How to Prepare your Preschooler for Kindergarten

The summer has finally come but with this also comes the countdown for the new school year. If this will be your child's first year in Kindergarten, here are some steps to take to be sure they are prepared.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• large pencil
• lined tablet paper
• workbooks

1. The first thing any child should know when getting ready to go to school is how to spell and write their full name.
   You can practice this every day and even make a game out of it to encourage your little one to keep practicing. This is also a good time to emphasize correct spacing between words. To do this, teach your child to use their finger as a spacer in between words or names.
2. You will also want your child to know his or her phone number as well as their address. Work in small doses. Have your child recite the entire address with you daily. You can even have them practice writing it. However full addresses can be daunting at this age, so break it down into small parts. First work on the street address, then move on to the city and state then finish with the zipcode later. Continue working until they are able to recite it back to you completely.
3. Make sure your child can write the entire alphabet, knows the difference between upper and lower case letters and can write their numbers.
4. You will probably already have done this, but make sure the child knows their colors, shapes, counting and opposites.
5. You might even want to delve into letting your child begin the steps to reading. They do teach this in kindergarten but it never hurts for your child to be well prepared and possibly even a little ahead.
   ~~Look for future article on teaching your preschooler how to read.~~
6. You will also want to teach your child how to tie their shoes before beginning. This isn't an absolute must but will definitely help them when in class and vying for the attention of their teacher for help with this.