After my daughter was in daycare from 3 months to almost 3 years, my husband and I decided to become a one working parent family. I am now a stay at home mom, have been for about a year. My daughter isn't going to go to Pre-K. She is very smart, recognizes all of her ABC's, can say them, can count to 15 and can count backwards from 10. She can also write all of her ABC's (in capitals) and we are working on her writing her numbers. She knows all her colors and shapes, she can cut with scissors (but she cna't really cut anything that makes sense, just strips and bits of paper, I think that's normal?).
Can anyone offer any advice as to what else I should be teacher her to get her ready for school? I don't want her to be disadvantaged, but I can't really find any websites or anything that give a LIST of what should be taught. Can you give me some suggestions? Thanks, I appreciate it.
A.: there is a free program which works on phonics and reading which is great: www.starfall.com
J.
I have a newborn who is my first child however I am married to a man with a 6 and 8 year old. The following sites have helped me as far as teaching them. If you do a search for coloring learning online it determines you want coloring pages so it will find online learning areas with coloring pages and that generally will bring you to something for pre-k and elementary, etc. You get others that come in with it but you can go through those simply.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=gamesLand...
http://dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Pre-School/
http://dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/
http://www.kookerkids.com/index.htm
http://www.magickeys.com/books/links.html
http://www.kidspsych.org/index1.html
http://www.learningplanet.com/stu/kids0.asp
http://www.sitesforparents.com/
PRACTICE THE SOUNDS THE LETTERS MAKE. VOWELS MAKE TWO SOUNDS, LONG AND SHORT. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PRACTICE COLORING. WRITE HER ABC'S IN LOWER CASE ALSO. SHE NEEDS TO COUNT HIGHER. IN PRESCHOOL MY DAUGHTER'S CLASS ENDED UP COUNTING TO 100 I THINK AND SHE COUNTED TO 20 IN SPANISH. SHE NEEDS TO KNOW HER PHONE NUMBER AND ADDRESS. WRITE AND SPELL HER FULL NAME AND BIRTHDATE. KNOW HER COLORS AND WHICH COLORS MIX AND MAKE OTHER COLORS. ALLOW HER TO KEEP PRACTICING CUTTING AND PASTING. BUYING ACTIVITY BOOKS FOR PRESCHOOL AGE WILL ALSO HELP ALOT. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU WANT HER TO PRACTICE AND GIVE YOU A BREAK. LEAP FROG LX HAS GAMES FOR HER AGE AND LAST THROUGH MIDDLE SCHOOL. IT WORKS ON HANDHELD FOR CAR AND PLUGS INTO TV FOR HOME. I LOVE IT! LORI SOMETHING (OFF OF NICK OR NOGGIN) HAS AN ASWOME CD SOUNDTRACK TO SING TO, SHE NEEDS TO PRACTICE LEARNING SONGS AND TO SING. GOOD LUCK!
You're right your daughter does not belong in Pre-K, because everything she already knows is the only thing they will teach her. You've done a wonderful job preparing her skills and now you could move on to knowledge that she would learn in Kindergarten if that suits you (phonics, learning to write constructively, social studies, science, and the arts. Visit http://www.firn.edu/doe/ it's the Florida department's site. Check the site index for the Sunshine State Standards, and select PreK-2.
I have a copy of the kindergarten readiness checklist if you would like me to email you a copy let me know. ____@____.com
Hi A.,
I am a stay at home mom of 3 boys. I was in your shoes not too long ago and wondering if I was doing enough. .My oldest just went to kindergarten - my problem is ...he is too prepared! My husband and I are concerned that he will be held back from what he is truly capable of! He stayed home with me and never went to preschool ... you will be surprised at how much one on one attention can benefit your child! Be sure to add socialization... I know it can be difficult for some.
Teach her how to write her numbers if you can. Most children before kindergarten can not read, but can recognize letters. Some still need practice writing them. The curriculum at this point is basic! Shapes, coloring, letters - capitals. etc...
Check out the Rock n learn video series via internet!!! They are awesome! My 3 year old learned letter sounds as early as 2 and now can read 3 letter words by sounding them out! But don't stop there! There is also Clicknkids.com use promotional code ____@____.com if you decide to purchase! Check out the testimonials! I wrote one since I was so impressed with it. My sister got her son on it too and everyone else I tell! My 5 year old and 3 year old love it and excel. Too much info??? I have more. Good luck for now ... My 1 year old is on my lap and now gotta go!
It is a shame that you did not sign her up for VPK. Though your daughter may know a lot, it also gets the kids ready for Kindergarden by preparing them to be with other kids, listen to the teacher and have structure throughout the day. It is a great opportunity to "test run" what kindergarden will be like.
Hi A.,
My son just started kinder this august and he was always home with me. I also thought I had prepared him well as you did, but I had forgotten that kinder is just not about academics. Hopefully you can learn from our experience. My son was great in the academic part of kinder, but it was the structure part of it that he struggled with in the beginning.Since he was always on his own time here at home, he was finding it difficult to follow the school rules, ie, raising your hand before you speak, not speaking out loud to the other children, putting down one assignment and starting another at a moments notice, eating lunch earlier, at 10am instead at 12noon.It took us a meeting with the teacher and going to meet him to lunch for a full week before he started to catch on.Now he is aware of the school system and tries his best to comply and when he does not we do not let him view TV for that night. That has seem to work for us.
Good Luck!!
Hi A.,
teach her how to be a kid, get messy with mud, let her kiss you left and right, some hugs too, little crying, basically let her be a kid. she will spend enough years in school to learn whatever she needs to learn. Don't worry. I did not go to school until 7 and a half years old. and then . . .the best in class. . .always, got under and grad. degrees, so really, there wasn't any obstacle for me for starting behind and getting ahead, but i sure do have great memories from childhood
V.
Are you around any other children her age?? Because that was the biggest thing I noticed when I put my son in kinder last year was he was afraid of the other kids cause he was always alone with me at home, so this year even though I stay at home I put my other son who just turned 4 yesterday, in a Pre-K for 9am to 12 pm so he could get that MUCH NEEDED interaction with other children his own age..That would be my suggestion..It also gets them used to being dropped off on a daily basis, so they don't cry or feel scared when you drop them off for a full day at Kinder. My son is doing much better this year in 1st grade but I felt horrible a lot of last year because he would cry and miss me a lot more than the other children who had, had the experience of being away from home on a daily basis the year or years before at daycare.. My 4 year old is doing wonderfully at Imagine Charter PRE-K in Ellenton, and its free in Manatee county for the Voluntary program..GOOD LUCK..But it sounds like as far as the alphabet and numbers go , you are right in line as far as the Pre-K that my son attends, this week they are learning to tie their shoes, and started writing thier name, and identifying colors...P. in Palmetto
She needs to be able to socialize with other children, that is such a big issue with kids that age that are still at home with their parents. I would highly recommend having her in some program during the morning time so you can spend the afternoons with her and she will get that interaction with other children her age plus she will learn the structure of a school environment and how to lisen to other adults besides her parents.
I heard from a kindergarten teacher, and it has been confirmed from other parents, that they do need to have some reading basics already down, recognizing small words and the basic phonics down. They are pretty much teaching reading in kindergarten now and pretty much all the stuff that I learned in Kindergarten is now being taught in Pre-k.
I put my daughter in Pre-k last year as a 3 year old and she is in the VPK program this year. I think that it is beneficial for her for more reasons than just the education aspect. She is learning the basics that she needs to know but she is also learning how to act and react in a classroom setting. She is getting used to being left at the preschool for the three hours that she is there, she is getting comfortable with the whole "school" setting.
I would be working on phonics, writing and recognizing small words, cutting (my daughter can cut shapes, follow a line etc...I don't know what their abilities are actually supposed to be at this age but it is something that you could always work on.) Sounds like other than that she is pretty much up there on what she needs to know.
Good luck and I am sure that she will be fine when it comes time for kindergarten.
M. N.
You can call the County School district and they will tell you what curriculum the kids study at preschools before they get into school.
Hope that helps,
S.
Hi.
I have never had my children in any program outside of the home. My son (young 5 year old -July 23rd), just started Kindergarten. I had always exposed him to socialization, as I'm sure the 3mo-3years in daycare was plenty for your daughter. The skills they are teaching the first two weeks are: tracing-beginning writing skills, learning upper/lower alphabet, beginning consonant sounds, numbers, left, right, top, middle, bottom, over, under, above, beyond, shapes, etc. Having your daughter know all of these lessons will benefit her, but rest assured they do teach them these as well. They do expect the children to know how to dress and operate themselves and their clothing as well as tie their shoes. Hope this helps, good luck.
www.funschool.com
www.pbs.com
these websites can teach basics + more
I just got my current issue of South FLorida Parenting Magazing and noticed the cover had an article about "Are you ready for Kindergarten?"
You may want to pick up a copy and check out that article. It's usually available FREE at toy stores, doctor's offices and other places kids frequent.
A.
My children are about to start Preschool. They have been home with a caregiver for one year now. I went to this store called Get Smart (Educational store). I was told that teachers shop there. They had a large variety of books, checklist, and a lot of ideas for preparing your children for school. Check out their website and find a store near you and check it out. It should be helpful.
www.getsmart.com
~ J.
hello
i agree with the other moms you should see if you can still put her in the vpk program it helps them alot to be ready for kindergarden by learning things and be able to listen to the teachers and able to get along with all the different kids in the class. And it is only for three hours.
What else you can be teaching her is how to write her name- that she know's her shapes and color's and most of all that she will be ready to sit and listen for a short period of time. Good luck.
