As the front page of the New York Times reported, the legacy of kindergarten is far stronger than previously thought. An explosive new study has revealed that how well kids learn in kindergarten, in fact, sets them up for college, marriage, retirement and a higher salary.
There are lots of things GRANDparents can do to help their pre-schooler get ready for Kindergarten.
1.Read with your grandchild on a daily basis.
2. Play ABC games that encourage your grandchild to recognize the letters of the alphabet-both uppercase and lowercase. Ask your grandchild to “find the letter” in newspaper articles, on menus, or in street signs.
3. Have your grandchild practice his pre-writing skills with activities that build hand-eye coordination. Games such as Connect-the-Dots, tracing shapes, and coloring books are good ways to build fine motor skills and coordination.
4. Play 1-2-3 games that encourage your grandchild to know his numbers 1-10 and beyond. Ask your grandchild to find numbers on the remote control, on bus lines, and maps.
5. Play addition games with your grandchild using real objects. If you give him raisins for lunch, ask him to count out ten, add five, and then count the total to see how many he has.
6. Introduce the eight primary colors to your grandchild, and have him practice distinguishing them from each other.
7.When your grandchild is coloring, ask him what colors he used. Ask him to talk about his drawings.
8. Haveyour grandchild sort objects by color, by type, by taste. If you’re cooking, let your grandchild sort all the sweet-flavored items into one group for you, or all the green vegetables.
9. Have your grandchild lead you around the neighborhood, guiding you to your home, to the local store, to the bus stop.
10. Discuss the world around you whenever and wherever you are. Explain what you can, and let your grandchild explain things to you. Don’t correct your grandchild too often. Eventually he’ll know what he needs to know, but for now it’s okay to believe in magical things.
By: Raquel Jarramillo, Director and Editor of Brain Quest,
