How to help your Child.

The following practices support your child's learning in kindergarten:

• Look for child's strengths and build self confidence. Establish limits for appropriate behavior.
• Encourage clear speech.
• Model and have child practice being a good listener.
• Help child express thoughts in logical order.
• Provide opportunities for cutting, tracing, coloring, using a pencil.
• Encourage child to practice buttoning, zipping and tying shoes.
• Teach cooperation and kindness with others.
• Involve child in chores around the house.
• Develop awareness of colors and shapes.
• Set a special time to read every day; show the pictures and the words.
• Encourage child to talk about the story or information book.
• Write words and stories that child dictates.
• Develop awareness of letters and numbers everywhere. Visit places of interest to build experiences.
• Limit TV watching.
• Write child's first name, the first letter is a capital and the others are small letters.
• Model how to solve problems by talking.

Reading aloud is the best learning experience that parents can give their children!

When is the right time to start? It's never too soon to read to a child.

A baby won't know the words you read but he/she will begin to connect words with pictures and with meaning.

How do you read to your child? It's good to hold your child or sit close to share a book.

• Read the title and author.
• Take a picture walk through the book before you read it. Show the page you are reading.
• Encourage your child to talk about the book and predict what will happen.
• If your child talks about the story, stop reading and discuss it.
• Choose nonfiction books as well as storybooks.

Mathematics is everywhere in the life of children! It helps them to understand their world in terms of numbers and shapes. It teaches them to think logically and to see connections. Helping young children to think mathematically is a gift of countless worth.

When is the right time to start? It is never too soon to give your child opportunities to explore all kinds of material. Math concepts are developed when parents encourage a child to touch, shape, order and compare all sorts of objects found in the home.

How do you interest your child in math? A child who is given the freedom to discover how things work and how things are related learns that math is interesting and fun. Thinking mathematically teaches a child to communicate, to reason and to solve problems. Content math instruction builds mathematics skills in specific topic areas.

Parents can:

• Help a child find shapes and patterns in the environment. Talk about numbers and count everything.
• Find ways to express ideas with pictures, diagrams and numbers.
• Ask questions and give time to think about the answer. Inviting a child to figure out a solution to an everyday problem.
• Share activities that divide food or chores.
• Talk about what you are doing and invite child to help when possible.