Do you have a four or a five-year-old kiddo at home?
Our Elementary Heads of School, Kyle Quadros, Sara Tucker, and Josh Falk, recently teamed up to share some great tips designed to help your preschooler grow and excel.
We’ve compiled all five tips below, so when it comes time to enroll your child in kindergarten, you can be confident he or she has the building blocks needed to succeed.
Tip #1: Fine tune those motor skills! Cutting, tracing, gluing and lacing shoes are all great activities that will develop fine motor skills, helping your scholar to hold a pencil when he or she gets to kindergarten. Bonus points if they come to kindergarten knowing how to tie their shoes!
Tip #2: Establish a bedtime routine that includes reading and counting. There are few things more important than reading and counting when preparing for child for kindergarten. Read 1-3 books 20 minutes before bed every night. Let your scholar pick the book and track as you read out loud, showing him or her that you read from left to right, top to bottom. Count the number of pages and/or words in the book. Count the number of books in your library. Count the number of boy characters, girl characters, and animal characters. The more reading and counting you can do, the better!
Tip #3: Practice social skills! Expose your child to as many playdates and playground trips as possible. Show your child how to peacefully mediate any conflicts that may arise during his or her social interactions. This will help your child develop problem solving skills. Practice collaborating with others, sharing toys and materials, working in groups, and understanding others’ feelings.
Tip #4: Develop their understanding of 1:1 relationships. Your preschooler should be able to touch an object and understand that it represents “one.” For example, three toy cars equals three objects. Those three objects can be used to represent the number three.
Tip #5: Practice repetition of letter name and sound. It may sound obvious, but one of the most important things you can do is familiarize your child with the alphabet and its sounds. For example, practice saying “P is for pencil.” There’s no limit to the amount of times this can be done in a day!
