Prior to entering kindergarten, work with your child to ensure that she recognizes both the upper and lower case letters. The ability to recognize the letters will assist her in learning to read. In addition, the ability to quickly identify and write letters will aid in her writing development.
In an earlier post, I recommended singing the alphabet song and reading books focusing on the letters of the alphabet. Another great activity is to work with your child on spelling and writing his name. Over the summer, our school district recommended the following activities (we added our personal touch):
Singing the Name Song
Using the tune of B-I-N-G-O, sing your child’s name. For example, my daughter’s name is Emma so we sing it as follows:
There was a girl
Who had a name
And Emma
Was her name-o
E-M-M-A
E-M-M-A
E-M-M-A
And Emma
Was her name-o.
Some names are easier to adapt to the song than others. For example, my son’s name is Connor and we attempted singing it but his name didn’t fit the song.
There was a boy
Who had a name
And Connor
Was his name-o
C-O-N-N-O-R
C-O-N-N-O-R
C-O-N-N-O-R
And Connor
Was his name-o.
If you are like me, you are probably trying to remember Bingo’s lyrics. They are as follows:
There was a farmer
Who had a dog
And Bingo
Was his name-o
B-I-N-G-O
B-I-N-G-O
B-I-N-G-O
And Bingo
Was his name-o.
Select Meaningful Passwords
Have your child use her first name and last initial when signing on to her favorite website. Some children may even be able to incorporate their last name. In addition, my children use their telephone number as a password to assist them in memorizing this information.
Matching Letters
Play with the letters of the alphabet to assist in letter recognition and names. Using these letter tiles cut out each letter and have your child spell his name. Another activity is to have him match the upper and lower case letters. Encourage your child to say the letter while playing with him.
Writing Letters
Work with your child to practice writing her name and the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet using this sentence strips paper. No one said you needed to teach him the traditional way. You could use pretzels to form her name or chalk on the sidewalk. Anything that makes learning fun!
Picking Letters
Pick a letter in your child’s name and have her look for it in a magazine or the newspaper. To increase the entertainment factor, give her a highlighter or red pen to circle or color the letter.
These kindergarten activities are designed to be fun while helping your child excel in his kindergarten curriculum.
Fun Games says
A terrific publish, & one that players such as me enjoy reading day in &
week out!
Anonymous says
Greetings! I’ve been visiting your site for some time now. Just wanted to tell you keep up the good work!
Jerilyn says
Wow, wonderful information! Your website is excellent and the content!