Kindergarten Readiness

Kindergarten Readiness

kindergarten readiness Mi chu Chu tren

Kindergarten Readiness

There is a common question parents have when their children are approaching their fifth birthday. Are they ready for kindergarten? After this question a list of thousand more start passing through their minds non-stop. Do they need to be reading? Writing? Should parents be preparing them for the big day? Are they learning enough at their pre-school, or are they playing too much?

First, I want to clarify that there is never “too much play” for a kid since this is their best way to learn. Play is actually their best path towards academic growth. Every child is unique and develops at their own pace and entering Kindergarten is their first step of their educational voyage.

Chill out parents. Children do not need to be reading or writing, or doing math and science to be ready for Kindergarten. It is true that Kindergarten are every day more and more rigorous but that doesn’t mean we need to teach our kids as much as we can before entering to school, what should we be concerned about is how prepared they are to face new friends, new environment and new challenges. The necessary skills to succeed ( and I am not talking just for kindergarten) are the ones that allow them to empathize with peers and teachers, to communicate what they feel and think and their curiosity to learn.

Just in case you still wonder if there are guidelines to check if your children are ready or not, I am going to share with you a list of things most schools are asking for.

Social Skills

  • Uses words to solve problems or conflicts
  • Uses words like please, thank you and excuse me
  • Adjusts to new situations
  • Attempts new tasks knowing it’s okay to make mistakes
  • Shows pride in accomplishments
  • Follows a simple direction
  • Stays with an activity to completion
  • Asks for help
  • Interacts appropriately with adults and peers
  • Respects the rights, property and feelings of others
  • Works cooperatively (listens to others, shares and takes turns)
  • Demonstrates increasing self-control
  • Participates in clean-up activities
  • Takes responsibility for own belongings (lunch, coat, etc.)
  • Is able to dress self

Motor Skills

  • Puts puzzles together
  • Cuts with scissors
  • Holds and uses crayons, markers, pens and pencils correctly
  • Builds using blocks
  • Tries to tie own shoes
  • Bounces, kicks, throws and catches a ball
  • Rides a tricycle
  • Enjoys outdoor activities, like running, jumping and climbing

Reasoning & concept development

  • Matches or groups objects according to size, shape or color
  • Groups objects that are the same
  • Understands concepts of in/out, under/over, on/off, front/back, etc.
  • Shows an understanding of the passing of time: concepts of before and after, and today, yesterday and tomorrow
  • Experiments enthusiastically with new games and toys, sometimes in a trial-and-error manner
  • Describes how objects are the same or different

Language skills

  • Talks in sentences
  • Follows one- and two-step oral directions
  • Uses sentences that include two or more ideas
  • Uses descriptive language
  • Knows by heart and recites some common nursery rhymes and songs
  • Pretends, creates and makes up songs or stories
  • Tells or retells stories and/or everyday experiences
  • Asks questions and expresses curiosity
  • Expresses ideas so that others can understand

Reading skills

  • Looks at books or pictures on their own
  • Pretends to read books by reading the pictures
  • Tries to read in everyday situations (signs, labels, etc.)
  • Recognizes rhyming words
  • Blends sounds into words
  • Recognizes some common words in print
  • Recognizes many uppercase and lowercase letters
  • Recognizes some letter sounds
  • Describes characters’ actions and feelings in a story
  • Relates stories to personal experiences
  • Puts events of a story in order

Writing and Mathematics concepts

  • Tries to write, scribble or draw
  • Asks you to write words or notes to others
  • Attempts to write own name and recognizes own name in print
  • Compares the size of groups of objects using language such as “more,” “less” and “same as”
  • Arranges objects in size order (big to small, or small to big)
  • Uses comparison words, like “bigger,” “smaller,” “heavier,” etc.
  • Understands concepts of none, some and all and more than and less than
  • Identifies and draws a square, circle and triangle
  • Correctly counts four to ten objects
  • Knows that the final number counted represents the total number of objects in a set
  • Recognizes some numbers, 1 – 10
  • Can distinguish numbers from letters, and understands that numbers relate to quantity
  • Understands the effects of addition and subtraction

Science and Social studies

  • Shows interest and asks questions about objects and events observed in their environment
  • Notices common properties and differences among objects and materials
  • Knows some facts about common plants and animals, such as what they eat and baby names
  • Recognizes some objects in the sky such as the sun, moon, clouds and lightning
  • Recognizes basic traditions such as birthdays
  • Understands that people live in different parts of the worlds and have different customs and traditions
  • Explores simple maps and visual representations of neighborhoods or communities

Creative arts & music

  • Recognizes and names basic colors
  • Draws recognizable shapes and simple objects
  • Tells a story with pictures
  • Moves to a beat
  • Explores with common musical instruments
  • Enjoys improvising or copying musical patterns

DIY Egg Maracas

DIY Egg Maracas

Do it yourself Maracas

Great Kids' activity
Do it yourself Maracas

Wondering what to do with so many Easter plastic eggs? We have a great idea, kids of all ages will love. DIY egg maracas, the best part of the activity is you will not need to many materials, you have already a lot of the most important: Plastic Eggs.

Materials

Plastic Eggs
Plastic Spoons
Tape
Markers
Grains (Popcorn Kernels, beans or lentils)

 

  1. Fill Egg with grain of your choice.
    Filling your eggfs with different grains each will create a nice variety of different sounds.
  2. Cradle egg between spoons
  3. Tape spoons to sides of egg.

Masking tape works the best since you will be able to decorate as you wish. Or get some funny colored/pattern tape to decorate.

  1. Tape end of spoons together
  2. Decorate with markers ( preferably use permanent markets)
  3. The best part: SHAKE!!!!

 

Have fun and share your pictures with us!

Raising bilingual kids

Raising bilingual kids

Raising bilingual kids

Who said raising bilingual kids was an easy task. Learning another language requires perseverance, attention, labor, time and interest, from both, parents and kids. When my daughter was born I was determined to teach her our native language first and let her learn English (her second language) once she entered school. We registered her for a couple of hours at school  but it was until then that we noticed that couple of hours was not enough for her to feel comfortable with the language and be able to communicate.

Do not  underestimate how important commitment and consistency are in successfully raising a bilingual child. Continuity is vital when learning a foreign language. The greater, the richer in experiences and the more continuous and intense children’s contact with a second language is, the better the outcome, ideally resulting in them becoming bilingual.

We decided she needed consistency and continuity if we wanted her to become a fluent bilingual child. We expose her to the language in ways that are fun, playful and immersive. Find playgroups of kids who are being raised in the same languages, and started the search of fun activities that involved both languages.

And let me tell you, Don’t underestimate how capable a child is of using the language when he needs to, even if with you they just refuse to speak it. They are still absorbing the sounds of the language and developing retention. And they might just surprise you one day as my daughter did. Being bilingual brings lots of benefits but definitely the most important one is the need and pleasure it brings to be able to communicate with someone else that speaks that same language. Once my daughter saw the need to speak that second language to communicate with kids their age, she started talking, without hesitation, and it became notable her interest and eagerness to learn more and more.

As with everything in life, plans change and things need to adapt, but as long as you remain convinced that bilingualism is an important gift you want to give your child, you’ll always find a way to remain consistent and stick to it.

 

Remember raising bilingual kids takes time and dedication. But the benefits, make it all worthwhile. What are you doing to help your child bilingualism? Let us know.

Raising a Bilingual children

Raising a Bilingual children

Raising a Bilingual children should not be another task of your to do list, one that you can check once you expose him once to their second language. Bilingualism is a lifetime ability that will provide your children with infinite posibilities and open doors all around the world. Getting involved in your children’s second language education will boost their ability and confidence. Here are 5 basic tips you could use to make the process more fun for both of you.

  1. Sing songs together.
    Find some children songs you can sing together. If your children have some favorite music, try finding it on their second language, that will help them understand that their second language is not far from what they like, however, is one more way to enjoy and share what they love.
  2. Read aloud to your child.
    If you know the language (even if its not your native one), read some books together, specially books full of pictures where you can point images and name things around. This will increase their vocabulary and willingness of learning.
  3. Role Play together in the target language.
    Role play gives us the unique chance to meet our children in an imaginary world and boost their creativity. For the child, this technique is used in their day to day playing activities. Encorage them to do it in their second language and they will find this language fun as their native one.
  4. Name things around the house.
    help them relate a word with a visual image of it. We are visual beings and retaining images is easier than words. Naming things around the house will help with the process of association.
  5. Be social.
    One way children learn language is by being social with people who also know the language. This way, it helps promote good conversation skills and show them one of the most important benefits of bilingualism, communicating with others.