Here are some ideas for homeschooling your kindergarten child in November! These activities are based on Waldorf and Charlotte Mason education models, so there is no formal schooling yet, such as language arts or math lessons. Instead, the activities reflect the seasonal rhythm of the year to give children a sense of time, place, and connection.
When I lived in Florida for 11 years, the sun shone almost every single day. For an Ohioan coming from one of the cloudiest places in the country, it sounded like perfect weather, but there were days when I grew tired of the constant sunshine. As I told my cousin in a phone call, I was “craving November.” Robert Frost captured the essence of this month in his poem “My November Guest.”
“My Sorrow, when she’s here with me,
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be . . .
The desolate, deserted trees,
The faded earth, the heavy sky . . .
Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days . . .”
The watercolors I chose for this month reflect what we see in the natural world around our home and the typical colors associated with Thanksgiving. We’re baking challah several times so my daughter can grow in the skills of kneading and braiding.
Theme and Festivals
Our themes for this month are light and giving. We’ll spend more days inside watching the rain and start planning for the upcoming holidays.
Our celebrations this month include Martinmas (November 11th) and Thanksgiving. Although I didn’t celebrate Martinmas as a child, it’s commonly observed in Waldorf circles, and I started the tradition in my family last year. We make a lantern, go on a lantern walk at night, and bake Stutenkerl. Because this holiday is about being a light, I also want my family to gather items we don’t need and donate them together.
Here is our November schedule. We follow a four-day schedule because of our Thursday co-op. I can’t share some of the handwork and beeswax modeling we have planned because they come from other curriculums, but I’ll let you know where you can find them. I’ve also created my own handwork resource.
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November Homeschool for Kindergarten
Theme: Light, giving
Festivals: Martinmas, Thanksgiving
Daily homeschool schedule
During breakfast: Bible study; read a poem.
Lavender’s Blue circle time (movements with seasonal songs and verses).
Main activity
During lunch: Folk song, picture, composition, or hymn from Ambleside’s schedule. Then I read aloud. We’re currently working through the free reads on Ambleside’s Year 0 schedule.
Monday afternoon: Nature study
Main activities
Week 1: Martinmas Prep Week
Monday: Bake challah
Tuesday: Watercolor with purple and orange
Wednesday: Model lantern with beeswax; sort donations
Friday: Handwork from Whole Family Rhythms
Week 2
Monday: Bake Stutenkerl
Tuesday: Watercolor with orange
Wednesday: Model acorn with beeswax; plan Christmas gifts
Friday: Handwork from Lavender’s Blue
Week 3
Monday: Bake challah
Tuesday: Watercolor with orange and yellow
Wednesday: Model walnut with beeswax; plan Christmas gifts
Friday: Handwork from Lavender’s Blue
Week 4
Monday: Bake challah
Tuesday: Watercolor with yellow, orange, and red
Wednesday: Model turkey with beeswax; plan Christmas gifts
Friday: Salt dough advent spiral, roll four beeswax candles