As families begin to prepare for children heading back to school, for some this is their child’s first time attending “the big school.” Excitement about new things can also bring anxiousness about the unknown. Ask your child how s/he is feeling about going to kindergarten. If your child seems less than excited, reassure her it is okay to feel a certain way. Some children may feel anxious because they are unsure of what to expect.
As a parent you can search the Internet for what to expect in kindergarten and find list after list of “expectations.”
Ready or not if your child is five by the cutoff date, they are eligible to attend kindergarten even if they haven’t mastered everything on “the list.” So how can you help with just a few weeks left? Focus on teaching your child how to be self-sufficient. During the next few weeks, help you child practice the following skills:
- Recognize, and say first, and last name
- Open and close a lunch box and any containers inside
- Use scissors (thumb up) to cut a line and follow a circle
- Write at least first name, capitalizing only the first letter
- Button/snap pants
- Wipe bottom and wash hands with soap
- Blow and wipe nose with a tissue; throw tissue in the trash
- Cough and sneeze into elbow crook, not the hands
- Walk behind someone without touching or bumping into the person in front
- Follow two-step directions such as: “Put on your coat and zip it up.” “Flush the toilet and wash your hands.”
There is a saying, “Life is a Journey not a Race.” Your child is on a journey to life-long learning and with loving guidance from you, she will reach her destination. Read more about what’s important to know as your child enters Kindergarten here. Want the data from a research study? We have you covered. Click here!
Wayne RESA Great Start Readiness Program Early Childhood Specialist Guest Blogger: Laura Franey
Great Start Readiness Program is a Michigan state-funded preschool program for four-year-old children with factors which may place them at risk of educational failure. The program is administered by the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Great Start. Funding is allocated to Wayne RESA to administer the program locally.
These blogs were developed and funded under a grant awarded by the Michigan Department of Education.
Research on preschool programs and specific research on GSRP indicates that children provided with a high-quality preschool experience show significant positive developmental differences when compared to children from the same backgrounds who did not attend a high-quality preschool program.