Ready or not, here we come Kindergarten! Learn tips from parents and educators on how to prepare for going beyond Pre-K.
What You Need To Know
- Being ready for kindergarten is so much more than turning 5 by September. Parents and educators have been dealing with the subject of preparedness for years and here’s a breakdown of what parents and educators have collectively agreed are some tools for success.
- Read with your child. It should be interactive and relate to their own lives.
- Teach letters and numbers, colors and shapes. Make it fun by finger painting with letters or making letters out of playdough.
- Foster independence. A child needs to be able to separate from parent for 20 minutes or more on a project. Parents should encourage their child to put on shoes, brush teeth and clean up after themselves.
- Make school familiar by visiting the school and possibly introducing them to their teacher ahead of time.
How You Can Help
While children develop at different rates, child development experts recommend that you help your child do these specific things before starting kindergarten:
- Recognize their first name and the letters in their name.
- Look at books, turning pages, naming objects.
- Say how old they are.
- Recognize numbers through five, understand numbers mean amount, count to 10.
- Hold crayons like a pencil and cut with scissors.
- Know names of many colors, basic shapes, and body parts.
- Draw and color beyond scribbling.
- Follow simple directions.
- Share.
- Dress themselves by zipping, buttoning, and snapping.
- Follow the leader by walking, running, hopping, jumping, and marching.
- Be o.k. separating from parent for the day.
Working on these skills with your child can be fun. Make a chart and when your child accomplishes the skill, give them praise and a sticker. A sticker filled chart on the wall can give your child a sense of accomplishment and give incentive to keep working hard for the future.
For more on this topic, see the complete article:
http://www.education.com/reference/article/getting-ready-kindergarten-offer-tips/?page=2
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