I love Contest Patti. She is one of the great and busy social media/blogger ladies out there. When she shared this article, I thought about just responding with a few quips, but now (if school ever starts again) I will be putting my third kid into Kindergarten, so not only have I learned a few things, I have listened to what our Kinder teacher of 25 years has to say too.
This will be my first child to enter full day Kinder, but I am not that concerned. For one thing, I was always boggled by the half day thing and two all my kids were lucky to attend a preschool run by the Development Disabilities Association and with their longer hours and school like routines, I have always felt my kids were ready for the ‘big’ school.
I took Tara to the ‘Welcome to Kindergarten’ session our school held in the spring. The event allowed the teacher to explain to us parents what she needs from us and the kids as well as how her own experiences with little kids and so on. Contest Patti covers the basic academic practices to lead up to their first day of school, but our teacher also asked for a few crucial items:
- No more naps. Start weaning your sleepy babies off naps. No naps in Kinder.
- Ability to go to bathroom by themselves.
- Ability to eat their lunch without help.
- Ability to dress themselves.
- Ability to hold a pencil correctly.
I want to add a bit more too. This is from observing Tara and her future classmates when they were to be read to by a representative from the local library. Tara and one other girl (her bf from preschool) were the only two who sat (criss cross apple sauce) quietly for story time. Other kids clung to their parents, too shy to sit on the floor and OTHERS were totally out of control annoying and disturbing not only the reader but those children who wanted to hear the story.
There is one month left (being optimistic) to now teach your children some manners and rules about sitting quietly when an adult OTHER than your mom or dad asks you to.
Time now to ‘play’ school with your kids. Talk to them about listening to the teacher. Talk to them about waiting their turn. Start teaching your kids the culture of a classroom. Teach your kids how to be a good classroom citizen and how to get along with their new classmates.
Time and time again I have watched my kid’s experiences in school be marred by kids who had had no guidance when it came to listening, sitting, and sharing. In fact, I had to pull Tara from her first preschool attempt at another school because the experience with disruptive kids was making her miserable.
The DDA run incredible preschool and daycare programs and I will forever grateful for the abilities and the great memories AND skills they forged for all three of my kids.
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