What are some things that i can teach my daughter before she goes into kindergarten?

Question

my daughter will turn 4 in november. since she cannot attend kindergarten until she turns 6, i'm going to teach her myself for another year before i put her into preschool. i need some ideas of things to teach her, (the easiest way) so that she doesn't get overwhelmed. are there any ways that i can make stuff for her to learn from here at home? just so i'm not spending a ton of money on things that i can make, such as flashcards? any websites would be helpful as well. thank you.

Answer 1

you can get her started on her numbers, ABC's and other things that will help her throghout the school year

Answer 2

I like these websites:

www.noggin.com

www.starfall.com

ww.pbskids.org

the kids are able surf these sites all by themselves and they super excited about handling . It is amazing how fast they learn.

Answer 3

I bought Baby Einstein DVD's for numbers and ABC's and they work wonderfully. I also got some flash cards and taught my son all numbers and letters and help him write.

He just turned 4 a couple days ago and he is already counting up to 20 and can identify letters and numbers.

Teach her times and money also. Kids love to learn and learning is even better when its time with mom and dad. It is a wonderful way to bond with your child as well.

Good luck!

Answer 4

abc

123

colors

a love for learning

Answer 5

Congratulation!!! Most parents do not take time to do this & push off onto teachers.. So Thank you.

1)  Teach her numbers at least thru 20... My son loves money so counting with change has worked well for us.  My suggestion is get daugters favorite litlle item- 20 of them & count with her.  It makes it fun since it is what she likes.  We did count out food...& this worked well for awhile... m&ms, popcorn...

2)  ABC- no better way then song & visuals of that letter IMO

Reading is key as well

3) Read, Read, Read, do the sounds & all... habit forming to get them to read later & like it

4) Name, Teach her what her name loks like.  Make name labels & place on things such as.. chair, dinner placemat...anything appropriate so she recognizes her name.

It has also been suggested to teach them Mommy & daddy's name- first & last- we do this verbally since it is more for him to say if he gets lost.  That said your phone number as well.  

5) Play & have fun.. there is always learning to be had.

6) use resources online- tons of them:

http://www.time4learning.com/index.htm

http://funschool.kaboose.com/preschool/

or Do a preschool search

Good Luck

:)

Answer 6

spell things, ( dog, cat, and),

learn her name

her age

the days, and months

social skills

small sentences

the time

more numbers

also things like

tying shoe laces

riding a bike

pouring a drink

size

weight

height

skipping

hop scotch

jumping on one foot

Answer 7

Make sure she knows her ABCs, can write her name, maybe know address and phone number, and knows her numbers (1-10 or so).

Assosciate letters with words. A for apple, B for boy, C for cat, etc. For counting use food or fun items. Praise her for good work. Sticker would be good.

http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/ages.stage...

Answer 8

abc's (the song)

tie shoes

count to 20

listen to and follow your directions (play school)

Answer 9

You know, you can put her in a preschool daycare environment. I used to work at one and the kids loved it. They did crafts and learned colors, months, things like that. They caught on pretty fast too.

Answer 10

colors shapes,abc's and puzzles (which is for reasoning and hand eye coordination)

Answer 11

My son turned 4 in Sept. and he already knows how to count, spell and write his name, abc, colors, shapes, etc. The best way that I found teaching him was making everything a game. Remember that at this age all they want to do is play and have fun, so you should convert learning into something fun that he'll enjoy doing. I thought my son how to recognize the numbers by playing card with him. Just regular old cards that cost $.69  at the stores. Play with him, you can get very creative in teaching him, and by the time you know it he will be learning.

Good luck!

Answer 12

Read with your child. Let her explore glue and scissors-you don't have to spend a lot of money either. Go for walks and collect nature and make a collage. Help her to know her name and recognize it. Have crayons and markers and draw pictures and you can print the word on the bottom (letter recognition). Make a calendar. Keep track of the days. There are lots of great free websites with kids crafts and learning ideas. Have fun!

Answer 13

The single most important thing you can do is READ to her.

Choose lots of different books to teach language, rhymes, familiar nursery rhymes and fairy tales, concepts such as colors, shapes, numbers/counting sets of objects, etc.  In addition to books, CD's for the car that reinforce these skills and teach familiar children's songs are good to have.  A few well-chosen videos might be OK, but there is plenty of educational (as well as junk) TV for children available on cable or satellite.  

If you can't afford a large library of books (and there are tons of them @ $ stores, etc,) then go to the library.  Take her to the children's programs they usually offer there, and look for information on other free/reasonable attractions, classes, and events for preschoolers.

Talk to her about everything you are doing--even a trip to the grocery store can be a wonderful educational experience if you take the time to teach her about names of foods, colors, sizes, weighing produce, etc., etc.

Other basic toys are sorting and matching toys, simple puzzles, art supplies such as crayons, markers, watercolors, etc., playdough, and other toys that help teach fine motor skills.

Look for toys that can be used in different ways such as balls, blocks, etc.  These rely more on the child's imagination than some of the high-tech electronic toys.

Since you obviously have a computer, google phrases like preschool games and see what sites you can find to do things with her online.  It is quite likely that her school will have a computer in the classroom, so go ahead and start teaching her some basic computer skills.  If you are worried about her messing up your computer, either see about buying a cheap used one to put her software & web access on, or just monitor her closely.  They also make all kinds of computer-like toys such as the Leap Frog products.  Pick one that is at the upper age and knowledge range of where she is now, and try to find one that you can add additional plug-ins to.

Don't forget gross motor development.  She needs to know how to ride a trike (or maybe even a small 2-wheeler with training wheels)  Take her to the park and help her learn to use the playground equipment confidently.  Teach her to jump on both feet and hop on one foot...jump rope or hopscotch are good games for this.  Also, work on self-help skills like opening food packages, tying shoes, carrying a backpack, keeping up with belongings, pouring liquid from a carton or pitcher, carrying a lunch tray, etc.  She will probably be expected to handle these things independently in kindergarten.

Also, social skills are VERY important.  Put her in some group situations such as church nursery, recreational classes (such as YMCA etc.), or invite a friend with kids over to play.

She needs experience in learning to take turns, share, and speak up for herself.  She also needs lots of practice in listening to and following directions--helping you around the house with simple tasks will help accomplish this skill.  Teach her manners and respect for others, especially adults.  Teach her to "use words" to solve problems--role play situations you think she might encounter at school using stuffed animals or puppets, and show her examples of both the right and wrong way to work things out.  

The web is full of other sites with great ideas for this--even go to some of the preschool teacher-type sites.  Many of the activities and games they recommend can be duplicated at home.

Answer 14

There are ways to teach your daughter that are much more child-friendly than flashcards and other rote learning techniques.

Have you heard of Waldorf education? It's a wonderful way to introduce your child to learning without it turning into something overly demanding for her at this point in her childhood. The two of you can really explore together using this method. Here are a couple of sites to get you started...

Good luck!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorfcur...

http://www.live-education.com/Curriculum...

Answer 15

You could see if the school has a preschool program you could put her into.  But the best thing to do is call the school and see what things your daughter needs to know before being accepted to Kindergarten.  This includes things such as:

How to spell her name (yeah, it sounds crazy, but they have to be able to do this before Kindergarten now)

Colors

Numbers up through ten

Basic alphabet song

Knowledge that moving things require power (i.e. a car uses gas to go, the lamp uses electricity, etc.)  They don't need to know how it works, they just need to know that they need that stuff.

And there are a number of other things.  But you have to check with your school to know exactly what.

Answer 16

Most of us probably don't remember kindergarten, but, you can introduce her to

abc and numbers quite easily, but, you can teach her a lot of other useful things.

If she is an only child, and doesn't have many friends, she needs to spend as much time with other people as possible so that she gets used to the environment of beeing around her peer group. It could be fun to start a little evening fun day once or twice a week where a couple of parents supervise children her age... 4, 5 and 6 year olds. It's ok if some of these kids are already in kindergarten. You can engage these kids in conversation, "would you like to share with everyone what you learned about in school today"....

Not that it has to be at your house all the time either, but, a circle of people where the fun night rotates...