Is it the right time to send my kid to kindergarten? Will he/she be able to make friends? What should I do to help them prepare for it?
As a parent, these thoughts might have crossed your mind. It is very normal to feel this neurotic anxiety as it is a challenging task for a parent to send off their little one to a daycare center.
Being a parent and the first teacher of your kid, you’ve done a good job teaching them lessons. Intentional actions aiming to teach any skill or a lesson to kids are one of the best ways you can prepare them for the kindergarten stage. As the registration for the rising kindergarten program in Alpharetta is approaching, we’ve compiled this guide to help you prepare your little one.
Keep reading to learn how your little steps will help your kid adopt various life skills.
Is It The Right Time?
Most of the daycare centers recommend registration at the age of 4 or 5 years. Some even say if your kid crosses 3 years of age, they should enroll in kindergarten programs.
According to research, most of the developmental milestones of kids are achieved by the age of 5 years. Therefore, it is better to get your kid to adopt the daycare environment during this age. It will help them grasp the new ideas and concepts looking for them.
How Should I Prepare My Kid For This Change?
Creative Labs Center’s team is here to prepare you for this major shift in your and your kid’s life as well. Here’s a list of some simple tips you can adopt to help your kid get ready for their wonderful kindergarten experience:
- Support the development of a sense of independence:
Independence? For little kids? What does it mean?
Well, it doesn’t mean to fully give your kid the authority to do what they want to do. It means, let your kid make choices. Present them with 3 or more options and ask them to choose one. For instance, “What would you like for dinner? X, y, or z?” or “Which dress you wanna wear? The red one or the purple one”.
That’s how you can help them achieve a sense of self-acknowledgment. Their preferences, choices, likes, and dislikes.
- Create a proper reading routine:
Research shows that 92% of parents value reading aloud with their kids as spending quality time with them.
Creating a proper reading routine will help your kid develop a love for books and reading. Whether it is 15 minutes of reading before bedtime or any time of the day, it is helpful for your little one.
Thumbs up for you if you’ve already created a reading routine with your little one.
- Encourage self-help skills:
Self-help skills are the ones that help a person be on their own—doing their own chores and helping themselves on their own.
Self-help skills for kids mean helping them pick up their toys, brush their teeth, or help with any chore.
- Help them discover shapes and colors:
You can make it very interesting and playful for both yourself and your kid. There’s no need for fancy equipment_ just you and your kid’s intellect.
Help them understand and identify different shapes. Using your daily-life objects, walking on the street, ask them to identify a color.
Just this simple!
- Promote following directions:
It is a vital skill of the kindergarten program. Being attentive and able to follow directions.
You can promote attentiveness and the ability to follow directions in your kids by giving them multi-step tasks. Such as 2 to 3-step tasks or directions. For instance “Emby, brush your teeth, pick up the toys, and go to bed” or “Jack, say Allas! Jump and repeat after me”.
Slowly and gradually, your kid will learn to be attentive and follow directions.
- Help them develop fine motor skills:
Motor skills are the easiest to develop with practice. Give your little one different objects such as crayons, paper, colors, and child-safe scissors. Let them write, draw, or make anything. It will make them use their sensory and motor skills and by the time they get used to it, it will be developed into a polished skill.
- Encourage learning the alphabet and numbers:
One of the best ways to help your kid learn the alphabet and numbers is by engaging them with you in your daily life. Use magnetic alphabets you use for your refrigerator to help them identify and sense them. You can teach them numbers/counting by asking them to count how many times they drink water. Or how many shirts you washed while doing the laundry.
Use these simple ways to encourage learning in a multi-sensory way.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Rising kindergarten programs are the foundational skill builders for your kids. They learn major life skills, oral skills, social skills, and many more being a part of it.
You can easily prepare your little one to get into a rising kindergarten summer camp program by executing intentional actions. They help them learn while they are just being themselves or living their life.
By focusing on motor skills development, attention span, language development, and basic self-help skills, you can prepare your kid for wonderful upcoming opportunities.
Our summer camps for rising kindergarten programs are an exciting opportunity for your little ones to explore the wonderful nature around them. If you’re interested to register your kid, learn more about us here.
