Hello, thanks for joining me for this week's mindset video. We're nearing the end of the course, and I wanted to do a progress check-in with you. This is the final progress before I congratulate you on finishing the course.
Preschool milestones your child has already mastered
You've accomplished so many things up to this point. Your child has worked on:
- Learning their name and the letters in their name.
- Mastering most of the alphabet and the sounds of those letters.
- Practicing asking for help and describing the specific kind of help they need.
- Learning the months of the year.
- The names of coins.
- Measurement techniques.
- Making comparisons.
- Using complex sentence structures.
Congratulations on covering so many objectives!
Key kindergarten readiness skills to focus on now
During the remaining time before the course concludes, we will continue to focus on developing foundational skills. These include:
- Fine Motor Skills & Social-Emotional Skills: Essential skills your child will use every day in kindergarten.
- Alphabet Mastery: Finishing out learning the alphabet.
- Advanced Preschool Math: For those ready to move beyond the basics, this includes practicing months, money, measurements, and different time words.
This approach gives you an opportunity to work on additional objectives if your child has already mastered the foundational ones.
How to adjust kindergarten prep based on your child’s learning pace
If you're having trouble keeping up with all the objectives or feel that your child isn't quite interested or ready for some of these advanced math skills, feel free to:
- Continue focusing on foundational skills such as number recognition and counting.
- Incorporate math vocabulary like making comparisons and understanding concepts like "more than" and "less than."
Remember, it's completely fine to adapt the pace based on your child’s comfort and interest.
Is your preschooler ready to move beyond the basics?
We offer these additional objectives as opportunities, not requirements. If your child has truly mastered counting and seems a bit bored with repetition, you might consider moving on to new concepts, such as time and money. There's no need to strictly follow every guideline if you're finding it challenging to cover all the details. Prioritizing what works best for your child's learning style is key.
Top skills that matter most before starting kindergarten
As you approach kindergarten, some skills become more critical than others. While knowing all the letters, letter sounds, and months of the year is beneficial, it’s also important to focus on:
- Social Emotional Objectives: These help your child navigate daily school routines.
- Fine Motor Skills: Essential for tasks such as putting on and taking off their coat.
- Cognitive & Language Skills: These ensure a smoother transition into academic learning without unnecessary frustration.
These broader skills can help them succeed when they enter school.
How to fit kindergarten prep into busy family life
When days are busy, look for ways to combine multiple learning objectives through simple, everyday activities. For example:
- In the Kitchen: Have your child help out, which develops fine motor skills while engaging in conversation about the activity.
- Gardening: Involves counting seeds, measuring, and even discussing social-emotional concepts, all at once.
During these activities, your child is developing a tremendous amount of both fine and gross motor skills while helping you. Make sure to narrate the activity and talk to them while you're doing it. That develops language skills. And maybe if you're talking about what you're doing and counting out different seeds to plant or measuring things, then that's also math. Or you could be chatting with them about one of the social-emotional objectives, and you could work that in as well.
So right there in that simple activity, while just interacting with your child, you are achieving multiple objectives, and they don’t necessarily have to be the exact ones we have planned for this week.
If you look for those opportunities, your child is going to thrive because you're working on so many different things simultaneously, together.
These practical activities not only build essential skills but also provide a wonderful opportunity for bonding. Every interaction and task counts as part of your child’s school experience.
Celebrate progress and keep kindergarten prep fun and flexible
Don't feel pressured to adhere strictly to the weekly objectives. Instead, look for powerful activities that naturally blend different subjects and skills. This flexible approach ensures that your child is well-prepared for kindergarten in a way that fits into your busy life.
I hope you have a great time this week, and I look forward to seeing you next week as we approach the end of the course. Congratulations on all that you've achieved so far. Keep up the fantastic work, and I look forward to seeing you next time!