This time last year I began an educational journey with my children that I decided to share here for all parents of preschool-aged children. The articles are titled “The ABC’s of Kindergarten Readiness” and each article dives into a different facet of early education to the stay at home child.
A: awareness, becoming aware of your child’s abilities and what is expected from your district/state upon kindergarten entry.
B: build, building a lesson plan catered around your child.
And now it’s time for C: conclusion.
After a year and a half of testing and exploring my children’s education from home, I’m here to report what worked and didn’t work for us. When we began this process I dove in enthusiastically and became frustrated upon hurdles. My kids were willing, but I was almost setting them up for failure by being too spastic with my lesson plans. I was aware of my lists that needed to be done before they entered school and aware of the time frame. I attempted to work a letter, a shape, a number, and a color… all in ONE day!
I’ve realized though this was not possible and they weren’t remembering it all. Their favorite ones would be marked in their heads and that became their answers to everything.
After feeling like a failure and encountering some obstacles in my personal life, I gave up my “lesson plans” for a while. They still were learning in a laissez-faire type way. Every experience is a learning experience and we still talked about it all, but we avoided the pen and paper like the plague. Until one day, I got the notion that we need to try the plans again. Not as structured, but we will work on one section at a time. For example, one day would be the alphabet. I showed them a letter, I wrote it once, I had them trace it with their finger in a book, and had them try it on the line.
There are large differences between a three and four year old. Differences in personalities, ages, and readiness. My daughter was willing. My son was not, but does that mean I ignored him? No! Remember, every experience is a learning one. I let Matt tell me what color I was handing him each time before giving it up for him to creatively draw “storms” aka clouds of scribbles. This was a reward response method that seems to work best for him. Carmen blazed from letter A-C in no time at all!
So, I got daring. I wondered if she could write her name (a task she has to do to be kindergarten ready for KY). I wrote it large in black and let her attempt to write it below. I was amazed! It may not be completely legible, but she was applying herself in ways she hadn’t before with her writing… she was learning!
With this I realized, I don’t have to act like a preschool teacher for my child to succeed from home. I don’t have to go verbatim by the list to get them ready. Kindergarten Readiness is all about opportunity and applicability. If it seems like your kid is showing an interest in something… explore it together. Talk about it. Read books about it. If they seem disinterested in a book or activity that you had planned, change it up to something new. If they want to run around for an hour outside screaming like a banshee, have at it!
They come equipped with what they need. It’s just our job to provide them with those golden opportunities that spark the interest to more. Raising toddlers isn’t for the faint of heart, it takes patience and a ton of time. Schooling them at home isn’t as stressful as it seems. The more you relax from your scheduled tasks and give into the “what’s this?” or “how do I?” questions, the easier it will be for them. Every child can be kindergarten ready, they just need the support and encouragement to be there from a parent who is willing to try. By reading this and researching, you are already showing that you are there.
So in conclusion; Be aware of their needs for improvement, but build opportunities instead of lesson plans.
Provide creative means, but let their minds be the muse. Structure a stable environment for success, but allow them the space to achieve it themselves. Kindergarten readiness is more of a give and take experience than I had ever imagined. I feel that through this journey though, it has really allowed me to learn more of my children’s personalities more than anything. How they learn and what they enjoy will one day turn into the extra help they need in school or the passionate career they wish to pursue in the future. For now, though, I’m just a mom… seeing the potential and providing the means for them to get there themselves.
