September 11th, 2009 by El Ed Mom
What is School Readiness?
You should allow your child to have the kinds of experiences that will help them do well in school at an early age. “School readiness” means making sure your child has the academic, social, independence, and communication skills require to successful start school. Reading, talking, and playing with others will help your child prepare for their school career.
Academic Readiness
Before starting kindergarten, children need to know about themselves, their families, and the world. Children can come to school with many skills that teachers can build upon, if they have already had good learning experiences at home and with their Parents.
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September 8th, 2009 by El Ed Mom
The next several blogs are dedicated to answering the question, “How do I attain goals in an early childhood classroom?” To begin, let’s all agree what goals we are referring to. I will include socio-emotional, cognitive, physical and language as the highlighted objectives for the children. As for the parent’s goals, I will include maintaining open communication and making certain that parents are cognizant of what is age appropriate for their particular children.
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August 24th, 2009 by El Ed Mom
Guideline #1:
Transferring part of your child’s care and education to anyone other than yourself is an awesome responsibility. In order to help you select the “right” environment for your little one, it is imperative that you do your due diligence. Before visiting your first school, you should create a checklist of what to look for in your search. I believe that the first entry to the list would have you examining the school’s physical environment. Does the facility appear clean and well cared? Are the toys clean, in good condition and displayed in an organized fashion? Are there plenty of toys for the children to play with? Do the classrooms appear to be well equipped with age appropriate furniture, bathrooms, sinks, etc? Is there an area for the children to read, to play with blocks, to paint, etc? Have the teachers created displays for the children to touch or to simply look pretty? Are items in the classroom labeled clearly? Are the bulletin boards filled with creative paintings and art work or with pictures that look exactly alike? Viewing a classroom/school with a critical eye will either motivate you to learn more or to move on to the next school on your list.
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Click Here to read Guideline #5
August 17th, 2009 by El Ed Mom
Music Makers for young children
- Sing a lullaby to calm your child.
- Let your child bang a spoon on pots, pans, or plastic bowls; shake a large rattle or plastic container filled with beans, buttons, or other noisy items; and blow through empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls.
- Have your children take part in nursery rhymes. They can copy your hand movements, clap, or hum along.
- Encourage your child to sway and dance to music.
- Encourage your child to sing. Pick a simple melody such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
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August 6th, 2009 by El Ed Mom
As an author and publisher, I am shocked by the number of books that say they are for “early reading” and yet are not using the appropriate “early reading” vocabulary or any of the Dolch site words by age group. I love Dr. Seuss books!! They are fun and engaging and full of repetition and rhyming patterns, but they are hard to use as an early reading book. WHY? Because word association doesn’t work with Dr. Seuss; he uses silly off-the-wall rhymes that don’t add up in a child’s head. They would not automatically put together green eggs and ham, unless they already knew the book and the rhyme.
Top tips for helping kids learn to read:
- Empower kids into the process with simple “early reading” books that use word picture association and stress word/picture connections.
- Practice getting kids to draw one page word picture association, such as draw: Tom has apples.
- Getting them to make the connection and guess what the next word is – Tom has…they can see the apples so they can say, apples.
- Play games to get children to guess word association: if I say peanut butter, you say: __________.
- Practice, practice, practice with the early learning books that specialize in word picture association and seeing words in the early learning vocabulary.
- Make it fun with lots of picture books about repetition and rhyming patterns that are geared to “early reading”.
Smiles – Stacey
Stacey Kannenberg
“Ready To Learn Mom”
August 4th, 2009 by El Ed Mom
TV for preschoolers can be both educational and entertaining. Parents can use TV time to supplement what kids are learning at home or at school, and glean ideas from games and activities on the shows to make learning fun for kids at home. Here are some of the top shows for preschoolers organized by subject. Some shows overlap, covering different curriculum elements, but I have listed them under the main educational focus of the show. Click on the “read review” links to find out more about the educational focus of individual shows.
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July 1st, 2009 by El Ed Mom
Starting school means several changes in a child’s life. Even homeschooling brings change to the student’s life. This article gives information on what changes to expect when your child starts school, and how to handle the changes.
Starting school is a big deal. New friends, new experiences, new information, but along with the good things are some things you may not like, such as the new vocabulary your child gets from the new friends. What else can you expect when your child starts school?
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June 30th, 2009 by El Ed Mom
Are Pre-K Skills Important?
Parents are sometimes concerned about whether their child will be ready for kindergarten following a preschool education. In fact, early child care experts are noting an increased pressure by parents to teach preschool children how to count, name letters, make letter sounds, and even learn to read.
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June 23rd, 2009 by El Ed Mom
Are Pre-K Skills Important?
By Robin McClure, About.com
Parents are sometimes concerned about whether their child will be ready for kindergarten following a preschool education. In fact, early child care experts are noting an increased pressure by parents to teach preschool children how to count, name letters, make letter sounds, and even learn to read.
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