Kindergarten Readiness – L=Language

Recently, I read the most amazing article. It was called The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Gap. The authors, Hart and Risley, compared the total number of words that children hear at home before they come to school. Of course, their study was based on a small amount of time and the numbers multiplied by hours, days and years but still the numbers are staggering. Children in professional families have had the stimulation of over 45 million words from birth to age 4 as compared to 26 million for those in working class families and only 13 million words for those children in families in the lower economic groups.  A gap of 30 million words. A child’s brain responds to stimulation so the difference of 30 million words is astronomic.

The letter l, today, is for language. Share lots of words and talk with your little one because it all adds up. Talk about where you are going, what you are doing, seeing, hearing, etc. Ask some what ifs, what if it was so hot the bus melted like chocolate, what if buildings went down instead of up, what if all the colors could talk what would they say. Wrap your day with language. It’s a treasure of immense worth for your child.

Kindergarten Readiness – K= in the Know

Assessing a child’s readiness for kindergarten is more than evaluating how much the child knows. Of course, there are some basics such as colors, numbers, letters and more but these are specifics. There is also a general attitude or expectation, a sort of warming up. I will try to explain what I mean by using a similar situation.  Popcorn is a favorite snack in our house but in order to have lots of kernels that pop instead of ones that never open, it is important to warm up the popcorn maker.  What would warming up be for kids and kindergarten? This would be a series of simple activities done over and over that create an expectation for the child that adults have knowledge to share. For example, pointing out the numbers on a sign, stopping to watch the ants cross the sidewalk, planting the seeds found in an apple core, reading books, telling stories, talking about why the swimsuit that fit last summer doesn’t fit now; all those little things make such a big difference. By doing this, your child is ‘warmed up’. At school, we call these teachable moments. Today, you will in all likelihood have one of these moments. The what or specific knowledge is not so important as the action. This is a critical part of helping your child be in the know for school.  Is this doable for you?

Kindergarten Readiness – J=Jokes

Children’s sense of humor is expanding and developing  just like other skills and, yes, being able to understand a joke is a skill. Actually, it is a quite a complicated series of thinking skills–recognizing intention, realizing something is irregular and understanding symbolism–and corresponding emotional responses. As children grow and mature their joke telling becomes more reliable. Toddlers and preschoolers don’t always have a punch line that matches the rest of the joke. In any case, laughter is healthy, and we all love jokes. Today, to help your kidlets, share something funny, a joke, a riddle, an action, a silly song or crazy faces in the mirror. Here’s one to start: What do trees wear when they go to the pool? Swimming trunks! What’s your best kids’ jokes?

Kindergarten Readiness – I=Info I Spy

I Spy is more than a game. It’s a learning activity where children are looking and listening for information. They are matching objects, using vocabulary, asking questions and processing answers. And, of course, having fun. Here’s several different ways to play I Spy. First, the most common is for one person to look around, see something and … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – I=Info I Spy

Kindergarten Readiness – G=Gross Motor

Children have amazing energy. Their seemingly endless supply of ‘go’ can be used to develop large muscle control, usually called gross motor coordination. Gross motor activities include jumping, running, hopping, rolling, dancing, twisting, tumbling, pushing, and more. Because children’s muscles are growing and developing it’s important for them to have opportunities to move and explore … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – G=Gross Motor

Kindergarten Readiness – F=Fine Motor Skills

How the muscles move and work together are often called motor skills. These are divided into small and large muscle coordination but are usually called fine or gross.  Gross or large muscle skills develop earlier than fine motor ones but f comes before g so the order will be switched. Some examples of fine motor skills … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – F=Fine Motor Skills

Kindergarten Readiness – E=Empathy

Just heard a radio interview with Jeremy Rifkin, the author of The Empathic Civilization. In his book he states that we are hardwired for empathy and compassion. The topic of empathy is a good choice for E. Empathy is awareness of others and sensitivity to their feelings. Although young children do not have the same understanding as older … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – E=Empathy

Kindergarten Readiness – C=Create

The Challenge for the letter C wasn’t finding a skill area that started with c. It was Choosing one. Categorizing, comparing, contrasting, counting, cutting, coloring, composing, etc. Creating crafts can use all those skills and more. Does your child have a particular interest? Dinosaurs, boats, fish, teddy bears, cows. Sometimes even very young munchkins have … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – C=Create