Kindergarten Readiness:

What and How your child should be “reading” prior to kindergarten. Reading

Beginning Stages of Reading (Pre-reading) Pretends to read stories Retells stories from pictures Echo text that is read to them Makes up a story using illustrations, not actually reading words Memorizes stories and tries to re-read the book Plays with books, pencils, or paper Identify letters in own name

Phonemic Awareness Beginning to identify rhyming words (“If I say cat you say _____”) Sing along or clap along with songs to the rhythm (Bingo) Beginning to identify words that start and/or end with the same letter or sound (Cat, cake, cape, kite, coat) Understand that letters makes sounds (The Letter Factory by Leap Frog)

Concepts of Print Holding a book (Identify front and back cover) Turning the pages independently Beginning and ending of a story/book Tell the difference between the words and the pictures

Environmental Print Print/pictures your child sees in everyday life Restaurants, Stores, Buildings... (McDonalds, Stop Signs, Target) Identify letters, Symbols, Colors

Writing How your child’s writing should “look” prior to Kindergarten.

What can you do at home? Scissors Play dough Shaving Cream Lacing Letters Stress balls Trace circles, curves, straight lines Practice writing first name and last name initial. Workbooks

Math Math concepts your child should be able understand prior entering Kindergarten:

Teach your child the language of math by using words like: big/little, heavy/light, long/short, add/subtract, more/less, near/far, empty/full, same/different, and first/next/last.

Identifying and Constructing Shapes Form shapes out of food, popsicle sticks, or toothpicks.

Counting is as Easy as 1, 2, 3 Before kindergarten, your child should know how to count to 10 and identify numbers Here are some simple counting activities: Have your child count fingers and toes, toys, cookies or the number of cans to put in the grocery cart. Incorporate preschool physical education by playing hopscotch, or counting steps, jumping jacks or trampoline bounces. Tell your child to bring you 1 book or pick up 6 toys. Go on a scavenger hunt in your neighborhood to find 1 bug, 2 flowers, 3 rocks, and so on. Reinforce the concept of 1 to 1 correspondence by having your child set the table or give each member of the family 1 cookie.

Counting is as Easy as 1, 2, 3 Give your child spare change to save. Help him count the number of coins as you put them in a jar or piggy bank. Sing preschool action songs that involve numbers and counting. (The Ant’s go Marching, Five Little Ducks, This Old Man) Hang a wall calendar in an easily accessible location. Help your child count down the days to important events. Invest in puzzles and storybooks that emphasize shapes, colors and numbers.