Kindergarten Readiness

Kindergarten Readiness

Readiness for Kindergarten – Play and Learn with Puzzles

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There are so many different kinds of puzzles, but today’s post is about jigsaw puzzles, usually wood or thick paper pieces that have to get put together. (Or, there are puzzle resources on line or electronic devices.) As with blocks, puzzles encourage all kinds of learning and kindergarten readiness. On a short list would be such skills as:

  • problem-solving, fine motor coordination, comparing, matching, reasoning
  • sequencing, patterning, visualizing and visual perception,
  • part-to-whole relationships, emotional control and regulation
  • figure-ground awareness, goal-setting (finishing the puzzle,) perseverance
  • memory, attention and focusing, patience, language stimulation

The task of connecting pieces is also happening in the brain, with all kinds of learning connections being made. Puzzles come in easy shapes with only a few pieces to extremely challenging ones with hundreds of pieces. For grown-ups who want to play there are ones with thousands of pieces and 3 dimensions. For both genders and all ages, puzzles can help brain development. Readiness for kindergarten can be quite a puzzle, can’t it?

 

Kindergarten Readiness

Readiness for Kindergarten – Play & Learn With Blocks

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Have you ever gotten up in the middle of the night in bare, unprotected feet and stepped on a lego unnoticed in the dark ? Those edges are really sharp and poky. Lego and other blocks are marvelous for all kinds of learning and kindergarten readiness. These are just a few of the skills that kids learn when building and playing with blocks:

    • lifting, pushing, pulling, weighing, carrying, balancing, manipulating, stacking, problem-solving
    • organizing, planning, fine and gross-motor coordination, perseverance, achievement
    •  visualizing, shapes, counting, spatial orientation, cooperating, imagining and pretending

There are even more brain connections that kids make when playing with blocks and other readiness for kindergarten learning. For very young toddlers, there are sponge blocks that don’t hurt when they fall over. For older kids there are many different kinds of  plastic or wooden ones. For future engineers there are geometric shape blocks that triangle together. Blocks are also gender neutral and appeal to girls as well as boys. (If you ever want to know how attached kids get to blocks, ask a teenager if you can sell a few bags at a garage sale or even just borrow some for school.) Scrap wood can be used to make a set of wooden blocks for generations of block play.

Here is a very short 6 second video that shows how differently a wee one plays with blocks than an older child does:    How does your child play with blocks?

Kindergarten Readiness

Readiness for Kindergarten – Toys, Play and Learning

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Playing is the most important learning strategy for kids. It is so essential that it has been enshrined in the United Nations Rights of the Child. Through play, children explore and discover but more importantly, this is how their brains grow and build connections. The activity does not matter; it could be building with blocks, cuddling a stuffie, putting together a puzzle or throwing stones in a puddle. It could even be helping to wash the dishes or put away the groceries. If a child is eager and having fun, creating and manipulating, this is Play.

Kids do not only play with toys. They play with anything: the plastic containers in the kitchen drawer, the box the toy came in, the cans in the cupboard, the pile of clean, folded laundry. Anything!! That’s why parents and caregivers panic when it’s much too quiet. But because toys take center stage this month, December’s blog posts will look at how preschool kids learn by playing with different toys and how toys can help little ones with readiness for kindergarten.

Today, squeeze in a few minutes for you to play with your little one. Play is their vehicle for learning and play-time is crucial for healthy development and kindergarten readiness. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, ” We do not quit playing because we grow old, we grow old because we quit playing.” What do you and your little one like to play?

 

Reading and Writing

Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory And Santa List

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Making a list is a strategy that many of us use to help with remembering–just ask Santa. While there are other common memory tricks , since it’s almost December, a list seems like an obvious choice. While preschool kids are not burdened with lists like grown-ups, it is important for kids to see how adults … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory And Santa List →

Infant and Toddler, Reading and Writing

Memory and Baby Signs

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Both children and adults have different strengths when it comes to learning. Some learn better through pictures, some with words and others with hands-on actions. While we really use all of these different styles, we usually have personal preferences. Memory can be similar. I find remembering conversations very much easier than trying to recall visual information. … Continue reading Memory and Baby Signs →

Kindergarten Readiness

Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory and Instruction Fun

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Ever noticed how when parents ask kids to do something the kids have “selective listening”? (I think it should be called “selective ignoring’) While that may be the issue, we may be sabotaging the situation ourselves by giving kids more things to remember than their memories can hold. For example, when we say “Okay, you … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory and Instruction Fun →

Physical Development

Readiness for Kindergarten – Physical Activity and Memory

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Physical activity has a beneficial effect on health, and recent studies show that it even helps memory function. Because memory is such a key strategy in learning, it’s important then that kids get lots of physical activity. While it seems that kids never stop moving, as parents and caregivers we need to make sure that they … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Physical Activity and Memory →

Kindergarten Readiness

Readiness for Kindergarten – Picture Memory, 1 2 3 Smile!

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Did you take some Thanksgiving photos yesterday? Photos can help kids–and grownups-with memory skills and readiness for kindergarten. Our brains use pictures as well as words to create memory connections. Try this yourself first to check out your memory. Look at a picture you took recently, perhaps yesterday for Thanksgiving. Now, turn it over and … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Picture Memory, 1 2 3 Smile! →

Holiday Activities

Readiness for Kindergarten – Happy Thanksgiving

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Emotions have a powerful influence on memory. That may be why our brains have such strong memories about holidays because they are emotional events, both positive and not so positive. Did you know that your holiday celebrations can help little ones with readiness for kindergarten ? At this age, the roots for healthy emotional growth have already … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Happy Thanksgiving →

Holiday Activities

Readiness for Kindergarten – Thanksgiving Turkey Craft

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Did you know that when we form a memory our brains creates either new connections or strengthens old ones? Since creating connections helps with memory, here’s a project to do with your child to make a few and promote readiness for kindergarten. Turkeys are connected to Thanksgiving. Using paper in yellow or brown, have your child trace … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Thanksgiving Turkey Craft →