Faith Based Learning with Kindergarten Stepping Stones

I’m a firm believer in using good books and lots of hands-on learning in the early years. That’s why so much of what we do for preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary follows a Montessori style of education combined with Charlotte Mason’s idea of living books.

I don’t like to overwhelm little ones with too many structured requirements, but rather encourage their natural love for learning through play, hands-on projects, and reading together. On the other hand, I do like to have structure for myself so that I know I’m providing all the tools and resources that they need as they’re developing early learning skills. We’re currently using Kindergarten Stepping Stones from Kendall Hunt Religious Publishers and it is fitting the bill for us on all of those considerations.

Disclosure: I received this curriculum at no cost for the purpose of review. I was compensated for my time. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are honestly my own.

What is Kindergarten Stepping Stones?

Kindergarten Stepping Stones is a complete faith-based, comprehensive curriculum. It covers Language Arts, Bible, Math, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, Art, Music, Dramatic Play, and Technology.

There are nine units total in Kindergarten Stepping Stones, each with four main picture books to read and study. This total curriculum will take a year if you read one of the literature titles per week.

The primary goal is to make the invisible God visible to your children. This is accomplished through reading literature together and applying the lessons through hands-on projects and inquiry-based discoveries.

We’ve been using the Moving On thematic unit. We’re learning about westward expansion, pioneers, wagons, quilting, the prairie, trains, flowers, and more. The overarching fundamental spiritual lesson is to trust and follow Jesus. This connection is made in many ways throughout the books and lessons.

Learning about pioneer times and westward expansion with faith-based, literature-rich Kindergarten Stepping Stones. heartandsoulhomeschooling.com — CD-rom with printables

What is Included with Kindergarten Stepping Stones?

Daily Lesson Guide spiral-bound book

Teacher Manual spiral-bound book

CD-rom with printables

4 picture books:

A Day on the Prairie by Third Grade Students of Kildeer Countryside Elementary School
Iron Horses by Verla Kay
Papa and the Pioneer Quilt by Jean Van Leeuwen
Arbor Day Square by Kathryn O. Galbraith

How We Use Kindergarten Stepping Stones

My youngest daughter, age 6, has been the primary student using Stepping Stones. She was really happy to dig into the lessons and read the books together. She was especially glad to have lessons that are “just for her.” She loves the printable pages to color, cut, and write on.

As we got into the projects and reading the books, her older sisters (8 and 14) just had to see what we were doing. They ended up helping with some of the artwork. Since these are high-interest living books (even though they’re picture books) we can all appreciate the good stories and learn from history together.

I quickly discovered that it was easy to modify things to include my 8 year old in many of the lessons as well. There are some group activities, like in physical education, that especially worked well for them to do together.

One of our favorite things included making a log cabin while learning about pioneers. The curriculum suggests using Lincoln Logs to make a log cabin as part of the hands-on activities. I got this kit at Hobby Lobby and the girls had fun gluing it together. I also got a covered wagon kit that we’re planning to build. We talked about what it would be like to travel in a covered wagon and live in a log cabin.

We also especially enjoyed learning about quilts and quilting patterns. The quilts and their patterns were very significant to the pioneers as more than just blankets. The patterns had meanings to them. My grandma and my mom have both made many quilts for the girls, so this was close to our hearts.

What I Love about Kindergarten Stepping Stones

The books! The book selections are excellent and we love literature-rich learning. Not only are the four included books great, there are many, many suggestions for additional titles to read. Most are easily found at the library.
The hands-on projects and discovery lessons ~ Again, this suits our learning style so well. I believe the kids retain more when they take an active role in their lessons.
The Bible connections ~ This is so wonderful to have the Bible connections built right into the lessons. Learning character lessons and Bible verses are essential in our homeschool.
The thorough lesson plans and teacher guide ~ This makes it easy on me as a teacher!
The themes ~ We love unit studies/thematic units in our homeschool because they fit in so well with our delight-directed learning approach.

Honestly, I’m not usually a fan of too much curriculum for the early years. However, these thematic units and great books are a gentle yet effective approach to learning that I appreciate very much. It’s something I could see putting together myself for my daughters, but this is all done so beautifully and saves so much time for me! That gives us more time to spend together on learning.

I only have two caveats to mention. One is that it is a Seventh Day Adventist curriculum. We are not Seventh Day Adventists, but I haven’t found anything objectionable to our beliefs. The emphasis is on following Jesus, not a particular denomination. The other thing I would note is that it’s designed for a classroom, so not all activities will apply to homeschoolers. It’s easy to skip over those things or modify them without compromising the integrity of the curriculum, though.

Summary

Kindergarten is such a fun and exciting age. Learning is a real joy and it generally takes very little encouragement to get kids enthusiastic about hands-on projects. Kindergarten Stepping Stones is ideal for homeschool families who enjoy great books, faith-based learning, emphasis on discovery together, and the structure that makes homeschool moms feel confident that they’re getting off to a good start with their child’s education.

Be sure to visit Kendall Hunt Religious Publishing and learn more about Kindergarten Stepping Stones.

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Sara

Author/Speaker/Consultant at Heart and Soul Homeschooling

Sara is a homeschool mom to 3 creative girls. She holds a degree in Social Work specializing in early childhood development, which led to her interest in individualized educational options like homeschooling. She believes that learning should be a lifelong adventure, not just a checklist to get through. She is a writer, avid reader, introvert (INFJ), and dreamer of dreams.