Orlando Mom, Lisa Rogers, is your typical mother. Although she has successfully prepared three sons for kindergarten, she worries whether her youngest, daughter Kate, will be fully prepared to start kindergarten next year. “The schools expect more and more of kids at very young ages,” she says. Rogers reads to her daughter daily and counts items as they load them into the grocery cart. She also plays games with Kate to help her learn colors, shapes, and letter recognition.

Reading Readiness

Ann Moy has taught kindergarten at Dr. Phillips Elementary School for over twenty years and believes that Rogers is right on track.  “We expect parents to be reading to kids every day,” she comments. “Many parents panic as the preschool years come to an end, but the reality is that most of them are doing just what they need to do in their day-to-day activities.”

In addition to fostering vocabulary and comprehension, reading develops the attention skills necessary in a kindergarten classroom. “Listening is a critical part of school behavior,” Moy notes. “Students must be able to concentrate on what the teacher is saying, listen carefully for directions, and tune in to the sounds in letters and words.”

Experts suggest that one of the best steps parents can take to encourage a lifelong passion for reading is to get a library card for their child. This gives a child the opportunity to explore the delights of the library and select his or her own books, a key step toward independence, which is another expectation for kindergarten.

Central Florida offers a first-rate library system to help prepare area students who are heading to school. The Orange County Library System (OCLS) has an entire website dedicated to kindergarten readiness – www.ocls.info/kindergarten. This step-by-step guide contains information on reading, math, basic concepts and skills, art education, and more.

Further, OCLS offers an innovative program called Alphabet Bites, aimed at developing reading readiness among pre-schoolers. The curriculum for each letter is divided into five sections: Listen, Play, Read, Watch, and Do, incorporating games, activities, and materials  into each section to help kids learn the alphabet. This can be accessed from a home computer as well as the library system’s website, with on-site Alphabet Bites sessions also offered. To find out about a program near you, visit www.ocls.info.

“The library is equipped to prime your children to be successful in school,” says library director and CEO, Mary Anne Hodel.  “We are pleased to provide a wide array of resources to foster important readiness skills and set the stage for your child’s learning.”

Self-Help and Motor Skills

Encouraging self-help skills is another important step to preparing your child for kindergarten.  Teachers ask that their students be able to manage simple tasks such as getting coats on and off and hanging them up, fastening and unfastening buttons and snaps, using the bathroom and washing their hands, blowing their nose and covering their mouth when they cough, and opening up a juice box and inserting the straw. If your child still can’t tie shoes, a skill many kids don’t master until first or second grade, he/she can wear slip-on sneakers or the kind that fasten with Velcro.

Kindergarten will also offer your child the opportunity to work on crafts and various art projects.  Fine motor skills are something teachers look for in a student. Children’s hands must be strong enough to master coloring, cutting, pasting, and holding a pencil. To get children ready, have them write with pencils at home and let them cut out shapes with construction paper and safety scissors. Rogers has her daughter make bracelets with pipe cleaners and Cheerios – a fun way to develop fine motor skills in young children.  A common concept among kindergarten teachers is that if you make the learning “fun,” the skills will come.

Moy agrees. “Kids are curious creatures by nature,” she says. “Take them to the park where they can learn about plants, butterflies, and flowers. Even the grocery store is an opportunity to learn.”

The ultimate goal is to raise a motivated learner, which can be achieved easily through play and day-to-day activities.  More importantly, always keep the focus on fun. “Relax and enjoy your children,” Moy says. “If you read, play, and go places, your children will come to kindergarten ready and eager to learn.”