Is your child Kinder Ready?

Parents are always asking how can they prepare their child for Kindergarten. The parents are excited, but want their child to be prepared. A parent can prepare their child with the knowledge of letters and sounds, numbers and counting, but what about preparing their social skills and development. I have students come to me that are very knowledgeable, but they do not have social and emotional skills to handle the means of being in a strange classroom with 20+ other children and no mom or dad to guide them through each step of the day. So here is a list to help your child prepare their development for Kindergarten.

Independency. Can your child walk from one point to another without your guidance? Can your child complete a task by themselves after giving them 2-3 simple directions? Can your child dress themselves or go to the bathroom without your full assistance? If the answer is yes to any or all of these questions, then your child is on their way to being prepared.

Provide your child with simple chores to complete like putting their toys away, setting the table, helping with the socks or towels. When your child helps encourage them as they work and praise them when they complete the task. Important...It is okay if the task is not completed perfectly! It is okay if the towels are folded uneven, and don't fix it either. This is their accomplishment! Be proud of what they did and teach them more about how to do it the next time.

Allow your child the opportunity to dress themselves. Let them pick out the clothes, or at least let them put their clothes on by themselves. You have dressed them so many times, that it is very possible that they learned a thing or two through observation. I know by the time my youngest was 3 years old he already knew how to match. When he would pick out his clothes he always made sure everything was the same color. Of course all children are different, but because we always made sure everything matched he learned from watching mom and dad.

Complete a game or craft together. Give them some directions to complete, then watch them complete the directions. For example, for hopscotch they need to toss the rock then jump in the squares. Tell them how to play, show them how (model it), then allow them the opportunity to do it.

Give your child the opportunity to create. Let them use paint, Playdough, Legos, markers, crayons, paper scissors and more. Let them create and even create with them. They will learn from you, and maybe you just might learn something from them. I know my kids have surprised me quite a few times when they create. It is okay if they make a mess. Just prep the area so it is easy to clean up.

To put it simply...let them try.

Social skills. Help your child develop some social skills with other children. Take them to the park, to a library story time, or to a child event of some kind. Give them a chance to interact with other kids. Help them by talking to them about kindness and how to treat others, this way while they are interacting they will use some of your advice while they are interacting. Then stand by and watch your child play, and intervene only when necessary. When I was an aide at a Preschool I was surprised that kids have conversations. The students would talk about going to each others houses and tell them they like something they were wearing. I was always mesmerized by their conversations.

As a Kindergarten teacher my absolute favorite time of the week is Friday Fun. This is a time when my students have they opportunity to have free play with various toys that are only taken out during this time. I love to sit back a watch my students play with dress-up clothes, blocks, trains and coloring. They get an opportunity to interact with each other and just play. They will discuss, create and make a mess...oh things are everywhere with all the various choices they can make. But when that timer goes off the entire room is cleaned up in a matter of minutes. They are back in their seats and ready to get back to business.

Another idea is letting your child attend a structured day care and/or Preschool at least 2-3 times a week. They get the opportunity to interact with other children in a school like setting. Preschool and day care offer your child skills they would not receive in a play-like setting. They are having to follow through with directions, sit for longer periods of time and they are weaned off from mom and/or dad gradually rather than yanking them away like a Band-Aid. Allow them the opportunity to get used to the idea of school. As a Kindergarten teacher I have learned that Preschool or a structured day care program are super important to their preparation for Kindergarten. I am definitely able to see the difference in students that have and have not attended. Another plus, is the students attending a preschool or a structured day care also grasp onto learning standards more easily and more quickly. They are usually my higher level students in class. If you can offer a structured learning program at home this is also a plus, but just make sure to allow the social interaction to take place somehow.

Motor Skills. "the ability to perform complex muscle-and-nerve acts that produce movement; fine motor skills are small movements like writing and tying shoes, gross motor skills are large movements like walking and kicking." (Dictionary.com, 2014).

Strengthen their gross motor skills by playing active games like tag, hide and seek, hopscotch, obstacle courses, soccer and more. Anything that requires running, jumping, hopping or crawling. Well developed gross motor skills help them with balance and coordination.

Strengthen their fine motor skills by completing activities using their hands. Here is a list of ideas.

Pick up small items with tweezers. There are plastic versions of tweezers perfect for kids.

Create with Play-Dough. I like to have my students squeeze the play dough, make balls and snakes. There is another type of Play-Dough that is more tough to help with those muscles.

Lacing boards

Puzzles

Coloring, writing, drawing

Fastening buttons and zippers

Cutting with scissors

Tearing paper.

Peeling stickers.  The foam stickers are great because they have to peel off the backs before sticking them onto their paper.

Practically anything that requires the use of the finger to thumb motions or fist squeezing.

Well, there it is my first full post. I am so excited. Please let me know if this information was helpful, easy to read and understand, or if there is anything else you would like to know.

motor skills. (n.d.). Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon. Retrieved October 10, 2017 from Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/motor-skills

What is the Purpose of Kindergarten?

I recently came across a question on www.answers.com that asked "What is the purpose of Kindergarten?" I was intrigued by the question, but then I read the answer. It stated "busy people who can't take care of their kids and have jobs use kindergarten. its like a daycare thing." This convinced me even more to begin a blog about how to prepare your child for Kindergarten. If you would like to see the post for yourself click the link below.
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_...

Yes, Kindergarten is probably the first time the parents are able to go to work without paying for full-time child care. I can agree with that, because it is a factual statement.

No, it is not for parents who can't take care of their kids. It is for kids who are ready to learn and develop their minds.

So after thinking about this question, I had a question. Is Kindergarten mandatory in the United States? I know in Arizona it is not mandatory. After doing some research I found a website called the Education Commission of the States. There were some interesting facts. In summary, as of September 2016 only 13 states plus the District of Columbia required full day Kindergarten. See the link below to read more about full day Kindergarten.
https://www.ecs.org/?s=kinderg...

What is the purpose of Kindergarten?
The purpose of Kindergarten is to provide a child a solid foundation for their career of education. A foundation of letters and sounds, number sense, shapes and measurement, addition and subtraction, reading and writing. This is just a short list of what a child learns in Kinder. Think of it this way Kindergarten is a pre-requisite for 1st grade. A person cannot join the next class without gaining the knowledge given by the previous class. This is same concept for Kindergarten. It can provide a child a foundation of knowledge to take with them as they enter 1st grade.