Preparing for kindergarten

Question

My daughter goes to a preschool where the parents stay and help out. It's all we can afford. She likes it, but I feel it's too play oriented. Letters, numbers, and shapes aren't mentioned. I try to do things with her at home. She can put her letters in alphabetical order, knows all her shapes, and can count to 30. What can I do to help her prepare for kindergarten? We already read a lot of books every day.

Answer 1

LOL!!  Play is the BEST thing for them at that age!!!  And, at least in my state, the kids need to count to 30 by the END of Kindergarten, not going in.  She'll be FINE!!  Reading books to her a lot is the best thing for reading readiness at this point.  Doing great, Mom!!!!!

Answer 2

I would go to a teacher supply store and buy some work books that are geared towards a kindergarten classroom. That way you will be working with supplies and subjects that her future teacher may use.

Answer 3

I taught 4's preschool for several years.  When I had a child who was ready for the "next stage", I would sit with him or her and work on things.  This is not a list from any school, it's just what I adapted as I got to know the kids.  

Difference between upper and lower case letters, and easily identifying them.  Some are tricky- n,m,h,r.  p,q.  a,o,e.  b,d.  

I don't know why, but kids can either count to 19 or 30.  Try explaining that after 30 comes 31, just like after 20 comes 21.  It may be some developmental milestone that you have to wait for.

Try making things out of shapes.  House, Train, etc.

Teach her to write her name using upper case first letter, then lower case letters (not all capitol letters)  When she can do her first name, teach her your last name.

Memorize your phone number, address (including city and state), and her birthdate.  Make sure she knows your first name and your husband's first name.  After that, try Grandma and Grandpa's.

Try simple addition.  1+1=2, etc.  Just the idea that some stuff plus more stuff equals a really lot of stuff is a developmental concept. Also, sorting is HUGE in preschool math.  Sort things by color, by shape, by "what makes a sound and what does not", animals that have 4 legs and animals that have 2 legs...anything you can think of.

Purchase a child's dictionary. A really simple one that has like 10 pages total and costs $1.99.  This let's her know what a dictionary is and how it's used.  Then write a list or something where you pretend not to know how to spell a word, just so you can say "let's look it up in the dictionary!"

Talking to your child does more than you know.  Be sure you use real names of things whenever possible. Don't say "Johnny's Mommy", but call her "Mrs. Jones".  Then she realizes Johnny has a last name, it is "Jones".  Say the name of the roads by your house as you drive or walk by them.  Talk about why you are doing something.  "We're going to the store to get Grandma's prescription.  It's nice to help out Grandma."

Lastly, don't get too discouraged about your preschool.  Even if it's not the best curriculum, your daughter is still getting a school experience.  She has to get ready and be on time, sit still when asked to, listen to the teacher, get in line, wait to go potty, etc.  

Amazon has a book series I like called "What your Kindergartner needs to know"  It's also for First Grade, Second Grade, etc.  Try finding it at your library.    

Answer 4

:You have already done a great job with shapes, letters and numbers. Keep that up and introduce some one to one counting. Give her a container of small things, like cars or small animals and have her count them out. Be sure she is able to put things away when she is done playing and can do things for herself such as put on a coat and begin dressing herself. Teach her how to write her name and spell it, be sure she knows her full name, address and phone number. Does she know what her parents first names are? Talking and reading will encourage language and a good vocabulary. Self sufficiency and socializing are the core of preschool. One more thing I teach my preschoolers are the parts of a book. With each book we read together in circle I remind them who the author is and what he has done for the book. What does the illustrator do? What are words made of? The words tell the story. Also where is the front of the book and the back. What is the side of the book called. You really sound like you are on the right track. Much will be repeated in kindergarten and many things depend on what that teacher will teach and expects. Good luck and thank you for being a good, concerned and involved mom!

Answer 5

Introducing children to reading is an important milestone in kindergarten. It sets the foundation for future success in school. If your daughter already knows her alphabet, numbers to 30 (out of order as well), and shapes, I would also incorporate teaching her to read and write which is also an large part of the kindergarten curriculum.  

Answer 6

Children learn by playing. I teach Pre-K and it is annoying when I hear parents refer to our type of learning as "just playing". It just goes to show that the parent doesn't know much about child development. But that's ok.

As a former kindergarten teacher, I would rather have a kid who knows how to stand in line next to another kid without problem rather than a kid who knows how to count to a thousand and can read on college level.  

Answer 7

I definately agree with Mandy's response.  I'll try not to repeat any of the suggestions of that response.

Preschools are often play orientated.  I find that one of their main goals is social-emotional development.  

Some preschoolers enjoy workbooks and that's fine but don't do only workbooks/worksheets...it's better to do hands-on activities. My son enjoys workbooks (we've got some LeapFrog ones from the dollar store) and he does 1 or 2 pages a day.  That's it. Check out Kumon if this is a route you are thinking.  You can also get free printables off of the internet.

I used the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Englemann.  Under $20 on Amazon.com.  I think that Barnes and Noble carries it in stock.  Kind of "dry" by some people's opinion but a great guideline.  By the time we got to lesson 70 my son was reading at the end of a Kindergarten beginning of 1st grade level.  We also supplemented it with the We Both Read Series.  An EXCELLENT Shared Reading series.  Check them out at your local library. They are so good that I've begun to order the set.  3.99/book on Amazon.com you buy 3 and get the 4th free.  

Maybe work on writing the letters, numbers, drawing shapes etc.  Not just with paper and pencil.  Use different writing surfaces and different writing tools.  A magnadoodle is really nice.  Work with her first name and then her first and last name. A side note about the letters... are you teaching her in capital letters?  I suggest teaching her lower cas letters as the majority of letters in print are lower case and when they begin to read...the books are in lower case.  :-)

It's beneficial to do some dictation with her.  I don't find very many parents do this...it's more of a "school" activity. But the kids benefit from it so much!  And it's simple to do.  When she draws a picture, have her tell you about it and you write it below the page or on another page while she is talking.  Write it like she says it.  Then go back with her and have her read it to you while following the print.

There are a great many education resource books available at our local libraries.  See what they have there.  

If you have a computer...you could check out some preschool/Kindergarten computer games from your local library. I like the Jump Start series.

Do you cook/bake with your child?  Children love this...and it can be so educational!  You can introduce cooking terms, you can introduce fractions, increase vocabulary, learn to follow directions, cause and effect, and other math/science skills.  There are some visual "recipes" online that you can print off and the child follows the "recipe" to make snacks/treats.  :-)

You are on a good start already.  What a great parent you are!  Reading books a lot is excellent.  Research keeps pointing back to us that the children who enter into Kindergarten with a large vocabulary have more success in their early elementary years.  Reading books and conversing with your child routinely will definately help with vocab.

Keep up the good work!

Answer 8

Don't push to much otherwise she will be bored in Kindergarten. She is already prepared.

Starrfall.com---great site

Play Bingo(kid love bingo)

Have her "make a book" she can dictate the words to you

Go on letter hunts

Play games i.e. Candy land

Put puzzles together

Sort objects/talk about how and why you sorted them that way

Do cooking projects together

Answer 9

It sounds like you've got it covered already. She has the basics down. You could start with teaching her to read. I'm sure she will be just fine.

I'm not telling you to dumb her down, but smart kids in kindergarten frequently get bored and then frustrated. Then they get in trouble because they are done with their work and now they want to talk. Then they get labeled with being ADD.  Don't let them do that to her.