One of my favorite elementary principals is Dave Sherman out in suburban Illinois. He’s just one of those smart, sensible administrators whose blog serves as a way for him to share his thoughts about education. I’ve read his blog for a while, and I had a chance to spend a lot of time with him at EduCon.

So when Dave posts about the things you need to do to help your child be ready for kindergarten, I take notice. I’m going to cut and paste the list he put together, but you should click the link and read the whole piece. And I’m going to echo Dave’s thoughts when he says at the end, if you know any new parents, pass it on. (But pass on the link to his article, not to mine, please!)

• Read to and with your child – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, nursery rhymes, folk and fairy tales, etc. Turn off the TV (or at least set daily limits)
• Teach them to be self-sufficient, particularly when it comes to the bathroom and getting dressed.
• Provide opportunities to use crayons and scissors.
• Get them outside to develop gross motor skills.
• Teach them to write their own names.
• Teach them the letters of the alphabet.  The State of Illinois standard for children entering kindergarten is to know at least 35 letters (any combination of lower and upper case letters).  Recognition of the letters is the goal.
• Teach them colors, shapes and to count to at least 10.
• Provide opportunities to play cooperatively with other children and to learn to take turns and share.
• Teach them to accept rules and limits, and to follow directions.
• Talk to them.  Correctly model the use of language and vocabulary.
• Give them opportunities for imaginative play.  Try to reduce adult-directed or passive play, and help kids use their imaginations.
• Enrich their lives to build background knowledge.

Thanks, Dave! I feel pretty good about where Jakob and Theo are respectively, but I also know a few places that we can focus on doing a better job.

Tags: earlychildhood, kindergarten, parenting