lovevery Reading Skill Set phonics game + one book reading. Non-negotiable — this is the engine of the reading goal. Closes with a brief parent read-aloud from the current unit's book list.
🔢 Montessori Math Work Cycle (~35 min)
Child selects material from the shelf (Hundred Board → Golden Beads → Stamp Game). Supplemental worksheets and math games — chess, puzzles, card games, strategy board games — used to reinforce and extend concepts as desired.
🔬 Science / Steph Hathaway Unit (~30 min)
Active SHD unit study, hands-on experiment, nature journal, or investigation. Supplemental worksheets and games used as needed to strengthen vocabulary and concepts.
🌍 Social Studies · Arts · 🇪🇸 Spanish (~25–60 min)
Most days: Social Studies or Arts project connected to current unit. Weekly or bi-weekly: 1-hour Spanish tutor session replaces and extends this block. Digital literacy concepts integrated naturally throughout.
🏃 PE · Wellness · Weekly Recipe (~30 min)
Yoga, Irish step dance, soccer, t-ball, rock climbing, skiing (winter), ice skating (winter), weekly hikes, or vegan recipe day. Breathing practice and affirmations close every school session.
🎧 Free Time — Yoto / Play / Games (40+ min)
Child-led. Yoto audiobooks, podcasts, music (fiction, non-fiction, science, math, diverse cultures, Spanish titles). Imaginative play, building, puzzles, chess, outdoor exploration. This time is protected — no schoolwork.
🎨 Steph Hathaway Designs — How These Integrate
Each SHD unit study is a printable PDF with beautiful illustrations, anatomy posters, life cycle cards, nature journal pages, 3-part Montessori cards, and book lists. They slot directly into the Science block and tie seamlessly to thematic units. Here's the full assignment:
- 🌿 Jun–Jul: Physics in Nature, ABCs of STEM, June Bug Bundle
- 🌊 Aug: Beach Unit Study, Firefly Unit Bundle
- 🍂 Sep–Oct: Squirrel Mini Study, Weather Bundle (Fall)
- ❄️ Nov–Dec: Wild Turkey Unit Study, Solar System Unit Study, Weather Bundle (Winter)
- 🌍 Jan–Feb: Winter Birds Nature Study, Montessori Continents Bundle, Human Heart Mini Study
- 🌱 Mar: Forest Animal Homes, Eastern Cottontail, Garden Snail Mini Study
- 🌸 Apr–May: Pink Moon Nature Study, Frog & Toad Mini Study, Weather Bundle (Spring)
- 🎓 May: ABCs of STEM final letters, Weather Bundle review
🪵 Character Values Tokens — MountainMomStudio
18 watercolor woodland animal character trait cards + wooden tokens, one introduced per week across 18 weeks. Each Friday (or final school day of the week), a token is awarded for demonstrating that value. Child then reflects — in writing, drawing, or by presenting to family — on a specific moment when they showed that value.
💡 Tip: The Spanish version of these cards is available from the same shop — a beautiful way to reinforce both civics vocabulary AND Spanish!
Full 18-week schedule with seasonal alignment → see the Social Studies tab
🌿 Vegan & Earth Values — Woven Throughout
- 🥦 All recipes are 100% plant-based with nutritional learning woven in
- 🐾 Woodstock Farm Sanctuary visit — compassion for animals, vegan values in real life
- 🌍 Science framed around environmental stewardship: ecosystems, conservation, why living things matter
- 📚 Book selections include vegan/animal-kind titles: We Are All Animals, Hey Little Ant, Saving Winslow
- 🫀 Human anatomy connects eating plants to body health — "what does broccoli do for your heart?"
- 🪲 SHD insect studies framed around care and curiosity, not harm — we observe, we don't hurt
- 🌱 Garden unit includes planting food for others (animals, birds, people)
📆 8 Thematic Units — Full Year
- 🌻 Unit 1 (Jun–Jul): All About Me, Self & Confidence
- 🌊 Unit 2 (Aug): Beach, Water & Fireflies — Field Trip: Beach
- 🌲 Unit 3 (Sep–Oct): Trees, Soccer & Fall — Field Trip: Mass MoCA (fall)
- ⭐ Unit 4 (Nov–Dec): Wild Turkey, Native History, Space & Stars
- 🌍 Unit 5 (Jan–Feb): Continents, Heart & Maple Sugaring — Field Trips: Maple Farm + Clark Art + Eric Carle Museum
- 🌱 Unit 6 (Mar): Forest Animals, Gardens & Cottontails — Field Trip: Farm Sanctuary (May)
- 🐸 Unit 7 (Apr–May): Frogs, Pink Moon, Physics — Field Trips: Boston Science Museum + CT Children's Science Museum
- 🎓 Unit 8 (May, ends late May): Celebration & Looking Forward
Reading & ELA
Lovevery Part II · MA ELA Framework 2017 · Daily 25 min + read-aloud
📗 Lovevery Part II — Starting Point & Progression
Since your child already knows letters, beginning sounds, digraphs (ch, ck, sh, th), and can read simple 3-sound words, you begin immediately with Basic Blending — no review needed. The 3 stages typically take 4–6 months total, so expect to move into Comprehensive Blending around September and Storytelling by January–February, leaving the spring semester for fluency, expression, and joyful independent reading.
📝 Supplemental Worksheets & Games — ELA
Supplemental ELA worksheets and literacy games are used alongside Lovevery as needed to strengthen specific skills. These are supportive tools, not the primary program — Lovevery remains the reading spine. Worksheets may cover: letter formation practice, sight word tracing, phonics drills (short/long vowels, blends), reading comprehension questions, simple grammar. Games include: sight word bingo, word family dominos, alphabet puzzles, rhyming card games, storytelling dice, and any other literacy games your child enjoys.
📗 Lovevery Stage 1 — Basic Blending
Skills: Blend CVC words with all 5 short vowels. Mystery Pattern game, Crossword Builder, Sound Swap & Drop. Read Lovevery books 1–5. Sight words set 1 (20 words).
📗 Lovevery Stage 2 — Comprehensive Blending
Skills: Longer words, consonant clusters (bl, cr, st, etc.), rule-breaker/sticky words, Lovevery books 6–10. Write complete sentences. Opinion and informational writing pieces.
📗 Lovevery Stage 3 — Storytelling & Fluency
Skills: Read all 13 Lovevery books independently with expression. Begin 1st-grade leveled readers. Comprehension, character analysis, author study. Writing: personal essays, "I am proud of…"
Mathematics — Montessori
Starting with the Hundred Board · MA Math Framework 2017 · 35 min/day
🧮 Starting Point: Hundred Board
Since your child has already worked with number rods, sandpaper numbers, the spindle box, and number cards, we begin this curriculum year with the Hundred Board and move forward from there. The sequence: Hundred Board → Bead Chains (skip counting) → Golden Beads (decimal system + operations) → Stamp Game → Telling Time & Money. Math is always tied to real contexts: recipes, nature counting, and seasonal observation.
📊 Quarter 1 — Hundred Board, Skip Counting & Bead Chains
Materials: Hundred board + tiles, short bead chains (2–10), long bead chain of 100, colored bead stairs. Connects to counting in the natural world on hikes and in the garden.
🪵 Montessori Shelf
🟡 Quarter 2 — Golden Beads & the Decimal System
Materials: Golden bead set, large + small decimal system number cards, teens boards, tens boards with beads, introduction tray.
🪵 Montessori Shelf
➕ Quarter 3 — Golden Bead Operations & Snake Game
Materials: Golden beads (two sets), operation strips, snake game (colored bead stairs + ten-bars), strip boards.
🪵 Montessori Shelf
🍁 February Field Trip connection: Maple sugaring! Count sap buckets, measure in liters, estimate how much maple syrup comes from each bucket. Real-world Montessori math on a working farm.
🕐 Quarter 4 — Stamp Game, Time & Money
🪵 Montessori Shelf
Science — Advanced + Steph Hathaway
MA STE Framework 2016 · 1st–2nd grade level · 30 min/day · SHD unit studies integrated
🎨 How Steph Hathaway Designs (SHD) Work in This Curriculum
Each SHD study is a printable PDF with: anatomy posters, life cycle cards, 3-part Montessori cards, nature journal pages, copywork, and book lists. They drop into the 30-min science block and replace or supplement the hands-on experiments for that week. Print the unit, place on the art table or in a binder, and work through the materials at your child's pace across 1–2 weeks. The beautiful illustrations make them feel special and collectible.
🌻 Unit 1 (Jun–Jul) — Physics in Nature & ABCs of STEM
Use the Physics in Nature unit to anchor forces and motion in the natural world. ABCs of STEM introduces a broad vocabulary of science and engineering — one letter/concept per week is a gentle entry into STEM thinking.
- Complete anatomy posters and 3-part cards for physical science concepts
- Nature journal pages for recording force/motion observations outdoors
- Book list: use library to gather SHD recommended titles
🌊 Unit 2 (Aug) — Beach, Fireflies & Marine Science
The Beach Unit Study provides marine biology vocabulary, ocean anatomy, and life cycle content for the beach field trip. Firefly Bundle is perfect for August evenings — complete the life cycle and anatomy work, then go outside after dusk to find real fireflies!
- Beach anatomy posters (tide pools, shells, marine organisms)
- Firefly life cycle 3-part cards + anatomy poster
- Complete journal pages BEFORE the beach trip — reinforce with real observations during the trip
🌲 Unit 3 (Sep–Oct) — Forest Animals, Squirrels & Wild Turkey
- Forest Animal Homes: Types of animal homes (burrow, den, nest, lodge), anatomy posters, 3-part habitat cards, book list — anchor for fall ecology
- Squirrel Mini Study: Anatomy, life cycle, behavior (caching nuts = memory science!), nature journal page
- Wild Turkey: Anatomy, lifecycle, role in the Berkshires ecosystem. Turkeys are common in North Adams — observe them on hikes!
❄️ Unit 4 (Nov–Dec) — Winter Birds & Solar System
- Winter Birds: Identify birds that stay in New England vs. migrate. Anatomy poster (beak types, feathers). Feeder science — which birds come to which seeds? Life cycle cards.
- Solar System: Planet posters, 3-part cards, scale model activities, moon phases, anatomy of the sun. This is an advanced, beautiful study — SHD's illustrations make space come alive.
🌍 Unit 5 (Jan–Feb) — Weather (Seasonal Track) & Maple Sugaring
The Weather Bundle is designed to revisit across all 4 seasons. Begin in September with fall weather and return to it in each season. By June, your child will have tracked a full year of North Adams weather with science vocabulary for each season.
- Fall (Sep): wind, leaves, temperature drop, animal prep
- Winter (Jan): snow, ice, freezing point, thermometer reading
- Spring (Apr): rain, puddles, water cycle, mud
- Summer (Jun): heat, sun angle, evaporation
🌱 Unit 6 (Mar) — Garden Snail, Cottontail, Pink Moon & Human Heart
- Garden Snail: Anatomy, life cycle, 3-part cards, cutting/tracing practice — perfect for fine motor + science
- Eastern Cottontail: Berkshires-native rabbit! Anatomy, habits, seasonal behavior. Watch for them in March — they'll be emerging.
- Pink Moon (April's full moon): Moon phases revisit, spring equinox, earthworm emergence, anatomy of the moon. Use SHD poster alongside the moon journal started in November.
- Human Heart: Anatomy of the heart, how it pumps, connection to healthy food and exercise. Connect: "Plants are medicine for your heart."
🐸 Unit 7 (Apr–May) — Frogs, Toads, June Bugs & Physics Review
- Frog & Toad: Anatomy, life cycle (egg → tadpole → froglet → frog), habitat needs, frog vs. toad differences. Perfect for April when frogs start calling in the Berkshires!
- June Bug: Beetle anatomy, life cycle, what they eat, why they bump into lights. Find real ones in May/June outside — complete the study and then observe a real specimen.
History & Social Studies
MA Framework 2018 · Character Values Tokens · SHD Continents · Vegan & Kindness values
🪵 Character Values Program — 18 Weeks · MountainMomStudio Tokens
One new value is introduced each week for 18 weeks. The wooden token is awarded on the final school day of the week — not for perfection, but for a genuine moment of demonstration. After receiving the token, the child reflects on one specific moment he showed that value through writing, drawing, or a short presentation to family. Tokens accumulate in a visible collection (a bowl, a shelf, or strung together) as a growing, tangible record of character growth. The Spanish version of the cards reinforces vocabulary in both civics and language sessions.
🪙 The Weekly Token Ritual
Introduce (Monday): Reveal the new value card. Read the word together. Look at the watercolor animal. Ask: "What does this word mean to you? Can you think of a time someone showed this?" Discuss briefly and display the card where it will be seen all week.
Notice (All week): Point out real moments — "That was patience! You waited so calmly." or "Did you notice what you just did? That was compassion." Keep it natural and specific, not forced.
Award (Friday/last day): Present the token. Ask: "Tell me about one moment this week when you showed [value]." Child responds through drawing, writing 1–2 sentences, or speaking. File the reflection in their "Who I Am" binder — a year-long character portfolio.
🗓️ 18-Week Character Values Schedule — Seasonally Aligned
Values are spread across 18 consecutive school weeks beginning in September (when the year rhythm is established) through May (ending just before the celebration unit). The sequence is intentionally ordered to match seasonal themes, unit content, and emotional readiness — easier, joyful values first; more complex and reflective values as the year matures.
| Week | Month | Value | Unit Theme | Why This Pairing | Reflection Prompt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep | 🌱 Kindness | Trees & Forest Animals | Opens the formal values program with the most universal value — connects to our Earth/animal care philosophy from day one | "Draw a moment this week when you were kind to a person, animal, or the Earth." |
| 2 | Sep | 🌟 Gratitude | Trees & Forest Animals | Fall harvests, nature's gifts — gratitude for the living world around us in North Adams | "What are 3 things in nature you are grateful for? Draw them." |
| 3 | Oct | 🦉 Attentiveness | Forest Animals | Wildlife observation requires stillness and attention — directly supports SHD squirrel and turkey studies | "Tell me about a moment this week when you noticed something small or quiet that others might have missed." |
| 4 | Oct | 🦊 Honesty | Forest Animals / Farm Sanctuary | At the sanctuary: animals are honest in their needs. We practice honesty in how we tell their stories too | "Write or draw a time you told the truth even when it was hard." |
| 5 | Nov | 🐦 Helpfulness | Winter Birds | Building a bird feeder IS helpfulness — we help animals survive winter. Connects directly to bird unit | "How did you help someone or something this week? Draw it." |
| 6 | Nov | 🐿️ Patience | Winter Birds | Bird watching requires waiting quietly. Cycling the fish tank required patience. This value has been practiced all fall | "Tell me about a moment when waiting was hard, but you did it anyway." |
| 7 | Nov–Dec | 🌙 Gentleness | Space & Stars | We handle animals, fish, and nature gently. Space reminds us how fragile everything is in the universe | "Draw a moment you were gentle — with an animal, a person, or something that needed care." |
| 8 | Dec | ⭐ Generosity | Winter Celebrations | December's spirit of giving; connects to vegan ethics of sharing and giving without taking | "What is something you gave — your time, a kind word, food for birds — this week?" |
| 9 | Dec–Jan | ❤️ Love | Winter / New Year | Midpoint of the program — a warm, accessible value to carry into the second half of the year | "Who or what do you love? Write their name and draw why." |
| 10 | Jan | 🌍 Compassion | Continents & Community | Learning about people and animals all over the world builds compassion — the core of the vegan worldview | "Tell me about someone (person or animal) whose feelings you thought about this week." |
| 11 | Jan–Feb | 🦁 Perseverance | Community / Maple Sugaring | Tapping maple trees takes repeated effort over many cold days — perseverance made the syrup | "What was hard this week that you kept trying? Write or draw the moment you didn't give up." |
| 12 | Feb | 🌸 Courtesy | People & Places | Meeting people from different cultures and backgrounds requires courtesy; connects to Continents unit | "How did you show good manners or respect to someone this week?" |
| 13 | Mar | 🌿 Self-Control | Gardens & Growth | Gardens require restraint — you can't pull the plant to make it grow faster. Self-control in action | "Was there a moment this week when you felt a big feeling and chose how to respond? Draw it." |
| 14 | Mar | 🐇 Humility | Gardens / Human Body | Learning how the human body works reveals how much we still don't know — humility before the complexity of life | "Tell me about something you learned this week that surprised you — something you didn't know before." |
| 15 | Apr | 🎨 Creativity | Spring / Frogs & Science | Spring's newness invites creative thinking; engineering challenges at the Science Museum celebrate creative problem-solving | "What did you make, invent, imagine, or create this week? Draw or write about it." |
| 16 | Apr–May | 🔦 Obedience | Spring Science | Following the rules of science (the experiment must be done right; you can't rush the nitrogen cycle) is a form of purposeful obedience | "Was there a time this week you followed a rule or instruction even when you wanted to do it differently? What happened?" |
| 17 | May | ☀️ Optimism | Approaching Celebration | As the year nears its end, optimism about growth, reading, and the future — pairs beautifully with the confidence-of-self goal | "What are you looking forward to? Write or draw something wonderful you believe is coming." |
| 18 | May | 💛 Love (revisit) / Choose Your Own | Celebration Unit prep | The final token — child chooses which value from the collection meant the most to them this year, or Love returns as the closing value | "Look at all your tokens. Which value are you most proud of? Present it to your family." |
📁 Who I Am Binder: Keep all 18 weekly reflections in a binder with the child's name on it. At year-end, this becomes a remarkable record of character growth — a portfolio of who he became this year, alongside the reading and science journals.
🌍 Continents & Geography — SHD Montessori Bundle
This bundle aligns perfectly with Montessori geography work. Use the continent cards, 3-part cards, and posters as the social studies spine for Unit 5. Pair with a puzzle map of the world.
- 7 continent cards + animal/plant associations per continent
- 3-part cards for continent names and shapes
- Use alongside a Montessori puzzle map for hands-on geography
- Connect each continent to: "What do people eat there? What animals live there? What does the environment look like?"
💚 Kindness, Civics & Community (All Year)
🪶 Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican People — Expanded Unit (November)
🌊 Muh-He-Con-Ne-Ok — "People of the Waters That Are Never Still"
The Stockbridge-Munsee Community, also known as the Mohican Nation, are the original people of the land your family calls home. North Adams, the Berkshires, and the entire Housatonic and Hoosic River valleys are Mohican homeland. The Mohican people lived here for more than 10,000 years before European colonization. Today, due to a series of forced removals, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community is based on a reservation in Wisconsin — but they maintain an active Historic Preservation Office in Williamstown, MA, and tribal members regularly return to the Berkshires to protect cultural sites, reclaim their story, and teach their history. This is not ancient history. It is living history, happening on the exact ground your child plays on.
Framing note for young learners: Teach this with honesty and care — not as a tragedy of the past, but as the story of a resilient, living people who are still here. Use present-tense language: "The Stockbridge-Munsee are the people of this land." Avoid the "Last of the Mohicans" myth — it is inaccurate and harmful. The Mohican people were not and are not extinct.
Day 2: The Mohican people farmed the Three Sisters (corn, beans, squash), hunted, fished, and built seasonal camps. They were skilled diplomats and formed alliances across the region. Draw a Mohican village near the Hoosic River — include the river, the fields, longhouses, and the Berkshire hills you already know.
Do not soften this into "they moved away." Children can understand injustice when named simply and honestly. Then immediately follow with: "But they did not disappear. They are still a nation today — about 1,500 members, living in Wisconsin and visiting the Berkshires regularly."
Monument Mountain in Great Barrington (a 40-min drive) has a sacred Mohican stone cairn and was recently renamed from a slur to Peeskawso ("virtuous woman") at the tribe's request. Discuss: "Why does naming matter? What does it say when we use the name a people choose for themselves?"
Stockbridge, MA (30 miles south) was originally called "Indiantown" — a Mohican community. The town's name comes from this history.
Williams College in Williamstown was built on Mohican land. The Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Historic Preservation Office operates there today, protecting what remains of their heritage.
Write it out in the child's best handwriting. Decorate it. Display it in your learning space permanently.
Character value connection: Gentleness and Humility — holding the stories of others with care; recognizing what we don't own.
- mohican.com — Stockbridge-Munsee Community official website: history, culture, education
- housatonicheritage.org — Upper Housatonic Valley Native American Heritage Trail, local Berkshires sites
- MCLA Library guide — "The Mohicans in the Berkshires" (Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams)
- Williams College Stockbridge-Munsee guide (libguides.williams.edu) — primary source materials
- Books: A Brief History of the Mohican Nation by Dorothy Davids (Stockbridge-Munsee Historical Committee — written by a tribal member); Giving Thanks (Chief Jake Swamp, Mohawk — related Haudenosaunee tradition of gratitude)
- Avoid: James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans — the Stockbridge-Munsee Community has stated this portrayal is harmful and inaccurate
Arts — Accessible, Purposeful & Joyful
MA Arts Framework 2019 · Tied to science units · Confidence-building
🎨 Arts Philosophy for This Child
Knowing that traditional "arts and crafts" isn't naturally his thing, every art activity here is purposeful and connected to something he already loves — science observation, stories, Irish dance rhythm, and nature. Art is framed as a tool for scientific recording, self-expression, and building the kind of work he can feel proud of. No pressure to "make it pretty" — the process is the point.
🖌️ Scientific Illustration (Ties to SHD Units)
Frame art as scientific illustration — what real scientists do. This is how Darwin recorded species, how naturalists drew plants. It has purpose and dignity.
🎵 Music, Irish Step Dance & Rhythm
PE, Wellness & Vegan Recipes
MA Health & PE Framework 2023 · Weekly recipe · Daily movement · 30 min/day
🥦 Vegan Recipe Philosophy
Every recipe is 100% plant-based and chosen to match the thematic unit. Each one integrates math skills (measuring, counting, fractions) and connects to nutrition science ("what does this food do for your body?"). Framing cooking as a values practice — "we cook kindly, for our bodies and the Earth" — builds lifelong food confidence alongside the math and science learning.
🗓️ Weekly Movement Schedule
💚 SEL: Confidence, Kindness & Self-Regulation (Daily)
🌿 Vegan Weekly Recipes — Full Year
🌻 Unit 1 — Fruit Rainbow Skewers
Ingredients: Strawberries, oranges, pineapple chunks, green grapes, blueberries, purple grapes
Method: Thread fruit in rainbow order on skewers (ROYGBV). Count 3 of each fruit per skewer. Make 4 skewers. Serve with coconut yogurt dip.
🌊 Unit 2 — Ocean Blue Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients: 1 cup frozen blueberries, ½ cup frozen mango, 1 cup oat milk, 1 tsp maple syrup. Toppings: granola, banana slices, coconut flakes.
Method: Blend until smooth. Pour into bowls. Decorate toppings as an "ocean scene" — banana dolphins, coconut foam waves!
🍂 Unit 3 — Apple & Cinnamon Overnight Oats
Ingredients: 1 cup rolled oats, 1½ cups oat milk, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 apple diced, 2 tbsp walnuts (optional)
Method: Child measures and mixes all ingredients in a jar. Seals it. Puts it in the fridge. Next morning: it's ready! Magic! Count apple pieces, measure each ingredient.
❄️ Unit 4 — Star-Shaped Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients: 2 cups flour, ½ cup coconut oil (solid), ½ cup maple syrup, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water (flax egg)
Method: Mix flax egg, let sit 5 min. Cream coconut oil + maple syrup. Add flour and spices. Roll to ½ inch. Cut star shapes. Bake 350°F for 10 min.
🍁 Unit 5 — Maple Cinnamon Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients: 2 sweet potatoes (cubed), 2 carrots, 1 parsnip, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp maple syrup (from your farm visit!), 1 tsp cinnamon, salt
Method: Child cubes vegetables (safe knife, supervised), counts and measures, tosses in maple syrup and oil, spreads on a pan. Roast at 400°F for 25 min. Use the maple syrup from the farm trip!
🌱 Unit 6 — Rainbow Spring Rolls
Ingredients: 6 rice paper wrappers, avocado, shredded carrots, cucumber, red cabbage, fresh mint, rice noodles. Dipping sauce: 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tsp maple syrup, warm water.
Method: Soak rice paper in warm water (30 sec). Lay flat. Child places fillings in a line. Roll. Count 6 rolls. Mix dipping sauce — practice measuring tablespoons.
🐸 Unit 7 — Lily Pad Cucumber Bites
Ingredients: 1 large cucumber, 1 avocado, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt. Toppings: cherry tomato halves, sunflower seeds, fresh dill
Method: Slice cucumber into "lily pad" rounds (count each one!). Mash avocado with lemon and spices. Spread on each round. Add toppings to make a "frog pond scene."
🎓 Unit 8 — Celebration Chia Pudding Parfaits
Ingredients: 3 tbsp chia seeds, 1 cup oat milk, 1 tbsp maple syrup, ½ tsp vanilla. Layers: granola, mixed berries, coconut flakes, edible flowers (if available)
Method: Mix chia + oat milk + maple syrup. Refrigerate 4 hours (or overnight). Layer in 4 glasses: chia pudding → granola → berries → coconut. Count layers. Divide equally across 4 glasses.
Field Trips
4 planned trips · Pre-trip prep + post-trip follow-up for each
🌊 Beach Day — Ocean Field Trip
- Complete SHD Beach Unit Study — learn shell names, tide pool animals, ocean zones before arriving
- Make a "Things I Want to Find" checklist: 3 shell types, 1 seabird, 1 tide pool creature, wave foam
- Read Hello, World! Ocean Life — identify what to look for at the real beach
- Discuss: Leave No Trace — we observe, we don't take living things. Collect shells only (no animals). This is an environmental value in action.
- Complete the "Things I Want to Find" checklist. Check each off as you find it.
- Collect 5 different shells — compare shapes, sizes. Name them using the SHD chart.
- Measure wave height with a stick in the sand. Is it the same every time?
- Observe tide pool carefully — count the different species you can see (don't touch!)
- Taste the air — is it salty? Why? Discuss how ocean water is different from fresh water.
- Complete SHD Beach nature journal pages using real observations from the trip
- Draw and label one thing you found — use it as scientific illustration practice
- Saltwater density experiment at home (egg float) — "we observed this at the beach!"
- Write or dictate: "My favorite thing at the beach was… because…"
🐄 Woodstock Farm Sanctuary — High Falls, NY
Woodstock Farm Sanctuary is a rescue and forever home for nearly 300 farmed animals on 135 acres in the Hudson Valley. This is not a petting zoo, a farm, or an attraction — it is a sanctuary. The animals living here were rescued from suffering and are given lifelong care. The sanctuary does not breed animals, does not use animals for entertainment, and does not monetize them. Baby animals are not a feature — and it's worth discussing this with your child: baby animals on commercial farms are typically separated from their mothers and sold to slaughter after "baby season." Sanctuaries exist precisely because they refuse to participate in that system. The tour is honest, age-appropriate, and deeply moving. It is one of the most values-aligned experiences you can offer a vegan child.
- Read Saving Winslow (Creech) or The One and Only Bob — animals as individuals with histories and personalities
- Discuss: "What is the difference between a sanctuary and a farm? What does 'rescue' mean?" This is age-appropriate civic and ethical education.
- Watch Woodstock Sanctuary's short introductory videos if available — see the animals before you meet them
- Practice quiet, calm approach: soft voices, let animals come to you, no sudden movements
- Write/draw: "I am going to meet a rescued animal. What do I want to know about their story?"
- Learn each animal's rescue story — where did they come from? What happened to them? How did they come to the sanctuary?
- Notice individual personalities: does this pig seem curious? Does this goat prefer to be alone or with others? Animals are individuals.
- Connect to SHD vocabulary: find the wattle on a turkey (Wild Turkey SHD!), observe feather types on chickens, notice cow body structure
- Ask a staff member: "What does this animal need to be happy? What is their favorite thing?"
- Sit quietly for 5 minutes and just observe. What do you notice when you stop talking?
- Draw one animal you met — label their body parts using SHD anatomy vocabulary
- Write/dictate the animal's rescue story in their own words: "My name is ___. I came from ___ because ___. Now I live at the sanctuary where ___."
- Character value connection: "Compassion means seeing that another being can feel. I felt compassion today when…"
- Discuss honestly: this is why our family is vegan. You have now met the kind of animal our choices protect.
- Brave Moments Book: "I was calm, kind, and curious at the sanctuary today."
🍁 Maple Sugaring Farm — Tap the Trees!
- Learn how maple syrup is made: why does sap run in late winter? (Freeze-thaw pressure cycle)
- Draw the process: tree → tap → bucket → collection → boiling → syrup → bottle
- Math prep: it takes ~40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup! Calculate on a hundred board.
- Read: Sugarbush Spring (Chall) or Maple Syrup Season (Burns)
- Help tap a tree! Identify the tree (sugar maple anatomy: SHD trees unit connection)
- Measure sap in a bucket — estimate how many buckets to make a bottle of syrup
- Observe the boiling process: what happens to the liquid? (Evaporation — weather unit connection!)
- Taste fresh sap vs. finished syrup — how are they different? Why?
- Ask: does this farm hurt any animals? How is this different from honey?
- Make the maple cinnamon roasted vegetable recipe using syrup from the trip!
- Draw the maple syrup process (sequential art — 4–6 panels)
- Montessori math: use golden beads to represent 40 gallons → 1 gallon ratio
- Write: "The maple tree gave us its sap. We said thank you by…"
🔬 Boston Museum of Science
- Research 3 exhibits to visit: Lightning Show (physics!), Live Animal Center (SHD animal connections!), Hall of Human Life (anatomy unit!)
- Write 3 scientific questions before arriving: "I want to find out…"
- Review: ABCs of STEM (SHD) — "we're going to a place where scientists work every day"
- Frame it: "Scientists ask questions, observe carefully, and write down what they find. That's what we'll do today — you are a scientist."
- Answer your 3 pre-trip questions. Write/draw findings in the science journal ON SITE.
- Find one thing you studied this year in a museum exhibit — "I already know this! We did this experiment at home!"
- Lightning Show: connect to Physics unit — what is electricity? What makes lightning?
- Live Animal Center: use SHD animal vocabulary to describe what you observe
- Find one thing you DON'T know yet — write it as a new question for future learning
- Present your 3 answered questions to a family member — you are now the expert!
- Add your new question to the science journal — "I still want to know…"
- Brave Moments Book: "I was a real scientist today at the museum."
- Draw your favorite exhibit from memory. Label it. Share it.
🎨 Mass MoCA — Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams
Mass MoCA is one of the largest contemporary art museums in the world — and it's in North Adams. This is your child's local cultural institution. Framing it as "our museum" builds civic pride and a sense of belonging to a cultural community. Fall is a beautiful time to visit — the Berkshires foliage provides its own outdoor gallery on the walk there.
- Discuss: what is a museum? What is contemporary art? "Artists make things to share how they see the world."
- Look at 2–3 Mass MoCA works online together — what do you notice? What do you feel?
- Make one piece of art at home before going: "We're going to share a space with real artists' work."
- Stand in front of one large-scale work for 2 full minutes without speaking. Then: "What did you notice? What did it make you feel?"
- Find one work that connects to something from school this year — a color, a shape, a nature theme, a feeling
- Draw a quick sketch of one piece in the science/art journal. You don't need to copy it — just capture what you remember.
- Ask: "What do you think the artist was thinking about when they made this?"
- Make art inspired by something you saw — use any material. No pressure to copy. Be inspired.
- Character value: Creativity — "An artist made this. You are an artist too."
🖼️ The Clark Art Institute — Williamstown, MA
The Clark is a world-class art institute in Williamstown with an extraordinary collection including Impressionist works, landscapes, and decorative arts. The winter visit connects beautifully to the winter/seasons theme and the Berkshires landscape. The Clark also sits on Mohican land (Williamstown), making a visit a natural complement to the Stockbridge-Munsee unit in November.
- Look at one Impressionist landscape before going — discuss how artists capture light and weather
- At the Clark: find one painting that shows a season. Which season? How do you know?
- Find one animal in a painting — can you name it? What SHD unit does it connect to?
- Compare the Clark's landscape paintings to what you can see outside the windows — same Berkshires hills!
- Sketch one painting in your journal. Label the season, colors, and one feeling it gives you.
📚 Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art — Amherst, MA
The Eric Carle Museum celebrates picture book illustration as fine art — the exact art form your child engages with every single school day. Visiting here at the height of the author study unit transforms the abstract idea of "authors and illustrators" into something real and tangible. Eric Carle's collage technique directly connects to the arts program.
- Read 2 Eric Carle books together — discuss the collage illustration technique before going
- At the museum: see original artwork and understand that picture books start as real paintings on paper
- Visit the art studio if available — make a collage in Eric Carle's style
- Find an illustration from a book you've read this year — "I know this story! I read this!"
- Discuss: "What does an illustrator do differently from a writer? Can someone be both?"
- Make your own collage illustration for a story you've written or a poem from your Poetry Book
- Write/dictate: "I want to be an illustrator because…" or "I noticed that Eric Carle's artwork makes me feel…"
🧪 Connecticut Children's Museum / Science Center
A children's science museum complements the Boston Museum of Science by offering interactive, child-sized, hands-on experiences scaled specifically for kindergarteners. Where the Boston museum is awe-inspiring and grand, a children's museum is participatory — your child IS the experiment. Pair one with the other for a full spring science celebration.
- Review the scientific method before going: "Ask → Investigate → Observe → Conclude." Today, every exhibit is an investigation.
- At the museum: try every hands-on exhibit that connects to this year's science topics — forces, water, living things, the human body
- Science journal: draw and label 3 things you tried. For each: what did you do? What happened?
- Find one exhibit you could recreate at home — "Can we do this in our kitchen?"
- Recreate one exhibit experiment at home the following week
- Brave Moments Book: "I tried something I didn't understand yet, and I kept going."
- Compare to Boston Science Museum: "Which museum did you prefer? Why?"
Building the Classroom Fish Tank
August 2026 · Unit 2 · Science + Math + Responsibility + Compassion
🐟 Why a Fish Tank is a Curriculum Anchor
The fish tank is not just a pet — it becomes a living science lab that teaches biology, chemistry, ecology, math, and daily responsibility all year long. Framed through a vegan lens: fish are sentient beings who deserve good care. We create a habitat that meets their needs, not ours — we serve them. This is compassion made visible every single day.
📋 What You'll Need (Shopping List)
Tank Essentials
- 10–20 gallon tank (bigger = more stable water)
- Filter (hang-on-back style for beginners)
- Heater (if keeping tropical fish)
- Thermometer
- LED light (plants + fish need light cycles)
- Hood/cover
Substrate & Décor
- Gravel or sand (natural colors)
- 2–3 live or silk plants
- 1–2 hiding spots (driftwood or cave)
- No plastic toys — fish prefer natural environments
Water + Chemistry
- Water conditioner (dechlorinator)
- Aquarium test kit (pH, ammonia, nitrites)
- Beneficial bacteria starter (for cycling)
- Fish food (species-appropriate)
🪣 Step-by-Step Build Lessons
🌊 What Do Fish Need? (Before You Buy Anything)
Before purchasing a single item, spend one full science session answering: What does a fish need to live well?
- Clean water (the right temperature, pH, no chlorine)
- Oxygen (filter moves water to add oxygen)
- Food appropriate for its species
- Space — enough room to swim and turn around comfortably
- A hiding place — fish feel safe with shelter
- The right tank-mates — some fish fight, some live peacefully together
Draw a "perfect fish home" in the science journal before you build the real one. Compare at the end!
🧪 The Water Cycle of a Tank — Nitrogen Cycling
This is advanced science — and kids love it. The tank must "cycle" for 2–4 weeks before fish can live in it safely. Here's why:
- Fish produce ammonia (waste). Ammonia is poisonous to fish.
- Beneficial bacteria grow on the filter and gravel. They eat ammonia and turn it into nitrites.
- More bacteria turn nitrites into nitrates, which are mostly harmless.
- Regular water changes (20% per week) remove nitrates.
Draw the cycle: Fish → Ammonia → Bacteria → Nitrites → Bacteria → Nitrates → Water change → Clean water → Fish happy.
🏗️ Build Day — Setting Up the Tank
This is the hands-on build session. Child helps with every measurable step:
- Rinse gravel in a colander — count 5 rinses
- Add gravel to tank — measure 1–2 inches deep (measure with a ruler!)
- Fill tank ⅓ full — place a plate on gravel to avoid disturbing it as you pour
- Arrange plants and hiding spots — child is the designer
- Fill the rest of the way — add water conditioner (measure drops per gallon per instructions)
- Install filter, heater, thermometer
- Turn on filter. Watch the water move. Feel the current.
⏳ The Wait — Cycling the Tank & Testing Water
The hardest lesson: patience. The tank must run for 2–4 weeks before fish can enter. This is real science — rushing will harm the fish. Use this time well:
- Test water every 3–4 days with the aquarium test kit
- Record readings in a data table in the science journal: Date | Ammonia | Nitrite | Nitrate | pH | Temp
- Watch for ammonia to rise, then nitrites to rise, then both to fall — that's the cycle completing!
- Discuss: we are waiting because the fish matter. Their safety is more important than our excitement. This is kindness and patience.
🐟 Choosing Fish — With Care
Research before buying. Good beginner fish for a child-tended tank (vegan-friendly approach — observe, don't over-handle):
- Betta fish (solo tank): Beautiful, personable, recognize their human. Needs a calm tank without fin-nippers.
- Small schooling fish: Neon tetras, ember tetras, chili rasboras (need groups of 6+). Watching a school move is mesmerizing.
- Peaceful bottom dwellers: Corydoras catfish — they "vacuum" the gravel and are endearing.
- Snails or shrimp: Cherry shrimp or nerite snails are fascinating and beginner-friendly.
Use SHD anatomy vocabulary to examine your chosen fish — where are the fins? Dorsal, pectoral, caudal. What do the eyes look like? Scales?
📅 Daily Care & Weekly Science (Year-Long)
- Daily (2 min): Observe for 2 minutes. Are all fish present? Behaving normally? Any changes? Log in 1 sentence. Feed measured amount.
- Weekly (10 min): Test water, record data. 20% water change (siphon gravel as you go). This is science AND responsibility AND care for another being.
- Monthly: Draw one fish in the science journal. Try to capture its exact markings and proportions. Compare to SHD anatomy poster.
- Seasonal: Notice if fish behavior changes — do they eat more in summer? Are they more active? Record observations. This is long-term scientific observation.
🌿 Fish Tank as a Values Lesson
The fish tank is the most powerful vegan values lesson in this curriculum — it is daily, hands-on, and real. Your child will learn that other living beings have needs, feelings, and preferences — that they communicate through behavior, that they can recognize your face, that they are worth waiting for (the cycling lesson), and that their wellbeing is your responsibility. This is compassion practiced every morning before breakfast.
Year at a Glance
Jun 2026 – Jun 2027 · SHD units, field trips, recipes, and daily free time all mapped
🗓️ Reading This Schedule
This is a 3–4 day/week curriculum — the remaining days each week are for hiking, cooking, sports, Spanish tutoring, character reflection, and free play, all of which count toward MA hours. Lovevery Reading happens every single school day (always Block 1 — not listed separately below). 🎨 SHD = Steph Hathaway Designs. 🚗 FT = Field trip week. 🪵 CV = Character Values token week (Sep–May only). Weather Bundle revisits all 4 seasons.
| Week | Unit / Theme | ELA / Lovevery | Montessori Math | Science (SHD + Experiments) | SS / Arts / PE / Recipe | 🪵 Character Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🌻 UNIT 1 — All About Me, Self & Confidence (Jun–Jul 2026) | ||||||
| Wk 1–2 Jun | Self & Identity | Lovevery Basic Blending beginsCVC short-a, short-i | Hundred Board: start, tiles 1–100 | Body senses experimentsABCs of STEM: A–F | Who Am I? posterYoga + breathingSelf-portrait #1 | Values begin Sep |
| Wk 3–4 Jun–Jul | Family, Kindness & June Bugs | Short vowels, Sound Swap gameSight words set 1 | Skip count by 2s & 5s, short bead chains | June Bug SHDPhysics in Nature SHD | Kindness jar + family treeRecipe: Rainbow Skewers 🌿 | — |
| Wk 5–6 Jul | Brain, Growth Mindset & Engineering | Crossword Builder, blending books 1–3 | Skip count by 10s, long 100-chain | ABCs of STEM: G–MEngineering challenges begin | Soccer begins ⚽Nature printing | — |
| 🌊 UNIT 2 — Beach, Fireflies & Marine Life (Aug 2026) 🐟 Fish Tank Build this month! | ||||||
| Wk 7 Aug | Beach Prep + Fish Tank | All short vowels, books 3–5 | Bead stair, colored bead stairs | SHD Beach Unit Study (pre-trip prep)Ocean density layers | Fish Tank Lessons 1–2: animal needs | — |
| Wk 8 Aug | 🚗 BEACH FIELD TRIP | Post-trip: informational writing | Count shells, compare sizes | SHD Beach journal + Firefly Bundle | Beach trip + post-trip artRecipe: Ocean Smoothie Bowl 🌿 | — |
| Wk 9 Aug | Fireflies + Fish Tank Cycling | Sight words, nonfiction labels | Hundred board: patterns + "what's missing?" | Firefly Unit — evening observation!Fish Tank Lessons 3–4: build + cycle | Yoga: ocean themeWatercolor ocean | — |
| 🌲 UNIT 3 — Trees, Squirrels, Soccer & Fall (Sep–Oct 2026) 🪵 Character Values Begin! 🚗 Mass MoCA | ||||||
| Wk 10–11 Sep | Trees + Squirrels + Fish Intro | Story structure B/M/E, retelling | Golden Beads intro: units/tens/hundreds | Squirrel Mini Study SHDCapillary action (celery), tree anatomy | 🐟 Fish: choose + introduce fish!Soccer ⚽Hike: tree ring counting | Wk1: 🌱 KindnessWk2: 🌟 Gratitude |
| Wk 12–13 Sep–Oct | Fall Ecology + Weather | Lovevery digraphs (sh, ch, th, wh) | Decimal cards: build numbers to 999 | Weather Bundle: FallDecomposers + photosynthesis | Recipe: Apple Overnight Oats 🌿Seasonal tree drawing #1Soccer ⚽ | Wk3: 🦉 AttentivenessWk4: 🦊 Honesty |
| Wk 14–15 Oct | 🚗 MASS MoCA | Descriptive language + artist statements | Teens board with beads | ABCs of STEM: N–R | Mass MoCA visit + inspired artRecipe: Roasted Root Veg 🌿 | Wk5: 🐦 Helpfulness |
| ❄️ UNIT 4 — Wild Turkey, Stockbridge-Munsee History, Space & Stars (Nov–Dec 2026) | ||||||
| Wk 16–17 Nov | Wild Turkey + Native History (Stockbridge-Munsee) | Comprehensive blending, sticky words | Golden bead addition (static) | Wild Turkey SHDTurkey anatomy + Berkshires ecosystem | Stockbridge-Munsee study (see SS tab)Recipe: Gingerbread Stars 🌿 | Wk6: 🐿️ PatienceWk7: 🌙 Gentleness |
| Wk 18–19 Nov–Dec | Solar System + Space | Fluency: Lovevery books 6–8 | Tens board, golden bead subtraction | Solar System SHD — moon journal beginsScale model (fruit solar system) | Self-portrait #2 (mid-year)Galaxy art on black paperEvening stargazing walk | Wk8: ⭐ Generosity |
| Wk 20–21 Dec | Constellations + Winter Celebrations | Poetry writing + recitation | Snake game (addition) | Earth tilt model, moon phasesWeather Bundle: Winter | Winter celebrations globallyIrish dance: performance prep 💃 | Wk9: ❤️ Love |
| 🌍 UNIT 5 — Winter Birds, Continents, Human Heart & Maple Sugaring (Jan–Feb 2027) 🚗 Clark Art + Eric Carle Museum + Maple Farm | ||||||
| Wk 22–23 Jan | Winter Birds + Bird Feeder | Lovevery storytelling stage begins | Stamp game introduction | Winter Birds SHD — build feeder, tally chartWeather Bundle: Winter continued | Vegan food by continent (SHD Continents)Recipe: Rainbow Spring Rolls 🌿 | Wk10: 🌍 CompassionWk11: 🦁 Perseverance |
| Wk 24 Jan–Feb | Black Author Study + Continents + Heart | Author study: Jamilah Thompkins-BigelowAbdul's Story, writing & confidence | Stamp game addition + time (hours) | Human Heart SHDHeart rate experiment | SHD Continents Bundle: 1 continent/weekSeasonal tree drawing #2 | Wk12: 🌸 Courtesy |
| Wk 25 Feb | 🚗 CLARK ART + ERIC CARLE MUSEUM | Illustrator study + post-trip collage | Telling time on analog clock | Continents: Africa + South America | Clark + Eric Carle visitsRecipe: Maple Roasted Veg 🌿 | Museum week — carry Courtesy forward |
| Wk 26 Feb | 🚗 MAPLE FARM FIELD TRIP | Sequential writing: maple syrup process | Ratios: 40 gallons → 1 gallon (golden beads!) | Freeze-thaw cycle, sap science, water cycle | Maple farm visit + tap the trees!Recipe: Maple Oat Cookies 🌿 | Reflect on Perseverance: what took patience to make? |
| 🌱 UNIT 6 — Forest Animals, Gardens, Snails & Cottontails (Mar 2027) | ||||||
| Wk 27–28 Mar | Forest Animal Homes + Garden Snail | How-To writing, sequence words | Stamp game subtraction + time (half hours) | Forest Animal Homes SHD + Garden Snail SHDSeed planting — begin garden | Recipe: Garden Salad 🌿Botanical illustrationT-ball begins ⚾ | Wk13: 🌿 Self-Control |
| Wk 29–30 Mar | Eastern Cottontail + Spring Prep | "My Body Book" informational writing | Skip counting chains (5s for money prep) | Eastern Cottontail SHDAnimal habitats + ecosystem connections | Nutrition + vegan food for heart healthT-ball ⚾Hike: look for cottontails! | Wk14: 🐇 Humility |
| 🐸 UNIT 7 — Pink Moon, Frogs, Physics & Spring (Apr–May 2027) 🚗 Boston Science Museum + CT Children's Science Museum + Farm Sanctuary | ||||||
| Wk 31–32 Apr | Pink Moon + Frogs & Toads | Independent reading — Lovevery books 9–11 | Money: coins, counting, change | Pink Moon SHD (earthworm + spring equinox)Frog & Toad SHD | Seasonal tree drawing #3Recipe: Lily Pad Bites 🌿Spring peeper hike! | Wk15: 🎨 CreativityWk16: 🔦 Obedience |
| Wk 33–34 Apr–May | Physics + Engineering + Chemistry | Independent reading — Lovevery books 12–13 | Money: vegan market game | ABCs of STEM: S–ZChemistry: acids & bases; monthly engineering challenge | Hikes: spring nature missionsRock climbing 🧗 | Wk17: ☀️ Optimism |
| Wk 35 May | 🚗 BOSTON SCIENCE MUSEUM | Present 3 answered questions to family | Museum math: numbers on exhibits | Weather Bundle: Spring track | Science Museum visit + Brave Moments entry | Carry Optimism — "I am a scientist today!" |
| Wk 36 May | 🚗 CT CHILDREN'S SCIENCE MUSEUM + FARM SANCTUARY | Animal rescue narrative writing | Review: all operations through games | Recreate 1 museum experiment at home | CT museum + Farm Sanctuary visitRecipe: Spring Rolls 🌿 | Compassion lived out at the sanctuary |
| 🎓 UNIT 8 — Celebration, Confidence & Looking Forward (Late May 2027) | ||||||
| Wk 37–38 May | Reflection & Portfolio | All 13 Lovevery books read ✓Year-end personal chapter book | Review: all Montessori materials through games | Year-long tree journal complete!Weather Bundle: Summer track | Self-portrait #3 + year-end art show portfolioRecipe: Celebration Chia Parfaits 🌿 | Wk18: 💛 Choose Your Own TokenPresent your proudest token to family |
| Wk 39 Late May | 🎉 Year-End Celebration! | Read aloud to family — child's chosen book | Math games + celebration party | Mini science fair: 1 favorite experiment | Seasonal tree drawing #4 🌸Irish step dance performance! 💃 | 🪙 All 18 tokens — Who I Am Binder celebration! |
📝 Massachusetts Homeschool Notes
- Annual notice: Submit to North Adams Public Schools superintendent each year, listing subjects covered (all 9 MA frameworks addressed in this curriculum).
- Hours: MA requires ~900 hrs/year for K–6. Structured school days (2–3 hrs × 3–4 days × 42 weeks) = 252–504 structured hours. Add sports (Irish dance, soccer, t-ball, rock climbing, skiing, ice skating), weekly hikes, cooking, Spanish tutoring, field trips, audiobooks, and free play = well over 900 total hours when all MA-recognized learning is counted. Hikes, cooking, sports, and Spanish all satisfy specific framework requirements.
- Record-keeping tip: Take a weekly photo of one piece of work — a journal page, a completed SHD worksheet, a recipe in progress, or a character token reflection. This creates a beautiful, low-effort portfolio and more than satisfies MA documentation expectations.
- Character Values: The 18-week token program directly supports MA Civics (K.1) and Health/SEL (Framework 6) requirements. Keep the "Who I Am" binder as part of your annual portfolio.
- Vegan note: MA frameworks do not mandate specific nutrition content — your plant-based approach fully satisfies Health & PE requirements and models environmental stewardship consistent with the STE framework.
Spanish — World Languages
MA World Languages Framework 2021 · Weekly or bi-weekly tutor · 1 hour/session
🌍 Why Spanish in Kindergarten?
The MA World Languages Framework 2021 emphasizes that language learning begun in early childhood produces the deepest, most lasting fluency. At kindergarten level, the goal is communication, not perfection — building listening comprehension, basic vocabulary, and a positive, confident relationship with a second language. Combined with Spanish-language Yoto content, your child will receive immersive daily exposure far beyond the tutor sessions alone.
MA World Languages Framework 2021 — Kindergarten Standards
| Domain | Standard | How We Meet It |
|---|---|---|
| Interpersonal | Exchange basic greetings, personal info, and simple responses in the target language | Weekly tutor conversations; daily greetings in Spanish to open school sessions |
| Interpretive | Understand spoken words, phrases, and simple sentences on familiar topics | Spanish Yoto titles, tutor oral instruction, Spanish songs and chants |
| Presentational | Use practiced words and phrases to share information about familiar topics | Name objects in current science unit in Spanish; describe self and family |
| Cultural | Identify products, practices, and perspectives of cultures using the target language | Monthly culture spotlight; Spanish-language books; food connections from Continents unit |
🗓️ Tutor Session Structure (1 hour, weekly or bi-weekly)
Each tutor session follows a consistent, playful structure. Consistency reduces anxiety and builds confidence — your child knows what to expect.
📅 Spanish Vocabulary by Unit — Curriculum Connections
🌻 Unit 1 — Self & Family
mi familia, mamá, papá, hermano, amigo · Los colores · Los números 1–10 · Me llamo… · Tengo ___ años
🌊 Unit 2 — Ocean & Animals
el mar, el pez, la tortuga, el tiburón, la estrella de mar · Los animales del océano · azul, verde, amarillo
🌲 Unit 3 — Forest & Nature
el árbol, la ardilla, el pájaro, el bosque, las hojas · Los colores del otoño · grande, pequeño, alto, bajo
❄️ Unit 4 — Winter & Space
el invierno, la nieve, las estrellas, la luna, el sol · Los planetas · frío, caliente · de noche, de día
🌍 Unit 5 — World & Community
los continentes, el mapa, la ciudad, la granja · Los números 11–20 · ¿Dónde vives? · El dinero: moneda, billete
🌱 Unit 6 — Garden & Body
el jardín, las flores, las verduras, el corazón, el cuerpo · Las partes del cuerpo · comer, correr, dormir, crecer
🐸 Unit 7 — Spring & Science
la rana, el insecto, la primavera, la lluvia · Los números hasta 30 · Preguntas: ¿Por qué? ¿Cómo? ¿Qué es esto?
🎓 Unit 8 — Celebration & Growth
¡Felicidades! Estoy orgulloso/a de mí. · Revisit favorites · Present 3 things learned in Spanish to the family
🎧 Spanish in Daily Free Time (Yoto)
Between tutor sessions, daily Spanish exposure through the Yoto player builds immersive listening comprehension that no once-a-week session can match on its own. Suggested content categories:
🎵 Songs & Chants
- Spanish nursery rhymes (canciones infantiles)
- Counting songs (1–10, 1–20)
- Days, months, weather songs
- Animal songs (Los Pollitos, etc.)
📚 Stories
- Simple Spanish picture books on audio
- Bilingual stories (English + Spanish)
- Cuentos folklóricos from Latin America
- Spanish versions of known favorites
🔬 Content
- Nature/science vocabulary in Spanish
- Spanish-language children's podcasts
- Cultural stories: Day of the Dead, Las Posadas, Carnaval
- Simple Spanish conversation starters
Digital Literacy & Computer Science
MA DLCS Framework 2016 · Integrated throughout curriculum · K–2 grade band standards
💡 DLCS in a Homeschool Context
The MA Digital Literacy and Computer Science Framework applies to grades K–12 and is organized in K–2 bands. For kindergarten, the goal is foundational concepts — not screen time. DLCS at this age is about understanding how technology works, using tools responsibly, and beginning computational thinking through unplugged activities. Most standards below are met through the existing curriculum with a few intentional additions.
MA DLCS Framework 2016 — K–2 Standards & How We Meet Them
| Strand | Standard (K–2) | How We Meet It |
|---|---|---|
| Computing & Society (CAS) | Identify ways technology is used in everyday life; understand that technology can help and harm; practice responsible digital use | Fish tank water testing tools; weather measurement instruments; discussion of how scientists use computers; responsible screen use conversations |
| Digital Tools & Collaboration (DTC) | Use age-appropriate digital tools to create, communicate, and collaborate; navigate simple interfaces | Yoto player operation; documenting science journal with parent-assisted photos; using a digital clock to tell time; age-appropriate educational games |
| Computing Systems (CS) | Identify and describe the function of basic hardware (keyboard, mouse, screen, speakers); understand input/output | Yoto player (input/output demo); household technology exploration; "how does the filter know to keep running?" — basic systems thinking |
| Computational Thinking (CT) | Decompose problems into steps; identify patterns; create and follow simple sequences/algorithms; debug a simple process | Montessori math sequences (ordering materials); cooking recipes as algorithms (step 1, step 2…); Irish step dance sequences; engineering design cycle (plan → build → test → fix) |
🧩 Unplugged Computational Thinking Activities (Integrated All Year)
Computational thinking does not require a computer. These activities build the underlying logic skills while staying consistent with a play-based, low-screen approach.
📱 Responsible Technology Use (CAS Standards)
- Yoto as a model: The Yoto player is an ideal digital tool for this age — child-controlled, screen-free audio. Using it independently builds digital agency without passive consumption habits.
- Privacy conversations: We don't share personal information online. Our home address is private. Strangers online ≠ strangers in real life. Age-appropriate, matter-of-fact, not scary.
- Technology is a tool: Computers help scientists record data (our fish tank log!), help doctors read X-rays (our skeleton drawings!), help people stay connected. Technology serves people — not the other way around.
- Screen time approach: Intentional over passive. Educational games and content chosen deliberately. Free time defaults to physical play, Yoto audio, and real-world materials.
Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks
All 9 required frameworks · Kindergarten standards · Complete coverage map
✅ All 9 MA Curriculum Frameworks — Coverage Confirmed
Massachusetts requires homeschool instruction to cover the same subject areas as public schools, aligned to the state curriculum frameworks. This curriculum covers all 9 frameworks applicable at the kindergarten level. The table below maps each framework to the curriculum and confirms full coverage. Two frameworks often missing from homeschool plans — World Languages and Digital Literacy & Computer Science — are explicitly included here.
📖 1. English Language Arts & Literacy — Framework 2017
| Standard Code | Standard Description | How Covered |
|---|---|---|
| RF.K.1 | Print concepts: directionality, word spacing, punctuation recognition | Lovevery reading games, shared reading, pointing to words |
| RF.K.2 | Phonological awareness: rhyming, syllables, phonemes, blending, segmenting | Lovevery Pt. II daily games; Sound Swap & Drop; poetry; clapping syllables |
| RF.K.3 | Phonics & word recognition: letter-sound correspondences, CVC words, sight words, digraphs | Lovevery all 3 stages; daily phonics practice; sight word wall |
| RF.K.4 | Read emergent reader texts with purpose and understanding | Lovevery 13 books; leveled library books; independent reading by spring |
| RL.K.1–10 | Literature: key details, characters, settings, story structure, comparing texts, poems vs. prose | Daily read-alouds; SHD book lists; retelling activities; author studies; poetry monthly |
| RI.K.1–10 | Informational text: main topic, details, text features, author's purpose, comparing texts | SHD unit studies (anatomy posters, nonfiction); K-W-L charts; nature journals; science books |
| W.K.1–3 | Writing: opinion, informational, narrative — with drawing, dictation, and written letters | All About Me book; How-To writing; opinion pieces; story writing; Brave Moments journal; year-end chapter book |
| SL.K.1–6 | Speaking & listening: collaborative conversations, retelling, presenting ideas, asking questions | Daily discussions; retelling to stuffed animals; reading to family; dramatic play; presenting findings at Boston Science Museum |
| L.K.1–6 | Language: grammar conventions, capitalization, punctuation, sight words, vocabulary acquisition | Writing practice; sight word program; vocabulary in SHD units; oral language in all blocks |
| MA.K | Massachusetts addition: compare how stories and poems are different; ask and answer questions using evidence | Monthly poetry; compare prose vs. poem; evidence-based retelling questions after every read-aloud |
📗 Supplemental note: Additional phonics worksheets and literacy games will be used as needed to reinforce specific skills. All reading materials chosen for quality, diversity, and connection to vegan/Earth values.
🔢 2. Mathematics — Framework 2017
| Standard Code | Standard Description | How Covered |
|---|---|---|
| K.CC.A.1–3 | Count to 100 by ones and tens; count to tell number of objects; write numerals 0–20; compare two numbers | Hundred board; long bead chain of 100; skip counting chains; sandpaper numbers (mastered prior year) |
| K.CC.B.4–5 | Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; count to answer "how many?" | Golden bead "Bring Me" games; counting in real contexts (recipes, hikes, fish tank) |
| K.CC.C.6–7 | Compare two groups of objects; compare two written numbers using >, =, < | Bead stair comparisons; golden bead quantity comparisons; number card matching |
| K.OA.A.1–5 | Addition and subtraction within 10; word problems; decompose numbers; make 10; fluency within 5 | Golden bead static and dynamic operations; snake game; strip boards; word problem stories with objects |
| K.NBT.A.1 | Compose and decompose numbers 11–19 using a ten and some ones | Teens board with bead bars; golden bead teen number building |
| K.MD.A.1–2 | Describe and compare measurable attributes (length, weight); identify which is longer/heavier | Non-standard measurement in recipes; balance scale exploration; comparing objects on hikes |
| K.MD.B.3 | Classify objects into given categories; count the number of objects in each category | Sorting activities; nature collections; bar graphs; fish tally charts (SHD Winter Birds) |
| K.G.A.1–3 | Describe positions of objects; name and describe 2D and 3D shapes | Geometric solids; shape hunt; shape collage; building with blocks |
| K.G.B.4–6 | Analyze, compare, and compose shapes | Shape building activities; tangram-style puzzles; SHD geometry connections |
| Advanced: 1.MD.B.3 | Tell and write time; identify value of coins | Analog clock Montessori work (Q4); money "vegan market" game; recipe measuring |
🧮 Supplemental note: Additional math worksheets, logic puzzles, chess, and strategy games used to reinforce concepts and extend thinking as desired. Montessori materials are primary; worksheets are secondary supports.
🔬 3. Science & Technology/Engineering — Framework 2016
| Standard Code | Standard Description | How Covered |
|---|---|---|
| K-PS2-1,2 | Physical Science: pushes and pulls change speed/direction of objects; strength/direction of force matters | Ramp experiments; SHD Physics in Nature; ball sports (soccer, t-ball); gravity + magnetism investigations |
| K-LS1-1 | Life Science: living things use their surroundings to meet needs; plants and animals need water, air, sunlight, food | Fish tank (daily); SHD Forest Animals, Squirrel, Wild Turkey, Snail, Cottontail, Frog; seed planting; nature walks |
| K-ESS2-1,2 | Earth Science: local weather patterns; how land and water affect living things | SHD Weather Bundle (all 4 seasons); rain gauge; shadow tracking; water cycle experiment; moon journal |
| K-ESS3-1 | Earth & Human Activity: living things need the environment to survive; humans can protect or damage environments | Environmental stewardship discussions; Leave No Trace (beach trip); bird feeder; vegan values connections; fish tank as living ecosystem |
| K-ETS1-1–3 | Engineering Design: ask a question, build a solution, test and improve | Monthly engineering challenges; bridge building; boat building; SHD ABCs of STEM; Boston Science Museum |
| 1-LS3-1 (Adv.) | Heredity: traits passed from parents to offspring; inherited vs. learned behaviors | SHD animal studies (comparing parent/offspring); fish tank observation; Eastern Cottontail study |
| 1-ESS1-1,2 (Adv.) | Astronomy: patterns of sun, moon, stars; seasonal changes; Earth's patterns | SHD Solar System; moon journal (30-day); constellation observation; Earth tilt model; Vivaldi Four Seasons connection |
| LS1 (Adv.) | Human body systems: skeletal, circulatory, digestive, respiratory | SHD Human Heart; body tracing; heart rate experiments; digestion demonstration; nutrition connects to vegan diet |
🔬 Supplemental note: SHD worksheets (anatomy diagrams, life cycle sequencing, 3-part cards, copywork) provide structured practice for all science units. Additional science games, puzzles, and activities used as desired.
🌍 4. History & Social Science — Framework 2018
| Standard Code | Standard Description | How Covered |
|---|---|---|
| K.1 — Civics | Rules and responsibilities in home, school, community; fairness, rights, participation | Family kindness jar; family rules poster; community helper discussions; vegan values as civic responsibility |
| K.2 — Geography | Location words; maps of home/school/community; land vs. water; local geography | Home/neighborhood maps; North Adams on state map; SHD Montessori Continents Bundle; globe exploration; Berkshires hikes |
| K.3 — Economics | Needs vs. wants; goods and services; jobs people do; simple exchange of money | Vegan market game; coin identification and counting; recipe costing; community helper study; farm visit (goods + labor) |
| K.4 — History | Family history; school history; changes over time; past, present, future | Family timeline; grandparent interviews; "then and now" comparisons; self-portrait series (growth over time) |
| K.5 — MA History | Local and state history; Wampanoag people of Massachusetts; significant places in MA | Wampanoag study; Giving Thanks read-aloud; North Adams on MA map; Berkshires as homeland; maple sugaring as regional tradition |
| HSP.K | History and Social Science Practices: ask questions, use sources, discuss differing perspectives | Grandparent interviews as primary sources; field trip pre/post questioning; comparing books about same topic; vegan perspective discussions |
🎨 5. Arts — Framework 2019
| Discipline | K Standard | How Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Visual Art | Creating: use art-making process to express ideas; explore materials; develop personal voice. Responding: describe and interpret own and others' artwork. Connecting: relate art to personal experience and the world | Scientific illustration (SHD); seasonal tree drawings; self-portraits x3; watercolor; collage; nature printing; year-end art portfolio; Montessori-style three-period observation of master works |
| Music | Singing with accurate pitch; keeping a steady beat; exploring rhythm, tempo, dynamics; responding to music; connecting music to culture and emotion | Daily opening song; Irish step dance counting (rhythm); classical listening monthly (Vivaldi, Saint-Saëns, Copland); homemade instruments; Spanish songs; 52-song year list |
| Drama / Theatre | Engaging in pretend play; collaborating in story dramatization; using voice and movement to express character | Monthly story dramatization; puppet retelling; dramatic play; Boston Science Museum role-play ("I am a scientist today") |
| Dance / Movement | Exploring movement in space; responding to music with movement; basic movement vocabulary (locomotor, non-locomotor) | Irish step dance (weekly + class); yoga (animal poses, balance sequences); freeze dance; movement to classical music; soccer and sport as movement literacy |
🏃 6. Comprehensive Health & Physical Education — Framework 2023
| Strand | K Standard | How Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Activity | Demonstrate locomotor skills (run, hop, skip, gallop, jump, leap, slide); non-locomotor (bend, stretch, twist, balance); object control (throw, catch, kick, strike) | Soccer, t-ball, Irish step dance, yoga, rock climbing, skiing, ice skating, obstacle courses, dog walking/hiking |
| Fitness & Wellness | Identify components of health-related fitness; understand benefits of physical activity; recognize healthy foods | Heart rate experiments; yoga flexibility; weekly vegan recipes + nutrition discussion; SHD Human Heart study; hikes building cardiovascular endurance |
| Social-Emotional Health | Name and manage emotions; develop coping strategies; demonstrate respect for self and others; cooperative play | Daily feelings check-in; breathing practice; Brave Moments Book; SEL monthly books; sport sportsmanship; yoga affirmations |
| Personal Safety | Identify trusted adults; body autonomy and safety; basic first-aid awareness; recognize safe vs. unsafe situations | Age-appropriate safety conversations; trusted adults discussion; fish tank safety (supervised); kitchen safety during recipes |
| Nutrition | Identify a variety of foods; understand that food provides energy; make simple healthy choices | All 52 vegan recipes with nutritional framing; SHD Human Heart nutrition connection; sorting food by nutrient group; "eating the rainbow" activities |
🇪🇸 7. World Languages — Framework 2021
| Mode | K–2 Standard | How Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Interpersonal | Exchange basic personal information, greetings, and simple responses on familiar topics in the target language | Weekly/bi-weekly Spanish tutor sessions (1 hour); daily Spanish greetings to open school; peer-style conversation practice with tutor |
| Interpretive — Listening | Understand familiar words, phrases, and simple sentences on topics of interest when spoken clearly | Spanish Yoto content (daily); Spanish songs; tutor oral instruction; Spanish-language read-alouds |
| Interpretive — Reading | Recognize and understand familiar written words, phrases, and simple text in the target language | Spanish vocabulary cards; bilingual books; labeled Spanish vocabulary charts for each unit |
| Presentational | Use practiced words and phrases to share information about familiar topics | Name objects in Spanish during each science/SS unit; describe self and family; end-of-year presentation in Spanish to family |
| Cultural Practices | Identify and describe products, practices, and perspectives of cultures using Spanish | Monthly Spanish-culture spotlight; Day of the Dead, Las Posadas, Carnaval; Spanish-speaking countries on Continents map; Latin American food in vegan recipes |
💻 8. Digital Literacy & Computer Science — Framework 2016
| Strand | K–2 Standard | How Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Computing & Society | Identify uses of technology; understand responsible use; privacy basics; technology helps/harms | Yoto player operation; household technology discussions; responsible use conversations; fish tank tools as technology |
| Digital Tools & Collaboration | Use age-appropriate digital tools to create and communicate; navigate simple interfaces | Yoto player; photo documentation of science experiments; digital clock for time-telling; age-appropriate educational games |
| Computing Systems | Identify basic hardware; understand input/output; recognize that computers follow instructions | Yoto player input/output; fish tank filter systems; "how does it work?" monthly technology exploration |
| Computational Thinking | Decompose problems; identify patterns; create/follow sequences; debug simple processes | Recipe algorithms; Montessori material sequences; Irish dance step sequences; engineering design cycle; chess and logic games; pattern work on hundred board |
🌐 9. English Language Development — Standards 2020
The MA English Language Development (ELD) Standards 2020 apply to students whose home language is not English. Since your child is a native English speaker, these standards are not applicable as a primary requirement. However, the Spanish program in this curriculum addresses the spirit of language development from the reverse angle — your child is building bilingual capability, which research shows deepens both English and Spanish literacy simultaneously. The ELA Framework (Framework 1 above) fully covers all English language development expectations for native speakers at this level.
📊 Complete Coverage Summary
| # | Framework | Year | Status | Primary Tab |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English Language Arts & Literacy | 2017 | ✅ Full | ELA Tab |
| 2 | Mathematics | 2017 | ✅ Full + Advanced | Math Tab |
| 3 | Science & Technology/Engineering | 2016 | ✅ Full + 1st–2nd grade level | Science Tab |
| 4 | History & Social Science | 2018 | ✅ Full | Social Studies Tab |
| 5 | Arts (Visual, Music, Drama, Dance) | 2019 | ✅ Full | Arts Tab |
| 6 | Comprehensive Health & Physical Education | 2023 | ✅ Full — most comprehensive area | PE & Wellness Tab |
| 7 | World Languages (Spanish) | 2021 | ✅ Full — weekly/bi-weekly tutor + daily Yoto | Spanish Tab |
| 8 | Digital Literacy & Computer Science | 2016 | ✅ Full — unplugged + Yoto integration | Digital Literacy Tab |
| 9 | English Language Development | 2020 | N/A — native English speaker | — |
📝 Record-keeping tip for MA homeschool compliance: Keep this tab printed and on file. When submitting your annual notice to North Adams Public Schools, reference these frameworks by name. A simple weekly log (subject + 1-sentence description of activity) is all the documentation needed. Photos of completed SHD worksheets, journal pages, and recipe measurements make excellent portfolio evidence.