Is your child ready for kindergarten?
According to a report released yesterday by Age of Learning, Inc., the odds aren’t as good as you might think.
In a survey of 500 teachers across the country, more than 66% feel that children are not adequately prepared for school. Furthermore, “veteran kindergarten teachers” feel that the percentage will only grow higher in time.
In fact, a whopping two-thirds of those teachers reported that the majority of kindergarten children did not know the alphabet when they entered. And less than nine percent of the teachers would describe the oral language skills of their entering students as “very good.”
So what can be done to address this problem?
For starters, think pre-school! Most teachers (95%) felt that preschool attendance was “beneficial” to the student, with 75% stating it was “very beneficial.”
Another great way to get kids ready for school is by using educational technology to make learning fun. For example, Age of Learning, Inc. is the creator of ABCmouse.com, an educational website for children between the ages of two and six that offers a variety of content for the youngsters, ranging from reading to science, but also including art and music.
But parents don’t have to leave it up to gadgets. The report also includes recommendations from teachers on how to prep your child for kindergarten. Here are a few:
1. Actively participate in your child’s education with pre-reading and reading activities, such as reading books together and practicing the alphabet.
2. Expose children to new experiences and talk with them about those experiences in order to improve their ability to speak and understand oral language and increase vocabulary.
3. Work with children to identify shapes, colors, and objects in the world around them.
4. Place children in social settings with other young children so that they can learn together while they also develop manners and the ability to share and be respectful.
Want more tips? You can get more specific suggestions on how to work with your kids at www.ABCmouse.com/PreparingforKindergarten
