One of my fav songs….Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
(If you can’t view this video above, check out this link to the song, “Teach Your Children, by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young”)
One of my web board friends just wrote a post on our parenting support board regarding how scared she was as her twins were about to enter kindergarten, especially her son. Now I understand her concern as her children were born very prematurely and had they been born when they were full term, heading off to kindergarten wouldn’t even be an option right now. But, I think even if your child was born full term, moms still worry about how their children will do in school.
We spent most of the summer trying to avoid thinking about school….or at least I did.
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| Will and Kate having fun in our homestead’s swimming hole |
I absolutely cannot believe our oldest is now in the U.K. about to start her teaching career and our second child, Clark is on the homestretch of completing his Science degree. Then there is our third child, Mitchell about to embark on his University experience. (me holding back the tears!) Buying him school supplies yesterday was bittersweet. Well those all seems unreal enough to me, but to think that my sweet William begins kindergarten next week. When did he grow up?
Surreal!
It feels like just yesterday I was carrying him around in a sling for his first summer on earth. Kissing his soft, sweet head and drinking in his baby smell. Next week this time we will be setting out his clothes for his first day of school. (if the teacher’s strike is settled that is)
So I thought this would be a good time to write about the things we have been doing to prepare him for kindergarten. I have an unusual situation in that I have raised a whole generation of children and have a pretty good idea of what has worked and what didn’t. Of course, times have really changed with all the present tools we parents have access to and how electronically plugged in our society is….good or bad….but if you have young child and haven’t a clue how to prepare them for school, or even go about teaching your child to read, these tips may help you. Or they will reaffirm what you are already doing with your young one. Or it may heighten your thinking and you choose an alternative path that feels right for you and your child.
Now there were differing opinions on our parenting board as to how prepared a child has to be and what is really expected in the kindergarten setting because expectations are different in each school district and country. As well as what parent’s expectations are for each individual child. My nephew for instance taught English in Japan to children who are constantly, I mean 24/7 on a structured educational path and he came away from that experience feeling like they were lacking some balance. (each family and community has to find what works for them) No matter where we live though and what the school system looks like, I think we parents would all agree, we want the best for our children. The “BEST” being defined differently for each of us.
We have enrolled all of our older children in preschool and I think this was an excellent way for them to learn social skills, like taking turns, sharing toys and asking for help. They needed to learn to sit and listen and follow instructions and be considerate of others and their space. I have written a post about “how full is your bucket” which deals with socially acceptable behavior but also teaching how to balance your needs so you can bring your best self to all situations.
I found that my boys only ever wanted to play at preschool though. None of them were really into painting, playing with play dough, colouring, cutting and gluing. They just wanted to play with their friends and the blocks, trucks, and the constantly rotating toys our preschool would provide. One of our sons lamented one day that they “forced” him to do a craft which I later learned was needed because they had to each have a finger puppets to participate in the story time. I think that was the only thing I ever brought home for his childhood keepsake box when he was in preschool. Suffice it to say that he has the messiest writing to this day and would have benefited from a little craft and play dough time.
I try to teach a lot of the fine motor skills at home. I make homemade play dough to build up their finger and hand muscles. Recipe is below. I also try to bring out the paints several times a week and do something different all the time. Finger paint, cut imprints out of potatoes, or use different things to paint with…of course the old fashion brush is great too. In my kitchen, where keep my recipe books, I have a few shelves that I keep paper, colouring books, felt pens, crayons, glue sticks and scissors, so the little ones can help themselves and quietly draw or colour whenever they desire. I have turned a nearby closet in our kitchen into a craft cupboard as well which makes it handy to pull out anything for our daily activity, I keep puzzles and games in there as well.
What I have been doing the last 2 years to assist Will with kindergarten readiness is have him work on his ABC’s and numbers on almost a daily basis. With our older children I would buy age related work books and have them do a few pages every day but Will prefers the ones that I have made for him.
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| Will’s Kindergarten Readiness books and sight words that he has learned while reading |
It started by just teaching him to spell his name and repetition was the key. Then we progressed to have him work on writing his upper case A’s and lower case a’s and each day we would do a new letter. I also write a Big A, and a small a, on a piece of white paper and have him colour it in and then cut it out. Then he pastes it on a piece of coloured construction paper. I then Google a bunch of pictures that start with the letter A and print them off and have him cut them out, paste them on the sheet and then we sound out the words and he writes the names under the picture.
At first he had to piggy back with me as he learned to write the letters. Once you learn one letter though it helps with others. For instance, he learned to write a C relatively easy but doing an e was harder….I taught him to write the middle line and then write a C and he got it quickly. He now has a full book of letters and pictures that he made himself and he likes to sit with his sisters and look at his homemade book.
He knows how to write all his letters now and he can say the sounds phonetically. Almost daily, while his little sisters nap, he practises writing out all his letters and his numbers too. We have used a wide range of tools to teach him his ABC;s and his numbers since he was very small and he is now what our school would call an emerging reader. He can read books with simple sentences on each page. What is really great is his little sisters, who are only 3, are also starting to read and often say the word before he has phonetically sounded it out by just looking at the clues, listening to the story, looking at the pictures and seeing the first letter in the word we are trying to say. IT’S AMAZING.
I found the children responded really well to two Leapfrog videos, in particular, Phonics Farms and Numberland. The little girls like another one called, The Letter Factory which is on You tube…..here is a clip to a few other videos that are also great…….
When Will was 31/2 we bought him a Leap pad Explorer and he loves it and takes it wherever he goes when he knows he will have to wait awhile, like his brother’s ortho appt for instance. This has been a wonderful tool and between the games, the videos, reading every day to him and working on his letters and numbers, he is taking off and I hope ready for kindergarten. I do worry about the social aspect but isn’t that what kindergarten is all about.
Reminds me of when my oldest was in ballet when she was just 4 and she was so frustrated because she couldn’t skip, She wanted to quit. I told her that if she could skip etc, she wouldn’t need to take ballet. It’s a process and teaching them to “be” gentle on themselves as they are learning anything, is part of a greater life skill. Anyway, check out You tube’s many leapfrog videos for your preschoolers and I’m sure they will love it like my kids do.
There are lots of great web sites out there to teach school readiness skills. I have our older children practise math on a web site called, IXL.com but it is amazing how vast the choices are to teach children ANYTHING nowadays. When our oldest was in early elementary we enrolled her in Kumon to hone her basic math skills. We paid something like $70.00 a month for the little worksheets and a weekly review but I was the one doing all the marking. There are so many tools to teach whatever your children need help with now and in most cases they are free. Last summer, I had my then 14 year old Harrison, work consistently on his french on a great web site ( french is our countries second language) all summer and he did extremely well in grade 9 french. A big improvement from grade 8! It’s all about where you put your attention. This summer he has been working on playing his drums, shooting hoops and I have asked him to read a novel a week. I’m sure he is going to be the number 1 drummer in band, excel on the basketball team and continue to do well in English.
For Will though, I just want him to feel comfortable in kindergarten which is a big step up from three part days at preschool to 5 full days a week at the big kid school. We will keep working on his reading and writing and his math skills. Today I brought out coloured Popsicle sticks and had him make various patterns. He even got creative and started making squares of Popsicle sticks using patterns. All that time playing Lego with his older brother this summer has inspired him.
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| Mitchell and Will building with Lego |
Children and how they learn fascinates me. I do believe allowing our children to just play is the most effective way to learn. Just give your children something….a box of scarves, or a bowl of noodles, some paint and glue and watch them play. It inspires me to remember to incorporate that into my life each day. There has to be a balance. While we want our children to be “successful,” (whatever that means to you) I personally want them to have a happy childhood. Then they won’t spend their whole adult life wondering who they are and whether they are good enough.
Here’s the recipe for homemade play dough that my family makes regularly. Even the big kids like to play with it. Having little people in the house allows us to still be kids. I think Mitchell enjoyed helping Will build his Lego city this summer. Our oldest son Clark, who works at the Science Centre while going to University, likes to bring home “flubber,” dry ice, and helium balloons and watch his younger siblings marvel over the simplest things.
Maybe that is the key in helping our children get ready for the world of school..
Here’s the play dough recipe.
We double it for our gang,
Hope’s Homestead Play Dough
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 tsp. oil….we use a vegetable oil
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp. essential oil…we like lavender
Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and water and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it looks like mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and add the essential oil and colouring. Divide into balls and work in the colour by kneading.
Enjoy….In joy the process of your little one……
Until I see you again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope