COULD YOUR GRADUATING PRESCHOOLERS BENEFIT FROM A KINDERGARTEN BOOT CAMP AT THE END OF THIS SCHOOL YEAR or DURING THE SUMMER?!?
Fun and enriching ideas for a 2 week Get Ready for Kindergarten Program For children entering Kindergarten in the Fall, offer a Kindergarten Boot Camp style program that mimics what will happen during the first month of Kindergarten. Not necessarily an academic program, more of a social and skills based program to help children have a better transition. Returning from Disneyland the day before a child's first day of school is not going to help a child!
Practice all the skills needed for a successful transistion to Kindergarten:
*Taking shoes on and off.
*Hanging up jackets on hooks.
*Practice lining up at the door and at transition periods.
*Join a Summer Reading program and read together everyday for at least 20 minutes. Most Kindergarten programs request that parents read with their children for at least 20 minutes every night as part of their "homework." Start now!
*Cut pictures out of magazines and paste onto paper to improve scissor and pasting skills
*Go shopping for a new backpack and lunchbox.
*Sit at circle time and listen to a story and learn to raise hands and share or ask questions when asked.
*Practice asking for assistance when needed (i.e., straw in juice box, where is the bathroom?)
*Practice writing name in new and fun ways.
*Before school starts, make sure you transition to earlier bedtime and earlier wake times.
*Take an outside walking tour of the school so you can show your child where the location of the bathrooms, playground, and office. Best to do before the first day of school to help ease transition without so many other children on campus at the same time.