Oh, it’s time for kindergarten. If this is your first kindergartner, you may not know what to expect. Kindergarten varies from school to school, but here are some general principles that apply across the board.
Kindergarten assessment is done before your child begins school. The teacher will do some testing to see where your child is at as far as learning. As you watch this take place, you might feel like you are being put under the microscope. “You didn’t teach your child the shapes for oval and rectangle? He doesn’t know what the J sound makes? Try not to take personally the responses that your child gives. Everyone learns at a different rate.
Assessment will review colors, shapes, letters, writing, more & less, and other skills as applicable to the teacher. Remind yourself that this is just a help for the teacher, and a way to gauge what your child has learned since they began. During parent teacher conferences, the teacher will refer to the assessment to see where your child has progressed.
Prepare for homework. Your child will have homework assignments, probably on a daily basis. You will have to help with these. Think of it as after school learning, and you are the teacher. This is also a good time to start collecting magazines or newspapers, because you can be sure that you will have to start clipping out pictures that begin with the letters of the alphabet.
Kindergarten is a great time for your child. They will learn and grow so fast during this year. They will make new friends and begin to discover more of the world around them. With your help, this can be a successful year for them.
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Each child has a unique way of learning. The three learning modalities are the sensory channels we use to obtain and process information. Visual learners process information best with pictures and diagrams; these children learn best seeing things. Auditory learners learn best by listening and discussing things. Kinesthetic learners learn best with a hands on approach. Most children learn through all three learning modalities.
Temperament theory states that all people differ in their interests, attitudes, judgments, and perceptions. This greatly affects how we want to learn, what we want to learn, and the way we learn. When a parent learns what their child temperament style is, they can plan out how to effectively teach their child. There are four temperament styles: where the attention is focused, how information is acquired, how decisions are made, and work habits and lifestyle. The child is either extroverted or introverted, which means either focusing on outside objects, people events or inner world of ideas. The child is either sensing, which means the child acquires information from the senses (concrete and present) or intuition, which focuses on insight, inspiration, future, and possibility. The child either makes decisions based on logical analysis and cause and effect (thinking) or on personal values and the affect on the self (feeling). Lastly, the child prefers their life to be orderly and structured (judging) or spontaneous and flexible (perceiving).
Howard Gardner, originator of multiple intelligences, defines seven kinds of intelligence. Most children have strengths in two or three of them and need work on the rest. One kind of intelligence is verbal/linguistic, which is speaking and reading. Another type of intelligence is logical/mathematical, which is concepts and abstract patterns. Another kind of intelligence is visual/special which is thinking in images, pictures, shapes, and colors. Another kind of intelligence is musical, such as rhythm, pitch, melody and harmony. Another type of intelligence is bodily/kinesthetic, which is touch, making, and doing. And yet another type of intelligence is interpersonal, which is relating and cooperating with people. Last but not least is intrapersonal, which is independence and self-motivation.
Learning how your child perceives the world around him/her and learns will allow you to maximize their intellectual strengths and teach them effectively.
Parents who decide to home school their pre-school children have researched the value of teaching your own children at home. Beginning home school at the pre-school age is an excellent way to get the parent and the child used to the idea of learning at home. This is also a great way to ease into learning how to teach and organize the home school schedule. The child is not used to attending a school; therefore there is no adjustment period. Also, pre-school children are incredibly easy to teach because it is mostly in playing that they learn.
When creating a tailored preschool curriculum, parents provide a safe environment with interactive toys. Believe it or not, the parent is the child’s first teacher. Children at this age imitate everything their parents do by observation, playing, helping, talking, and listening. Reading to children at this age is one of the best ways to develop avid readers. At this age, a standardized curriculum isn’t necessary. Children learn from coloring, cutting, pasting, counting, singing, rhymes, games, playing with clay, playing in the playground, and learning to get along with others. It is important to include some of these activities daily in an unstressed, relaxed manner. Children at this age need your love and attention more than they need academics and structure.
The key to learning at this age is to provide a lot of hands on projects, particularly with arts and crafts. Many children in this age group have play dates where they meet with other children and go to parks, farms, even shopping trips. Pre-schoolers love to be included in everything you do, whether it be emptying the dishwasher, or sorting mail, and especially baking. Even though it may seem that their short attention span doesn’t allow for intense learning, they are learning real life experiences.
