The summer before your child enters Kindergarten is a great time to kickstart learning and prepare them for this exciting new chapter!
Start with anything that gets your student talking, reflecting, and sharing their ideas is practice for kindergarten. The special time we spend reading books, walking through the neighborhood or trying new things are opportunities for learning! This summer, get curious with your rising kindergartener. To get you started, here are a few fun ideas to do together.
- Use your weekly shopping trip as an opportunity to develop reading and writing skills.
-What you will need: Paper and pencils, Newspaper ads, & Supermarket coupons.
-As you write your grocery shopping list, give your child a sheet of paper and read the items to them. If they ask for spelling help, write the words correctly for them to copy or spell the words aloud as your child writes them. Ask your child to look through the newspaper ads to find the prices of as many items as possible. Your child can write these prices on the list and then look through your coupons to select the ones you can use. Take your child to the supermarket and ask them to read each item to you as you shop.
- Children love to be creative when it comes to drawing, and illustrations add visual imagery to stories.
-What you'll need: Drawing paper, Pens and pencils, & markers or crayons.
- Find a fable, fairy tale, or other short story for your child to read. Then ask your child to illustrate a part of the story they like best or describe a favorite character. Have the child dictate or write a few sentences that tell about this picture. To extend the activity, have your child draw and/or write as if their favorite character lived in a place different from where they live in the story. For example, how might the story of the Three Little Bears be different if they lived in Chicago?
- Story Charades - choose a story your family knows well (like a well-read book or fairytale) and act out the beginning, middle, and end of the story
- Together with your child, think of the many words that you might find on a walk outside. Examples include STOP, EXIT, open, closed, bank, library. Using this bingo template or one you draw on your own, randomly add these words, one at a time, to your bingo board. Then, go on a walk with your bingo board and cross off all of the words you find. Can you get bingo?
- Here are some additional enriching activities to get you ready for next year in English and Spanish