Kindergarten Kick Start How to Help Your Child

Kindergarten Kick. Start How to Help Your Child Succeed in School

Most Successful Students? • • • Youngest? Oldest? First Born? Only? Knows all letters and sounds? Already reading? Attended Pre-School?

It all comes down to following directions. • Children that succeed in school know how to follow directions. • Verbal/On paper/Classroom and School Routines/Procedures • How to develop the skill: Give a one step direction. Ex. Pick up your shoes Stop and wait. Watch and/or listen to make sure direction is followed. Advance to two and three step directions. Ex. Pick up your shoes, put them in the closet, close the closet door Stop and wait. Watch and/or listen to make sure directions are followed.

You Get What You Acknowledge • Eye is trained to detect what is wrong. • Brain reads signal to plan action-Fight or Flee When Teaching Your Child: Retrain your brain to see what is right!--Talk about that. “You used a lot of colors in your picture. ” “This is my favorite letter “T” you traced. ” “Wow! You wrote these 6 letters on the line. ”

Praise the Effort Locus of Control “You worked hard. ” Internal—I made it happen and I can do it again. Student in control. “You are so smart. ” External—I got lucky on that assignment. Outside factors in control.

BAM!! Behavior, Attendance, Motivation It is up to the student! • A child did not attend Kindergarten. She make two years progress in first grade and moved with her class on to second grade. • One of the highest performing students in a kindergarten class was a 5 year old boy, learning a second language. • A girl in the country for one year and learning a second language, read 100 sight words by the end of the school year

Children learn to read and write to the extent that they can talk and listen. Give your child many “Being There Experiences” such as going to the park, zoo, store, library, fair, mall, movies, pool, camping, etc Talk about everything! What do you see, hear, smell, feel, taste? This builds vocabulary and background knowledge.

Reading is a Learned Skill Types of Kindergarten Reading to Become an Independent Reader • • Listening to stories Using pictures to tell a story Echo reading-repeat what reader says Memorizing the story

How to Pick Books • • • Book/Author Lists Pictures match the words Few words on a page Pattern Predictable Books—books have a passage that repeats Favorite character, topic • You can read any book to your child. They can understand stories and facts grade levels above what they can read. Yes--it is important to read to your child even after they have learned how to read.

Tips On How To Read With Your Child Before Reading • Do a picture walk--look at and talk about the pictures • Think of some questions/predictions about the story—Do you think? I wonder if? I wonder why? During Reading—teachable moments • Drag your finger under the words as you read • Discuss the questions and predictions you made • Point out rhyming words, sight words, words that start with the same letter, etc. After Reading • Talk about the characters, setting, plot • Talk about favorite parts/ parts you can relate to.

Personal Skills • Does your child know how to: Tie shoes Zip zippers Do buttons Blow nose Use the restroom and wash hands without help

Social Skills Can your child: Approach and ask an adult for help? Tell a classmate to stop bothering them? Wait patiently for his/her turn? Accept the answer, “No”? Share with others?

Gross Motor Skills • Help your child: • • • Stand on 1 foot /switch feet Jump—forward/backwards/sideways Gallop Skip Throw a ball-over and underhanded/ hit a target Kick/Throw/Bounce a ball

Readiness Skills • Write name with one capital letter and the rest lowercase • Cut on the line • Hold scissors and pencil correctly

Essential Reading Skills to be Mastered • • Name all the letters of the alphabet—upper and lowercase. Produce all letter sounds Produce and identify rhyming words Read at least 50 sight words Blend and Segment words Identify beginning. middle and ending sound in word Retell a story Identify characters, setting, plot

Essential Math Skills to be Mastered • • • Identify 2 and 3 dimensional shapes Count to 100 by 1’s and 10’s Write the numbers 1 -20 Add and subtract to 5 Find combinations to make 10 Create numbers in teens

News from the Nurse (Pre-Covid Times) • Please make sure your child is up to date on all required immunizations. • • Teach your child: To wash hands often Cough into your elbow Keep hands away from nose, mouth, ears and eyes • NEVER send medication to school with your child. An adult must bring any and all medicines to the nurse. (this includes cough drops)

Volunteer/Chaperone/Helper (Pre-Covid Times) • You must attend a district required Volunteer Training to be able to help in the classroom or chaperone a field trip. • Offered numerous times throughout the year at schools throughout the district.