10 Ways to Help Your Child Prepare for Kindergarten

The following tips were created by the teachers and parents of the San Fernando Healthy Start Collaborative.

1. Talk to your child and ask her or him questions while in the car, grocery store, laundry, etc. Encourage him or her to speak in complete sentences.

2. Name/label items around the house and encourage your child to do the same i.e., while gettig dressed, name articles of clothing.

3. Teach your child a love of reading and writing. Read or tell your child a story every day.

4. Create a story together and draw pictures to go along with the story with crayons, paints, etc.

5. Teach your child shapes by using items around the house i.e., a box is a square or the roof looks like a triangle.

6. Help your child sort by sizes and colors using fruit, socks, shoes, lids, pots and pans. (They should know red, blue, yellow and green by the first day of kindergarten)

7. Take your child to the park or another placer with room to run, skip, crawl and jump. Teach your child to throw and catch a ball.

8. Encourage your child to dress and feed his or her self. He or she should be learning how to button buttons and put on her or his jacket.

9. Make sure your child gets at least 10 hours of sleep each night.

10. Have your child help you with simple tasks around the home and talk about what you are doing i.e., picking up toys or sweeping.

	Related Links Help your child succeed in the first grade America Goes Back to School Parents for Public Schools Is your public school adequate? Homework Help -- for Parents Back-to-school resources for students

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