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Kindergarten Skills You Almost Forgot

8/6/2014

12 Comments

 
These skills are important for kindergarten success - and you may have just forgot about them!
  I'm guilty of it too. 

  With so much emphasis on preparing kids for kindergarten academically (do they know their letters, numbers, can they read Shakespeare?) it's easy to skip over the smaller but no less important skills they will need to succeed. The good news: it's not too late, and it's easy to practice these in fun ways!
Morning: Can your child take off their jacket and put it on again? Can they fix inside-out sleeves, if necessary? For the inside-out thing, we tell Kay to punch her hand into her jacket, grab on to the inside, and pull. Viola - sleeve is fixed. 

Lunch time: Can she open her lunch box, juice box and food containers she'll be using? Kay had a great time practicing this one - by playing school. I started out on a whim, just to see how much she could do on her own. I set up a lunch, put it on a shelf, and asked her to get her lunch from her "cubby." It snowballed from there, and at least once a week she still asks to "play cafeteria" for lunch. (But she's got the food containers mastered by now!)
Ready kindergarten lunch box snacks
End of the day: Can he zipper his backpack? Put papers in a folder? While he may be an old pro at un-zippering his coat, a backpack is a little different and might need some extra practice. If you don't already, carry a backpack with a few things inside for car trips or waiting areas. Pack a picnic for the park (or backyard) in a backpack that they can unpack at lunch time. 
Girl backpack kindergarten preschool
Getting ready for kindergarten series
I hope you've enjoyed our Getting Ready for Kindergarten series - because I've had a blast putting it together! 
  • Nature prints with clay
  • Number hunt
  • Exploring nature with mirrors
  • Fun with tangrams - and why they matter
  • Sight word slam
  • Letter learning with alphabet stamps
  • Feed the monster counting game

  With these skills, and all the others you've been teaching for the last 5 years (even when you didn't know they were paying attention!), they'll be on their way to kindergarten success in no time!

Photo credits: Title image by Robert S. Donovan  by Robert S. Donovan 
and "waiting for the bus" image byclappstar, 
both released under a Creative Commons 2.0 license. 

12 Comments
Jenny link
8/6/2014 12:41:59 am

Thanks for sharing some great tips. My son is off to Reception this September and these will be really useful :)

Reply
Tricia the Good Mama link
8/6/2014 06:34:23 am

This is such a great post! I'm a former kindergarten teacher and you wouldn't believe how much time we would spend on skills that adults take for granted. I'll add shoe-tying to the list!

Reply
maryanne @ mama smiles link
8/6/2014 08:33:22 am

These are important! I was unschooled until partway through second grade, and then my parents sent me off to school in my first pair of laced tennis shoes - but I didn't know how to tie them! Kind kindergartners actually taught me how!

Reply
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom link
8/6/2014 11:01:39 pm

These are definitely things I can see a parent overlooking. When my girls were 2-3, I would encourage them to try almost everything first by themselves.

Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).

Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo

Reply
Theresa link
8/8/2014 02:32:57 pm

Great points. My youngest is in middle school now. She needs a refresh on how to pick things up and put them away. lol We are spending a few days organizing for her bts. ;)

Reply
Jill link
8/9/2014 04:11:48 am

Fantastic tips Emma! Pinning :-)

Reply
Ashley link
8/9/2014 10:10:53 pm

Definitely good skills for them to know!

Reply
Victoria link
8/10/2014 02:46:24 am

Completely agree! As a former Pre-K/Kindergarten teacher these are skills that I had to make sure my kids knew and tying their shoes was also a biggie.

Reply
Coombemill link
8/10/2014 10:01:59 pm

Basic skills that are so simple to us but essential for starting preschool.

Reply
Karen Hayden
8/11/2014 03:37:15 am

I suggest that parents teach children how to get off the bus! Getting on the bus from home is easy because they're all packed up, coats are on, shoes are tied. Getting off the bus is another skill! Keeping up with their belongings, having coat on or carrying, keeping an eye out for their bus stop, etc. takes some training! :-)

Reply
Helen Neale link
8/11/2014 06:57:38 pm

Some great points here, and you are so right, we do tend to focus on the academic rather than the practical and the social sometimes. Thanks so much for linking up to the Parenting Pin in Party this week, really appreciated.

Reply
Monica link
9/11/2014 02:16:03 pm

So true! It's the little things. Pinned. :-)

Reply



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