Kindergarten Kick-Off

Your kindergartner will enjoy picture books but don't limit yourself to just the Picture Book Area of the library.  Children can listen to and understand books that are well beyond their reading level.  This is why reading is so important to vocabulary development. 

Your kindergartner may enjoy listening to chapter books, non-fiction books, graphic novels, and magazines.  Remeber to preview material to make sure that it is on your child's emotional level though.

To help you select the very best books for kindergarteners, the Keene Public Library offers two suggested book lists and posters: "100 Picture Books to Read in Kindergarten" and "100 More Picture Books to Read in Kindergarten." 

Before you begin reading a book, tell your child the title of the book and the name of the author.  Spend some time looking at the cover illustration.  Ask your child what she or he thinks the story will be about. 

Recent research demonstrates that the most effective read-alouds are those in which children are active in the read aloud. These read-alouds, called dialogic reading, result in significant gains in vocabulary and comprehension.

You can make reading interactive and more beneficial by doing these simple things:

• Asking your child to predict what he or she thinks will happen next. This sort of analytic thinking is particularly important for accelerating literacy development Encourage predictions or inferences that explain a character's motivation or connect events from different parts of the story.
• Point out new information as you read.
• Relate your child's experience to action that occurs in the book.
• Have your child turn the pages of the book.
• After you've read a book, start a conversation about the story.  Talking about books that you've shared together, helps your child develop comprehension and thinking skills.
• Encourage your child to retell or act out the story.
• Reading the same book over and over again or reading several books on the same topic can be beneficial to your child's literacy development.
• Some find it hard to sit still and listen to a story.  If this happens to you and your child, try giving your child paper and crayons.  Ask him or her to draw as you read.

Play rhyming games with your child. Rhyming activities help children hear the individual sounds that make up words.

Have fun with tongue twisters. Alliteration, or the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words, helps your child understand that sounds combine to make words.

Make an "I Did It Myself" poster for your refrigerator or your child's room. Celebrate all of the things that your child has learned to do on their own by writing those things on the chart: "Put on my shoes," "Brush my teeth," Button my shirt," Zip my backpack," and "Ride my tricycle." 

Play school with your child. Take turns being the teacher. Ride in the bus or car, read stories, sing songs, draw pictures, play outdoors, eat lunch with lunch boxes on a tray, and play a game. Pretend to take your child to school. With your child, think of lots of ways to say goodbye. Decide how you will say goodbye to each other on the first day of kindergarten.

Visit your child's school and preview school activities. Explore the classroom. Look at the books and materials, find out where the children store backpacks and hang coats.

Find out about the daily schedule for your child's class. For example, when do they have storytime, lunch, outdoor play, and rest time? Point out the restrooms, the water fountains, the lunchroom, the playground, the principal's office, the nurse's office, the media center, and other special features of your school.

Once school starts, remember to maintain predictable family routines. Establish a regular bedtime for your child. We are healthier when we go to bed and wake up at about the same time every day. Before bedtime, talk with your child about what clothes they will wear tomorrow. Be sure that everything is ready. 

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
Franklin Goes to School by Paulette Bourgeois
Off to School, Baby Duck by Amy Hest
Ready to Read, based on Timothy Goes to School by Rosemary Wells
Will I Have a Friend? by Miriam Cohen

The Kindergarten Kickoff from Family Education