Greetings to all! Welcome to a new school year! I’m thrilled to know you have entrusted me with your child’s care! First grade is a time of great importance in your child’s educational experience. The foundation is laid to establish critical academic skills that will enable your child to feel confident and assured in his/her attempts to venture outside his/her comfort level of learning. Here are a few key areas you may assist your child’s development as pre-emergent and emergent readers.
Set aside some time for reading aloud every single day. Let this be a time to bond with your child by snuggling close to him/her. If you read just one story a night, your child would gain more than a thousand story-sharing experiences in one given school year. Here are some tips you can use to boost your child’s thinking skills-and have fun at the same time:
Occasionally, stop in the middle of a story (choose an exciting place.) Then ask your child, “What do you think will happen next?” Keep reading to confirm his/her predictions.
Read for enjoyment. Children feel pressured to succeed when you try to teach them to read before they enter school. Reading is a developmental process. If your child learns to read by himself/herself, that’s great Please do not force him/her to do so.
Develop language skills by speaking with your child as you travel or shop pointing out familiar signs and acquainting him/her with new learning experiences. Here is a list of places you might ordinarily visit and let your child tell you about the visits.
Airport, Bank, Farm Carwash, Police Station, Fire Station, Park, Post Office, Library, Bakery, Construction Site, Fair, Stores Bus Station, Railroad Station
Buy or make hand puppets and help your child put on a puppet show of a favorite story or one he/she made up himself/herself.
Talk about familiar items in your home to help children learn that things have names. They can make labels to show that the names can be written down as words.
Limit your child’s TV viewing. Children who are watching television are not playing outside, thinking, or being creative. Many experts think children should watch no more than tens hours weekly. When possible, watch television with your child and talk about what you’ve just seen.
Playtime can be a
learning experience.
Look for shapes/objects. You might say, “I see a blue square. Can you find it?” Or “I spy with my little eye, something that begins with a “c”…such as a closet in the kitchen.
Cook together. Help your child measure, he/she can learn some basic math skills, or find the items you need to cook or bake.
Clip Coupons. Your child can learn names of items and associate each with a picture to increase his/her vocabulary by familiarizing him/her with words.
Fill your sink with water. Allow your child to find objects that may sink or float and have him/her make predictions and give reasons why his/her prediction was correct.
Allow your child to finger paint, color, draw, cut and paste.
Take a walk with your child. Stop and watch the activity around that you may see or hear.
Expect your child to succeed in school. Children work harder in school when parents expect more, and generally they relax when parents expect less.
Give your child challenges he/she can master. Help him/her to climb the steps to the playground slide. Teach him/her to button his/her own clothing, tie his/her own shoes, learn to ride his/her own bike, learn how to roller skate, etc. Each of these skills will boost his/her confidence.
Let your child make choices. Children learn to gain confidence in their abilities to make good choices by modeling. Asking him/her to choose between 2 or 3 choices enables him/her to develop this skill.
Defining boundaries. Children test limits to develop a sense of security. Rules are something everyone must follow. Teaching rules and having consequences which are developmentally appropriate is extremely important to your child’s ability to thrive and learn in a safe and appropriate environment.
Schedules. Children need to develop and follow schedules, as this is a fact of life. They may assist in taking responsibilities, which are developmentally appropriate to them, which may impact their day. Rising and retiring at a regular bedtime and eating a nutritious breakfast are critical to their learning in school.
Shared Responsibilities. Allowing children to take on responsibilities that are developmentally appropriate is a necessary product of life. Teaching your child to empty his/her own back pack and having a designated place to put notes/papers will not only help you child learn responsibility but, ease your crunched day by giving you one less task to complete. Teaching your child to remove his/her uniform and place in an assigned area will allow him/her to readily prepare his/her clothes for the next day. Laying his/her uniform, shoes, backpacks, snacks and prepare lunches out the night before will keep everyone’s stress level down!
HAPPY FIRST DAY OF
SCHOOL!!
Miss Lavoie, First Grade Teacher
