Readiness Skills to Practice for Kindergarten

By: Christine Cox, The Choosy Mommy

I can’t even believe these words are coming out, but next year I will have a child in KINDERGARTEN! Time has gone by so fast and I just can’t get over that my oldest child will be going to full-day school next year. As a parent, I lay in bed at night and wonder if she is even ready. She seems so young to be in school all day, but she loves going to pre-school. She says it is one of her favorite things to do (besides soccer and swim class)! How are parents to know if their child is ready, besides being the right age? I attended a meeting at my daughter’s pre-school and here is a list of readiness skills to practice for kindergarten (as recommended by teachers).

ABC’s

It is all about the alphabet in kindergarten. From identifying all 26 capital letters, to knows their sounds from beginning to end, the teachers agreed that the ABC’s are most important for kindergartners.

1,2,3…

Numbers rank high on what they should know, but according to these teachers, they only expect a kindergartner to know 1-12 (verbally and identifying). In pre-school, my daughter learned up to 30 which is a lot, but once you get past 20 it is pretty easy.

Colors, Patterns & Shapes

Yes, these three things are what you would expect a kindergartner to know. But my child, my natural born leader, doesn’t “learn” from me. She thinks she is always right, even if I try to correct her (we are working on this.) Thankfully, she did go to pre-school to learn these things from her teachers. I can say, however, that flashcards helped her a lot with color recognition and shapes.

Puzzles also work wonders! My 18-month old son is just getting into puzzles. We have a shape puzzle that actually says the shape when you place it in the correct spot. Needless to say, 'oval' is a new favorite word around here!

Fine Motor Skills: Writing & Cutting

Here is the biggest one in my book. Writing is a skill that takes more than memorization. Children who are ready for kindergarten need to be able to print their first name with the first letter being capital and the rest lower case. This takes practice. In the first year of pre-school, my daughter learned all of her capital letters and how to write her name with those. And this year, she is reviewing the capitals and learning lower case. In the beginning it was confusing to her that she had to write her name with the lower case letters too, but she is getting much better at it. Luckily her name isn’t long!

Also, writing and cutting are fine motor skills that are not being learned as quickly with this generation. This article about learning fine motor skills says that children aren’t learning the art of holding a pencil/crayon/paintbrush/cutting with scissors like they used to because of the touch screen technology that is now available. I mean, my 18 month old does know how to open the iPad, touch and swipe!

Words

All I have heard for the past week was, “Is snowflake a compound word? What about basketball? Butterfly?” Kids soak up knowledge fast and are curious about words. As a piece of advice, be their teacher at home and go with the flow when they are interested in something like this. I found books that had compound words in them and pointed them out as we were reading.

They are also expected to know rhyming words in kindergarten. So same thing. I would fine books that rhymed and we’d practice those words. Dr. Suess is the best for this!

Once we were done reading the story, I’d ask her to retell it to me because the teachers also expect this. It has to do with understanding!

Last Note from the Kindergarten Teacher

One of the kindergarten teachers made these points at our meeting:

• Teach your children to tie their shoes. This is a fine motor skill that is being learned later in life and should be learned before kindergarten. 
• Get your child off of video games and touch screen technology and read a book together instead. Read to your children every day. They will learn more than just the story they hear.
• Teach your children how to use the water fountain. Pushing that button might be hard, but they will need to know how to do it!

If you have a child who is in kindergarten, or is already past this level, what were they expected to learn that I haven’t mentioned? How did you or your child deal with the stress of this milestone?

About the Author: Christine Cox is the blog master for Choosy Kids and owner of The Choosy Mommy. She has always had a passion for writing and is honored to contribute her work to this blog. Most of her writing inspiration comes from her daughter, Capri, who is fun-loving and full of energy, and son Cam, who is learning new things everyday. Click here to learn more about Christine.

A Kind and Compassionate World

By Susan L. Lurz, 
Co-Founder of Proudtree Empowered Learning

National Random Acts of Kindness Day will be celebrated tomorrow on February 17, however, showing someone kindness and compassion can be done everyday of the year. We all have the inborn capacity to express kindness and compassion to others and we can model this behavior to our children, providing them with opportunities to understand and support others in helpful, caring, and protective ways.

My own personal journey over the past several years has exposed me to many different acts of kindness and compassion. While working to publish empowerment programs with Proudtree Empowered Learning, I have been extremely fortunate to have met phenomenal people who spend their lives working solely in support of others.  I have watched and learned from these people and have gained personal insight into the gifts given and received when kindness and compassion are extended to others. I have traveled to Thailand and Cambodia with an organization whose only mission is to rescue children from prostitution and slavery. I have witnessed the work of trauma therapists who have traveled the world helping others deal with the aftermath of devastating natural disasters such as the ones that took place in the Philippines and Haiti, and I have witnessed many animal rights advocates who choose to live a meager lifestyle in order to nurture the innocent creatures of this world.

Beautiful acts of kindness can happen anywhere, at any time, and sometimes take place in our own backyard. Several years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting two women from Asheville, NC, who believe that the best way they can give back to their community is to offer help to those in need. So they opened their private home to the homeless and those living in poverty, offering them food, clothing, and a safe place to rest.

If you spend any time at all these days watching or listening to the news, it certainly could feel like we are living in a world full of hatred, anger, and selfishness. However, it all depends with which eyes you choose to view the world. Personally, I prefer to put on my rose-colored, hopeful glasses every morning.  And although that may sound like a foolish notion in today’s gloomy climate, the statistics from the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. are very uplifting.  The number of public charities in the U. S. from the years 2003-2013 grew by 19.5% and the number of adult volunteers that work at these charities is at an all time high.  So what does this mean? Are we becoming a kinder and more compassionate nation? And if so, why?

Perhaps it is simply because there are more of us, everyday, who are experiencing the incredible power that can come from a simple act of kindness and compassion for someone or something else. Just imagine if our children were able to experience that same power. They already have the natural ability to empathize with others we just simply need to harness that innate ability. And because children learn from the important adults in their lives, we can offer them opportunities to practice kindness and compassion everyday. Here are some ideas you can try with your children:

• Each day challenge yourself and your child to do at least one act of kindness. Then at dinnertime, share with each other your act of kindness, how it made you feel, and how you think it made the other person feel. Remember, an act of kindness can be kind gestures toward others, animals, and nature.
• Experience kindness and compassion as a family by volunteering in your community at local events or shelters. For example, help raise money for a family in need, volunteer at a local shelter or food bank, rake leaves or shovel snow for a neighbor.
• Show your children how to be kind and compassionate to themselves. Help them to choose an empowering affirmation that they can say at the start of each day such as, “I’m an awesome kid and I choose to treat myself and others with kindness.” Help them to write their affirmation on a piece of paper and put it in a place where they’ll see it every morning.

Acts of kindness can come in all shapes and sizes and range from worldly gestures for masses of people to simply being there for a friend in his or her time of need. It makes no difference how big or small the act, what matters is the spirit of love that is exchanged.

The more we practice kindness and compassion with our children the more it will become their natural way of thinking. Just as they learn how to become better at academics, sports, or playing a musical instrument, they can also become skilled at extending kindness. And as an added benefit, they will gain a higher feeling of self-worth, joy, and confidence. What more could we want for our children?

About the Author: Susan Lurz is a co-founder of Proudtree Empowered Learning, an educational company dedicated to developing unique materials and programs to help instill in children a sense of personal competence and internal worth—attributes which help them learn to expect success for themselves in school and beyond. To learn more about Proudtree Empowered Learning and all 10 themes, visit http://www.proudtree.com.

Plant a Promise!

From the White House Rose Garden to Your Garden

Celebrate Head Start's 50th Anniversary by Planting a Rose Bush!

By: Dr. Linda Carson

When I was a child, I loved to plant and care for flowers. I enjoyed watching them change and grow. What a great metaphor for our responsibility for nurturing and “growing” children. As adults in a society that values thoughtful and productive contribution to communities, we value learning, especially early learning.

May 18th is a very special day for early learning and should be acknowledged by all of us. On May 18, 1965, in the Rose Garden at the White House, President Johnson officially unveiled Project Head Start as a component of his War On Poverty. He mentioned that young children are the inheritors of poverty’s curse and not its creators.

Fifty years later, Head Start continues to promote the school readiness of young children birth to age 5 from low-income families through agencies in their local community. Head Start is the national commitment to give every child, regardless of circumstances at birth, an opportunity to succeed in school and in life. In the 50 years since its inception, Head Start has improved the lives of more than 32 million children and their families.

Choosy Kids applauds Head Start for providing young children and their families with exemplary comprehensive services and early learning opportunities preparing children for a love of learning and healthy living.

The National Head Start Association (NHSA) has launched a celebration campaign to renew the nation’s commitment to our at-risk children. Head Start Programs all across the country are planting a rose bush in a special place that will remind everyone of the commitment that was made in the Rose Garden in 1965. Let’s support this wonderful national project for vulnerable children by celebrating the anniversary with them.

Use the hashtags #HeadStartWorks and #HeadStart50 and help spread congratulations for 50 years of serving children and their families.

Let’s plant a promise of commitment and devotion to the well being of all young children. Choosy Kids salutes the Head Start community for tireless devotion to children, their families, and their communities. To commemorate it's 50th Anniversary, the National Head Start Association (NHSA) asks all supporters to plan a rose bush in memory of this great promise. So, Choosy friends, celebrate Head Start's 50th Anniversary with us by helping us plant a virtual rose on our website! Simply comment on this post with a name you would like to have displayed and a rose will virtually be grown on our website from you in support! Check out www.choosykids.com to see our garden grow beginning the afternoon of 5/18!

About the Author: Linda Carson, Ed. D, is the founder and CEO of Choosy Kids, LLC, and the Ware Distinguished Professor Emerita at West Virginia University. An award winning, nationally recognized expert, Dr. Carson has devoted her career to promoting healthy preferences for young children and the adults who make decisions on their behalf. Click here to learn more about Linda.