5 No-Nonsense Tips to Prepare Your Child Kindergarten

1. No Babying (Life Skills)

This is more important than teaching their ABCs and numbers! An independent child will be able to pay attention and take ownership of their learning.

Don't feed your kids hand to mouth and expect them to go to school and eat all their food without you there putting it into their mouth. I can tell you there are very angry parents wondering why their children don't finish their food at school but at home, the same parents have made the child accustomed to being fed hand to mouth. The child is too dependent on their parents to feed themselves and just can't transition that fast.

Make them try to open simple kid friendly things on their own such as juice pouches and cheese sticks etc. Don't let them ask you do do everything for them. You'd be amazed how much they can do if you just let them do it!

Teach them to tie their shoes. Of course it takes some practice but they can learn. My generation learned in kindergarten but in each kindergarten class I see today, you're lucky if one child knows how to tie shoes.

2. Discipline (Life Skills)
I know in some cultures, people believe kids should just play and discipline comes later. Not to offend anyone's cultural beliefs but this hurts the child in many ways that are long lasting.

They take longer to learn because the teacher is busy disciplining them. As a teacher, I can see the direct effect that discipline has on shaping the mind. This is an interesting dynamic I've observed as a teacher.
The best behaved students who did not learn much academically at home, learns very fast at school. While an undisciplined student who was taught a lot at home certainly misses out on learning due to his own behavior. In fact, I've seen poorly disciplined children who came into kindergarten knowing more than their peers, actually fall behind as their peers surpass them.

Sure, poor behavior disrupts the learning environment and the other students' learning. But imagine how little learning is absorbed by the child who is actively disrupting the class! 

3. Routines (Life Skills)

Routines should be a part of your child's life from birth. But if you haven't started yet, start now.

It's as basic as having a set bedtime and time to wake up.

Have a set time for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. You don't have to be a robot and of course its okay if you fall off schedule a day or two but have a window of time where they know they will eat, sleep and play.

4. Sounds, sounds, sounds! (Reading Skills)

Teach them the sounds of the letter. Knowing the name of a letter doesn't help a child read the word cat. Start with teaching them the short vowels.

Then teach them the sounds of the consonants. Try 2-3 consonants per week. Adjust that according to how fast or slow your child learns. The goal is to have them reading cvc (Consonant-vowel-consonant) words on their own.

If they know the vowels and two consonants, they can start reading cvc words. Teach them the vowels and the consonants "s" and 't", they can read sat, set, sit, sot, sut. Yes, you can also read silly words. Make it fun! And please, don't forget to read to them daily.

5. Incorporate Math Language Into Daily Life (Numeracy Skills)

Find simple ways to enrich play time with math lingo.

For example, before you cook the beans for dinner, give your child 10 to play with. Have them separate them into two groups, however they like.

Then have them count the two groups and add them up. Take some away and have them count them again. Use the words "add","more", "less," "subtract" and "take away."

BONUS TIP: YOUR CELL PHONE IS NOT A TOY. LIMIT ALL TECHNOLOGY AND TV TO MAXIMUM ONE HOUR A DAY. DON'T SCRAMBLE THEIR BRAINS AND EXPECT THEIR MINDS AND HEARTS TO WORK NORMALLY!

Final note, you're a great parent. Trust yourself but also trust your child. They can do so much more than you think they can. Push them a little. A healthy amount of independent thinking will go a long way when it comes to taking ownership of their learning!

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