The Fab Mom On 2: Getting Kids Ready For Kindergarten
This fall, an estimated 300,000 students will enter kindergarten in Los Angeles County. Letter recognition, phonics, beginning writing and early math concepts are encouraged to be familiar to children before entering kindergarten, but what life skills do many kindergarten teachers across the state request we teach our kids at home before they begin school?
- Capability with simple tasks. A 5-year-old who is developmentally on track should be capable of zipping and unzipping his or her own backpack, opening food containers and snack items, effectively putting away items and cleaning up when asked and putting on their own jacket.
- Potty manners. Children should obviously be potty trained by the time kindergarten comes, but restroom manners like washing hands with soap, flushing the toilet, pulling up and buttoning their own pants and putting a dirty paper towel in the trash can are expected. Five-year-olds should also know how to blow their nose into tissues (ie: not pick their nose).
- Self-control. The No. 1 issue teachers cite as problematic within a classroom is a child who does not know how to listen to authority or control herself. Don't be afraid to implement more rules and structure as summer winds down, to start conditioning children to sit still for a bit, listen to adults when someone says no and be respectful of others. Licensed marriage and family therapist Nora Chitilian offers a few simple techniques to teach young children to calm themselves down when they feel frustrated or out of control. "Encouraging them to take a deep breath, in and out, to think of a happy event like Disneyland, a pool party, and to hold onto that happy feeling," Chitilian suggests. Teaching habits like this in everyday life can quickly become a child's go-to tool for coping.
A child's academic and social reputation starts in kindergarten can follow them through elementary school. Help our teachers by covering these bases at home; their job is tough enough already.
Jill Simonian is a Parenting Lifestyle Contributor, appearing on CBS Los Angeles every Wednesday on News at 5pm and Friday mornings at 6:45am. Her personal blog is TheFabMom.com. Follow Jill on Twitter @jillsimonian and connect with her on Facebook.
