Banner art by Isaac Salazar
Welcome to the Preschool area!
For this, the youngest age group, I recommend your 'schooling' be fairly relaxed. You won't get a child this age to sit still for six hours of intense learning...but you can still fill their day with fun, educational experiences.
First – Books! Lots of picture books! Your preschooler is at the perfect age to discover that his world is filled with stories. You get the privilege to walk your child into that discovery. If you haven't already done so, I strongly recommend you begin integrating story-time into your daily life. It can be a before-bed activity (you aren't limited by set 'school hours' in your own home!) or a 'quiet time' activity in the afternoon. But whenever you pick, try to create a consistent schedule. There have been oodles of studies that show children with a predictable schedule are less likely to throw tantrums over whatever that set activity is (and we can all use fewer tantrums in our lives). If you want to jump into finding great books right now, here is a link to all the recommended picture books.
Beyond story time, there are many other things you can do with your preschooler. Here are some ideas:
For this, the youngest age group, I recommend your 'schooling' be fairly relaxed. You won't get a child this age to sit still for six hours of intense learning...but you can still fill their day with fun, educational experiences.
First – Books! Lots of picture books! Your preschooler is at the perfect age to discover that his world is filled with stories. You get the privilege to walk your child into that discovery. If you haven't already done so, I strongly recommend you begin integrating story-time into your daily life. It can be a before-bed activity (you aren't limited by set 'school hours' in your own home!) or a 'quiet time' activity in the afternoon. But whenever you pick, try to create a consistent schedule. There have been oodles of studies that show children with a predictable schedule are less likely to throw tantrums over whatever that set activity is (and we can all use fewer tantrums in our lives). If you want to jump into finding great books right now, here is a link to all the recommended picture books.
Beyond story time, there are many other things you can do with your preschooler. Here are some ideas:
- Bible Stories
- Music/Singing
- Music Appreciation
- Physical Activities
- History/Social Studies/Science projects
- Family Movie Night
- Art Appreciation (ignore the questions at this age)
- Art Projects
- Learning to Read & Write
- Literature (ok, yes, I mention the books again!)
- Exploring Animals
- Math
- Misc.
Pre-Kindergarten Skill Expectations
According to several sources (including my local school district), here is a list of various skills that kindergarten teachers prefer a child to know prior to entering the classroom that first day of school. (This doesn't mean that all children will have mastered all these skills, but this is still a good list of goals).
Social Skills:
This area is consistently rated as the most important one by teachers. If given a choice, they'd rather have a kid that's got all of the social skills mastered and none of the academic ones, rather than the other way around.
- Uses their words. When hurt or upset, a child will tell an adult what is wrong rather than (or in addition to) simply crying.
- Can take turns with other kids.
- Can share toys.
- Can follow three-step directions. For example, "Take off your coat, put it on that hook, and find your seat."
- Can sit quietly and listen for about 15 minutes.
- Can manage transitions (going from one task to another without a meltdown).
- Can focus attention on a task (about 15 minutes) and ask for help when needed.
- Can speak and be understood without contextual clues.
- Will not hit/bite/throw things when frustrated or upset.
Personal Hygiene Skills:
- Is potty trained. This includes hand washing and re-dressing.
- Can manage all clothing closures (zippers, snaps, shoelaces) on their own clothing.
- Can cover mouth or turn head when coughing or sneezing. Can use a tissue.
Academic Skills:
These skills are the least important to a teacher, but they still provide a nice way of gauging your child's progress and providing goals for the pre-school years.
- Knows the main colors: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, white, brown.
- Knows how to verbally count to twenty (recite by rote the numbers in order, but not understand what they mean).
- Can continue a count when not starting at one. (If given a starting sequence such as "seven, eight, nine...", child can say "ten").
- Understands quantities up to four or five. (Can correctly count a group of 4 or 5 objects, labeling individual pieces with a single, un-repeated number, understanding that the last number of the count is the total amount of the group).
- Identify the symbols for numbers 1-10 (when shown a '2' can say 'two').
- Understands concepts of quantity (less/fewer, more, none).
- Understands concepts of first and last.
- Can do sums and subtraction up to four (1+1, 1+2, 1+3, 2+2, 4-1, 3-2, etc.) when dealing with physical objects (i.e. Given 2 blocks, a child can figure out that two more blocks make a total of 4 blocks).
- Can recognize the following shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle (can name these shapes regardless of orientation).
- Knows directions: left, right, up, down, next to, behind, under, etc.
- Knows general measurement terms: big, small, fast, slow, heavy, light, long, short
- Can do a jigsaw puzzle of 8-10 interlocking pieces.
- grasps pencil correctly
- Can draw or copy some basic shapes, make proto-letter shapes, create crosses. Some children can write some letters - usually letters in their name.
- Can pinch and shape clay into recognizable shapes.
- Can use safety scissors
- Can predict patterns with 3-step sequences (i.e. red, blue, green, red blue, green, red...). These can be verbal, visual, or physical patterns.
- Has book familiarity (knows which direction to hold and open the book, knows the title is on the cover, knows how to turn pages, etc.)
- Can re-tell main points of stories in the correct order
- Can sing/say the alphabet
- Recognizes at least half of both capital and lower case letters (preferably all of them).
- Can associate many sounds with letters (preferably all letters).
- Can isolate the sound at the beginning or ending or a word.
According to several sources (including my local school district), here is a list of various skills that kindergarten teachers prefer a child to know prior to entering the classroom that first day of school. (This doesn't mean that all children will have mastered all these skills, but this is still a good list of goals).
Social Skills:
This area is consistently rated as the most important one by teachers. If given a choice, they'd rather have a kid that's got all of the social skills mastered and none of the academic ones, rather than the other way around.
- Uses their words. When hurt or upset, a child will tell an adult what is wrong rather than (or in addition to) simply crying.
- Can take turns with other kids.
- Can share toys.
- Can follow three-step directions. For example, "Take off your coat, put it on that hook, and find your seat."
- Can sit quietly and listen for about 15 minutes.
- Can manage transitions (going from one task to another without a meltdown).
- Can focus attention on a task (about 15 minutes) and ask for help when needed.
- Can speak and be understood without contextual clues.
- Will not hit/bite/throw things when frustrated or upset.
Personal Hygiene Skills:
- Is potty trained. This includes hand washing and re-dressing.
- Can manage all clothing closures (zippers, snaps, shoelaces) on their own clothing.
- Can cover mouth or turn head when coughing or sneezing. Can use a tissue.
Academic Skills:
These skills are the least important to a teacher, but they still provide a nice way of gauging your child's progress and providing goals for the pre-school years.
- Knows the main colors: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, white, brown.
- Knows how to verbally count to twenty (recite by rote the numbers in order, but not understand what they mean).
- Can continue a count when not starting at one. (If given a starting sequence such as "seven, eight, nine...", child can say "ten").
- Understands quantities up to four or five. (Can correctly count a group of 4 or 5 objects, labeling individual pieces with a single, un-repeated number, understanding that the last number of the count is the total amount of the group).
- Identify the symbols for numbers 1-10 (when shown a '2' can say 'two').
- Understands concepts of quantity (less/fewer, more, none).
- Understands concepts of first and last.
- Can do sums and subtraction up to four (1+1, 1+2, 1+3, 2+2, 4-1, 3-2, etc.) when dealing with physical objects (i.e. Given 2 blocks, a child can figure out that two more blocks make a total of 4 blocks).
- Can recognize the following shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle (can name these shapes regardless of orientation).
- Knows directions: left, right, up, down, next to, behind, under, etc.
- Knows general measurement terms: big, small, fast, slow, heavy, light, long, short
- Can do a jigsaw puzzle of 8-10 interlocking pieces.
- grasps pencil correctly
- Can draw or copy some basic shapes, make proto-letter shapes, create crosses. Some children can write some letters - usually letters in their name.
- Can pinch and shape clay into recognizable shapes.
- Can use safety scissors
- Can predict patterns with 3-step sequences (i.e. red, blue, green, red blue, green, red...). These can be verbal, visual, or physical patterns.
- Has book familiarity (knows which direction to hold and open the book, knows the title is on the cover, knows how to turn pages, etc.)
- Can re-tell main points of stories in the correct order
- Can sing/say the alphabet
- Recognizes at least half of both capital and lower case letters (preferably all of them).
- Can associate many sounds with letters (preferably all letters).
- Can isolate the sound at the beginning or ending or a word.