Ideas to Prepare your Child for Kindergarten

If your first child hasn't attended school yet, you may be wondering how to get them ready for this big step. Many parents have helped prepare their preschoolers for kindergarten through some of the tips shared below. 

Read to Them

Reading out loud is one of the top early learning strategies that will prepare your youngster for the classroom. Start the tradition when your son or daughter is still an infant. Bedtime stories are a wonderful way to cuddle each evening and get ready for sleep. 

Create Learning Opportunities

Visit nearby museums and attractions as often as possible. If there is a zoo or aquarium in your area, it is an ideal way for them to learn about animals. While you are driving in the car, talk to them about what buildings you are passing and what happens in each place. Help them start to identity different colors of cars and what various road signs mean. Go on family adventures to national parks and other areas where they can learn about nature. 

Help Them Develop Friendships

Organize a small playgroup with other young ones in your neighborhood. Change the location of where you meet to create some variety. You can rotate between your homes or meet at different parks. Playing with friends can help young ones learn to share toys and take turns. These are important social skills that often help preschoolers adapt to the classroom. Young children should be closely supervised by a trusted adult at all times. 

Keep Them Healthy

Eating plenty of vegetables and fruits can build your child's immune system. Getting adequate rest and exercise can also benefit their health. Look for opportunities to teach about healthy food and activity choices. 

Kindergarten can be such a positive step forward in your preschooler's life. Look ahead and include one or two of these ideas into your schedule this week. The school teachers will thank you!

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Off to Kindergarten Soon

So my little Lilly is now 9 months, 1 week and 3 days old. She has achieved a number of milestones since my last post here. 

She can now pick her food so that we have started easting finger foods. She loves strawberries and (cooked) carrot sticks and butter cookies for babies. I also have tried integrating some boiled egg and beef into her lunch meals. She also gets porridge for breakfast and dinner, and for lunch she gets a mashed potato-vegetable combi. I always prepare her meals fresh for lunch. I know it is a bit tedious and time consuming but at least I know what she is getting. Besides, I am getting used making her lunch "mush".

And she now has three teeth! The fourth one is coming out soon too. In no time, it will be more and more painful to nurse her. We still need to work on her love for feeding bottles as she only will drink from it if the content is water.

She is also becoming more mobile. She has long been able to roll over. She still needs a little help from me when she tries to sit upright but I know that she is getting there. She can already keep her balance when sitting. She can almost crawl - she now goes on all fours or sometimes does the plank position. With a little bit more practice, I know that she will soon crawl on all fours. Time to baby-proof the house since I haven't started doing it yet. 

She is also still very shy with strangers, and doesn't want to be held by our friends when they come to visit. She would cry when they try to get her from me. But I know this is just a phase that babies go through and hopefully it will get better as the months go by.  

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3 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in School

Childrens' academic performance has to do with a lot more than what goes on in the classroom Monday through Friday. In order to set your son or daughter up for success in school, it is important to provide plenty of support at home. Read on for a few helpful ways to do so.

Be Available for Homework Help

After school, do your best to take an interest in whatever assignment your child is working on, whether it's reading a book or section of a textbook, completing a problem set or writing an essay. If it has been too long since you studied any particular topic in school yourself and you're rusty, there are plenty of free educational resources New York NY available online to lend a hand.

Encourage Reading

Being an avid reader comes with a host of benefits for children and adults alike. Make sure to have plenty of books available in the home that are appropriate for your child's age group. Since kids tend to imitate their parents' behavior, making a habit of reading will increase the likelihood of your son or daughter picking up a book on a regular basis. Instead of watching TV after dinner, why not read together as a family?

Cultivate a Relationship with Your Child's Teacher

Teachers and parents are partners in educating children. Make sure that you attend parent-teacher conferences, and don't hesitate to get in touch with your son or daughter's teacher if you have any concerns about how things are going in the classroom. It should be easy enough to get answers via email or set up a time to talk on the phone.

Kids tend to be happiest when they are engaged with the material they are learning in school. If you sense that your son or daughter may be struggling, don't hesitate to enlist help from his or her teacher, an outside tutor or another resource.

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