Kindergarten success begins at home! There are numerous ways to prepare your preschooler for their exciting next step. Simple, at-home exercises can give your child the independence and self-confidence to take on new challenges and responsibilities. Here are a few of the ways you can prepare your child for kindergarten at home.
1. Foster Independence
Independence is a valuable skill for kindergarten students. Look for ways that your child can take responsibility for themselves: dressing themselves or cleaning up after themselves, for example. These skills, along with potty training, are necessary for kindergarten classes and can be learned during their daily routines.
Try taking a small step back to ask your child if he or she can complete these tasks on their own. For example, try laying out your child’s clothing and encouraging them to get dressed, helping only if you need to, while giving praise and positive reinforcement. Your belief in their abilities and encouragement along the way will help give them the confidence to complete a task on their own.
2. Practice Letters and Numbers
Practicing their lower and uppercase letters, as well as numbers one through ten, will help your child to build a foundation for kindergarten. There are lots of fun online resources to help you make these lessons more engaging and playful. Try simple tracing worksheets, while also changing it up with guessing games. For example, you can put letters in a box and ask your child to identify them as they pull them out, or even to match the uppercase letters to their lowercase partners. You can do similar games with numbers as well.
Having pictures of the letters and numbers that your child is learning on their wall or in a central place in the house can give them a frame of reference. This way, they can sometimes practice by themselves or simply look at the pictures to learn more passively.
3. Encourage Language Learning
While your child is still in the early stages of growing their vocabulary, you can start to introduce important words that they can use to better express themselves. Basic sight words such as “stop,” “go,” and “not” are great examples. When it comes to language learning, you can also practice rhyming through word-matching games.
Beyond basic sight words, your child should also be able to write their name and recite their home address, phone number, and birthday. Once they have learned these concepts, consistently ask your child questions, such as “Where do we live?” and “What is our phone number?” to keep the information fresh in their minds.
4. Practice Listening
Your child should be able to listen to directions from their teacher, as well as listen to another’s story without interrupting. Teaching your child to actively listen to another person can also be achieved through play. You can try listening games, such as playing an animal sound and asking your child to identify it. This type of game not only exercises their listening skills, but also increases the time that someone can hold their attention. You can also try asking follow-up questions to their story-time favorites to reinforce the importance of listening.
5. Exercise Dexterity and Motor Skills
Practice doing tactile projects with your child, such as painting, gluing, and using scissors. These exercises will prepare them for kindergarten, while also improving their dexterity and fine motor skills. Paper crafts can also help teach your child to follow step-by-step instructions to reach a goal, reinforcing yet again the importance of listening to their teacher.
6. Anticipate Anxiousness or Worry
If you feel that your child may be hesitant or worried when you take them to kindergarten, you can help to prepare them for the situation by reading books about going to school or role-playing games to act out school scenarios. This way, they can start to imagine what school will be like and become excited about the new adventure.
Got specific questions about kindergarten readiness? Don’t hesitate to contact us today to discuss more about how The Gardner School helps prepare your child for kindergarten and beyond.