Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten
Worrying about how to prepare my child for kindergarten? Kindergarten is the most exciting time of one’s life where he can enjoy and learn at the same time along with his fellow learners. It is also a very crucial stage where you learn through various activities that you take along for the rest of your life. Some children might find it an exciting experience and are eager to experience it while there are some other kids who are nervous to start off with this journey. Some of the students enjoy this essential journey while others may find long routines and lengthy curriculum exhausting. There are mixed emotions of excitement, nervousness, anxious rushing through the minds of kids at the moment. He will be following new fixed routines to develop patience and discipline.
Some steps for preparing your child for kindergarten mentally and physically and what should kids know before kindergarten are mentioned below.
1) Establish Bedtime Routines:
How to prepare child for kindergarten involves planned bedtime routine if followed up ensures a child getting a good night sleep and be able to be productive the next day. Bedtime routine follows a specific time to perform all the pre sleep activities like brushing teeth, putting on night clothes, switching off all the tabs and television. Since, sleep time is the most major change a child will be going through. A proper bedtime routine enables a child to become self-disciplined and fresher to start off the next day./p>
2) Inform Him About School Happenings:
Before initiating preparation for kindergarten, make sure a child must know of the happenings over there. You can take him for a visit to show how children mix up and perform activities and learning together. Making him aware about the atmosphere will help him adjust in a less amount of time.
3) Homework Routine:
Setting up a homework routine along with a separate homework place for students to carry out their learning process is very important. He must be taught the vitality of doing it and how it benefits in terms of learning and practicing of what you have done in school. The specific area must be distinct from sounds and play area to minimize distractions. It should have the appropriate lightning and a study table.
4) Reading Routine:
Reading should be of habit for preparing your child for kindergarten to enhance the literacy and speaking skills in children which is most effective if started initially. You can build this habit as a part of the bedtime routine or any part of the day. Read for him or make him do so to make him aware of the vocabulary and how different words are associated. This way when he enters the kindergarten stage, he is already good with reading skills and don’t have to start off from the scratch.
5) Deal With The Anxiety:
Most of the children are anxious before going to school. The new journey of school life haunts them and they start imagining with their own perceptions. Some of them might me anti-social and they don’t easily get along with others. For such kids calmness and minimizing nervousness is the key to preparation for kindergarten. Have a visit to the kindergarten with them or get some pictures to get them familiar or make them have a conversation with the teachers. You can also share the stories or your experience on your first day at school, make sure to be realistic with the kids.
6) Guide Directions:
Make sure your child responds to simple directions for example come here and introduce yourself, pass the book to your friend. That’s what he will be asked to do along with other activities. He should have a present mind and quick reactions. The best way is to make them follow on daily basis.
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7) The Basics:
There are a few basic sessions that you should start as soon as your child hits the kindergarten year. The English basics include the alphabets and common phrases and the math involves the numeral knowledge. If known earlier requires less effort and since a child goes through various changes in routine and overall schedule, it might take him longer than usual to absorb things until he manages to get settled. He wouldn’t carry burden of learning from the scratch.
8) Practice and Examine Language:
It’s always easy if you and your child exchange conversations about every day activities, your feelings and how he feels. If he is open to you, he will probably share even minute of his feelings. It’s very important to know that if a child is able to express his emotions and deliver it. When he goes to school, he is half of the day with his mates and if he feels anything it’s important that he shares and deliver it to the teacher. Also, from the learning point of you it’s important in terms of asking questions and clearing doubts.
9) Independence:
Kindergarten is a place where your child will be spending a good amount of time away from you and you need to put extreme efforts and time while preparing your child for kindergarten. Even if he is with his friends and fellows he will have to make short decisions upon himself and sometimes they would be quick. Some children tend to depend on their parents for even smaller decision which could make it difficult for them if they are away from home. You need to figure out the end results and if this is the case, there are a number of ways and activities to make him independent. You can make him spend some time with the baby sitter or the play area or involve him with some activities along with other children.
10) Read Simple Books:
A collection of simple and knowledgeable books is never a bad idea. Make it of a habit to have your child read it aloud on daily basis even if for 15-20 minutes. By doing do he’ll be learning new words and how each one is used. You can start with some interesting story books of his choice. Reading a part and making him re read it is very effective in terms of enhancing reading and vocabulary skills.
If you are one of those confused and worrying parent who is struggling with initiatives for how to prepare child for kindergarten, you are not alone. Since kindergarten is the most effective time period for a child in terms of learning, education and a step towards being independent, He will also be going through some big changes both physically and mentally and it’s easier to practice things such as sleep routine, waking up early, meal time and homework routine. Listen if your child is feeling anxious about anything, talk to him.