If you've been following my blog, you have probably read my two blog posts that discuss what your child should know before entering 1st and 2nd grade to have a successful school year. This week I am starting a series on my Youtube Channel that will first bring a list of academic topics that children should have a grasp on before beginning Kindergarten, followed by a few weeks worth of videos for that age group to watch and interact with! I will leave a link to my channel at the end of this post, but for now, let's get to it!
Alphabet. It seems like common sense, but you would be surprised how many children get to Kindergarten knowing absolutely nothing! Please, please teach your children the alphabet before sending them to school. It's something simple, but it will give them a basic foundation for the rest of their academic career! As well as knowing the 26 letters, it would also serve them well to know the difference between lowercase and upper case letters and be able to match them together.
2. Writing their name. Many children at this age have not yet learned to write their name. However, I find that it is helpful if they at least know which uppercase letters are in their name and if they are able to copy them in succession.
3. Rote Counting. Before entering kindergarten, I would recommend that children know how to count from 1-10 at least. 1-20 would be even better. You can practice this very easily, even just be counting objects with 1-1 correspondence.
4. Colors. Main colors such as: red, green, yellow, purple, pink, brown and blue should be taught well before a child enters Kindergarten!
5. Shapes. 2D shapes such as: circle, square, and triangle should be understood before Kindergarten if possible.
6. How to hold a book. Children at this age should know the right way to hold a book and understand that you read left to right. By modeling how to hold and read a book, most children will pick this up rather quickly.
If you would like to keep up with the Youtube videos that I will be creating and posting over the next few weeks to help prepare children for Kindergarten, check out my channel!
As always, if you would like any other resources or support, please never hesitate to reach out!
<3 Jess
jessalyn@inspiredtutors.org
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