Ten Ways to Prepare Your Child for School
Newsweek September 11, 2006 Issue
For Kindergarten:
1. Read To Them:
Pull out the board books, get cozy and channel Mr. Rogers. Kids love repetition and there's no such thing as reading too much to your child.
2. Talk To Them:
Sing songs, recite rhymes and narrate your activities as you go about the day. Ask questions and invite them to name objects and describe whatever they're seeing. At night, recap the day's events together out loud.
3. Take Them On Trips:
No, not Europe. The supermarket, the post office, a museum or the zoo will do. The, talk about what you see and ask questions.
4. Write It Down:
Kids love to scribble. Give them paper and plenty of pencils, crayons, paints and markers. Finger paints are colorful and feel squishy, too.
5. Socialize:
Whether a big birthday party or a one-on-one play date, kids benefit from hearing a range of words in a variety of voices. Story hour at the library or a puppet show can be especially good for encountering new sounds and ideas.
6. Use Your Fingers:
Drawing, cutting and pasting can seem laborious but these activities will help them learn to write more legibly--and result in keepsakes.
For First Grade:
7. Read Some More:
Let them "read" to you, too, by flipping the pages--themselves, thank you very much--and retelling a favorite story in their own words.
8. Teach Recognition:
Logos on food packages. Names and addresses on the mail. A stop sign. A "walk" signal. The letter B. Give them opportunities to demonstrate that they know what these things mean and then heap on praise.
8. Do The Math:
Talk about numbers. Count everything out loud. How many grapes do you have in your plate? One more would make how many?
10. Grow Their Attention Span:
Card games, board games, setting the table, picking photos out of a magazine. Set aside time to focus on a single activity or one task before moving on to active play.
