Preparing for Your Child Kindergarten

If your child is just getting ready to attend preschool for the first time, you may not be thinking about preparing for kindergarten yet. The truth is, kindergarten preparation really begins the year before your child enrolls. As your child’s first year in preschool begins, you both will have a lot to think about and focus on. It is important to understand that this time is also the perfect time to begin thinking about kindergarten.

Many schools and educational programs push kindergarten prep and transition just a few months before kindergarten begins. In reality, the process of learning the important skills necessary for success in kindergarten actually is formed in pre-k. Since recent research has highlighted the importance of early education and its correlation with future academic success, sending your child to a highly-rated, qualified preschool program is a great way to teach young children the skills and tools they will need in the year to come.

Tasks like recognizing letters in their name, retelling stories, socializing well with peers, sharing, and working cooperatively are necessary for a successful kindergarten year. Many preschool programs focus on teaching young children how to trace letters, write their name, recognize numbers, match rhyming sounds, and general communication skills that are important to their future learning routines. By encouraging pre-reading and pre-writing skills, your child will have a head start on working with letters and sounds that are a large part of kindergarten curriculum.

Beyond just learning the ABC’s and counting to ten, preschoolers get a chance to work in comprehensive social situations like working cooperatively with classmates, sharing, spending hours a day away from a home setting, communicating their feelings with teachers, and more. Preschool is often the first experience in a formal school setting and can help give your child an idea of what will be expected in the upcoming year of kindergarten.

If this is your child’s first year in preschool or pre-k, you can use this time to practice the vital skills that kindergartners will be expected to know when school begins. Teach them how to button their clothes, zip their jackets, and wash their hands every time they use the bathroom. Make sure to expose your child to new social experiences outside of the classroom, too. Continue to practice skills, like properly holding a pencil and sitting quietly while you read a story, once your child is at home to foster kindergarten preparation early on.

Getting ready for kindergarten is a process that will start long before the kindergarten year actually begins. By starting early and learning new skills in a preschool setting, your child will have a strong start to the exciting year of learning that lies ahead. Plus, preschool is a great place to learn what activities excite or frustrate your child. This valuable information can be shared with kindergarten teachers to let them know what your child needs work with and what they really enjoy.

If you’d like to learn more about our preschool program that begins this fall, contact our Orlando area Kids ‘R’ Kids campuses. We offer preschool and pre-k programs in Avalon Park. With award winning curriculum and an incredible teaching staff, you will be glad your child will have attended a wonderful preschool program that properly prepared them for the kindergarten year ahead.