PARENTING
PARENTING
Pay attention to your child ’ s interaction skills our child ’ s social life is paramount when it comes to kindergarten preparation . This is because in school the activities your child will be involved in are centered aroundtheir social life , that ’ s is their ability to interact with others , ability to communicate , ability to follow instructions and how well they are able to work with others . Your work as a parent therefore is to make sure that your child Is good at working in groups , sharing such things as toys and being able to do things as directed . Taking your child to things like birthdays , play grounds and libraries will help their ability to be comfortable in groups thus improving their social skills .
Encourage your child ’ s knowledge of self
Not only should your child be aware and cautious of others but should also have a good measure of self awareness or knowledge . As a parent ensure that your child can easily say and spell out their name , know how old they are , their home address , their parents or home phone numbers , their parents names , what their parents do for a living , their family structureand also several names of their various body parts . This will your child a sense of Identity and will feel that they know themselves . It also helps them not to be caught off-guard on their first day at school as opposed to the usual being quiet and unfamiliarity that comes with day ones at school . Here , you as a parent should also work on boosting your child ’ s confidence and belief in self . This goes a long way in making sure your child does not feel inferior even when they get something wrong in class .
Work on your child ’ s ease with physical activity
This in a way will help your child develop their fine motor skills which will in turn help their writing ability . As a parent you can help by giving your child some handy tasks around the house . For instance , fixing broken toys , tightening bolts , drawing , playing with water and sands and any other manual activity that will engage their fingers and limb muscles that will not be a strain to them . This will also help in their coordination skills .
Instill your child with knowledge
Instilling knowledge in your child will essentially expand your child ’ s mind . As a parent you can do this by informally educating your with basic things around the house . You can have your child read out the alphabets while pointing at them as well as numbers . Also let them spell out and write their names . This knowledge will at times even be passed over unconsciously when a reading environment and culture is upheld . Learning and identifying different colors correctly is also am important bit of knowledge that should be passed down . Your child can easily master this by allowing them to color pictures , group things around the house according to color and sizes and also by asking them to sort and arrange their clothes and toys by color .
Take time as a parent to teach your child about some simple words that can easily confuse . For example teach them to easily identify things that are the same and things that are different by
In conclusion , preparing your child for kindergarten is important as it orients the child and prepares them for what to expect and for the change they are about to face
putting things together and letting them separate them . Also teach them how to describe things using simple and easily to grasp adjectives such as “ beautiful ”. Introduce to them words like “ beside , above , under , next to ” by sending them to put things at specific places .
Take a pre tour to the school
Usually kindergartens have scheduled formal pre visits for parents and children wishing to join them . However you can always take informal visits with your child at different times so that your child can see and get familiar with the various activities that take place at different times of the day . Your child could also play with the play facilities available in the school during weekends . Also orient your child with where the washrooms are and what every room in the school compound is used for .
In conclusion , preparing your child for kindergarten is important as it orients the child and prepares them for what to expect and for the change they are about to face . Parents should therefore devote themselves and their time to start this preparations as early as possible for their children to be adequately prepared and so that the change of environment and activities will not be drastic . Kindergarten preparations therefore should start as early as one year before .
LIFE TODAY MAGAZINE Issue 1 , No . 001 / 17 / December 2016 35