School Sparks - Kindergarten Readiness

Summer is a relaxed time in many households. Stringent school schedules are gone and children are often not in structured environments. But I found with my own children that relaxed schedules sometimes translated into “relaxed listening.” By the end of the summer, I often found myself repeating requests as my children casually paid attention. Of course, with school starting around the corner, these “hit-or-miss” listening skills my children were displaying concerned me. Perhaps you are experiencing the same situation in your summer household.

Summer is the perfect time for children to practice and move their large muscles in their arms and legs. Backyards, driveways and parks provide open areas for gross motor activities. But often I hear (from other mothers and from children) the annoying cry - “I’m bored!” I would often tell my children to “go outside and find something to do” when I heard that complaint. That worked pretty well thirty years ago, but I know that times have changed. Children now often find “something to do” that involves a media screen and very little movement. So parents may need to take a more active and direct approach to encourage children to move their bodies and hone gross motor skills. Here are ten ideas that will make moving fun for kids - even when it is warm and sticky outside.

It is extremely important for young children to develop strong fine motor skills. They will use these skills to comfortably manipulate pencils and crayons, use scissors effectively and handle small objects with ease. But developing these skills takes practice and more practice. The key to successfully helping a young child develop this important skill set is to make practicing fine motor skills fun.

One of my very favorite parts of maintaining this blog is that it gives me an opportunity to interact with the many wonderful other parents and teachers out there who also have blogs devoted to the issue of early childhood education. From time to time, I am going to highlight some of these read-worthy blogs on this site and invite the blog’s author to share a guest post.

Shortly after I joined the blogosphere, I stumbled on a wonderful blog, written by a former-teacher-turned-stay-at-home-mom to two beautiful girls. Annie Moffatt is about to begin homeschooling her children and her perspective on making homeschooling effective and fun is really a fantastic one. Without further adieu, I’d like to introduce Annie.

Worksheets added this week: Fourth of July math worksheets. Plus, extra tips and activity suggestions for making this Fourth of July a mathematical celebration.