Teaching Tuesday: Prepare Your Preschooler For Kindergarten

I know it's January, which means that most of your kids won't be starting kindergarten for 7 or 8 months. Shout out to my 4 Australian readers, whose kids start school next month, I think. The earlier you start prepping though, the better. (Sorry, Australians.)

If you've had your kid in a good preschool or daycare, you shouldn't have to do a lot. But my definition of good is not necessarily everyone's definition, nor is it usually applicable to the most prestigious one. Good preschools should be a lot more about socializing and self-care than about learning to read and homework. (Oh yeah, there are preschools that give homework. It is horrifying.)

Life Skills Your Kiddo Needs Before Kindergarten

• Bathroom skills. The kindergarten teacher is not coming into the bathroom, nor is s/he going to do any wiping or clothes adjustment. Painful and potentially messy as it may be, you've got to get your kid totally bathroom-independent before kindergarten.
• Clothing skills. Does your preschooler wait for you to take his jacket off for him? Does she never carry her own backpack? Start fixing that as soon as possible. Before kindergarten, you want your kid to be able to put on and remove her own coat, as well as carry a backpack. Taking shoes on and off is good too. 
• Speaking skills. Chances are, your kid's kindergarten teacher is not going to be able to anticipate the needs of 20 different kids 100% of the time. So it's important for your kid to know how to ask for help politely. Role playing at home is one option, but it's probably more effective to have your kid practice talking to adults that aren't you. Have her ask the librarian for a particular book, or the waiter for more water, or a friend's parent for a snack. 
• Self-Control skills. Knowing how to wait her turn and how to handle frustrations without punching anyone will go a long, long way toward kindergarten success. If these are a real struggle for your kid, set up a reward system to improve that skill immediately. The kindergarten teacher will love you for it. 

I know that thanks to the Common Core, standardized testing and our high pressure culture, kindergarten has gotten rather academically intense. But trust me, your child will learn a lot better if he's not filled with anxiety about how to wipe himself or she's able to keep her hands to herself. However, if that's not enough for you - or your kid already has these skills (bless you, from teachers everywhere) - here are some academic suggestions as well:

• Be comfortable listening to and talking about stories. 
• Be able to write her name. It doesn't have to be great, but the teacher should be able to recognize it. I wouldn't push too much harder on the handwriting unless you use the exact same program and methodology as the kindergarten teacher will use. It's harder if a kid has to unlearn handwriting habits he got in preschool than if he just learns the teacher's way in the first place.
• Recognize all the colors.
• Be able to count to at least 10 and count objects to 5. 
• Recognize the shapes. 
• Be able to rhyme.
• Be able to recognize the beginning sounds in words. 
• Be able to recognize an AB pattern.