how much preparation do kindergardeners need? (games, parents, smart, playing)

[sincere1782]

My daughter is attending kindergarden in august. She is hearing impaired so i try to work with her at least three hours a day on different things I think she will need to know like letters, numbers, reading, signing, writing her name ect. . . Is this over doing it?

[Prinny]

Originally Posted by sincere1782

My daughter is attending kindergarden in august. She is hearing impaired so i try to work with her at least three hours a day on different things I think she will need to know like letters, numbers, reading, signing, writing her name ect. . . Is this over doing it?

Absolutely not! You're being a very diligent parent in preparing your child! Kudos to you!

Not sure what area you live in, telling time, shapes, colors, street isgns are very jhelpful to your child at this age.

[Prinny]

Days of the week, how to write her name, it's endless the things to learn at her age. Anyway, you're doing a great job!

[DubbleT]

Kindergarten is weird because you can have kids whose parents have taught them practically nothing, figuring that's the teachers job, along with kids that have already learned a whole lot of stuff at home.
Maybe contact the school and see if they will let you know what they expect the kids to already know when they enter and if they will be testing the kids? When my kids went it was pretty much just the basic stuff they had to know, alphabet, colors, shapes, counting to 10 (?) The kids that already knew their stuff were in one class and the kids that needed to 'catch up' were in another.
I don't have it in me to be very structured , so I don't recall setting aside a whole lot of time for 'working' on things with my kids, other than learning to write their ABC's and their names. It was more like playing a lot of 'games', naming colors of fruit at the store, letting them cut out giant sized alphabet letters from construction paper, singing learning songs, playing I spy games, reading silly books, that kind of thing. It was fun for them and a good way to make use of our time at the doctors office, grocery store, just where ever and when ever. It worked for us. I say go with whatever works for you and you feel comfortable with.

[Sunnydee]

Three hours a day is very dedicated of you. I'm not sure you need to be that structured. As the others have stated kids come to kindergarten at all different levels. One thing that I have found that works quite well is labeling things in your house with its name - door, clock, tv, etc. Then each time the child sees the word he/she will associate that word with the object it describes. I'd also suggest letting your child go through a magazine and cut out pictures of things they like, glue them in a book, and then label the pictures. It's a cute project and can really help with reading readiness.

[5FLgirls]

I think it depends on the parents and the children. My oldest just completed kindergarten. She's a smart kid and had beautiful handwriting when she started the school year. She was writing in capitals and lowercase letters when kindergarten began. She knew some phonics but wasn't a master. She enjoys spending time working on workbooks. Last summer, we would work together on workbooks while my other children were napping. By the end of kindergarten, my daughter has blossomed. She is reading chapter books and writing stories. This is a compliment to her teacher and herself. Now, I have another daughter entering kindergarten this year again. She writes her name in capital letters, knows the alphabet and some phonics. She is not interested in school at all and I am nervous about her progress because she will be one of the youngest in her class. Besides working with her, like I did with my other daughter last summer, I enrolled her in a kindergarten-readiness program at her school. It's three hours a day for two weeks and we'll see how it goes. They're going to work on reading (phonics), handwriting, and math skills.

This is what our school would appreciate an incoming kindergartener to know (math/reading only - academically):
-Address, Phone #, Birthday (although this is a kindergarten skill they have to know too)
-Rote counting - preferably to 20
-1:1 correspondence
-identifies 2 and 3-dimensional shapes
-can complete a puzzle
-understands opposites
-sequencing
-patterning
-Rhyming
-Days of the week
-Writing first/last name
-Recalls events in stories and life
-uppercase/lower case recognition
-writing uppercase letters
-identifying phonetic sounds

Here are some examples her junior kindergarten teacher suggests we do over the summer in preparation:
-READ
-www.starfall.org (play phoneme and letter recognition games)
-videos such as "The letter factory"
-Games - "I spy", Charades, writing words in shaving cream
-Letter formation
-Using crayons
-Using proper grip on pencil
-Use manipulatives to add, subtract, pattern, estimate
-Puzzles
-Blocks/Legos
-Jenga, Go Fish, Concentration
-Cook with your child (measurement)
-Practice fine motor skills (play doh)
-HAVE FUN THIS SUMMER!!! PLAY! Use your imagination

DubbleT had it right -- there's more to school than sitting with the kids and doing workbooks (like I do). Just getting out there and having fun can be an educational experience.

[crazyme4878]

Originally Posted by Sunnydee

One thing that I have found that works quite well is labeling things in your house with its name - door, clock, tv, etc. Then each time the child sees the word he/she will associate that word with the object it describes.

Thats a great idea! I'm not very structured, either, and ever since having my second child, I don't seem to have the time or energy to work with my oldest as much.

I observed the class that my son will be in the fall and talked with his teacher. Kindergarten is more like how first grade was when I was in school (about 22 years ago). The biggest thing the teacher stressed was routine. Since you already have the routine and school is only 1-2 months away, you might as well continue it. Besides, she will have to be learning in school for longer then 3 hours a day, so it will help her patience as well.

[crazyma]

Have you checked with your school district to find out how they will be suporting your daughters' special needs due to her hearing impairmetn? There might be some specialized classes/one on one stuff, someting like that , which she could be a candidate for....just thinking out loud

sounds like you are doing a great job...she's is blessed to have you dedication. Just don't forget to have lots of fun too!!

[Brooklyn_QueenBee]

I don't know where you live, but some schools allow a child like yours into the schools at the age of three. In NYC, children with learning disabilities are allowed to start school earlier to prepare for kindergarten. You are definitely on the right track in preparing your child for school.

[BioAdoptMom3]

I am a kindergarten teacher and I am happy if a child enters my classroom able to socialize with other children, share, take care of his/her belongings, recognize his/her name in print and knows just basic things like colors and shapes. I also like for the child to be able to sit for at least a few minutes and attend to things like group games, stories, etc. If what you are doing is FUN for your DD, then you are fine. If it seems like work to her, then yes, you are doing too much. Focus on reading to her, playing with her (children who have good social play skills in kindergarten tend to be the same children who have the highest test scores in reading, math and science at the fourth grade level), talking to her about things, giving her opportunities to cut with scissors, do crafts and puzzles, taking her to the library for puppet shows and story hours, etc. If you do all of these things she should do fine in Kindergarten. One other thing you might want to do, is let her practice writing her name in upper and lower case. Only the first letter should be upper case.

Nancy