Kindergarten Readiness

While adults celebrate New Year’s Eve on December 31st, for families with kids starting and returning to school it’s the last night of summer holidays. September 1st, plus or minus a few days, begins the new school season leaving August 31st as the new eve. If your first child is off to school this year, it’s an especially significant occasion. Just as kindergarten expands the world for kids, it does for the rest of the family, too. School is a many years long adventure and the classmates and other families form a new community. Did you know that children who start school in the fall of 2011 will graduate in 2024? Doesn’t that rock your socks!

The last month of blog posts have all talked about ways to help children with readiness for kindergarten using what you are doing around the house. Home and school need to be connected. Parents and caregivers have been children’s first teachers and your house has been your child’s first learning center. Your support will be a major factor in your child’s education. To quote the Harvard Family Research Project “…parental involvement is associated with higher student achievement outcomes.”  Better grades for your child at school by talking, reading and valuing learning at home. (2005)

The learning fun for today then is connections. You can talk about all kinds of connections with your child, whether you are vacuuming, doing dishes, cooking, or other activities.  “See? The faucet is connected to the water so when you turn it on, water comes out.” Or, “When I plug in the vacuum, that connects to the electricity and turns it on!” Chatting and texting on the phone is connecting. Hugging is connecting, too. Kindergarten readiness is connected to what happens at home. What other kinds of connections can you explore and discover at your house?

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?

Did you know that the kitchen doubles as a learning center when it comes to readiness for kindergarten? There’s so much that parents and caregivers can teach even if they are busy cooking, doing dishes, or just putting away the groceries. And little ones can help with these tasks learning valuable skills for kindergarten readiness … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Lessons in the Kitchen #2 →

Recipe for Learning: 1 or 2 busy parents or caregivers some also busy young children a house, apartment, or childcare center a few regular, ordinary household activities such as: laundry, dishes, getting groceries, vacuuming, or making meals Mix the children in with the adults and the activities. Serve up some learning. Helping your child with … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Recipe For Learning →