Kindergarten Readiness

How about more than 100 backpacks? My friend, Adrianna Reo, has a mission to raise funds in order to donate backpacks filled with school supplies to homeless kids. She wants needy kids to feel as empowered as the others at school and writes that the impact is so powerful that it is enough to motivate some kids to stay at school. Could be because these backpacks are filled with more than just books and pencils…they are filled with hope and encouragement.

All month long I’ve written posts about backpacks and readiness for kindergarten learning activities such as counting, rhyming, colors, singing, stories, reading, etc. Even social skills such as sharing and taking turns when taking a backpack to a friend’s house for a playdate.
Another important learning skill is making choices. Just like the rest, this is something that needs practice. While most kids are somewhere in the middle, some have a very difficult time making independent choices and some want to choose everything all the time. If possible when shopping for backpacks–and Adrianna recommends the week after school starts for great sales–let your little one have some input about the choice. Surprisingly, for some color is more important than popular figures. Features like lots of little pockets are appealing to others.

Helping little ones learn how to make choices is another kindergarten readiness skill that will have an impact long after backpacks have been replaced by workbags.

For almost the whole month, blog posts have been all about backpacks and various readiness for kindergarten learning activities. Can you guess what this one is about? It’s about just that…guessing. Round up a few small objects that are familiar to your child and a backpack. If your munchkin is still quite young you may choose to use one item and pop it into the backpack and “search” for it, using lots of langauge such as: where is the…? is it here? no, is it here? yes, etc. If your child is older you may be able to use several items grouped by the backpack. Have your child close eyes, pop one in and then guess which one is missing. 3 or 4 objects may be enough or you may be able to use more. Let your child hide one and you can guess what’s missing.

Remembering is a skill that improves with practice and this simple game will encourage your child to focus attention, too. We can understand some of children’s thinking by watching how they remember. Do they use the positions of objects, do they pick up and feel the ones that are left, or use another strategy?

Another variation is to guess what’s in the bag by asking some questions. Even older children will need guidance with this one. For example, an adult may ask a child to hide an item in the backpack and ask questions such as is it a circle shape, is it red, etc and from the answers guess which of the items it is. Then, the adult may hide one and suggest questions for the child to ask.
Kids even like to play this game all by themselves, even tho they know the answers, as they practice how the game works and cheer when they get the anwers.

While a backpack is not typically a toy or educational tool it nevertheless can be lots of fun and learning for all kinds of kindergarten readiness. Who’s better at guessing what’s missing–you or your little one?