Kindergarten: Is Your Child Ready?

Every September, a new class of kindergarten students open the doors to classrooms that will start them on their journey of learning. These children are both excited at what lies ahead, and fearful about leaving parents for hours each day. Another emotion that touches the families of these young students is concern. Before most parents wave good-bye to the big yellow school bus, they question whether their children are truly ready to enter the world of academics.

Today’s kindergarten curriculum is significantly different than when Friedrich Froebel developed the idea in the 1830s. The original purpose was to socialize children. Since most children attend daycare or preschool prior to their first day of kindergarten, the socialization aspect is no longer as important. Emphasis is placed on academics and cognitive learning skills.

Prior to entering kindergarten, a child must show a degree of readiness. The home environment is perfect for developing the skills that will be used in a kindergarten curriculum. There are many ways to get a child ready for the first day of school, and they can be divided into a few key areas.

Academic and Cognitive Skills

A great way to prepare children for kindergarten is to read to them. The local library has shelves of picture books that introduce children to words and ideas. Let the child follow along as you read, using your finger to trace the sentences and read in an animated and engaging manner. When you finish the story, ask your child questions about it, encouraging responses that deal with both the plot and her emotional reaction to the book.

Focus on one letter of the alphabet each day. Look for things that start with that letter. Have a snack featuring the letter of the day. Play “I Spy” and search for items that start with the day’s letter. Have a scavenger hunt or make up a silly song.

Since writing and reading are related, trace the letters on sentence strips or with sidewalk chalk. Concentrate on having the child spell his name. Use a variety of writing implements, like crayons, paint or glitter markers. The ability to write their name is a huge milestone for children. In addition, some children are ready to be introduced to sight words.

Throughout the day, ask your child questions about what is going on around them. Why is milk kept in the refrigerator? How should you cross a street? What’s your favorite game and why? The list is endless, but the idea is to allow your child moments to understand both ‘how’ and ‘why’ things are done in certain ways.

Another terrific activity is sorting. Put blocks, buttons or coins in a pile and sort them according to size, color or denomination.

Fine and Gross Motor Skills

Make play dough or buy it from a craft store, and have the child roll and mold it into various shapes. String Cheerios or Fruit Loops and make delicious jewelry. Buy safety scissors and ask the child to cut pictures from a magazine to make a collage. Coloring books are a traditional favorite; encourage the child to draw within the lines. Using chalk, have your child outline your body and then draw your face.

Go for a walk in the park and have your child alternate from walking to hoping to jumping to skipping. Another fun activity is to play kickball (our family favorite).

Social and Self help skills

Your child will be expected to follow directions, complete tasks and work independently. In addition, make sure your child can use the bathroom without assistance and wash and dry her hands. Your child will also need to be able to put on his shoes and tie them (or Velcro in our case), button their coat and zip their pants.

Every parent can prepare their child for kindergarten in a way that is entertaining and engaging. View daily activities as fun learning experiences that will make the first day of school a step into a lifetime of academic success.

Kindergarten Readiness Skills

Today’s kindergarten curriculum is significantly different than its intended purpose back in the 1830s. The original purpose was to socialize children but today most children are socialized prior to kindergarten due to attending daycare or preschool. Today, emphasis is placed on academics and cognitive learning skills. In addition, teachers assess the students in several key areas.

Prior to entering kindergarten, a child must show a degree of readiness. Being five years old is not always the benchmark signifying a student’s successful entry into the classroom. Many schools offer kindergarten screening to assess the child’s abilities as well as to give parents an idea of the skills the child should already have in place. This screening is not an intelligence test; it merely registers a child’s developmental levels in several areas. The entire process takes about 20 minutes and includes activities like drawing (to observe hand preference and fine motor coordination), visual and auditory memory, using language, body movements, like skipping and hopping, and building with blocks (to test hand-eye coordination and perception).

The following list contains basic kindergarten readiness skills:

Follow directions
Complete tasks (when asked the first time)
Work independently
Begin to share with others
Listen to stories without interrupting
Manage bathroom needs
Dress without assistance
Wash and dry hands
Stand and hop on one foot
Throw and catch a big ball
Use eating utensils
Hold and use a pencil
Trace a line
Cut using scissors
Speaks understandably
Converse in complete sentences (5-6 words)
Know basic colors and shapes
Count by rote to 10
Counts groups (up to 5 objects)
Sort objects by color, shape and size
Knows full name
Recognizes first name in print
Can identify letters in own name
Recognizes some letters

Proper Letter and Number Formation

Children often begin writing their letters and numbers is a manner that isn’t always logical. As you observe your child writing, check to see if she is forming her letters and numbers properly. Click here for a PDF file containing the proper letter and number formation In addition, encourage your child to use both upper and lower case letters. We are currently working with our daughter on the correct way to write her first and last name; she prefers to use all upper case letters.
Some fun activities to do with your child:

Play a game.

If you are feeling creative, use a poster board or piece of paper and draw a path. Next, have your child fill it with the letters of the alphabet. Grab a die and pawns from another game and begin playing. When your child lands on the letter have him say the letter. If you are not the creative type, play Er-u-di-tion and use the blue cards.

Write labels.

Using the sentence strips have your child write labels for items in your home. We incorporated this technique while organizing our daughter’s messy bedroom. We purchased small bins. Our daughter made the labels for each bin (e.g. Barbie dolls, polly pockets, etc.).

Make a book.

Have your child make an ABC or counting book. Each page represents a letter or number. Your child can write either the upper and lower case letter or a number and then illustrate each page by drawing a picture.

Make a shopping list.

Have your child assist you with the shopping list. Have him write some of the items you need (e.g. eggs, milk and apples).

Practice writing using nonconventional methods.

Have your child practice writing in shaving cream or pudding (on a piece of wax paper). Use a wet sponge or chalk, to form letters on the sidewalk.

Kindergarten Summer Homework – Letter & Name Recognition

Place emphasis on recognizing the letters of the alphabet as well as the letters that are in your child’s name. When entering kindergarten, children who know their letters are at an advantage when learning to read. Some fun activities to do with your child are noted below:

Sing the ABC song to familiarize your child with the letters of the alphabet.

“ABC Song”
A B C D E F G,
H I J K L M N O P,
Q R S T U V,
W X Y and Z.
Now I know my ABCs.
Next time won’t you sing with me.

Using the upper and lower case letters noted below, cut apart the rows and then glue or tape the strips together to form one row beginning with Aa and ending with Zz. While singing the alphabet song, point to each letter.

Make “alphabet soup.”

Cut-out the upper and lower case letters and put them into a bowl. Using a spoon, scoop out a letter and have your child identify it. Another great idea is to play alphabet soup with just your child’s first or last name.

Play with your child’s and other family member’s name.

Use sentence strips to practice writing names.Have your child write the names of everyone in their family. Ask the questions: Who has the longest name? How many letters are in that name? Who has the shortest name? How many letters are in their name?

Upper and Lower Case Letters

Aa	Bb	Cc	Dd	Ee
Ff	Gg	Hh	Ii	Jj
Kk	Ll	Mm	Nn	Oo
Pp	Qq	Rr	Ss	Tt
Uu	Vv	Ww	Xx	Yy
Zz

Click here for a PDF file containing the letters of the alphabet.

Summer Homework to Prevent Brain Drain– A New Day

After a good eight hours of sleep, I awoke refreshed and ready to tackle today’s summer homework. Today I incorporated some fun by using sidewalk chalk. My daughter loves to draw so she drew our family and labeled everyone. Thus, she practiced writing her name as well as other names. She currently uses all upper case letters; so I am teaching her to use both upper and lower case letters when writing her name. My son is not so easily entertained by chalk but he likes to play hangman.

Our school sent home a list of wall words for grade one and two. Today I reviewed all the wall words for grade one with my son and then played two games of hangman using only those words. While all of us would prefer to be at the pool, we spent approximately 20 minutes playing together to combat the summer brain drain!

Another powerful tool to fight summer brain drain is to play Er-u-di-tion as it incorporates ninety-eight percent of grade one wall words provided by our school!

Wall Words for Grade One

the	of	a	to	is
you	was	on	are	they
I	have	from	one	word
what	all	were	when	your
said	there	do	their	other
about	many	some	would	look
two	more	could	people	my
water	been	who	find	long
come	only	work	know	year
give	most	very	our	good
great	where	through	right	too
any	want	also	around	put
does	another	large	even	because
here	move	kind	again	change
off	air	away	mother	answer
learn	should	world	high	every
near	school	father	earth	eye
light	thought	head	saw	don’t
along	might	something	always	both
often	night	walk	four	carry

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