Because, as I said earlier, language is so critical to developing thought, scripts are one important type of structure that you can use to help your child prepare for preschool. My daughter loves using scripts that we take from books. When she just turned two, she went through a period of, um, how can I put it nicely? Aggression? At the time, we happened to come across the perfect book for an "aggression" script: each page asked "What can you...(bite, kick, hit)?" and had a flap to lift for the answers (an apple, a ball, a drum). We used the book as a framework during processing each time she had an incident. The script gave her brain the language to teach her not to bite, hit, and kick.

 

There is a very broad range of what is "normal" in terms of the way that children develop. Therefore, often when parents begin to worry about their children as they compare them to peers at the playground, there is really no need. However, it is important to have an idea of where your child is in terms of developmental stages. By developmental stages, I am referring to the things that your child should be able to do at certain ages. When you go to the pediatrician, he or she will give your child mini-interviews. What he is doing is checking to make sure that your child has reached certain milestones. However, because your child does not see the pediatrician very often and early intervention is so important, I suggest you periodically check the following web site: www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/devmile.htm. On this site they do a very nice job of listing skills.

 

"Pre-academic" skills are those that children need before they can begin learning reading writing, mathematics, and all of the other "academic" tasks. Though each state regulates specific standards for preschools, pre-academic tasks typically fall into six basic categories: self-help skills (taking care of their own bodies), motor coordination (climbing, kicking, snapping), social-emotional growth (sharing, following rules), language development (understanding what others are saying and expressing themselves), cognitive development (thinking), and study skills (transitions, organization).

 

One of my friends once called and told me that she planned to hire a tutor for her five-year old child to teach him how to read. When I told her that at his age he was not expected to read, she told me that although she knew that he didn't need to read at that point, she did not know how to help him. She was trained in business--had an MBA from one of the top schools in the country--but that didn't help when it came to helping her child know how to read. Here are some of the tips that I gave her.

First off, the first thing to do when you want to teach your child how to read is to read to them. Through story time, they gain all sorts of pre-reading skills: increased vocabulary, print awareness (how to hold the book, turn the pages, and read from top to bottom and left to right), narrative skills (the ability to understand and tell stories), letter knowledge (the understanding that letters have sounds that are different from one another), print motivation (the enjoyment of books), and phonological sensitivity (the ability to hear and manipulate different sounds). Speaking to children and playing sound/word games also encourages many of these pre-reading skills, so if your child is making up silly words though rhyming, play along because it help with their phonological awareness. It is also important while you are reading to stop at times and point out things in the pictures and ask your child what they think might happen next. This will get them thinking ahead and work on their narrative skills.

Most parents work to make sure that children recognize letters and know the sounds associated with the letters. In English, the vowels have many different sounds, so sometimes it is easier to work with consonants first and not worry as much about the vowels. Once your child associates letters with sounds, you can help him or her sound out easy words. It is helpful to start with games where you ask your child to substitute the initial consonant sound in order to form new words. For example, tell him that h-o-p spells "hop" and ask what t-o-p spells. Give several examples and play with the different sounds. After the initial consonant substitution, try ending consonant substitution.

When reading with your child before he begins to read himself, here are some strategies:

• Memorizing: After reading books several times, children are able to "memorize" sections. As you read books that your child is familiar with, begin to let them finish sections
• Using Repetition: read a book with a phrase that is repeated and let your child "read" that section (ex., The Very Busy Spider)
• Read to Me: Ask your child to read you a book with which he/she is familiar. They will tell you the story using the pictures and parts that they have memorized.
• Using Picture Cues: Let your child "fill in the blank" as you are reading by using the pictures.
• Using Context Clues: Let your child "fill in the blank" as you are reading by asking what word makes sense in the sentence
• Guess and Check: Same idea as picture cues, but now have them "check" using the initial sound, then later using ending sound

When your child is ready to begin to read some of the beginning reader books on his own, preview the book before reading it. Tell your child what the book will be about, using some of the more difficult words from the story. As he begins to read, encourage him to use the beginning sound to "guess-and-check." This means that based on the story line and picture cues, he can guess what the next word should be and then check the beginning sound to see if the word matches. If your child is reading and guesses a word that is incorrect, he has still used an effective strategy, particularly if the words start with the same letters. Having a child sound out every sound in the word can be excruciating--it will not encourage a love of reading. At first, just give him the word of he is struggling or ask him to make one guess.

As parents, it is much more important to encourage a love of reading than it is to directly teach our children to read. However, the more exposure children have to print and the more that you work with them, the more likely they will become good readers themselves.

Prewriting skills

Writing begins much earlier than we think. Before they even hold a pencil, children are learning the skills that they need to write. All of the pre-reading strategies that I outlined will also help children with their writing. Any fine motor coordination exercises, from play dough to puzzles will help prepare them to begin to write. Anytime that they "play" post office or letter writing gives them practice that helps them to begin writing.

One of the most frequent questions that I get from parents when their children begin to write is, "Is my child dyslexic if she writes her letters backwards or writes from right to left?" The answer is "no." It is perfectly normal for children to begin writing their letters backwards, right-to-left-or even upside down. When they begin to write, children have very little concept of spacing, so often when they write their names, they put the letters anywhere on the page--this is fine.

Here are some strategies to encourage children to write, but remember, do not push too hard. Let your child explore with their writing!

• "Tell Me About That": Ask your child to explain what they write or draw (It is much nicer than saying "What is that") and then write it under it for them.
• Letter practice on the computer: Let your child type out letters on the computer. It helps to make the font larger.
• Invented Spelling: Let children begin with invented spelling- help them to sound it out.
• What does it start with?: If they ask you to spell, have them tell you what the word starts with...gradually progress to what it ends with and then letters in the middle (consonants first, then blends, then digraphs, then vowels) Be aware of the frustration level.
• Journal Time: Create a journal & include it in a part of your everyday routine. Have your child draw a picture and then write one sentence about it. Have them tell you what it says and write it under what they wrote.

 

 

In my experience as an educator, the two things that I found that children often have the most difficulty with, and are often not directly taught, are study skills and negotiation skills. By study skills, I mean the organizational skills necessary to prepare themselves to study. So many students do not know how to organize their notebooks or keep track of their assignments. By negotiation skills, I mean the ability to talk to one another in group work. Much of their time in school is spent talking with the teacher or sitting quietly, so when students are asked to work together in a group, they are lost. The important thing to realize is that these skills do not come naturally. Kids need to be directly taught how to organize and how to work together--and often it is not being done in the school. It is important for parents to do their best to teach skills at home and present opportunities for students to practice them. Some things to keep in mind:

• NEVER ASSUME: Often parents assume that children have skills that they do not. Many study & negotiation skills need to be directly taught to some children, particularly those with ADHD and/or LD
• BE DILIGENT: These skills need to be worked on daily--even if you are short on time. Fit them in--don't let children leave with his/her notes out of his/her binder--they are bound to get lost!
• BE FLEXIBLE: Ask children to share their own strategies & if their strategies work, don't make them change to yours--there are many different methods for study skills and working things out.
• BE PATIENT: These skills sometimes fall into that "duh" category--the ones that we can't believe that children are not getting it even though we have gone over it time & time again. Kids are not trying to make you angry--it is very tough for some kids to be organized or negotiate so it takes a lot of time and patience to help them.

 

The key to choosing the right preschool for you and your child is doing research early and registering early. You should start almost a full year in advance. If you wait until January and plan on sending your child in September, that may be too late. Most schools require children to be 2.9 years old by the time they start school in September. There are a few schools that have 2 year old programs.

Start calling preschools to get some basic information about the program. Schools can range from being in a persons house, a few rooms in a church, to a gorgeous campus of a private school. Think about the type of environment you would like your child to be in, such as: do you want your child to be in a structured environment, do you want your child in a program with mixed ages or do you want a school that emphasizes social skills. Once you find a school that sounds like a good fit for your child, make an appointment to see the school while it is in session. Try to meet some of the teachers or at least watch them in action so you can determine if they are nurturing enough for your child.

Be prepared to go into sticker shock over how much preschools are. Depending on the number of days and hours attending, it could range from $2,500 up to $10,000.
Suggested Questions to Ask:

1. What is the registration process and timing?
2. What is the cost?
3. What is the cutoff date for age?
4. Is the school state licensed as well as the teachers?
5. How long have the teachers been teaching at the school?
6. What is the ratio of children to teachers/assistants?
7. What are the activities and lessons given?
   -Music, art, computers, weather, color, letters, shapes, etc.
8. What schedule provided to parents?
9. What types of progress reports are given?
10. How are the children disciplined?
11. Are there volunteer requirements for the parents?
12. Are there field trips?
13. Are visitations by parents allowed?
14. Do the children need to be toilet trained?
15. How is hygiene taught to the children?
16. What is the sick child policy?
17. Does the parents or school provide snacks?
18. Are there food restrictions for snack/lunch?
19. What security systems do they have in place?
20. Is there a religious aspect to the school?

• Bathrooms: are the sinks and toilets easily accessible; are they located in the classroom
• Outdoor/indoor play area
• Clothing teachers are wearing: are they wearing clothes that look like they can messed up and easily play with the kids