As a kindergarten teacher of 16 years, I can tell you a lot has changed since I started teaching. The "new kindergarten" as they call it, is a classroom that promotes literacy through reading and writing activities on a daily basis. Much of the play based curriculum has been replaced with academics that once used to be more of a first grade curriculum.
Depending on your state academic standards, many school districts require kindergartener's to be reading and writing a simple sentence by the end of the year. This sounds like a lot, compared to what we did when we attended kindergarten years ago.
Well it is and it isn't. With today's fast paced society, we are expected to keep up with the rest of the world when it comes to education. This means being a kindergarten parent is more than just picking up and dropping off your child. You will most likely be reading and doing homework with your child nightly.
Your child will be practicing high frequency sight words and be expected to master a certain amount of them by the end of the year. The key is to make learning fun and to go at a pace that your child is comfortable with. If your child is in a quality pre-school program, they should be getting a good foundation to enter kindergarten. Be sure to read to your child daily and make your home a literacy rich environment. Here are a few tips to help your child's year get off to the right start.
Practice writing name using a capital letter at the beginning and lower case letters for the rest.
Practice drawing and naming basic shapes
count to thirty
hold pencil correctly
use restroom independently
practice cutting simple shapes using kid scissors
handle a book and identify parts of a book: Front cover, back cover, binding, title
Re-tell what a story is about in simple words
Recite some popular nursery rhymes
Clap out simple two and three syllable words
follow 2 step directions
form a simple pattern using two colors of blocks, ex. red-blue-red-blue
Identify colors
Identify some letters of the alphabet and the beginning sounds
You will be amazed at how much your child will grow in their kindergarten year!
Remember to communicate with your child's teacher and make learning fun at home.
The most important thing to remember is to be strong and positive on the first day!
Try not to hang around in the classroom too long, make your goodbye short and sweet! Help foster your child's independence by encouraging them to make friends and try new things. This is their year to blossom. Have fun and good luck!
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