05/05/2023
Chat #2
Kindergarten readiness
In our kindergarten readiness workshop this week, some interesting questions were raised. We talked about the skills needed prior to starting kindergarten, how parents can best support their kindergartener and school-aged student, and how to preserve the fun and innocence of early childhood while also keeping your child on target with the academic expectations of modern day school.
Let's start with skills. Contrary to popular belief, the first skills your young student will need to succeed in school have nothing to do with ABCs and 123s. The first (and more important) skills needed surround school etiquette. Knowing how to act and what's expected in school will help your child feel comfortable and confident in a classroom setting. These are things like, knowing to raise their hand, waiting to be called upon in class, and how to share (not only toys and supplies, but also the teacher's attention). Etiquette includes, for example, being able to win and lose gracefully, and having positive peer group interactions. By mastering these skills, the student develops their ability to empathize and to relate with others. In other words, the student is able to focus outside of themselves. Thus, they become more capable of engaging with the teacher, with other students, and with the academic content, which will improve their ability to learn and their overall school experience.
And this leads us right into how parents can support their school aged children. We use modeling as a teaching strategy in the classroom. Modeling occurs at home, too, whether or not it's intended. There's an old saying, "every child can learn," and it really should be, "every child DOES learn!" Children learn so much from watching what we do and hearing what we say. Sometimes this realization comes when we hear our toddler use a bad word, of which they don't know the meaning (we hope!). OOPS!
We often get to see the results of positive modeling behavior at Ko12 Kids School. Recently, a dispute arose between a few or our elementary school students during an indoor game. What could have turned into yelling, fighting and tears, was amicably resolved between the students, without any adult input. It was gratifying hear these students use "Ko12" words as they advocated for their issue, and to watch them do it in an emotionally responsible way. They had learned how to talk openly and to express their thoughts and feelings about fair play. They demonstrated acceptance of each others feelings and were able to come to a resolution. Then they went on to continue playing the game.
Questioning is another way to support a young learner at home. Someone once said that Socrates never spoke a sentence in his life because everything he said was posed as a question. This is actually another teaching method (The Socratic method). Asking questions that are specific and targeted, rather than broad and generic is a great way to get your child to remember the details of their day. For example, instead of asking, "How was your day?" You might ask a series of specific questions, such as, "Did you see (friend's name) at school today?" "Did you work on anything together?" "Who did you play with today?" "What was your favorite discussion in class?"
Be sure to actively listen and build your next question from their answers. Also, encourage them to ask you questions so you can tell them about your day. In time, your child will learn to pay attention and actively listen when you share your day with them as well. Of course, all of this goes out the window (temporarily) when they become teenagers. But this is a topic for another chat.
How can you support the academics? READ!!! Teaching your child to love reading and stories will help them learn in all subject matters. In the lower elementary grades, children learn to read. From about 3-4th grade, they start reading to learn.
Once they can read on their own, take turns reading out loud and discuss the characters and their adventures. As you read with your child, you can help make the stories come alive! Reading together will be a great source of joy for both you and your child. It will deepen your relationship and create lifelong memories.
Make learning fun and relevant! You can add learning into most daily activities. Having pizza for dinner? Talk about fractions! For example, 1 of 16 slices is 1/16th of the pie. Who ate the most 16ths of the pie? Take walks with your child and point out the geometric shapes of street signs. For instance, What shape is that STOP sign? What letters do we see? What sight words can we find? Walking in a park, you might like to look under rocks and find what the bugs that live there. Take a picture of it and look it up online with them when you get home. You can ask science questions like, "What value does this bug have to the ecosystem?" Even our youngest learners will understand bigger concepts when presented in a real life, fun and relevant way.
Lastly, how do we keep our kids young and fun when they need to also be academically competitive? It is true, kindergarten is almost always full days now and young learners are expected to read and write far younger than in years past. Keep in mind, the concept of The Intact Child. Teaching with the support of the whole child, their body and their emotions first. Only then will they be able to sit still, their motivation and curiosity high and they'll enjoy learning. Once learning is fun, it becomes easier and success and confidence grow.
Do you think your child is not yet ready for kindergarten? Or maybe they are ready but don't meet the age requirement? Consider a small private school such as KO12 Kids School as a soft transition to their learning journey. Small class sizes, lots of support and the The Intact Child teaching method can make all of the difference to starting your child off smart.
Have questions about this or another topic for a chat? Add them to the comments below! Until next time!
Sharon and Rich
