First Things First  |  Getting Ready  |  Being Involved

How Can I Help My Child Prepare For Kindergarten?

Starting kindergarten is a milestone children and their families look forward to with great excitement and anticipation. When you show enthusiasm for school, your child is more likely to look forward to going to kindergarten. Treat going to school as something that is expected of your child and accepted by you as part of the normal course of events.

Getting "ready" for kindergarten can mean many things - from getting a new book bag to practicing opening your own milk carton. Here are some specific activities that you can use to help your child get ready for the kindergarten experience:

• Help your child recognize the letters of the alphabet as well as numbers 1-10.
• READ to your child and have them retell the story. Talk together about the pictures and story.
• Model and provide guided practice in learning to write their name with the first letter of the name in upper case letters and the remaining letters in lower case. Ex. Brad, Beth
• Help your child memorize their birth date, address, and phone number.
• Practice self-help skills such as tying shoes, blowing their nose, toilet habits, zipping, and buttoning.
• Encourage problem-solving skills.
• Practice fine motor skills such as pencil grasp, drawing and gluing.
• Model and reinforce social skills such as sharing, taking turns, and responding with “please” and “thank you.”

• Interact frequently with my child each day by talking and listening.
• Provide opportunities to play with other children and form relationships.

• Teach socially acceptable ways to disagree.
• Instill and promote respect for authority figures and routines.
• Encourage independence in all areas.

• Take your child to a variety of places such as the library, the park, the grocery store, and the post office and talk about what you see.
• Provide toys, games and household objects that encourage exploration, manipulation and dramatic play. Play with your child using the materials.

• Provide practice in following 1, 2, and 3 step directions.
• Encourage work values such as initiative, persistence, and completion of tasks.
• Provide a daily routine that includes regular times for meals.
• Establish a bedtime that gives your child 10 or more hours of sleep at night.

Suggested Reading List

• A Place Called Kindergarten, Jessica Harper
• Franklin Goes to School, Paulette Bourgeois
• Froggy Goes to School, Jonathan London
• How Have I Grown?, Mary Reid
• If You Take a Mouse to School, Laura Numeroff
• I Love School!, Philemon Sturges
• Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!, Nancy Carlson
• Meet the Barkers: Morgan and Moffat Go to School, Tomie DePaola
• Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, Joseph Slate
• My Teacher Sleeps in School, Leatie Weiss
• My Teacher’s My Friend, P.K. Hallinan
• The Kissing Hand, Audrey Penn
• The Night Before Kindergarten, Natasha Wing
• Welcome to Kindergarten, Anne Rockwell
• When You Go to Kindergarten, James Howe

More on Reading, Writing and Math

-wcpss-