How can I best prepare my son for kindergarden?

Question

He has gone to 2 years of preschool, but that was just a 1/2 day program. This is 8:30 to 3. He also has been very unscheduled this summer. I'm worried the change will be difficult for him.

I read to him *every* night and he loves books. We've been reading the Magic Tree House series and he is crazy for those books!

What a lot of wonderful suggestions. Thanks very much.

He can also count up to over 200, probably to 1000 . He adds and subtracts number and often says math facts for fun. He's sorta quirky about math, he'll probably be good at that. He can play chess, knows everyones ages and plays around with making math facts out of the differences in them and is definitely on his way to reading, so I'm confident he'll do fine academically. (his fine motor; writing/cutting/art needs some development - but I'm sure that'll come with age)

I was more concerned about the drastic change in schedule. Thanks again for all the truly wonderful and helpful answers.

Answer 1

The fact that he spent time in a pre school program--regardless of how long it was--prepares him to listen and sit and interact with other children. Since he can do that already, he is ready to learn the curriculum.

That being said, the best things you can do for him are to read to him everynight. That instills the love of books and reading and shows your son that reading is important and is something that everyone does.

Take him outside and explore the world around him. Look for caterpillars and bugs. Explore leaves, the dirt and rocks. Ask questions--What do you see? Why do you think it does that? Get him talking about things--that gets him interested in learing new things. Make it fun.

Let him play--let him build with blocks or pretend he is a pirate or doctor. Let his imagination go. That builds up his brain and playing helps him learn about the world as well. Invite another child over for playtime. He may not necessarily interact with the other child, he may do what we call "parallel play" which means the 2 children play side by side but do not interact. That is normal and it helps him learn how to share and possibly work together if they indeed do interact.

You can practice the ABCs and counting objects up to 30--go up to 10 first. Don't make it rigorous or demand a lot out of him otherwise he will resist and not want to try at school. Make it fun---and he will be inclined to try. If you are in the car--ask what he sees. What color is the tree? The stop sign? What signs can he read? Yes, identifying things by sight--like knowing the McDonalds arches means that is McDonalds--is a pre-reading skill. He will know a stop sign by the shape and color, not becuase he can read the word STOP. That's all part of learning.

Enjoy the time. Kindergarten is an exciting year. Don't get worried because it can rub off on him and you don't want to send an uptight child off to school. Be involved in his learning, but don't stress out about it. Learning new things at this age is fun and exciting. It should be handled that way.

Good luck!!

Answer 2

I taught Kindergarten for the past two years and I think that it is wonderful that you are concerned and trying to prepare. His schedule will be most crucial to his adjustment. Try to wake him up at the same time each day, even on the weekends, and prepare his lunch at the same time daily. This will keep his body on the proper schedule and not make him tired. The teacher will let you know what the students are working on, so I would just take 30 minutes a day reviewing the letters of the alphabet, their sounds, practice sight words, handwriting, number recognition, and minimal science/social studies concepts. Your best bet as a parent is to make it fun. If you have a new concept of teaching something and your son really enjoyed it and benefited from it, relay that information to the teacher so that she can try to implement it in her lesson. I always enjoyed when parents offered suggestions, rather than using the same ideas over and over. As a last bit of experience dealing with parents while teaching, I highly recommend not visiting him at school for the first two weeks. If possible, have him ride the bus and learn to become independent. You'll thank yourself!! Hope this helped some! Feel free to msg. me if you have any other ?s.

Answer 3

I like that he had an unscheduled summer...relaxing...just make sure he has the 8-10 hours of sleep every night and is fresh and clean for every day of school...as a teacher, I always felt sorry for the sleep deprived children who could not learn or get along with others because they were cranky and needed sleep.

Answer 4

they all have good ideas in their own ways.

but how long is kindergarten where you live O.0

i mean i used to go to a shcool where it was ages 3+ for preschool
5 is for kindergarten. where it started at 8:15 and ended at 3...

now high school is 9:30-4:00 O.0 what a difference.. you're saying that's only half a day.. i mean yes it's half a day, but you make it seem like kindergarten is the whole day like over 16 hours long!!!

Answer 5

How's his attention span? I always put my child's name on all the papers he colored or "wrote" on, from when they were 18 mos. old & they soon started picking those letters out from any printed material. Then I added more letters until they knew the whole alphabet. Plus singing the song. we did counting & they were able to name the colors. Kids today, need to be socially educated, which pre-school does for them. Sounds like you did the right thing re: pre-school. Do you read to him every day?
He'll adapt just fine. May be too tired to eat lunch or dinner the 1st week, but he'll soon adjust. Good luck!

Answer 6

The first month of kindergarten is an adjustment for all the kids. You can help by getting him on his new schedule. Wake up at the same time each day, have lunch at the same time and prepare it like he will have it at school so he can get use to opening wrappers and setting it for himself. Go to the library and read books about kindergarten (I recall one called Mrs. Bindergarten's kindergarten) and talk about kindergarten with him.

Answer 7

An experience kindergarten teacher will work with the students in the classroom to help them adjust to a schedule. There will be some children in the classroom that haven't been in any typeof school setting, so they won't be familiar with it at all. He will be okay - and good for you for being involved!

Answer 8

I've raised 3 boys. Trust in the resiliency of children. Your concerns are shadows to their desire. Live vicariously through them as they embrace the wonders of the world in fearless innocence and help them up after they fall. But, let them fall. That's what being a parent is all about.

Answer 9

Before school starts, call your school and ask what are the student requirements to go into Kindergarten.
My child had to pass a test to be able to go into K. I'm not sure if it was legal to do this, but they did.
She had to know to spell her name, know colors and shapes, etc.

Answer 10

Life is full of difficulties... untie the apron strings from him and let him learn. Do your part at home teaching him the right things and let the teachers do the teaching at school.