Readiness Skills Needed For Your Future Kindergartener

     As your child graduates from preschool you are probably now anticipating your child's upcoming kindergarten year. Some parents are wondering if their child is ready for the transition into kindergarten?  Parents frequently inquire about what their child needs to know upon entering kindergarten and what they can do at home to help their child.  My goal is to provide some insight to help you best prepare your child for a magical educational journey. I have taught kindergarten for many years and have had many conversations with fellow kindergarten teachers and parents on this topic. 
     Many parents are wondering if their child should know the ABC's, numbers, shapes, colors, and be able to write their name....and yes your child's kindergarten teacher would be delighted if they entered school with that knowledge.  However, there are other readiness skills that are important in paving the way for your child have the best educational experience possible.  Cultivating positive attitudes towards school & learning should be the main goal of parents/caregivers.   We want to see their curiosity and enthusiasm bubbling over. Helping your child Develop a love for learning can be naturally be built into a child's day to day life through play and daily family conversation.
(1) Enthusiastic attitude towards learning and school.  The home environment can nurture this skill by encouraging questions from your child and helping them to discover answers by providing learning opportunities...reading together, enjoying the outdoors together, using the Internet to search for answers (together), and through daily conversation.
(2) Ability to listen and follow one step to two step directions. Listening is a huge part of a child's
school day. Your child will need to develop the stamina to focus and concentrate on the teacher when she is speaking.  The ability to listen with care is imperative to your child being able to understand directions and focus in on letter sounds found in words.  A few simple ways to develop listening skills are yo play listening games, reading aloud to your child, listening & singing favorite songs, and modeling conversation at the dinner table.
(3) Ability to play nicely with others is a huge benefit for your child.  It can be challenging for young children to play well with others because they are developmentally egocentric and are still acquiring communication skills. However, children entering kindergarten should be able to express how theur feelings in basic terms and should be able to ask for help.  Kindergarten children should also be developing an understanding of sharing with others.  Please note that "sharing" is a skill that will need to be developed throughout the early grades.  Providing your child with opportunities to play with other children either by setting up play dates, attending preschool, or playing in the park will strengthen these social skills.  Also, talking to your child about sharing and being a friend along with modeling kindness are other excellent ways to reinforce positive social skills. Remember to give your child sincere positive reinforcement when they behave appropriately and gently guidance when needed.
(4) Empower your child with basic self-help skills:  tying shoes, opening a milk carton, zipping zippers, and buttoning up buttons.  It is true that these fine motor skills are still developing and these activities can be difficult for some of the children.  However, practice and discussion with your child will help them feel more in control of their day and will boost their self-esteem.  Of course teachers will assist when your child needs help, but remember....the teacher may have at least 18 other kindergarteners that may also need help.  Set some goals with your child that will encourage your child to work on tying their shoes, buttoning, and zipping clothing. 
(5) Okay....so briefly I will let you in on the academic skills that would be the most helpful to your child. Your child is at an advantage if they enter kindergarten being able to recognize their name in print, identify most letters of the alphabet,  number recognition 0-10, basic shape identification (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, and diamond), and color recognition. This does not mean that you need to spend the entire summer "drilling" your child and spending hours a day working on these academic areas.  Point out letters, numbers, shapes, and colors as they occur throughout your child's daily experience.  Work with your child for short time spans..10 minutes a session.  Use hands on experiences, read alouds,  and "teachable" moments that occur throughout the day as a way of developing your child's knowledge.

I hope this helps as you prepare your little one for kindergarten.  Please email me with any suggestions or questions.  I will be blogging more on the subject of preparing children for Kindergarten and expectations of Kindergarten.  Enjoy....