Last year I began homeschooling my daughter in preparation for kindergarten. We focused on academics and worked hard to get her prepared for learning. Hopefully giving her a solid foundation.
However, academics are a small part of Kindergarten. I realized that I need to also focus on some other areas of school: eating lunch, walking in line, listening to her teachers, for example.
She did attend daycare form 9 weeks to 2-years-old, so she is familiar with some of the concepts of being a school setting. But, for the past two years, she has been home with me. Free to play and eat at her leisure! I worry that she is in for a big shock on that first day of school! I want to do my best to prepare her – and make her teacher’s life a little easier too!
I reached out to a few Kindergarten teachers and they provided me with some great tips! Here are the areas they suggest focusing on:
- BEING KIND
- Taking care of personal belongings/materials (clean up after themselves)
- Flushing the toilet/being able to use the restroom unassisted
- Washing hands after using the bathroom/before & after eating
- Making sure all wardrobe is able to be buttoned and/or zipped by your student independently
- Eating neatly and throwing away trash when done
- Recognizing their name on items
- Writing their own name
- Does not write their name in all caps (starts with an uppercase big letter and the rest are lower case)
- Can say and recognize the Alphabet – including letter names and sounds (At least some)
- Can say and recognize numbers – to at least 10
- Can say and recognize colors
- Work on fine motor skills by developing the muscles in their hand (i.e. using playdough, cutting with scissors, making bead necklaces, picking up and sorting small items)
- Practice Nursery Rhymes (Helps with rhyming, phonemic awareness skills)
- READ READ READ. Read to them as much as possible
- Can tie or fasten their own shoes
- Sitting still for 10 minutes
- Not talking when other people are talking
What areas are you working with your kiddos on?
