Kindergarten Skills Development: Month 10

Kindergarten Skills Development

Skills to Practice this Month

• See that your child can understand and follow oral rules and directions. Upon entering kindergarten your child should be able to sit for brief periods of time, about 15 minutes, and should be able to follow directions given out loud by a teacher.

Activities

• Be sure to incorporate time into your day with your child where you are sitting quietly for brief periods of time. Book sharing time is a perfect time to sit still and quietly for about 15 to 20 minutes.

• Listening and following directions are important skills that span several areas of child development. They are essential in the ability to learn in a group, to follow along in a lesson, and to understand the information being given. Talk about ways in which your child can be a good listener. Ask him to suggest ways he can learn to listen and follow directions at the appropriate times. Talk about the importance of school rules to keep your child safe and content.

• Help your child practice his listening and direction following skills by playing "Follow the Leader" with your child. The first one to be the leader does a movement, a facial expression, or positions himself a certain way and everyone else copies the leader.

• Play the "telephone" game with your child, your family, and friends. Everyone sits in a circle and one person whispers a word or phrase into the ear of the person sitting to her right. That person whispers it to the next person, and so on. The object of the game is for the last person to be able to correctly tell what the word or phrase was when it started.

Books for Children

• Do Like a Duck Does by Judy Hindley
• If You're Happy and You Know It by Jan Ormerod
• Hop Jump by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• No Laughing, No Smiling, No Giggling by James Stevenson
• Grody's Not So Golden Rules by Nicole Rubel

Books for Parents

• The Giant Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities for Four-Year-Olds edited by Kathy Charner and Maureen Murphy

Getting Ready to Read

Skills to Practice this Month

• Learn together by reading some true books on subjects your child likes. Visit the library often and read together every day. Children have a natural curiosity and allowing them to explore subjects that interest them encourages them to become independent library users, ask questions, and seek answers.

Health and Wellness

Skills to Practice this Month

• See that your child has opportunities for many different types of physical activity. Upon entering kindergarten, your child should be able to run, jump, swing, and use balls. Most 4 and 5 year olds should be able to kick a ball, throw a ball, catch a bounced ball, climb, stand on one foot for a brief time, hop, and do a somersault. Some may be able to skip.

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