Welcome to Kindergarten 2009/2010!

Greetings!  I’m Ms. Warren and I love teaching kindergarten.  I’m excited about the start of a new year and always have parents asking me what they can do at home to help children prepare for school.

ABC practice:  Buy some flash cards and start practicing the ABCs with them.  Students who come in knowing their ABCs (letters) are ready to start learning the sounds and seemed to read sooner and faster than those that came in without any alphabet knowledge.

Go to Starfall.com and have them practice the ABCs (the whole first section is about learning the ABCs).  We use it some in school too!

Counting and Color Practice:  1-10 or 1-20 should be sufficient.  Make sure they know their colors.

Name Writing:  I like to see them come in knowing how to write their first name and preferably their last.  Give them some ‘pencil’ time.  Write the color words out and have them copy them. Write Mom and Dad’s name out, the address or phone number and have them copy. Also, numbers 1-10.  

READ!!! Let them see you reading with the TV off sometimes and make sure to have a reading time before bed. If your family isn’t on a daily “schedule” just try to read together a few times a week.  Get them a library card and go once a week, every couple weeks or once a month. Be sure to pick out some books for yourself and share what you are learning! 

Make a schedule.  If you aren’t good with schedules, start with just a few items… like 5:00p.m. dinner, 7:00p.m. bath time and 8:00p.m. reading time before bed. Have a set bedtime (8:00p.m. seems to be the most popular bedtime from my last class but a few went down at 7:00p.m. and a few at 9:00p.m.) Also, have a ‘learning’ time to practice ABCs, counting, colors and etc. 

Shoe Tying:  Take time to practice tying shoes (only a few came in knowing this skill though it’s very important for safety).

Cutting and Pasting:  Grab an old family magazine (Good Housekeeping or a gardening magazine) and instruct them to cut out some ‘red flowers’ or a blonde haired girl.  Send them on ‘cutting’ treasure hunts.  Then get a blank piece of paper and let them practice using the glue stick and gluing their cut outs on paper. Show them how to move the glue up and down. Then remind them to put it down when they are done. 

Organization/Responsibility: Finally, get children in the daily habit of making their beds, putting away books neatly and picking up clothing as part of their daily routine.  Before they leave for the day their room should be clean. Children who have some small responsibilities at home also seem to excel in the classroom.

Listening: This can be the toughest to master! Reward them for cleaning their whole room or for doing what you ask the first or second time. At five years old, they can’t follow a complex list of instruction but should be able to make the bed, put away books and pick up clothes the first time they are asked.  The cutting and pasting activity is great for listening skills too… find a ‘red jacket’ and a ‘grey haired lady.’  Repeat patiently if they need it but give lots of positive affirmation when they listen the first time!

Students who come to kindergarten with some of these basic skills seem to excel in the classroom and receive maximum enjoyment from learning.  You have been their ‘teacher’ for the last 5 years and by spending a little extra time and effort, you ensure that they are off to a great start for their first year of school!