Preschool and Kindergarten Readiness​

                       

Your child is ready for preschool, which in turn will get her ready for kindergarten. We, as your chosen preschool will do our part to prepare them for the years ahead. But at the same time, there is a lot that you can do so your child is ready for the ”big school” What skills do kindergarten teachers expect their new students to have? To help answer some questions (and ease your mind), we've put together expert advice on helping your child gain the right mix of kindergarten-readiness skills.

The skill sets they are looking for might surprise you. Because of the national focus on improving education and meeting standards, you might think that it's most important for children to enter kindergarten knowing their ABCs, numbers, shapes, and colors so they can keep up with the curriculum. While teachers would love children to come in with some letter and number recognition, they don't want you to drill your kids on academic skills. There are equally — if not more — important readiness skills that set the stage for your child's learning. Raising an eager learner is the goal, and it can be achieved easily through play and day-to-day activities.

 

Enthusiasm Towards Learning​
Good Kindergarten teachers look for those qualities that prime children to be successful in school, Does the child approach learning enthusiastically? Is she eager to explore and discover? Does she ask questions, take initiative, and persist when tasks are difficult?

Parents can set aside a little time each day to investigate the world with their preschooler and answer those endless questions, As you drive or walk along in the park, point out your child's surroundings — the different trees or the various birds at the feeder. Demonstrate how things work. You'll help your child develop beginning science skills — the ability to form a hypothesis, test it out, and come up with new questions and theories, The more kids notice, the more curious they'll become. And they'll be building on that curiosity in kindergarten.

 

Solid Oral-Language Skills​
Children need wide background knowledge about their world and the words to go with it. Their teachers will want to know where they've been and what they can talk about. You can help build language skills by taking your child to many new places and giving him words and descriptions for what he is seeing. At the zoo, explain, There's a tiger. See how he has stripes and looks different from the lion? These experiences have a huge impact on literacy. If you're reading a book about zoo animals and it says 'Look at the tiger,' and you can't tell the difference between a lion and a tiger, then you won't have the background knowledge to help you tackle the word. When children come to words that they don't know, they won't be able to make a good guess because it isn't in their vocabulary.

 Research shows that one of the best predictors of later reading success is a well-developed oral vocabulary in kindergarten. PreK kids are learning vocabulary at the rate of five to six words a day, It's just amazing how they will retain words if you use them several times in context and conversation.

 

The Ability to Listen​
Children's literature is a rich resource for expanding language. It is a very good idea to be reading to your child at least a little bit each day. By the time they reach kindergarten it will be much easier for them to comprehend and interpret what they have just heard.. Once they reach kindergarten and are read a story and are asked  to tell in their own words what they liked or remembered, they will be able to do so.  Besides fostering vocabulary and comprehension, reading develops the attention skills necessary in a kindergarten classroom. Listening is a key part of school behavior. Students must be able to concentrate on what the teacher is saying, listen carefully for directions, and tune in to the sounds in letters and words.

 The more animated you are as you read, the better you'll focus your child's attention on what she's hearing. Use different voices for the characters. Promote critical thinking by asking questions like, "Why do you think that happened?" and "How would you feel if that happened to you?" and "What do you think will happen next?" Engage kids by inviting them to clap or stomp when they hear a rhyming word, and letting them finish sentences in familiar stories. Books with rhyme and repetitive refrains (like those by Mother Goose and Dr. Seuss) help kids predict what's coming and detect consonant sounds at the beginning and end of words, which fosters phonemic awareness—the ability to hear and break down the subtle sounds in words. Your child won't be able to read the word "cat" until she understands that it actually has three sounds: "cuh," "ah," and "tuh."

Singing fosters pre-reading skills too. Take turns substituting new sounds in nursery rhymes and songs. For example, transform "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to "Dinkle Dinkle Dittle Dar" or "Zippety Doo Da" to "Bibbety Boo Bah."

 

The Desire to Be Independent​
Encouraging self-help skills is an important step to preparing your child for kindergarten .It might be quicker for you to do it, but independence is critical for helping your child adjust to school,. Teachers expect children to:

• Get coats on and off and hang them up
• Follow simple two-step instructions such as "take off your boots and put on your sneakers"
• Go to the bathroom and wash their hands
• Blow their nose and cover their mouth when they cough
• Fasten and unfasten simple buttons and snaps
• Eat neatly and pour into a cup
• Open up a juice box and get the straw in.

 

The Ability to Play Well with Others​
Your child will need your assistance refining essential social skills such as sharing, compromising, turn-taking, and problem-solving. Children are naturally egocentric at this age, and we don't expect them to be able to share everything. But by the time they reach kindergarten, they should be able to express their feelings in words and begin to understand that two people can use the same thing at the same time.

 If you and your child are building with blocks and he reaches for one you're using, we  suggest you first encourage your child to ask, "May I have the block?" Then model sharing by saying something like, "I'm glad to share my block with you." When you notice your child sharing with others, celebrate it by saying, "I'm so proud of you. It's really hard to share your favorite doll, but you were able to do it. Good for you!"

On play dates and park outings, stay within earshot so you can help kids problem-solve when conflict occurs. If your son gets in a power struggle over a toy and can't seem to work it out, step in and say, "It looks like we're having a problem here. What can we do about it?" Encourage him to come up with possible solutions, offering your own suggestions, if necessary. Help kids understand the feelings of others. You want them to know when a friend is sad by looking at her face and seeing that her mouth is frowning or her eyes are crying." This nurtures compassion and empathy, values that are prized by kindergarten teachers.

 

Strong Fine-Motor Skills​
Your child's hands must be strong enough to master coloring, cutting, pasting, and holding a pencil — fine-motor tasks that kids use every day in kindergarten. By week one, they are already writing a letter of the alphabet. If kids can't hold the pencil correctly, they will fall behind."

To hold the pencil the right way, kids need to develop the small muscles in their palms and fingers. For example give your child a pipe cleaner and some Cheerios (or similar, colorful cereal) to make bracelets. It requires you to pinch with your fingers, the same motion needed for grasping a pencil. Or ask your preschooler to mist your houseplants with a spray bottle, an activity that boosts both writing and scissor skills. Scribbling in clay with fingers is a fun alternative to doing it on paper and especially helpful for kids who are resistant to writing and drawing. (A child can practice cutting the clay into small strips too.)

Offer writing utensils in a variety of sizes and shapes. Some people think that fat pencils are easier to hold, but that's not always true. For a child with weak hands, a smaller, shorter pencil might be easier to manage.

 

Basic Letter and Number Recognition​
Kindergarten teachers believe that it is their responsibility to teach kids letter sounds and how to write, but they do hope incoming students can recognize most letters by sight. They also hope children can count to 10, identify numbers 1 to 5, and know some shapes and colors.

But teachers don't want you to have to quiz your child or use workbooks, flashcards, or phonics kits. So much learning can happen without quizzing or sitting down with a pencil. The lessons unfold naturally as you and your child sort Legos by color or shape. Your daughter practices counting as she doles out pretend cookies for the dolls in her tea party. Your son builds letter recognition while scrambling alphabet magnets on the fridge.

Every outing is a spontaneous opportunity to learn. Play guessing games like, I spy with my little eye something with the number 3." Teach by "immersion" and "show” kids how letters are all around us. Say, 'Hey, that spells K-Mart. Let's spell it together. K-M-A-R-T.'" Point out objects that contain the letters in your child's name.

Most important, always keep the focus on fun. Relax, and enjoy your children. Read, play, and go places. And talk the whole time you're doing it. Everyone is different and each child has her or his own unique talents and abilities. They will learn no matter what you do...that is the beauty of the curious nature of children. Everything is magical and everything gets absorbed. When you think they are playing, they are actually practicing all the skills necessary for their life ahead.​

With your help we will prepare your child for his or her academic career, and ensure that he or she will enjoy learning, be confident and have a never ending thirst for knowledge, and all the meanwhile having fun fun fun !!!