Ways+to+Help+at+Home

Ways to Support Your Child's Learning at Home

A lot of parents ask, "What should my child be able to do when they enter Kindergarten?". The following are just a few suggestions to help your child get ready:
 * practice writing their first name with capitol and lower case letters (Ex: Sara)
 * draw a few shapes on paper and have your child practice coloring inside the lines as best they can
 * give your child a job to do to practice following directions, such as putting their dishes in the sink after dinner
 * name the letters (upper and lower case) out of order (you can make flashcards and mix them up)
 * name the #'s out of order and then have them practice putting the #'s in the correct order
 * when you speak with your child, they should be talking in complete sentences (we would like more than one word answers/ responses)

--if you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me at: amy.rugaard@mnps.org

1. Count! Count anything! Some things that you can have your child count are: spoons, forks in the drawer, number of flowers in the garden, number of kids at the party, number of cars in line, etc.

2. Have your child count out groups of objects into little piles. (pennies, buttons, paper clips) "Can you put 15 fish crackers in your snack container for tomorrow?" 3. Play with scrabble letters or magnetic fridge letters. Think of a name, animal, plant, etc. that starts with that letter.

4. Play Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Checkers, etc.

5. Play simple cards games such as Crazy Eights, Old Maid, etc.

6. Provide hands on experiences related to basic facts to 10. For example, "If you have two crayons and I give you two more, then how many will you have?"

7. Teach your child to dial the phone. Make a phone book of Grandma and Grandpa and Cousin Fred's phone number.

8. Teach your child to set the timer on the microwave.

9. Discuss the numbers on a clock and start teaching time on the hour.

10. Teach your child to do simple dot to dots. Look in coloring books for easy dot to dots.

11. Have your child memorize his/her phone number. Any phone number can be sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

12. Continue to provide experiences related to drawing, coloring, cutting and gluing in order to develop fine motor skills. Also, continue to provide activities to strengthen hand muscles using Lego’s or Play dough.  13. Find numbers and letters to discuss wherever you go! Room numbers, elevator buttons, street numbers, road signs, price tags, business signs.

14. Start teaching your child to write his/ her first and last name and names of other family members. Don't forget to use a capital letter first and make the rest of the letters lower case.

15. When you receive sight words from me to practice at home, make flash cards and play a game of Go Fish or Memory.