Category Archives: Readiness for Kindergarten

Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – K = Kitchen Learning & Fun

Dinodilla-kitchen fun 3 sons

K-k-k kids can play and have fun in the kitchen and, at the same time, learn and practice some basic kindergarten readiness skills. While it would probably be easier for us without their assistance, most kids love to be in the kitchen. Since that’s where the action is, that’s where we’ll learn and play with the letter K.

One blog for kids and kitchens is Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons. Last week, she had a fun recipe for quesadillas that were dinosaurs. Can you imagine eating a whole dinosaur? Making these and eating them would need lots of vocabulary and discussions about dinosaurs. There are other things kids learn in the kitchen, too:

math: counting, measuring, volume,

5 senses: not just touch. taste and smell, but hearing and seeing, too,

muscle development: fine motor control for stirring, mixing, rolling, slicing, etc.

science: different kinds of change, solids and liquids, watching carefully,

language: not just vocabulary, but the language of instructions,

social and emotional: cooperating and working with others, sharing,

thinking skills: following directions, doing steps in order, planning and organizing.

A fellow radio-host Heather Tallman, the Basilmomma, from Around the Kitchen Sink radio show on Toginet, (the parent station of my show Learn and Play) recently had a special appearance on Fox news. (**this news clip has some ads that are PG**) She and her two sons had some winter fun making ice cream from snow!

Recipe: 1 gallon snow, 1 cup sugar, 1 TB vanilla, 2 Cups milk or dairy of choice. Fill a big bowl with snow that is clean!! white!! and not from around trees!! Mix in sugar, vanilla, and stir in milk to desired consistency. At our house, we made some with SoyNog snow cream.

When kids help cook, they are establishing some life skills and picking up values too, learning to both create and help clean-up. Can you and your child have a kitchen play-of-the-day? With or without dinosaurs and snow?

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Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – J is for Joy of Childhood

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Our intention for our children is simple: to help them know the joy of childhood. Within this joy, we can have a goal of developing their kindergarten readiness. For many, at no other time in their lives, will they be so free to discover and explore. They can cry or laugh with abandon, whatever suits that moment in time for them. All too soon, they will begin sharing the burden of responsibility. Indeed, for some children around the world, this is true already. But in our hearts, what we wish for each of them is a childhood overflowing with joy.

How to facilitate this kind of a childhood is a labor of love, and it will involve both work and play on our parts. It’s important to share with them the joy of reading, of discovery, of creating and interacting with others. Already, some very young children will be showing what gives them the most joy. Remember some of the athletes from the Olympics? Feature articles talked about Gaby Douglas (gold medal gymnastics) climbing and balancing on the furniture at home, and Rosie MacLennan (gold medal trampoline) jumping all around. Other children will have a passion for trains, skating, dinosaurs, nature, or they’ll love to help in the kitchen, or the garage. Some children will want to try everything.

A childhood of experiences and acceptance, surrounded with love, is not just a joy for these few years. It colors the future, establishing lifelong patterns and connections. As your little one plays, can you sprinkle the day with joy?

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Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – E is for Experience

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My thanks to Tara Kennedy-Kline for today’s kindergarten readiness post for the next letter: E = Experience. She writes passionately about the wisdom that experience is the best teacher.

My “brick to the head” realization of the day:
Parents today are so focused on “giving their kids everything they need to be successful” that they forget that some of the biggest tools for success are failure, desire, and accomplishment. If we are constantly setting our kids up to only succeed and then rewarding them through gifts or praise, we teach them nothing. If we refuse to allow our kids to experience failure or consequences (even those imposed by others) we deny them the experience of how their actions impact the world around them. If we never ask our child to contribute to or earn their possessions or activities, they never learn pride in ownership or accomplishment. We need to remember that the reason we know “more than them” is because we have experienced more than them. Now it’s time to let them learn…through experience.

Thank you, Tara! Tara is a multi-level mom, speaker, coach, and author of 2 books: Stop Raising Einstein and Mom Entrepreneur Extraordinaire. We are radio show host colleagues; her show Stop Raising Einstein is on Toginet which is the parent station of Rockstar Radio where I host my show Learn and Play with Mrs. A. E could also be for Einstein…

As parents, caregivers and teachers we are in the tough position of allowing our children the opportunity for experiences while at the same time guiding and protecting them. For that we rely on our own experience! What learning and developing activities will your child experience today?

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Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – D is for Discover

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One of the most effective tools for learning, and kindergarten readiness, is allowing children to discover for themselves. When we figure out on our own how something works, what it does, or where it goes, that knowledge has also become very personal. We own it, it’s ours. By contrast, when someone tells us or shows us, the knowledge belongs to somebody else.

While it is not safe or appropriate for us to let children discover everything for themselves, we can support their learning by letting them figure things out. This requires great sensitivity on the part of parents, caregivers, and teachers to know how much to show and tell and how much to let kids try on their own.

Some children’s toys and activities are better than others for allowing children to try independently, such as puzzles, blocks, construction toys, and playdough, to name only a few. Playing in a sink or tub of water can lead to many discoveries like how water pours, overflows, splashes, spills and more. Parks are full of mysteries just waiting to be discovered: what’s under a rock, how does a bird catch a worm, etc.

Childhood is a time of discovery. How can you best support this for your child?

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Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – C is for Making Choices

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Choosing a kindergarten readiness learn and play activity for the letter C wasn’t easy. There were so many ideas to use for a play-of-the-day: crafts, creativity, communication, cause and effect, consequences and more. But the obvious one is c for choices.

For young children, making choices is another strategy to practice. Some children tend to choose whatever appears first. Some are so reluctant that the choices are made for them. The best option is somewhere between those two extremes but children need to find this out for themselves and that requires lots of experiences with choosing.

Some opportunities in a day for children to practice making choices might be what to eat first for snack, what to wear, what toys to play with. Even putting a puzzle together involves lots of choices: which piece first, which one next, etc. Results may or may not influence future choices.

Children need to practice making choices when that is appropriate for them. Sometimes, this means the adults need to wait and be patient. That gives time to watch how a child copes with choosing. Is it easy or hard? Does the child choose one thing and then another and another? What seems to influence a child’s choice?

Part of children’s early learning and development, means being able to deal with the challenge of making choices. Some children are comfortable making choices at home, but not at daycare or preschool. Is there a way for your child to practice choosing today?

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Kindergarten Readiness/Early Learning Basics: Taking Action

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Parents and caregivers often ask what young children need to know before kindergarten; this is the final post in this series on kindergarten readiness and early learning basics. No matter the age of your little one, this will give you a general picture of what to do as your child’s very first teacher.

Kindergarten readiness, as a whole package, includes supporting children as they learn about themselves and their bodies. Including lots of language, books, hands-on, and physical activities will cover a major chunk of children’s day. As kids play, they develop their understanding of and ability to regulate emotions, becoming more independent and confident. Familiarity with colors, letters, numbers, shapes, and other basics, also develops through play activities. As children have fun with crayons, glue ,and scissors, they coordinate and practice small muscle movements that theywill need later on.

Play is a fundamental learning strategy as children make decisions, solve problems and figure out cause and effect. Their early interactions give them lots of opportunities to communicate and learn with and about others. But there is another learning strategy that underlies everything else.

As a parent slowly and eagerly opens a book with a child, capturing attention and just as eager anticipation, the parent is also teaching the child to unlock the magic by an action. On a walk, when lifting up a rock to discover tiny little creatures that are hiding underneath, again the magic needed the action. Yes, much learning takes place just by watching or listening to others, but that also requires an action, that of paying attention. The action can begin by simply wondering about something, which may then be followed by exploration, trial and error, and discovery moments. Actions can be mental or physical, but learning requires taking action.

There is no doubt that kids are active. In our role as parents and caregivers, we need to nurture children’s sense of wonder (mental action) and guide their exploration (physical action). That is how we create powerful learners.

P.S. Thank you for letting me be part of you and your child’s learning adventure. Are there some ways that I can support this for you?

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Kindergarten Readiness/Early Learning Basics: Learning Tools

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Parents and caregivers often ask what young children need to know before kindergarten; this is the 22nd in a series of blog posts on kindergarten readiness and early learning basics. No matter the age of your little one, this will give you a general picture of what to do as your child’s very first teacher.

A kindergarten readiness and early learning activity that kids can do at home before coming to kindergarten or preschool is to have fun experimenting with tools such as paper, crayons, scissors, paints, erasers, and glue. Little hands need to develop their muscle strength and coordination and little people need to know these tools are fun, not scary.

Once you have crayon-proofed an area, let your child enjoy coloring with crayons, markers, and chalk. Big crayons are easier to hold than little ones. Brushes and paints are also fun as are color dabbers and even q-tips. Food coloring diluted with water is another way to apply color to paper. Speaking of paper, old wrapping paper is blank on one side and even cereal boxes are good and sturdy for coloring or gluing.

Glue comes white, clear, colored, premixed with sparkles, and even glow-in-the-dark, everything it seems but easy-close. Glue sticks and liquid glue both seem to have challenges with lids. With kids, sometimes the challenge is not to have more glue on them than the project, but kids often enjoy activities with glue.

Scissors are tricky to figure out. Did you know playdough is super easy to cut? Plus it can be put back together and used over and over. Playdough is another great learning tool. Rolling, smoothing, and smooshing give small muscles lots of exercise.

In addition to the physical benefits of using learning tools, they also give children an opportunity to be creative. With crafts or other projects, kids get to think, plan and organize. They learn the vocabulary that relates to tools and have the chance to explain and tell about what they are doing. Some children are more interested in using tools than others, but having a variety of materials for them to explore makes them more appealing. Do you have some learning tools for your child’s learning and play?

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Kindergarten Readiness and Early Learning Basics: Music

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Parents and caregivers often ask what young children need to know before kindergarten; this is the 21st in a series of blog posts on kindergarten readiness and early learning basics. No matter the age of your little one, this will give you a general picture of what to do as your child’s very first teacher.

On last week’s radio show, I interviewed producer, songwriter, and musician Richard Leighton, on using music with preschoolers to encourage kindergarten readiness. Wow, the amount of research on the importance of music for learning and brain development is astonishing! A study from Germany found that music in early childhood can actually enlarge parts of the brain. Even before birth the brain is ready to hear sounds. Music helps create the pathways and connections that will be needed for learning language.

To include music for your child, you do not have to have a great voice or play a musical instrument. A newborn baby can recognize the voices of its parents and responds to them, so go ahead and sing songs you remember. There are some great children’s bands and performers as well as other types of music for listening and singing along.

Life itself is based on rhythm: our heartbeats and breathing. Have you ever rocked a little one to sleep? That’s rhythm. Or noticed how kids will drum on anything? Again, rhythm. Tap the rhythm to a song with your child, clap hands, play finger games like Patty-cake. Set out the pots and pans and a wooden spoon. When you can’t stand the noise anymore, switch for something quieter like a thick phone book or mouse pad.

When well-meaning relatives want to buy your child an instrument suggest a recorder, kazoo, tambourine, shaker bells, or small keyboard–the electronic ones can be switched to only headsets! Check for resources in your area such as early childhood mornings for parents and tots to sing and dance. Watch for musicians and bands that have free promotional events.

Imagine, as a parent you could zap to the future and improve your child’s marks in math, science, and reading, would you be keen to do so? Especially if it means mental and physical health benefits, too? Well, you can! By including music for your child. How will you make music a part of your day for you and your child?

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Kindergarten Readiness and Early Learning Basics: Math

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Parents and caregivers often ask what young children need to know before kindergarten; this is the 20th in a series of blog posts on kindergarten readiness and early learning basics. No matter the age of your little one, this will give you a general picture of what to do as your child’s very first teacher.

Because play is such a powerful learning activity, playing with numbers and other math concepts is a great way to build some kindergarten readiness in math.

One of the basic ideas for number sense — each number belongs to one thing — seems obvious to us, but children’s brains do not come with this connection. In order for kids to learn one thing for one number they need lots of different kinds of experiences.

To help children develop one-to-one correspondence use whatever is at hand. One toy car fits in one parking space on a car mat. Each doll needs one blanket. Every zoo animal needs it’s own cage. Pretending restaurant, each stuffie-guest needs a chair for it’s very own-self. Kids will often do this on their own as they play independently.

Other every-day, ordinary activities could include making sure each person at the table has a plate. An empty egg carton was just right for “helping” make soup with 1 bean in 1 space. When getting your little one ready in the morning, you can ask if each foot has a sock. Wouldn’t it be funny to have 2 socks on 1 foot and no socks on the other one? Two feet do not fit in one shoe! Getting gloves on is really tricky but a perfect example of the math idea of one real finger in one glove finger.

The idea of “oneness” is necessary for learning to count. Are there some ways that you and your child can have fun with one-to-one matching today?

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Kindergarten Readiness & Early Learning Basics: Science Fun

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Parents and caregivers often ask what young children need to know before kindergarten; this is the 19th in a series of blog posts on kindergarten readiness and early learning basics. No matter the age of your little one, this will give you a general picture of what to do as your child’s very first teacher.

No, kindergarten readiness isn’t rocket science, but kids should have some basic science before they go to school. Most children will know that leaves grow on trees and that birds have feathers. Kids can tell us that the sun shines during the day and we can see the moon at night. When asked, most kids answer that fish swim in water and birds fly in the air. The names of obvious body parts and parts for the 5 senses are easy for most kids to name.

This information seems so general, that you may wonder why it would be included. If a child does not have this basic science knowledge, it may indicate a lack of experience or learning challenge and should be checked.

How do children learn early science? Often, by asking questions that seem to be endless, especially ones that start with why. Also, by observing and exploring the world around them. As kids turn over rocks, tap on the ground with sticks, and jump in piles of leaves, they are learning and developing their understanding of themselves and nature.This time of year, are there some seasonal changes to notice? What are the plants doing? What’s the weather like where your family lives? Over the weekend, if possible can you include some time for your child to question, observe, discover and wonder about science?

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