Preschool question?

Question

My daughter goes to a preschool that is play based. They don't work on letters or numbers or practice writing. We can't afford anything else and we don't qualify for head start preschool. My 3.5 year old knows her colors, shapes and can count to 30 (I've been teaching her at home.) What can I do with her at home to get her ready for kindergarten?

Answer 1

I would have her start writing her name... and even writing the alphabet

Answer 2

Sounds like your doing a great job!! your daughter is so lucky in my area (I teach pre-school in South Wales ,UK) the parents don't do anything they just sit back and assume that they get all they need from school.  

Life experiences, lots of time having fun, first hand experiences like visiting zoo's, farm's, library's, fruit picking, chocolate factory, camping, bike rides,cooking together etc etc all these are fantastic opportunities for learning.

You may think doing such activities are expensive and I agree some are, but cooking, bike rides, visiting the library and choosing books are cheap or Free, as is your TIME & Love , which is the most important thing to give your child.

Answer 3

Just keep on what your doing.

How about wrighting? Reading? Spelling? Basic maths?

Hope this helps

Answer 4

Love her, give her opportunities to explore her universe.  Take walks and talk about what you see, touch things, smell things, close your eyes and talk about what you sense.  Play games.  Do the things you are doing.  Read aloud and snuggle.  Put out books and manipulatives and stimulating toys and turn off the TV.  Put on great classical music while she plays.  Take her to museums that know how to work with children--those which encourage children to explore the world of art.  Plant a garden and watch things grow. Get a butterfly house and watch a butterfly develop, then let them go.  Play word games as you drive.  

With my son we played math games that he loved.  We would sort things by characteristics, ex.  red matchbox cars,  green matchbox cars, etc.      Or   cars vs. pick ups.   We did Duplo math.  For example, I would say   red, blue, yellow, yellow and he would try to copy the pattern.  Then he would make up a pattern and I would copy it.  

Just do what comes naturally.  

If you have access to this book in your library, take a look at "What Your Preschooler Needs to Know" for inspiration.

Answer 5

She's probably getting all she needs in the play based learning environement, along with what you are doing at home.

Sing songs, read books, sort things, write her name and let her trace in different colors, provide lots and lots of opportunities for her to "write."

Answer 6

I think you're doing fine with what you're doing already.  Try to get her to identify some letters of the alphabet and maybe even begin tracing them (use the dots, or dashes to "draw" the letters).  Also having her sort things, by colors, tallest to shortest, longest to smallest, etc.  Even just following 3-step directions is a learning step for them.  I'm sure, seeing your effort, your daughter will be just fine and well-prepared for Kindergarten.

Answer 7

I work in a playbased preschool and the theory behind it is that children have many MANY years in mainstream school where they will learn numbers, letters etc...in fact that is what the first years in main school are for...

in preschool we teach children to have the confidence to learn, the love of stories that will encourage them to WANT to read, get them used to social situations away from the parents and families, and more importantly PLAY is a an age appropriate method of learning. Children will be learning numbers as they count how many cups they need for tea party, when they write 'party invites' etc so the learning although not sat down with worksheets as school may be is there-its just hidden :)

However if you insist on doing more at home then I would encourage her in ALL areas:

-Emotional and Social-give her social sitations, when you play turn taking games its ok for her to lose the game sometimes, encourage empathy-understanding how the characters in the story feel.

-Communication-letters important to her-her name mainly, read lots of stories-try books that have repeated phrases so you can encourage her to recall the story and join in as you read.

-Mathematical-not just counting 1,2,3 but if you said get me 5 pencils can she count out 5 or would she grab a handful and pass them?

-Physical-can she move with confidence, balance, jump andl and safely, ride a bike with stabiliser,s swimming and enjoying the movements etc.

-science and natural world---showing interest in the world around them their own community and the wider natural world (woodland, the sea etc).

-creative-not only knowing the colours but exploring them-mixing colours, asking themselves "what can I do with this?" give them a plain box and some craft materials and what will she do with them? not being told "lets make a house" but letting her decide.

Answer 8

what your doing seems fine. just work on basic stuff: colors, numbers, shapes-- like you've been doing

Answer 9

well in preschool I started doing arts and crafts, cutting,[you have to know how to do that] drawing,pronunciation of the alphabet and words, gluing stuff, vowels,etc.

spelling, writting letters correctly drawing..

Answer 10

teach her self confidence: how to button/unbutton her jacket (or zip), tie her shoes, ask for help if needed, tend to her issues in the bathroom and manners.  sounds like she's got everything else.  so give her courage.

Answer 11

Keep up the work and teach her something basic. In kindergarten you don't need to worry about your daughter for not getting in most likely will get accepted. Just continue what you are doing and relax don't give yourself too much pressure. Hope this can help you out.