schooldays

Here are more suggestions for helping young children with school readiness.

* Work on those fine motor writing skills. Provide children with plenty of scratch paper, kid markers, big crayons, and even sidewalk chalk. Practice control by making circles, squares, and triangles. Allow them to watch you draw pictures and encourage them to do the same, being sure to have them tell you about what they have drawn. Write it down on the paper they used and post it in the house, on a fridge or a bulletin board.

* Simple tools such as magnetic numbers and letters are easily reinforced when they have a permanent place on the fridge or a cookie sheet in a child’s room. Rotate groups of letters in batches of 6-8 and work on the sounds and names of the letters. Start with the letters that make up the child’s name.

* Use plenty of oral directions and expect your child to speak back to you in order to communicate. There will be lots of direction-giving by the teacher and obedience will be expected.

* Don’t forget to let your child play lots (both alone and with peers), allow them plenty of physical activity, provide them with healthy meals, and make sure they get plenty of sleep.

* Make sure your children are familiar with the basic rules of playing simple games. Taking turns, sharing, healthy competition, and sportsmanship are all skills children need to start developing at a young age.

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