I have found a wealth of information for parents of Pre-K students on our state site and others that I thought would be beneficial. I am including only those things I feel are MOST important. I have included a link to the sites in which the information was gathered...please check them out for more information! I am posting a link to each Parent Newsletter from the Pre-K site of Georgia. There are ideas for parents and teachers as well. Please check them out and try them at home!!

This is from the First Edition of The Pre-K Parent Post (no longer online):

Is Playing, Learning?

Remember a time when your child was so involved in an activity like watching a bug or drawing a picture that she did not hear you call her to dinner? What appeared to be play was the budding scientist or future artist at work! When we think of the concept of play in this sense, we begin to understand the importance it has in a child�s learning. Play focuses on the pleasure one gets from doing an activity; the end result is not important. Learning by doing builds self-esteem and feelings of accomplishment. While playing, the child makes choices, explores interests, acts out roles, tries new skills, makes decisions, and gains independence. Whew! And you just thought she was �messing around.�

For four year olds, �reading� is looking at books and listening to stories. Similarly, �math� is making patterns with beads and sorting cubes. Once all of these early skills are learned, they can be transferred to �academics� at the appropriate time. As children play store or office, they begin to ask for �money� and pads and pencils. As they compose games and make up rules, they learn how to negotiate and compromise. As they act out roles, they make connections about the responsibilities of adult life and appropriate ways of behavior. Through play they are learning in the most meaningful and enjoyable way. Let�s all play a little more!

Play is the work of a young child.

(no longer online) The Pre-K Parent Post Ed.2

(no longer online) The Pre-K Parent Post Ed. 3

"When my child writes, the letters are backwards, upside down, and all over the page. Should I work with her at home?"

Writing develops as part of the total language experience. When children hear stories and watch adults write words, they become eager to try getting their own thoughts down on paper. Even though they may not be able to form letters correctly yet, they should be encouraged to try without being forced or corrected too much.

As parents, you can play an important role by modeling good writing, by writing the words your child �dictates,� and by reading her words back to her. Provide the writing materials and look for the desire and interest � then seize the moment and have fun! You may be amazed to see her progress from scribbling, to more controlled letter formation, to writing her name. All of those backward, upside down letters will disappear as her experience with letters and words increases.

At four, children are developing the physical skills needed to write effectively later on. By allowing children to hold, squeeze, and grip crayons, markers, and pencils, we provide lots of opportunities to strengthen the muscles necessary for writing and help develop coordination. Playing with small blocks, fastening buttons, manipulating tiny handles and other tools help in this development. The goal in the preschool years is to give your child plenty of chances to practice handeye coordination and develop fine motor skills.

What a feeling of accomplishment arises when she can finally write her name.

(no longer online) The Pre-K Parent Post Ed. 4

(no longer online) The Pre-K Parent Post Ed. 5

"My child is in constant motion. She is always climbing, whirling, jumping, and flying! Does this type of physical activity have any real purpose or is it just wild and silly?"

Healthy four year olds are active. They use their arms and legs freely and energetically! They can run, climb, jump, and wiggle for hours without getting tired. These activities are useful for strengthening the large muscles of the body, developing balance and coordination, and releasing stored energy.

Think of your child�s body as an engine. Sometimes the engine is running on low speed, sometimes on high speed. Some �engines� seem to run at �full speed ahead� all the time! This level of activity can seem awkward and silly to an adult. At age four children are just beginning to understand that they can use their body movements to express ideas. Your child may need your help in focusing on meaningful and safe activities. For example, set aside 10�15 minutes for undivided play with your child. Tell her, �Okay, you be Supergirl, and I�ll be a kitten stuck in a tree. How can you get me down?� This helps her think through a plan of purposeful movements.

In the Pre-K program, children have lots of opportunities for expressive physical movement. They might be seedlings, first planted in the soil, and then slowly stretching to grow after the soil has been watered. They can change from caterpillars to cocoons to graceful butterflies fluttering in the air. They might become lively marching bands and galloping ponies. Along with the teacher, you can encourage your child to feel confident about her ability to express ideas through movement. She will be developing important skills and having fun as well!

The Pre-K Parent Post Ed. 6

"My child can say the numbers from one to twenty, but he gets mixed up when he counts things. Is this a problem at four?"

No problem at all! Many children can �count� or say the numbers by heart at an early age. Counting relies on memory of the number words and doesn�t require real understanding of what �five� or �ten� actually mean. Saying the numbers in sequence is fun all by itself. And at age four, children are just beginning to associate words with real objects. Parents and teachers can help a child�s understanding by counting things at every opportunity: the forks as we set the table, the steps we climb, the people in lines, the items on a shopping list. Touching each item as the child says the number helps him learn this �one-to-one� correspondence, and soon he will know that �five� means five things or five events and is more than the word between four and six. Your child can begin to understand who has more, who is taller, which item is heavier, and what counting and measuring are all about.

The language of math is part of a child�s earliest vocabulary � �more� is one of the first words a baby utters, and he sure knows what that means! Other good words that help our children learn the language of math are:

big/little long/short small/large wide/
narrow thick/thin early/late first/
last light/heavy tall/short few/
many high/low same/different more/less group pair most

Use these math words whenever you can! little ---> big

(no longer online) The Pre-K Parent Post Ed. 7

"I often find toys from school in my child�s pockets. He says they belong to him, but I know they don�t. How should I handle this?"

Telling �untruths� is a common characteristic of early childhood. For example, a child may tell her classmates that her family is expecting a new baby. While this may not be true, it is more wishful thinking than a �lie.� Children exaggerate, tell �tall tales,� and sometimes blur the lines between reality and fantasy. They promise that they really didn�t take a cookie when the trail of crumbs tells otherwise. Instead of punishing the child for lying, use these opportunities to teach the child about the value of truthfulness.

Your four year old does not think he is telling a lie about the toys he brings home. He plays with them at school, and they are in his possession now. In his way of thinking, they do belong to him. Calmly discuss with him that these toys are for all the children to play with at school. Help him return the items the following day.

If your child takes an item from a store without your knowledge, you should tell him that this behavior is not honest and not fair. He must either pay for the item or return it. Give him support as he tells the storekeeper that he made a mistake. Tell him you are proud of him for doing the right thing. (Although it may be embarrassing, the storekeeper will admire you for helping your child learn important moral lessons.)

One of the biggest jobs parents have is to raise children with strong character. All parents want their children to make good choices and to know right from wrong. Honesty is a quality that is universally valued. There will be many opportunities to teach your child about honesty throughout childhood. The lesson won�t always �take� the first time, but you will get more chances!

(no longer online) The Pre-K Parent Post Ed. 8

(no longer online) The Pre-K Parent Post Ed. 9

"It never fails! We�ve been in the car for five minutes, and my child wants to know when we�ll be there. When will he be able to understand about time?"

Time is a hard idea for young children to grasp. They live in the present and want everything NOW! Counting the minutes or hours until dinner time or the days until Grandpa�s visit seems to take forever. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow blur when children talk about their activities. This is because their understanding of calendar and clock time is just developing. Learning to tell time can begin with simple questions, such as �Do we wake up in the morning or at night?� �Do we eat dinner in the morning or at night?� �What do we do next (brush teeth, get dressed)?� A daily schedule at home and school helps the child learn the order of events in the day. This is the beginning of an understanding of time.

Measuring things that we can see and feel is easier than measuring time. Mark your child�s height on a wall chart every six months and talk about how he is growing. Give him two small bags of groceries to carry and ask, �Which bag is heavier?� Don�t worry about using exact measurement words, such as inches, pints, or pounds. Words like bigger, more, or heavier are teaching about measuring.

Give your child lots of experiences touching and seeing first hand that some shoe laces are longer than others, that a feather is lighter than a block, and that a bucket holds more than a cup. Much later in school, he will use rulers, scales, and other tools to measure more formally. How tall were the dinosaurs? How deep is the ocean? How many hairs do we have on our head? Children love to wonder about these mysteries and others, such as �When will we get there?�

(no longer online) The Pre-K Parent Post Ed. 10