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HOMEWORK: Preschool / Kindergarten for you and your child...... |
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This page will give you ideas to do with your child in their natural environment. Quality time between parent and child is a positive experience. Activities that promote bonding, increase self esteem, model social interactions and interpersonal relationships. In addition, they foster respect and language skills in young children. This is the work of early childhood education, to lay a foundation for the future. Life today is a balancing act for many of us, with precious time split in many directions. Often we have to make appointments for simple activities or they do not get done. Homework time is one way of scheduling quality time for us and our children. Homework should coordinate with your child's developmental level, skills, abilities and interests. Below are some suggestions for activities you may want to try. 1. READ! READ! READ! -The most important thing you can do to foster future academics is to read to your child every daay. Reading promotes language and literacy, fosters imagination, facilitates sequencing, deductive and reasoning skills. 2. Visit the library regularly - Allow your child to look at books at the library. Check out books to take home. Take advantage of story hour and other free activities the library offers. As soon as your child can write their own name, they are able to obtain their own library card, taking responsibility for books they check out. 3. Household Chores: - Children should take some responsibility for their belongings in the house. Among the chores young children can assume are, putting their toys away, putting clothes in drawers and in the laundry hamper, helping to set the dinner table (napkins, plastic dishes and flatware). 4. Playing games while driving in the car: - Look for a certain letter or number on automobile license plates. What is the speed limit? (Child has to look for the speed limit sign and read it to you). Watch the traffic light. When can we go? (Child has to inform you of change in light color from red, yellow or green. Read the signs on the road. Find all of the vowel sounds in the signs etc.. 5. Child's Shopping List: - Have your child create their own list to help you shop at the grocery store. This can be done by allowing them to cut out recognizable logos, words, colors or pictures from empty wrappers that are being thrown away. The cut outs are then glued onto a sheet of paper. The creation of the shopping list promotes fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, matching and recognition of color, shape, word, and picture (logo). This becomes the child's shopping list. They can spot or reach those objects from the shelf as you go through the aisles. 6. Create a Carry Kit: -Update the Carry Kit, to ensure it is current with child's skills and interests. 7.
Games: -
Jacks-bouncing a ball and scooping the jacks, promotes hand-eye
coordination and manual dexterity. 8. Activities to promote fine motor skills: String beads, folding paper: fold 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc. Origami, paper air planes, etc. Pegs- putting pegs into a pegboard. Cutting with scissors- younger children can cut freely, older children can cut pictures from magazines, or draw an object (shape, letter, etc.) and cut it out. Gluing or pasting activities- mosaics out of tile or paper shapes, seeds, any activity where the child places the object on the glued surface rather than pouring (such as sand or salt). Small building blocks- Legos, Bristle blocks, stacking blocks, etc. These also promote concepts of mathematics and physics. Puzzles- especially puzzles that require the child to put a shape into a box, or other small space. 9. Cooking: Measuring, pouring and stirring promote fine motor skills. Concepts of math and science References: Educare Learning Center, Philadelphia PA |
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