What should my child know to go to Kindergarten?

This is the time of year where the parents of my Pre-K kiddos start asking me if I think their kiddo will be prepared for Kinder and, if not, what do they need to work on and, 9 times out of 10, my answer is always the same... INDEPENDENCE!



I always seems like a difficult thing to tell parents to work on. "Let your child do more things on their own so it boosts their self-esteem and they are able to take on more challenges without being discouraged."

I see it a lot at conference time. Parents want to know if their child will be academically ready for Kinder when, in all actuality, their child being independent and able to work on their own is just as, if not more, important than some of the academic skills that they may have been working on at home.

So when parents come up to me and say "What do I need to work on with my child so they will be ready for Kindergarten?" I almost always give them one of the following suggestions:

~Give them some simple chores to do at home without being supervised so they build a sense of responsibility

~Let them help you pick food to put in their lunch box to encourage good choices

~Take them to the park without setting up a playdate so they can work on making friends with new children

~ Help to make their at-home space more child-friendly in terms of organization to encourage them to keep it tidy

~Set up a rewards system to encourage them to make good choices without being reminded

~Take them to a class or story time where they are required to sit quietly and listen to a book or instructions without you sitting right next to them to keep them focused

To help with fostering independence and growing self-esteem, I usually read this book to my kiddos.

It's all about being brave and facing challenges (like the first day of school) on your own!

Need more wonderful book ideas and ways to get your kiddo ready to move up to the next grade level? Check out the awesome linky party over at Smedley's Smorgasboard:

And take a look at this great pack of preschool/Pre-K/Kinder activities that your child can do at home!

Lots of great activities for only $29.99. Plus, if you enter the code SALE10, you save 10% off site-wide for this weekend only!