Kindergarten Skills Development: Month 6

Kindergarten Skills Development

Skills to Practice this Month

• Encourage exploration and manipulation of crayons, pencils, scissors, buttons, zippers, forks, spoons, and other small everyday objects. Upon entering kindergarten, most children should be able to draw or copy squares, triangles, circles, and other geometric patterns and letters. They should be able to draw a person, dress and undress with assistance, and use utensils.

Activities

• Help your child cut various shapes out of construction paper, fun foam, or felt. Cut circles, squares, triangle, and rectangles. Show your child how these simple shapes can be combined to make people, trees, houses, boats, and other objects. Let your child glue his designs onto construction paper and label his creations with crayons or markers.

• Sew buttons onto scrap pieces of fabric and let your child practice buttoning and unbuttoning. You could also give your child zippers, laces, and snaps to practice these dressing skills.

• Let your child set the table at the evening meal. Talk about what each utensil is called and what it is used for. If your child hasn't mastered it yet, help him practice holding and using a fork, spoon, and knife. Make a fun game out of it! Can you eat peas with a knife, corn on the cob with a spoon, soup with a fork?

Books for Children

• Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
• Doodler Doodling by Rita Golden Gelman
• Circus Shapes by Stuart J. Murphy
• Circle Dogs by Kevin Henkes
• When a Line Bends a Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene

Books for Parents

• Paper Fantastic: 50 Creative Projects to Fold, Cut, Glue, Paint, and Weave by Joe Rhatigan
• Little Hands Paper Plate Crafts: Creative Art Fun for 3- to 7-Year Olds by Laura Check

Getting Ready to Read

Skills to Practice this Month

• Invite your child to help with sending cards and letters. Writing letters to family and friends will help children improve their narrative skills and print awareness. Being able to tell or retell a story helps children understand what they read. Being familiar with the value of the printed language helps children feel comfortable with books and understand that print is useful.

Health and Wellness

Skills to Practice this Month

• Review basic bus and traffic safety rules with your child. Whether or not your child will be riding a bus to and from school, all children should be aware of traffic and automobile safety rules.

More information available at http://www.getSet4k.org