How to Help Your Child be Successful in Kindergarten

Your child's first year of school should be a fun and exciting time. Children who are comfortable with and prepared for this first school experience are more likely to have rewarding and productive years, and therefore associate positive feelings with education. Since parents are children's first and most important teachers, you can play a key role in preparing your children for a successful school experience by pre-exposing them to key concepts they will experience in school. This can be done in a fun, enjoyable manner by making everyday play experiences learning experiences as well.

New learning builds on prior knowledge, therefore the more exposure or background a child has with a concept the easier it is for new learning and deeper comprehension to occur. Providing your child with pre-exposure to concepts such as the alphabet, numbers, following directions, listening, reading, cutting, tracing, etc. will help them feel more comfortable and confident when they experience these similar concepts in school, thus better enabling learning to occur. Schools are becoming more academic, dependent on standardized tests, and fast-paced. Giving your children some familiarity with concepts they will encounter can help lessen the anxiety and stress that often accompany these experiences. Children who are overly stressed or uncomfortable are less likely to be able to concentrate and learn.

Children have a natural motivation to learn and a curiosity about the world. You can enhance and nurture this natural motivation by making enjoyable play experiences learning experiences as well.

For example, children's games are great resources for combining learning with physical activity. Duck, Duck, Goose can be a way of reinforcing concepts such as the alphabet by having children say the name of a letter in place of the word, duck, and a word that begins with that letter in place of the word, goose.

Hide and Seek can become a learning experience by hiding numbers, letters, colors, your child's name, phone number, address, etc. around the house and asking your child to find them.

Simon Says is a great game to practice following directions and positional words such as on, above, below, etc.

Bingo can be used to reinforce number recognition, letter recognition, the difference between upper case and lower case letters, letter sounds, colors, etc.

You can have a treasure hunt while shopping, driving, or at home by seeing how many letters, numbers, colors, or shapes your child can find.

You can also play I Spy where you state, "I spy with my little eye something that is?" and you describe a letter, number, shape, color, etc. that you can plainly see. Your child then tries to guess what you are describing. Your child can also take a turn describing something (this helps develop verbal skills).

Children's individual interests can also be incorporated into learning experiences.

Blocks or Lego's can be used to teach patterns (have them build towers with alternating colors), counting, sorting (separate the blocks by colors, shapes, size), etc.

If your child likes to color, have them create rainbow tracings of letters or numbers by tracing them with as many colors as possible.

Play dough can be made into shapes, letters, and numbers.

An interest in cars and trucks can be used when learning how to trace by telling your child to keep his car (crayon or pencil) on the road (whatever is being traced).

An interest in animals or dinosaurs can be used when learning how to cut with scissors by relating the opening and closing of the scissors to the opening and closing of an animal's mouth. You can pretend the animal is "eating" the lines on the paper.

Your child's surroundings can also play a part in preparing them for school. Providing a number and variety of books for your child and taking time to read to them is one of the most important things you can do for their education. Reading to a child teaches them vocal skills, vocabulary, listening skills, left-to-right orientation, cause and effect, knowledge about the world around them, and pre-reading skills. Most importantly, it instills a love for reading and books which will benefit them throughout their entire education. After all, every subject (even math) requires reading.

Our brain absorbs information from our surroundings on a conscious and unconscious level, and between 80-90% of all information absorbed by the brain is visual. Therefore, providing visual displays in your child's room or elsewhere can actually aide in learning. Things such as the alphabet, colors, numbers, etc. can be hung up or displayed in places where your child will see them. Even magnetic letters on the refrigerator can aide in retention and learning. This is why many schools have plenty of visuals displayed in the halls and classrooms.

Young children can also learn many concepts through music. For example, they usually learn their abc's by the alphabet song. There are many children's tapes available that teach concepts through music. Playing these while in the car or while your children play can aide them in learning. Even though they might not be singing along or seem like they are even paying attention, subconscious learning can be occurring.

You may also want to practice separating from your child for short periods of time, such as enrolling in a program or play group or having them spend time with a babysitter. Separation anxiety can be traumatic for some children if they are not used to being away from their parents, and this anxiety can inhibit their ability to learn and relax while in school.

Lastly, no matter what methods you try with your child, the most important thing to remember is to make them enjoyable. You want your child to associate positive feelings with learning. Take turns choosing activities; give your child some choice sometimes. This makes them feel less dictated to and more willing to learn. Also, offer them some variety in activities, do not always use the same learning methods all of the time as this can create boredom and disinterest. Choose the methods that work best with your child (every child is different) and have fun!

Children are like flowers, they all bloom at different times. But, parents can help nurture them by providing experiences that enable them to blossom into children who love learning and school.

Tina O'Block holds a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction and a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. She has been teaching kindergarten/preschool for 13 years.

She is the author of "Now I Know My ABCs and a Whole Lot More: Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners" which is available at http://www.oblockbooks.com .

You may also contact her at oblockbooks@worldnet.att.net .

---

The Seven Keys to Child Obedience

Learning obedience is an important part of child development. This... Read More

The Post-Holiday Blues In Stepfamilies

In stepfamilies, big holiday expectations can lead to big disappointment--and... Read More

Valuable Parenting Tip

Very often, new parents rely on a parenting tip or... Read More

Parenting---Roots and Wings

I'm sure many of you have heard that old Hallmark... Read More

Difference

There are times when my ideas of raising a child... Read More

Your Big Yellow Bus

The big yellow school bus is coming down my road... Read More

The Muffed Dance

Teri was 5. As younger siblings do, she looked up... Read More

Develop Your Childs Genius - Right Brain/Left Brain Coordination

No matter how old your children are, you have an... Read More

You Dont Need a Supernanny to Be an Active Parent

The hot new reality TV show "Nanny 911" has been... Read More

The Legend and Charm of The Tooth Fairy

The legend and myth of the Tooth Fairy is a... Read More

Parenting Your Teenager: Truth or Lie?

Attention all parents of teen-agers. Here is an important, groundbreaking... Read More

Imaginations Soar

Have you ever sat and watch a child struggle with... Read More

How Useful Are Bed Wetting Alarms

Whenever parents discuss how to deal with bed wetting, the... Read More

Diana, Princess of Whales

Younger generations unfortunately will not understand how larger than life... Read More

How to Make a Time Capsule

Looking for an unusual and memorable gift? Why not preserve... Read More

Top Three Reasons To Get Involved At Your Childs School

You may think once your child has gone off to... Read More

Spend Time Not Money With The Kids This Winter

Spending quality time with your children doesn't need to cost... Read More

Five Ways To Build Super-Strong Relationships With Your Children

One of the questions I ask in parenting presentations is... Read More

Parenting Styles - Overcoming Your Differences

If you spend any time in the parenting section of... Read More

Career Education: Does Not Mean the 6 Year College Plan

Researching career education uncovered the following shocking statistic: The average... Read More

What Values Are We Giving Our Children?

On a bright Sunday morning, a couple of weeks ago,... Read More

Potty Dolls to Accelerate Potty Training Success

Sometime the most effective training tool in rapidly accelerating the... Read More

Bird Flu Pandemic

What are the easiest things citizens can do to prevent... Read More

Are Your Kids Driving You Crazy? How Character Building Charts Keep You Sane

Who lives in your house? Are they driving you "crazy?"... Read More

Help Your Child Do Better in School

1. Create... Read More

A Legacy For Dakota

Have you heard the song; "I Hope You Dance"? It... Read More

6 Signs You?re A High Maintenance Parent

The children of Baby Boomers, the Echo Generation, are entering... Read More

Positive Parenting - Oops! I Really Lost My Temper With My Kids, What Now?

Ever blown your top to your children, only to regret... Read More

Things To Teach Your Teenage Driver

Is it hard to communicate with your teenager about issues... Read More

Teaching Your Children with Coupons

Coupons can be a great tool in educating your child... Read More

The Real Dangers to Kids Online and How to Avoid Them: Top 5 Internet Safety Tips

The Real Dangers to Kids Online and How to Avoid... Read More

6 Tried & True Fun Ways to Educate and Entertain Your Preschooler

1. New Word of the DayIntroduce your preschooler to a... Read More

What is Hyperactivity in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

Most of the ADHD kids that are seen in a... Read More