First comes all kinds of learning at home, then comes school. For kids, learning doesn’t wait until they start kindergarten. Just think of all the things parents and caregivers have helped children to learn before starting school, including language, early self-care, basic emotions and social skills, and more.
For the month of August, all my blog posts have talked about how parents and caregivers can fit in some kindergarten readiness activities at the same time as they are doing regular, ordinary household chores like laundry, vacuuming, dishes, etc. Today’s topic is the skill of sequencing. In a day at home, there are many experiences with sequencing. “First, we’ll have breakfast and then do the dishes, ” or “First, we’ll wash your blanket, then we’ll dry it and it will be nice and clean.” When kids are old enough to understand how sequencing works it’s fun to tell them things like “First, I’ll put the groceries in the cupboard and then, we’ll drive to the supermarket,” or “First, we’ll hang the clothes to dry and then we’ll wash them.”
Sequencing is not just an important readiness for kindergarten skill, but for language, math, reading, science, muscle coordination, and for social relationships. Just like all learning, first comes experience and practice.
What’s first on your agenda today?