As your child gets ready for kindergarten, there are a few key steps you can take to help them feel confident and excited for this new chapter. Here are some helpful tips to get your child ready for their big day:
1. Encouraging Independence
Building your child’s sense of independence is a great way to start preparing them for kindergarten. Here are a few tasks to practice at home:
- Getting dressed in the morning: Encourage them to dress themselves with minimal help.
- Responsibility: Assign simple chores like putting away toys, setting the table, or feeding pets.
- Brushing their teeth: While they’ll still need help, let them practice brushing on their own.
- Practice tying shoes: This can be tricky, but getting a head start on tying shoes will help them feel more confident.
2. Practicing Basic Skills
Help your child develop the essential skills they’ll use every day in kindergarten:
- Holding a pencil correctly.
- Using scissors safely.
- Recognizing letters and their sounds.
- Identifying basic shapes like circle, square, rectangle, and triangle.
- Recognizing numbers 1–20.
- Writing their name.
- Knowing left and right: Make it fun with games! For example, “Hand me the fork with your right hand” or “Give me the napkin with your left hand.”
3. Reading Together
Reading together is a fantastic way to support your child’s transition to kindergarten. It helps build their vocabulary, comprehension, and love of learning. Set aside time each day to read books that spark their curiosity and interest.
4. Practicing Lunch Box Skills
Kindergarten often means packing a lunch, so it’s helpful for your child to practice opening and closing their lunchbox at home. Show them how to:
- Open and close their lunchbox independently.
- Access items like zip lock bags or food containers easily.
- Eat efficiently within 20 to 30 minutes, so they have time to enjoy their meal and socialize with friends.
Kindergarten is an exciting milestone where your child will learn and grow in so many ways! They’ll develop important social skills, build a foundation in literacy and numeracy, and explore a variety of subjects and activities.
LAKEWISE 