Preparation for Kindergarten is very important and highly underestimated, especially when it comes to literacy competencies such as letter knowledge and writing letter symbols.
Currently, a benchmark does not exist for children entering kindergarten and the literacy competencies they should have. This is frustrating for everyone.
It is frustrating for teachers who need to supply the curriculum effectively but who also have the added challenge of meeting the huge differences in levels that exist once kindergarten commences. For example, if the majority of her students do not know their letter sounds, she will make the bulk of her lesson to accommodate those students though she will try her best to differentiate as best she can. But what about the other 4 or 5 children who can already read!
Without benchmarks or guidelines, it is frustrating for parents who virtually have no idea of the standards that currently prevail with other children attending their school. As one mother once cried on the phone to me, “I didn’t know my son had to know all of his letter sounds before starting kindy! Now he is learning with special needs students, even though he is not a special needs student”.
My advice to you is to become a detective about your school of choice and the learning taking place there. Speak to other parents and find out what the levels of the children were like when their child started kindy. This will give you a good idea of the standard that is expected and you can plan accordingly. You could also meet with the kindergarten teacher prior to school starting.
Having the added advantage of working with many students attending many schools throughout the area, I have a basic list that I give to parents who need this information, which is provided below. In addition to this, I strongly advise you to start working with your child as soon as possible to achieve the literacy competencies below and so your child has lots of time to practise. For clients who use our service, I recommend at least a year to achieve the list below.
It is worth remembering that children have a thirst for knowledge and will enjoy the learning you offer them provided it is fun and without unrealistic expectations. Never test your child. Rather than testing them (we all hate tests!), change the learning games you play or learning toys you use to reinforce the same learning. For example, if you are learning the letter "a", maybe one day you practise writing it and the next day you make the letter with play dough, and the next day you paint it and so on. Learning to should be fun!
BEFORE KINDERGARTEN YOUR CHILD SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
* recognise all letters
* know all of the letter sounds (this is more important than the names or singing the alphabet song!)
* be able to write most of the letter symbols but not necessarily from memory just yet (it doesn’t matter if their writing is large, it’s more about the shape)
* understand that we write from left to write across the page
* write their own name from memory
* know how to hold a book the right way and turn its pages
* understand that we read from left to right
* be able to hear at least the first and last sounds of words
* be exposed to rhyming words (read books with rhyme to your child - very very important!!!)
* be exposed to the expression of words (read books with expression to your child to help your child’s vocabulary)
* blend three separate sounds together ( e.g c-a-t)
Happy learning!
Miss Olivia x
Currently, a benchmark does not exist for children entering kindergarten and the literacy competencies they should have. This is frustrating for everyone.
It is frustrating for teachers who need to supply the curriculum effectively but who also have the added challenge of meeting the huge differences in levels that exist once kindergarten commences. For example, if the majority of her students do not know their letter sounds, she will make the bulk of her lesson to accommodate those students though she will try her best to differentiate as best she can. But what about the other 4 or 5 children who can already read!
Without benchmarks or guidelines, it is frustrating for parents who virtually have no idea of the standards that currently prevail with other children attending their school. As one mother once cried on the phone to me, “I didn’t know my son had to know all of his letter sounds before starting kindy! Now he is learning with special needs students, even though he is not a special needs student”.
My advice to you is to become a detective about your school of choice and the learning taking place there. Speak to other parents and find out what the levels of the children were like when their child started kindy. This will give you a good idea of the standard that is expected and you can plan accordingly. You could also meet with the kindergarten teacher prior to school starting.
Having the added advantage of working with many students attending many schools throughout the area, I have a basic list that I give to parents who need this information, which is provided below. In addition to this, I strongly advise you to start working with your child as soon as possible to achieve the literacy competencies below and so your child has lots of time to practise. For clients who use our service, I recommend at least a year to achieve the list below.
It is worth remembering that children have a thirst for knowledge and will enjoy the learning you offer them provided it is fun and without unrealistic expectations. Never test your child. Rather than testing them (we all hate tests!), change the learning games you play or learning toys you use to reinforce the same learning. For example, if you are learning the letter "a", maybe one day you practise writing it and the next day you make the letter with play dough, and the next day you paint it and so on. Learning to should be fun!
BEFORE KINDERGARTEN YOUR CHILD SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
* recognise all letters
* know all of the letter sounds (this is more important than the names or singing the alphabet song!)
* be able to write most of the letter symbols but not necessarily from memory just yet (it doesn’t matter if their writing is large, it’s more about the shape)
* understand that we write from left to write across the page
* write their own name from memory
* know how to hold a book the right way and turn its pages
* understand that we read from left to right
* be able to hear at least the first and last sounds of words
* be exposed to rhyming words (read books with rhyme to your child - very very important!!!)
* be exposed to the expression of words (read books with expression to your child to help your child’s vocabulary)
* blend three separate sounds together ( e.g c-a-t)
Happy learning!
Miss Olivia x
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