Preschool At HomeCategory: Education
Article added by: Mary Garcia
As parents of preschoolers, we often times find ourselves being bombarded with messages of what we should be doing to prepare our children for the school years ahead. The pressure can be even greater if your children are home with you. As a mother of preschoolers who are with me, I often wonder if I am doing enough for my children. I enrolled them in classes, but I wasn’t sure if that was all my children needed. Thankfully, there is an organization that monitors early childhood educational programs and creates guidelines for what an early education program should look like. That organization is called the NAEYC, the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Of course, the NAEYC’s purpose is to provide guidelines for preschool programs, but as mothers of young children, we can look to the NAEYC to see how we can provide our children with learning rich environments in our homes.
According to the NAEYC, play is fundamental to a child’s growth and development. Play encourages children to explore their surroundings, learn how to best relate to others, figure out how things work, try out new ideas, and build confidence. Some play can be structured, such as playing a game or learning the necessary moves to riding a bicycle, but other play is less structured. Some of my favorite playtime with my children is putting on music and dancing freely with them. I am always amazed at the complicated ways in which they can move their bodies. Some play can be independent play such as when children use their imagination and act out different scenarios with their toys. Other times, play is done between parent and child. In the early years of life, relationships with responsive adults are an indispensable context for learning.
There are many ways that you can introduce some school readiness skills in home to your preschooler. Some ideas that you might want to try at home are:
• Sit down and read to your child every day. This is the single most important thing any parent can do to prepare their child for school. Talk about the stories that you read and any lessons that may be present in the stories. Children like to make up alternative endings for the stories. Ask your child, “What would happen if ____ (fill in the blank) happened instead of how the story did end?”
• Try establishing a daily and a weekly routine for your children. Giving them a calendar to look at which contains pictures or symbols for what the highlights of your day will be will help them to be able to plan for their day and to make predictions.
• Provide your child with his own places for his things. A lower placed coat hook will encourage independence and responsibility.
• Notice what interests your child and expand on these interests. Finding a cicada “hatching” from its nymph stage while camping spawned my children’s interests in cicadas. We took pictures of the bug and saved the shell. Upon returning home from our trip, we researched cicadas in an encyclopedia and wrote our own book about cicadas. My children drew the illustrations. This bug is still a favorite that my children love to share with anyone who comes to our home.
• Sand and water tables are full of opportunities to learn. You can purchase a sand/water table or use a clear Rubbermaid bucket. We place our bucket on top of a children’s table. Fill it with different interesting items that preschoolers like to “get into” – beans, rice, cotton balls, confetti, even water. Save those old canisters, funnels, scoopers and containers and have fun together. Children love to explore the different textures and to see what they can do with the items in the bucket. They are learning about cause and effect, practical math (measuring, pouring, comparing), and increasing fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination. And, since it’s in a bucket, the mess is contained.
• There are curriculum options out there that expand beyond the book of worksheets that are so prolific in discount and book stores. Look for a good quality choice that allows you to work with your preschooler. The SMARTseeds Company is providing parents with thematic books that include music and activities which promote school readiness skills. They can be found on the web at http://www.thesmartseedscompany.com
The important thing is to have fun with your children while they are learning. And, through the process, you will learn a thing or two, as well.
Posted By: Mary Garcia
Web: http://www.thesmartseedscompany.com
Contact: e-mail
| About the Author: |
| Mary Garcia is the mother of 4 children, ages 16 mos. to 6 years, a former primary school teacher, NAEYC member, and together with her husband is the founder and owner of The SMARTseeds Company. |
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