To give parents an idea of what it takes to prepare a child for their first day of kindergarten, we’ve put together a four-part series with advice from a panel of teachers with over 85 years of combined experience! Look for more next issue, and find past steps on HappeningsMagazinePA.com.

The teachers recommend using everyday experiences for learning. If you’re playing with your children and you see an opportunity to teach them– go ahead and use it.
Let them help with cooking, use play dough to strengthen hand muscles, use every opportunity to count, like counting silverware as you set the table. You’ll want to expose children to different things and places by taking them to the zoo or museums or on walks around town. Encourage them to try new things, whether it’s a new food or a new activity.

In her pre-school class, Sandercock works with children as young as three years old to start preparing for kindergarten. “The classroom is filled with manipulatives, and we do a lot of number work,” says Sandercock. “We have a wide variety of ages, so if pre-schoolers are ready for kindergarten work, they can do that work. In our school, pre-schoolers are with kindergartners for part of the day, which makes them more motivated to try the things older children are doing.” Her classroom emphasizes counting accurately by doing things such as counting the number of children present and number of days in school or repeating dates. For language, they might match a picture to the sound it makes or write letters in cornmeal, which is great because “if the letter isn’t completely correct, it’s easy to erase and fun to work in,” explains Sandercock. Mascaro recommends, “Be interactive with children; color with them; sing learning songs together. Music is a great way to learn numbers and letters.”–Erika A. Bruckner

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