The list below includes some of the early academic indicators of kindergarten readiness. It’s by no means comprehensive, but it will provide you with an understanding of what will be expected of your child as well as offer tips to help you prepare him or her for a successful transition to kindergarten.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child listens to and understands stories.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Begin to read board books to your child as an infant.
• Read the complete story first, for enjoyment, without interruptions.
• During additional readings, ask questions about the story, and encourage your child to ask questions.
• Let your child turn pages, showing that he or she knows it’s a story.
• Gradually introduce longer books that require more patience and focus.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can retell stories that have been read to him or her
or tell original stories.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Have your child reread a familiar book and try to retell it.
• Read nursery rhymes together, and encourage your child retell them.
• Provide puppets or flannel board cutouts that your child can use in retelling the stories.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can find matching objects.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Have your child practice matching objects, such as:
  • socks from the laundry,
  • pencils or pens,
  • earrings, and
  • food cans in the pantry.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can sort objects by their attributes: color, shape,
size, and function, such as things that roll and things he
or she can write with.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Once your child can match objects, encourage him or her to practice sorting them into categories like these:
  • Color: Find all the blue shirts, silver coins, and red blocks.
  • Size: Put big bath towels in one stack and small face towels in another.
  • Shape: Find all the round objects in the room.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can identify words that rhyme.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Talk about how some words rhyme: that is, the last part of the words sounds the same.
• Have your child find the rhyming words in nursery rhymes; for example,
  • Jill and hill rhyme in Jack and Jill;
  • Humpty and Dumpty rhyme in Humpty Dumpty; and
  • dock and clock rhyme in Hickory Dickory Dock.
• Play rhyming word games, such as “I know a word that rhymes with house. . . . It is a little animal. . . . It is a . . . mouse!”

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can identify patterns.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Point out patterns as you go about your day, such as patterns in clothing,
  in plants along a street, and in books you read.
• Play pattern-guessing games by arranging objects in a pattern
  (for example, two red, one blue; two red, one blue), and ask your
  child to identify the pattern.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can name colors.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Discuss the names of the colors; show how some colors can be made by combining other colors (For example, red and white makes pink.).
• Read books about colors, such as The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown and A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni.
• Use watercolors to paint, and ask your child to mix colors and name them.
• Ask your child to name the colors around him or her, such as in his or her room, on his or her clothes, and in the crayon box.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can identify some letters and numbers.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Help your child start to distinguish letters in simple words that he or she often sees written. Begin with the letters in his or her name.
• Point out numbers on everything, such as on money, clocks, signs, phones, and the TV remote.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child begins to understand that letters stand for the sounds
he or she hears in words.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Talk about sounds for some of the letters in your child’s name, in books, and in other words that he or she often sees during the day.
• Write your child’s name and other simple words on a piece of paper or a dry-erase board to show how letters form words.
• Use magnetic letters on a refrigerator to make real and nonsense words, and sound them out with your child.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child recognizes some signs.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Ask your child to “read” words seen during his or her daily routine, such as stop on the stop sign, walk at a crosswalk, gas at a gas station, and the names of favorite stores or restaurants.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child begins to recognize some sight words.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Have your child point out words, such as the, a, an, and, I, me, is, was, are, go, and stop, that he or she sees often as you read books together.
• Write sight words on index cards, and play word games, such as a memory matching game, with your child.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child begins to “write” by scribbling; drawing; or imitating letters, numbers, forms, or shapes.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Give your child paper and writing tools in a shoebox that he or she can use to begin to write, draw, or create shapes.
• Give your child a paintbrush and a bowl of water to “paint” on the sidewalk or driveway. (Talk about evaporation as his or her creations disappear.)

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child understands how numbers are used.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Show your child how numbers are used in everyday life, such as:
  • to count items;
  • to keep track of money, distance, weight, and length; and
  • to measure amounts used in cooking.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can count to 20.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Look for opportunities to count items out loud for and with your child, such as:
  • setting the table,
  • sorting clothes,
  • measuring ingredients, and
  • organizing toys.
• Encourage and help your child to count objects he or she sees during the day, such as:
  • stairs,
  • cups of water, and
  • streetlights

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child understands how some words are opposites: up and down, big and little, tall and short, quiet and loud, as well as light and heavy.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Point out examples of opposites that you see.
• Play an opposite-guessing game: “The opposite of day is . . . night!”

Remember, while kindergarten-readiness skills are important and will contribute to a strong foundation for future academic success, the activities that lead up to kindergarten readiness should be enjoyable for your child. Make them fun family times and part of your daily routine so that your child begins to view learning as a positive and natural experience.

The post Kindergarten Readiness: Academic Indicators first appeared on Age of Learning.

A small bin full of water placed on a table can provide young children with hours of learning. I found that when my class of four-year-olds was involved in water-play experiences, there was no such thing as a limited attention span!

Creating this kind of experience is a simple three-step process:

1. Provide objects for your child to use to explore with, like these:
   • plastic measuring cups that float
   • ceramic cups of similar sizes that do not float (non-fragile)
   • tubes
   • small PVC pipes
   • sieves
   • boats
   • plastic bottles
   • measuring spoons
   • feathers
   • rocks
   • funnels
   • small plastic toys
   • wooden blocks
   • an old-fashioned hand mixer
2. Join in the fun:
   • Fill up and pour out the containers.
   • Use the measurement lines on the measuring cups to help teach words and develop language, such as: full, empty, half-full, 1 cup, and 2 cups.
   • Compare objects that float with those that sink.
3. Talk about what you and your child are observing, as in these examples:
   • Since water is a liquid, it changes shape to fit whatever container it’s in.
   • Some things float on water, and some things sink.
   • The way an object is shaped can help determine whether it floats or sinks.

Sometimes, step 3 is difficult to do in the midst of the activity, because your child can become so engrossed that he or she doesn’t have time for you! That’s a good thing, so in my classroom, I would take a few pictures of the children as they played; then I showed them the pictures afterward and posed questions about what they were doing or what they observed. Having a discussion like this will help your child construct understandings and learn to describe ideas, including liquid, density, buoyancy, measurement, matter, and weight—all of which are physical science concepts that he or she will need to understand in later grades. Your child won’t necessarily be able to use or understand these words yet; but through exploration, he or she will have gained experience with the concepts that the words stand for.

Of course, these days, you don’t have to limit yourself to still pictures—you can capture and present short videos that illustrate the things you want your child to observe and discuss. You also don’t have to do this activity with a bin or water on a table; it can be perfect during bathtime, followed by a conversation at bedtime.

As with many science topics, there are some wonderful children’s books about water; one of my favorites is Water’s Way by Lisa Westberg Peters. Share this book with your child to help develop his or her understanding about evaporation, condensation, erosion, and how water flows—through text and pictures designed for a young child’s reading level.

Here are some more ideas for water explorations:

• Place a small amount of water in a plastic bowl. Give your child a thick paintbrush and tell him or her to “paint” with water on the sidewalk or at the park or on the concrete slab in your backyard. Talk about the “disappearing” pictures or letters, which can be a wonderful introduction to a discussion about evaporation!
• Buy an eggbeater or hand mixer at the dollar store. Have your child play with bubbles not just by blowing bubbles, but also by placing dish detergent in a large bin and using the beater to make lots and lots of bubbles. This will also provide hand coordination practice for your child!
• Place ice cubes on a napkin, and have your child watch the ice melt. Have him or her hold the cube for a minute or so, and discuss how his or her warm hand makes the ice melt faster.
• During bathtime, talk about sponges and how they absorb water. Compare and contrast the sponge with a bar of soap, which does not absorb water. Compare whether both can float. Try floating and sinking other objects. Ask questions about why your child thinks this happens and how weight and shape can make a difference.

Remember, you don’t have to be a science teacher to teach concepts like these to your child. All you have to do is create an environment with interesting things to explore and objects to explore with. Put your child in the environment, and become curious and interested in what he or she sees, hears, and touches, and explore right along with him or her. As you do this, you will be planting seeds of understanding about physical science concepts that your child will formally encounter in school before too long.

The post Learning Through Water Play first appeared on Age of Learning.

One of first learning experiences that you can provide for your young child is counting. However, counting is really a complex experience and an important building block for understanding the concepts of numbers and mathematics.

Usually, the first counting-related skill that children learn is the ability to recite the words for the numbers in the correct order: one, two, three, four, five. . . . This memory skill is important (just as it is useful to know The Alphabet Song in order to learn the names and order of the letters of the alphabet), yet even as children begin to recite the numbers in order, they typically don’t have any understanding of what the words one, two, three, and so forth actually mean. According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the standard for numbers and operations for prekindergarten through grade 2 is “count with understanding and recognize ‘how many’ in sets of objects. . . . ”

When children “count with understanding,” they understand that the word one refers to one object of any kind, the word two refers to two objects, and so on.

Everyday experiences can lead children to discover and understand the relationship between quantities and the words that are used to talk about numbers. For example, when counting, children need to learn that there is a one-to-one correspondence of object and number (like matching one person to one cookie) and also that counting two after one means that the first and second objects need to be added together to make the two, and so on!

When you give your child things to count, start with the objects displayed in a line, so that he or she can see each object individually and count the objects sequentially:

X X X X X X X X X X (10)

Counting from left to right and touching each object as it is counted helps your child to understand the one-to-one correspondence of an object to a number. In addition, moving the objects closer together while he or she counts will help your child to understand that the number four, for instance, refers to all of the objects counted up to four and not just the one called four:

XXXX (4) X X X X X X

You can also provide practice in recognizing sets of objects by the way they are grouped, like the dots on a six-sided die. Children can count the dots, recognize the pattern, and learn that they won’t have to count again as the set/pattern becomes associated with the quantity it represents. This simple game can help:

1. Hold five or six small objects (buttons, grapes, pennies) in your hand.
2. Roll out a different number of them.
3. Tell your child to look at the objects you rolled and quickly name the quantity without counting.
4. Repeat this activity.

After a while, your child will very quickly be able to identify and tell you the number for each quantity of objects.

Additionally, provide practice in recognizing sets of objects by the way they are grouped in a line, like this:

X

X X

X X X

X X X X

X X X X X

The most important thing about teaching counting and other early mathematics concepts to your child is that he or she should see numbers as part of his or her real-life experiences. Look for opportunities to count with your child whenever possible. For example, you might count everyday items, such as these:

• packages of macaroni or beans in the kitchen
• leaves that have fallen off of a tree
• buttons on a jacket or sweater
• school buses you see on the drive to school
• forks, spoons, knives, plates, and napkins to match the total number of people eating together

To nurture your child’s grasp of numbers and counting, continue to ask him or her questions like these:

• How many shells did you find? Please count them one by one to find out.
• Did you look at all of the petals on this flower? Please count them to find out how many petals there are in all.
• See these two beans? Let’s add two more beans. Please put them together and count them to find out how many beans you have in all.

Integrating counting into your child’s life will help him or her to understand that counting is an essential skill that’s important to learn—like learning to read.

And speaking of reading, here are a few captivating children’s books that will help your child develop the concept of counting:

• Doggies by Sandra Boynton
• 1-2-3: A Child’s First Counting Book by Alison Jay
• Roar! A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards
• Miss Spider’s Tea Party: The Counting Book by David Kirk
• Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

The time you spend with your child on this subject will reap helpful rewards when he or she encounters numbers—in preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten—and already understands that these symbols and words actually represent quantities. Mathematics educators call this understanding number sense, and it’s an essential foundation for your child’s future mathematics learning.

The key foundation skill of counting and the concept of quantity will help your child develop an awareness about numbers that will serve him or her forever. This is vital, because your youngster can count on counting being around for his or her whole life!

The post Learning to Count and Counting on Learning first appeared on Age of Learning.

Set a Routine

First, routine is critical. Kids in their early years thrive on routine, and they most consistently get this in school. It’s important to establish a daily routine while your child is at home and to follow it. Set times for reading, math, snack time, lunch, and even free play.

Keep a Journal

Encourage your child to write down what they see, hear, think, and feel briefly each day. If your child isn’t ready to write independently, have him or her dictate their thoughts to you. Any subject is fair game, whether or not it relates to the coronavirus. You’ll be making a lot of memories together during this time, and written recordings of them will become treasures for you and your child later on in life.

Start a Pen Pal Program

Kids love to get mail. Because contact with other kids may be limited, consider starting a pen pal program with classmates, family, and other friends. They can send their letters by email or by good old-fashioned snail mail. And, not only do kids get the benefit of writing, they’ll also love practicing reading when they receive letters from their pen pals!

Tell a Shared Story

Work together to make up a fun story. Begin a with an opening like “Once upon a time, there was a hungry frog.” Then ask your child to say the next sentence. Continue taking turns adding to the story until it is finished. This is a rich literacy and language-development activity that’s bound to bring big laughs. And when you’re done, you can create illustrations that bring the story to life.

Practice Measurement 

Before kids learn about standard units of measurement, like inches, feet, pints, and gallons, they can begin to understand the concept of measurement using non-standard units. Use shoes to measure the distance across a room (How many shoes does it take to cross the room?) or pencils to measure the length of a table. Use different sizes of cups and glasses to fill a large bowl or bucket with water. Then talk about how the size or the cup or glass affects the number of times you use it to fill the bowl or bucket.

Work with Patterns

We’re most familiar with visual patterns—patterns of shapes, sizes, or colors, for example—but patterns can also involve sounds or movements. Work with your child to identify the next item in a pattern you start, or alternatively have him or her start patterns for you to continue. Here are a few examples: Visual Patterns

• Small, large, small, large
• Red, red, blue, red, red, blue
• Circle, square, triangle, circle, square, triangle

Sound Patterns

• Snap, snap, clap, snap, snap, clap
• Long sound, short sound, long sound, short sound

Motion Patterns

• Sit, stand, sit, stand
• Arms up, arms out, arms down, arms up, arms out, arms down

Sort, Count, Compare

Provide your child with a pile of objects that includes different colors, shapes, or sizes, such as buttons, paper clips, or blocks. Ask your child to sort the objects, count how many are in each group, and order the groups from fewest to most. Challenge your child to find other ways the objects could be sorted. As an edtech company, we’re excited to do what we can to help everyone make the best of this unprecedented situation. And we’re here to tell you that you can do a lot to for your children during this time. Take a deep breath, do a little prep, and good luck!

Our Digital Learning Programs

Lastly, if you’re looking for educational screen time, we are providing free access to our award-winning digital library, ReadingIQ. Use the code LOVEREADING. You can also sign up for ABCmouse and Adventure Academy, or get free access through your school district. — Joel Kupperstein, SVP Curriculum at Age of Learning

The post You’re Suddenly a Homeschooler! How To Keep Your Preschooler or Kindergartener Learning. first appeared on Age of Learning.