preparing for kindergarten

Nature Activities

Kindergarten Readiness – First Day of Fall

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The start of school feels like the end of summer, but today is the official first day of fall. Going for a walk around your neighborhood to see autumn changes is a simple, yet special, activity. We all too often forget to include time in nature on our t0-do list.

Have any of you read the book Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder by Richard Louv? He makes the point that lack of time and opportunity to create a bond with nature has a profound affect on our children. One day soon, take some outside time to notice the changes that are happening as nature prepares itself for w…, er, the season that follows fall. Which season is your favorite?

Reading and Writing

Kindergarten Readiness – Apple Who?

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Knock, knock.  Who’s there?
Apple. Apple who?
Knock, knock. Who’s there?
Apple. Apple who?
Knock, knock. Who’s there?
Orange. Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn’t say apple!

Kids love knock, knock jokes and they also love stories. Many books for this age level contain both fantasy and dialogue. For this last apple activity before going on to fall, set an orange and an apple on the table and  let them be the main characters in a told-outloud story. To start, the adult may need to be the voices for both. Here’s a get-started dialogue: “Hello, Apple.”  “Hello, Orange.” “The most exciting adventure happened to me, today.”  “Ooh, tell me about it.”  “It all started when I rolled off the table and into a bag of books!” Continue on with details of the adventure. Your child can pretend to be one or both of the characters.

Fun? Yes. Learning? Yes, yes! Making up stories encourages using and manipulating language, creating meaning with dialogue, exercising the imagination and more. It prepares the brain connections needed for reading. to extend the activity, you may even write out the story and let your little one ‘read’ it to the family. Video it and send it to grandparents. What other adventures are lurking in your kitchen?

Kindergarten Readiness

Kindergarten Readiness – Apples Fine #9

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Higher level thinking and problem-solving skills, which are all part of helping your child get ready for kindergarten, can be developed at home, in the kitchen, with whatever is available. In this case, it’s some fruits and veggies used in a patterning activity. Patterning is an important skill for math, language and learning to read.

 Use 2 different fruits; in the example in the picture, the pattern goes apple, pepper, apple, pepper. What would come next? Use other fruits and veggies as you prepare a meal or put away the groceries. to make the activity more challenging, let your child create a pattern. Try some more difficult sequences: apple, apple, pepper, apple, apple, pepper, etc.  or apple, orange, carrot, apple, orange, carrot.

Learning activities do not have to be paper and pencil tasks. Patterning abilities underline  many thinking skills and hands-on time is particularly effective for young children. (Or feet-on: walk, walk, hop, walk, walk, hop.) What other patterns can you and your child create?

Science Activities

Kindergarten Readiness – Apples #Ate

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Making applesauce (from the apples in yesterday’s blog) is a another terrific science activity. Of course, it’s a great cooking activity, too, but also helps kids practice organizing information and forming a conclusion. Children do this all the time. Remember, how many times they loved pushing over a tower of blocks? But this thinking skill is something that gets easier with practice. Just … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – Apples #Ate →

Reading and Writing

Kindergarten Readiness – Once Upon an Apple #5

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There are some terrific children’s stories and books about apples or with apples in them. Eating the Alphabet and A is for Apple are yummy examples. The Very Hungry Catepillar munches an apple, too. I’d love to pick a few from The Apple Pie Tree. Dr. Seuss has 10 Apples Up On Top. One Upon A … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – Once Upon an Apple #5 →

Art Music Drama

Kindergarten Readiness – Apples For Learning #1

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I hope there’s some apples left from Tuesday’s apples-for-lunch shopping. Since today is Sept. 10th, the next 10 days will be apple learning activities, covering many aspects of early childhood development and kindergarten readiness. And including fun for both kids and adults. For today, have your child choose an apple. Here are some ideas to … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – Apples For Learning #1 →