Helpful Ideas
Alphabet Knowledge
* Sing and say the ABC's with your child EVERY DAY
* Help them where they get stuck and fix any letters that are not correct
* Make it fun by singing it like a monster, opera singer, baby, etc.
* Practice the letters in your child's name.
Say them, write them, mix them up and put them in order.
* Talk about the sounds the letters say.
* Use playdoh to form letters
* Collect leaves and glue them on paper
* Cut up some yarn to use when making letters.
Number Sense Skills
* Count EVERY DAY!!!
* Practice the 'tricky teens' when counting.
* If your child is counting higher than 20, practice counting by 10's. This will help them to keep going after the 9s - 29, 39, 49.
* Help your child development number sense by counting objects and writing or showing them the number they have counted.
* Help create an understanding of larger and smaller numbers.
Motor Skills
Your child's core is the center of control for everything else the body does. Having good core strength will help with the following:
* balance
* Coordination
* sitting up straight in a chair
Fine motor skills will help your child with the following:
* holding a pencil
* writing
* cutting
* bilateral coordination
* self-help skills
Here are some things to try:
The bridge - child lays on back with head and shoulders on ground, knees bent, and lift and lower their bottom off the floor. Race cars under to make it a game.
Superman - lay on tummy on floor and fly like a superhero. Place a stuffed animal on your child's back and see if they can keep it from falling off.
Plank - push-up position and hold for as long as possible. Try it on knees if it's too hard. See if your child can hold it for 3 balls to roll underneath.
Wheelbarrow walk
Alligator crawl - crawl like an alligator with your tummy on the floor and pull with your arms while pushing with your feet.
Playdoh is a great and fun way to build fine motor skills.
Social Skills
* Conversation
Preschoolers love to talk, but not always to each other. Create opportunities to help your child with this skill. They should be ready to talk with friends, read facial expressions, take turns in a conversation, and stay on topic.
* Cooperation
This is more than just sharing. It is also the ability to get along with others. This comes with age and practice so make sure you create opportunities for your child to build cooperative skills!
* Conflict Resolution
Preschoolers typically are not problem solvers. They need practice finding words to say instead of hitting or yelling. Talk them through things and help them to find words for their feelings. By age 5, your child should be able to have a limited conversation with a peer, but a fair compromise is a much more advanced skill.
* Communication
Improved vocabulary and speech clarity is great but communicating well also includes the ability to express feelings, needs, wants, and knowledge with new people.
* Confidence
Help your child build self esteem and confidence. Allow them to do things for themselves without making little corrections. Learning to take initiative will help them to build self-esteem and feel good about their abilities, which will serve your child well for life.
* Self-Control
Learning self-control is an ongoing skill, but the more your child understands cause and effect the ability to control emotions will increase.
* Curiosity
Curiosity is what allows your child to explore the world, ask questions, and draw conclusions. Plan activities to encourage your child's curiosity.
Self-Regulation
Children learn to regulate thoughts, feelings, behaviors and emotions by watching and responding to adults' self-regulation. Please be mindful of the adult behaviors in your child's lives!0
Games to play to help with self-regulation skills
* Red light, green light
* Hide & Seek
* Dancing: fast and slow to different kinds of music
* Count Down: Play a game where you can count down for your child and they have to complete a task, i.e. jumps, crawls, runs, skips
The ticket is they have to wait for the word go!
Great Books for the Month
