Getting Ready For Kindergarten – Reading isn’t all that matters…

I spend lots and lots of time thinking about teaching preschool children.  Teaching kids reading is not only essential to ensure a strong academic start, it really helps with confidence and self-esteem at a young age.

Nevertheless, I’ll never forget the single most important piece of advice given to me by a teacher when my first child was nearly finished with preschool.  As hard as this is to do, put behavioral and socio-emotional development ahead of academic development in those early years.

This doesn’t mean not to teach kids how to read.  It means it should be fun – it should be one of the activities your child looks forward to.  It should never be a chore!

Kendeyl Johansen offers some great advice on this in her article “Tools for School: Getting Your Child Ready for Kindergarten.”  Here’s a great excerpt from her article:

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Pre-Kindergarten Skills to Target
Dr. Laurie Ford, a child psychologist from the University of South Carolina specializing in preschool development, recommends several areas to work on for kindergarten preparation.

• Language — Discuss real-life experiences, such as fixing breakfast. Read to your child and invite her to talk about the pictures or retell the story.
• Motor Skills — Develop fine-motor skills by drawing, coloring and writing letters and numbers. Put puzzles together. Practice using scissors.
• Independence — Have your child dress himself and wash his own face and hands.
• Socialization — Help your child learn to initiate contact with other children. Make sure she understands that hitting, biting or yelling are inappropriate ways to show anger. Provide opportunities to practice appropriate social behavior by playing in the park with other kids or inviting friends over.

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Check out the rest of this article at this link.

How to cope with a difficult teacher…

When teaching preschool children, it’s important to be aware of the attitudes and behaviors of their teachers and caregivers. The more positive and supportive the teacher, the happier and more confident your child will be in preschool. The reverse is also true: Children tend to internalize negative attitudes and behaviors. If you suspect that your child’s teacher is not behaving in your child’s best interests, it’s your parental responsibility to assess the situation and, if necessary, correct it.

That said, you’ll need to do so with with tact, diplomacy and restraint. Your goal is to enlist the teacher as an ally, not to create an angry and resentful enemy. I’ve had a few tough experiences with preschool teachers myself. As a result, I’ve learned some valuable lessons and strategies that might be useful if you’re ever faced with a similar situation:

1. Take time to scope out the situation. If you think your child’s preschool teacher is doing something wrong, try not to rush to judgement. Talk to your child. Talk to other parents. If possible, stop in to visit and observe the classroom. As you gather evidence, try to be as objective about it as possible. It may be that your initial impressions were based on your child’s fertile imagination or on exaggerations of a one-time occurrence.

2. Try to deal directly with the teacher. Resist the urge to discuss your concerns with the school director until after you’ve tried to discuss and resolve your issues with the teacher, one-on-one. The less adversarial the environment, the more likely that the two of can reach a quick and painless resolution and the better your odds of strengthening the parent-teacher relationship.

3. Keep things in perspective. When you’re deciding how to proceed, try to assess the true impact of the situation. Is your preschool teacher really that bad or is it possible that she’s just using a different style than yours?  Remember, odds are that what your child’s teacher really cares about is that your child is getting ready for kindergarten.

Ultimately, it’s also helpful to try to remember that one year or several months with a difficult teacher will rarely have a permanent negative effect on your little one. Before you know it, your child has graduated to the next level, and that teacher will seem like a distant memory.

But here’s my true wish for you: May all your teachers be excellent and may you never need any of this advice!

How to teach your child to read…

Preschool Mama has some really great suggestions on her web site for how to teach a child to read.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Catch Them Young
  
• Make Reading Part of their Daily Routine
  
• Make Friends with Books
  
• Make Reading a Fun Activity
• Use Word Games and Often

And I couldn’t agree with her more!  If you are wondering when is a good time to teach your child to read, look out for cues from your child.  If he or she is sending cues, like sitting around with books, pretending to read, asking you what words say, or trying to write words, the time may be ripe!

Even before your child is ready to learn to read, you can start very early introducing books into your home and demonstrating that books are important to you.  Be aware of how much time your child sees you watching TV versus reading.  If your child sees you loving books, she or he will pick up on those cues.

Beyond that, look for every opportunity you can to incorporate books, reading, and words into your life, especially in fun ways.  In our family, we play lots of rhyming games, spelling games, and other word games when driving places, waiting in lines, any sitting on the front porch in the evening.  The more the better!

Check out www.preschoolmama.com for more tips and tricks!