Sending your child off to Kindergarten is a scary thing! A day filled with STRANGERS, away from your loving eyes, no naps! The separation anxiety is real for both parents AND child.
I really, really didn’t want to send my kiddos to Kinder, so I asked a Kindergarten teacher what they really learned in Kindergarten. I was certain I could teach them everything they needed to know in the safety of our own home.
“He needs to know how to get along with others, make friends, resolve conflict. He will follow directions, be given leadership roles, learn to share and give compliments.”
These things couldn’t all be taught at home! So off to Kindergarten we went. All of us, including me. I began teaching Kindergarten and those first day of Kindergarten tears were multiplied!
The teacher will LOVE your child, he will make friends, and learn to love learning!
Of course, the transition will be easier if the learning starts on level (or even a little ahead)!
Some children in my class had attended Prekindergarten, and some had never traveled further than Walmart. The experience difference of Kindergarteners is greater than any other grade level. For several years, one of the schools I taught at had a Jump Start program to get kiddos ready for Kindergarten.
Literacy skills
Beginning Kindergarten skills as recommended by Fountas and Pinnell and me!
drawing that relates to non-fiction book
drawing showing sequence of events in a story
label drawings (dictated, temporary spelling, or letter-like forms)
Understand that when you talk or write about something from your own life, you often use the words I or we.
Understand writing is used to communicate with others (notes, letters, email, texts)
Look at the person talking
Speak in an audible voice at appropriate volume. (Your inside voice.)
Predict future events in stories.
Use some words that describe.
Hold and handle books correctly.
Recognize her name.
Left to right directionality, concept of word
Hear and say rhyming words
Understand the concept of letters (singing the alphabet song doesn’t necessarily mean he knows what a letter Is).
Match letters by shape (sticks, dots, curves, etc.)
Produce some letter names. (Their name is a good place to start!)
Use writing tools correctly
