Hi all,

As a parent of 2 boys and a fulltime working mom, sometimes I wonder, if I’m fully involved in my kid’s education and school activities. I wish I could be more involved, but there’s only one problem - TIME. I don’t get enough time for anything.  Anyways, that wish got fulfilled very recently.  I came across this amazing website for parents called SchoolParentNet.com - it has some really cool tools for us parents like:

• online school directory and
• sign up sheets for school activities, field trips and fundraising.

You can get involved in your child's education by volunteering as a classroom parent. Get connected with other parents and teachers, meet your child's classmates and get a better understanding of your child`s educational development. View their success story link at the bottom of the page on their site. You can request an invitation from their site if you want to join. Security and Member schools links are also useful.  

 I have used it and I highly recommend it to anyone who has kids. This website has enabled all of us to be more active members in our children`s school activities.

I read to all my children all the time and when they can learn they read to me. Before school ever starts I am reading and counting and singing nursery rhymes. Both my school age children are very smart cookies. My second child ( who had myself and her sister ) could raed some words, say all her abc's, count to 100 and write her own name before she went to school. Her teacher thought this was really amazing as most of the kids couldn't even count to 10 or say their abc's. I didn't know that it was such a good thing I didn't think I was doing anything special other than playing with my child but obviously it was doing wonders for her. I couldn't understand what the other parents were doing with their children all day for the kids not to be able to do atleast some of this stuff. I was actually a little disappointed for these poor kids who obviously didn't get the attention that they needed.

I think this is a great group and I will leave any tips that I can think of.

 Lexi xxx

A great craft idea to help with pre-wring.

MAKE A PLACEMAT

Firstly get a piece of paper or cardboard. Print child's name in centre. Allow child to decorate with paint, pencil's, stickers etc.  Laminate.

Young children can trace name with finger in preparation for writing. We made one for our whole family now Jake my three year old help's set the table. He not only is remembering his name but also all the family.

Make's a great keepsake too.

Some children, especially those who haven't spent time in preschool or daycare spending the school day on their own with a crowd of other children is a big emotional transition.

To make the transition go as smooth as possible parents most teach their children to foster emotional independence. To help her gradually develop the necessary sense of self-mastery, give her plenty of opportunities to b more independent with task's you know she can handle. Gradually she'll develop self-regulatory behaviours- taking care of herself in bathroom or blowing her nose. To some more subjective, like handling her emotions in appropriate ways and treating other children with respect.

It is a good idea to get your child used to being away from you for specific periods of time before beginning school- for your sake as will as hers.

SOME IDEAS

-Arrange play dates at your home with one other child and let them interact without your direct supervision;keep a discreet eye on them . Increase the number of children gradually to four or five.

-Look for playgroups in your community or start one. This is a great way to teach them to interact with other children and some adult conversation for you.

-Check your local library, most have story hours.

-Enroll her in a claa-gymnastic's, dance or art.

-Hire a regular babysitter and set up a consistent schedule. If your child knows that you will return when you say you will, she will become comfortable with your absence.

As time goes by she will grow more confident and comfortable in situations that require increasing amounts of independence.     One of the most important things is to constantly reinforce and nurture your child's self-esteem, so she can develop self-confidence. The more confidence your child has in herself, the more confortable she will be in making the transition.

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

-Uses age-appropriate vocabulary for listening and speaking

-Can use pictures to convey meaning

-Clearly expresses basic ideas' conveys what he want to do and where he wants to go

-Expresses needs and thoughts in complete sentences

-Retells stories in his own words while following a sequence of events

-Follows and participates in simple converstions

-Correctly performs two-step directions

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

-Understands the connection (and difference) between drawing and photographs and the actual objects they protray.

-Shows awareness of the world through his senses (wet and dry, smooth and rough, hard and soft, sweet and salty, loud and quiet etc)

-Identifies the eight basic colours,

red,orange,yellow,green,blue,purple,brown and black

--Represents ideas through drawings and/or words

-Identifies basic symbols in the environment(e.g. a stop sign)

                             Recognises printed letters and their sounds

-Recognises and name some letters of the alphabet

-Sees that words are made up of letters

-Recognises and names some letters of the alphabet

-Sees that words are made up of letters

-Recognises own first name when printed and is interested in printing name by himself

-Enjoys the fun of language sounds and rhythm when strung together in a poem,song

or whimsical alliterative sentence(shows phonemic awareness)

-Sings the alphabet

-Has emerging literacy skills, including an interest in the association of sounds with leters (phonics)

-Treats books with respect and understands that a book progresses from front to back.

                                        Shows an interest in shapes, numbers and their properties

-Identifies triangles, squares, circles and rectangles

-Recognises and shows an interest in simple geometric patterns

-Is beginning to see the connection between opposites (eg big and little) and similar pairs (eg big and large)

-Has beginning knowledge of spatial relationships (top, bottom, middle, left and right)

-Counts 1 to 10 and shows an interest in associating numerals to correct sets of objects

-Recognises in order the numbers 1 to 10

-Understands and demonstrates knowledge of 1:1 correspondence (eg If there was two girls  and each has a lollie pop, how many lollies pops is there)

 

Most teachers look for good not perfect performance in each area.  Part 1

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENt- large/gross motor control

-Jumps with both feet

-Hops on one foot and can balance on one foot

-Runs without falling

-Attempts to throw and catch ball

-Carries two stacking items-such as a plate on a tray

-Uses alternate feet to climb up and down stairs

                                              -small/fine motor control

-Attempts to cut with safety scissors

-Buttons, zips and snaps items open and closed

-Keeps spills and dropped or broken items to a minimum

-Shows an interest  in correctly holding and using utensils, pencils, crayons- using the same hand each time

-Attempts to copy a circle, square and a triangle with same success

-Manipulates age-appropriate puzzles

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

-Follows rules and simple etiquette

-Makes friends and shares with others during co-operative learning experiences

-Has a good rapport with peers and adults

-Is beginning to understand and respect his own needs, thoughts and feelings.

-Understands that others have needs, thoughts and feelings too, is not completely self-centred.

-Pays attention to following directions

-Is self motivated during teacher-directed tasks

-Can transition from one task to another with ease

-Gets himself dressed and undressed

-Uses bathroom independently, while demonstrating proper personal hygiene

-Has good personal health habits (uses a tissues properly etc)

-Eats independently, especially lunches

-Can keep belongings together, has a sense of order

-Knows full name address and phone number

3 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

-Separates from parent or usual caregiver comfortably

-Feels self-confident and willing (if not eager) to try to do new things

-demonstrates self-motivation

-Has an interest in learning and is ready to learn

-Receives constructive criticism with a positive attitude

-Has a positive self image

As I work selling educational cd roms and books, I read alot of my parent reference books and I thought I would recommend some of them.

Reading magic by Mem Fox- How your child can learn to read before school and other read-aloud miracles.

The reading bug by Paul Jennings- This book explains why you are the one person who will do more than anyone else to help your children learn to read and how to help your child catch the reading bug.

These two books are a great reference in teaching your child to read.

Getting your child ready for school begins long before preschool. It begins at birth from the first parent/child connections. Research has shown that the first six years of life are critically important for brain development, a time when the windows of opportunity for learning are wide open and ready to receive input. But how much they learn at this special time depends on us the parents as we are their first teachers and we can really make a difference were it  counts the most. Any moment can be a learning moment and children learn more when they have fun. One of the best ways to prepare your child is to create a positive learning environment in your home. This can be achieved by taking the time to share activities with your child, by encouraging them to observe, create, think and express her thoughts clearly.

Reading aloud to your children builds the foundation for later reading success. It helps them to understand the connection between  the spoken word and the written word  and paves the way for their understanding of the connection between letters and sounds-the building blocks of reading.As you read, use lots of expression take on different voices for different characters. Release the inner actor.

That's all for today

 I have worked in child care and have studied child phychology and yet I still have more to learn. I know that as parents we our the most important teaches our children will ever have. And preparing our children for the future is a gift I don't take lighty. In this group I want to share idea's and give advice on preparing our children. I have read to my children from pregnancy which might sound crazy but creating a love of books is creating a love of learning. I taught all my children to spell their name with the bingo song which is fun and repetative.          J   a   k   e  and    Jake is his name o.

I will write ideas regularly, please join and give me your idea's. Any problems or need advice just ask