14 Things Your Child Needs to Know Before Kindergarten

When your child approaches Kindergarten, it is a moment of self-reflection. About six months from the time my child is due to enter Kindergarten, I really sit back and evaluate...what have I done with their lives so far? Have I done enough? Have I spent enough time? Do I need to change things or do more?

Kindergarten doesn't need to be a panic moment. A child can quickly learn in Kindergarten. However, the more your child knows from this list before Kindergarten, the easier the transition will be on him.  These skills and topics may be covered in Kindergarten, but they are covered very quickly before moving on. 

Here are 14 things you should focus on before your child enters Kindergarten. This post contains affiliate links.

How to Use Scissors
This might seem trivial, but the teachers at my school have stressed this is one of the most beneficial

things to work on with your child before school starts. Children need to be able to use those scissors in school, and when you have a class of 20ish kids, it takes time to go through and teach them all how to hold and use scissors. It is a small and simple thing, but if your child can use scissors going into Kindergarten, her life will be easier.

Depending on the style of preschool your child goes to (if your child goes to preschool), scissor skills might not be something you even need to think twice about. If you want or need to work on it at home, however, I really enjoy the Kumon workbooks to help you prepare. I have also co-authored an eBook titled Babes, Tots, and Kids that is a preschool homeschool that can be used from baby on through Kindergarten age--and we wrote it to be able to include all of your children at the same time. We have fine motor skills focus each week. 

How to Use the Bathroom Independently
Your child needs to be able to go into a bathroom, use it, pull up pants, and wash hands all independently in Kindergarten. Some children really fight against this skill. Brinley fought against it, in large part because she is so afraid of heights that she was scared to sit on the toilet independently. I explained to her that she had to be able to use the toilet alone or she couldn't go to Kindergarten. She desperately wanted to go, so she worked through her fears and did it!

How to Put on a Coat/Zip Up Backpack/Etc.
Again, think through the idea of being a teacher in a class of 20ish children. What do the children need to be able to do independently? Even in a class of 10-15 students, the whole class benefits when students can be independent. It would take a lot of time for a teacher to pack each backpack, put each coat on, zip every jacket up, and put backpacks on every back. Help your child learn to be independent.

How to Clean Up After Self
A teacher is not a maid. A child needs to know how to take a napkin and cup to the garbage. A child needs to know how to put her pencil box where it goes. A child needs to realize it is her job to take her paper scraps and put them in the recycling. Have these realities be a part of home life, and your child will be able to naturally incorporate these skills into Kindergarten life. Anything that comes naturally to your child will be of benefit and make the school days easier on your child. 

How to Be Patient
It is not easy for a child to wait. At all. Many times in school, you need to wait. It might be patience as you wait for help from the teacher. It might be patience as you wait for your favorite activity of the day to come up. It might simply be in line for the drinking fountain. Patience is a skill that serves a Kindergartener well. We all know an impatient child can wear on your patience, so it is so nice and helpful to the teacher if the child knows how to be patient. 

How to Share

School requires a lot of sharing. You share attention. You share talking time. You share space. You share materials. You share toys. Kids need to understand how to share. 

How to Sit and Listen to a Book
There are a lot of stories read in Kindergarten. But this skill isn't only for the story reading. The teacher will need to give explanations and instructions. If your child knows how to sit and listen, it will help with many aspects in the day.

How to Take Turns
Children need to take turns at the drinking fountain. They need to take turns talking. They need to take turns looking at a certain book or playing on the swings at recess.

How to Count to Ten
You want your child to be able to count to at least ten. Getting to twenty is a nice bonus. You also want your child to be able to count ten objects, so if you put ten crayons in front of your child, she would be able to count them out.

How to Identify Numbers
Your child will need to be able to count, but also be able to look at a number and know what number it is. 

How to Sort
Sorting is needed for math time as well as in basic life.

How to Distinguish Shapes

Yet another math skill needed is to recognize shapes. 

How to Recognize and Say the Letters of the Alphabet and Their Sounds
Kindergarten moves quickly. Words and their sounds will be reviewed at the beginning of the year, but that is what it is. A review. The more your child knows, the easier the jump into transition will be. 

How to Write Letters
Knowing how to write letters will b a big help to your child. If this is a challenge, at the least have your child work on writing and fine motor skills with correct pencil grip. You can do this through fun activities--they don't have to feel like "worksheets" and homework.

Conclusion
These 14 things are overwhelming if done the week before school starts, but quite easy to teach slowly over time. There are endless ideas online, and again, my eBook Babes, Tots, and Kids will help you build these skills. Keep in mind you just want your child to be equipped to move at the pace of the curriculum without having to worry about basic social or academic skills. 

Kumon Workbooks {Friday Finds}

Last winter as I attended the meeting for incoming Kindergarten students, the skill the teachers stressed more than anything was scissor skills. As I sat there, I remembered in the recesses of my mind that I had long-ago purchased a scissor skills workbook.

I got home and went to my closet of learning/art supplies and found several workbooks, including one for cutting paper! I started Brinley working on those, and she finished all of them the week before Kindergarten started. She loved them. I loved having things already printed and ready for her to do. 

Kumon is not the only brand to make workbooks. I have used Brain Quest with other children and really liked that one. I have a whole eBook for a year's worth of learning. Each week has numbers, letters, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and more. You can also find lots of ideas just on Pinterest. There are days you can't beat just having things already done and printed for you to use, though.

Do you have a favorite workbook?

When To Keep Sick Kids Home

That feeling of dread washes over you. You saw the pictures on Instagram earlier that day. The photos of her little cutie lying limp on the couch because he had been vomiting all morning. "Poor guy!" you had commented, inserting a little sad-faced emoji. Now here he was, just a few hours later, at the park. Germs ahoy!

The dread quickly morphs into frustration if not down-right anger as you think about the next few days and the high likelihood you will be welcoming the same puke-fun into your home. Isn't it obvious that a child who was puking a couple of hours ago should still be home?

Fortunately, it is obvious for most (though sadly not all) people. There is a whole list of other illnesses, however, that are not so obvious. Parents aren't always sure when to keep their little one home and when to send them out. I remember having those questions myself as a first time mom. We can't keep kids home every time they have a stuffy nose, but there are some clear times we should keep kids home and we need to know when those are.

To further complicate the issue, if something really fun is going on at school that day, you can be sure kids will go even with major sickness. Crazy hair day, class party, fun assembly, etc--there will be sick kids present. I have literally never seen so many children puking in the school office as on crazy hair day. So even though some are obvious, the obvious can get pushed to the side in favor of the fun. 

Before I get into the details, I must point out that if your child is attending a daycare, preschool, or church nursery, there are most likely some clear guidelines and rules for a sick child from that institutuion. They might be more strict than what I am about to present and they might be more lenient. Be sure you are aware of the policy wherever your child is going. Our school district has sickness guidelines created by the district nurse. If you are not sure what the guidelines are if they even exist, contact the person in charge and ask them what they think you should do. I direct a musical, and each year I get several phone calls from parents asking me what I want them to do with the sick child. I get the symptoms and then either tell them the child is good to come to rehearsal or I tell them to keep the child home. It never hurts to ask and people usually appreciate you checking rather than just spreading germs. 

Nauseated/Vomiting: Keep Home

The official guideline for vomit seems to be if the child has vomited two or more times, then the child needs to stay home. They also say if the child has a fever in conjunction with the vomiting, the child needs to stay home. In addition, if the child has been vomiting, the child should stay home until she has been vomit-free for 24 hours. 

The reason for the "two times" rule is that sometimes kids can throw up even if they aren't sick. Sometimes they throw up if they just have nasal drainage and it is upsetting their tummies. However, if there is a fever in addition the puke, home it is.

Let's be real here. There is no other sound to get you out of bed faster in the middle of the night than that of your child vomiting. Vomit is not fun to clean up. No one likes that going through the family. Laundry for days. Do other parents a solid and keep your vomity child home. Home is where the vomit is. Plus, no one else wants to clean up your child's vomit. Keep it home.

Diarrhea: Maybe Keep Home, Maybe Send

The close cousin to vomiting is diarrhea. Guidelines here depend on the age of the child and severity of the diarrhea. If it is just loose stools, but the child isn't living in the bathroom (or within a few feet) and if the child is responsible about hand-washing, then you can usually send the child. Use wisdom here. If you are sending your child to play a soccer game and there won't be a bathroom within a quarter mile, it just seems like that situation is one for staying home. Don't send your child into a "most embarrassing moment" situation knowingly. 

If your child has severe diarrhea, it is a good idea to keep your child home to watch for signs of dehydration. 

If your child is young and can't make it to the bathroom in time, keep your child home. If your child is still in diapers, they usually like you to keep the child home. If it is so loose that it leaks from the diaper, home it is. 

As always, fever along with the diarrhea means you stay home.

Fever: Keep Home

A fever is another reason to stay home. The official temperature for staying home with a fever is 100.4. The reason for this is that a child's temperature can vary even when perfectly healthy. Make note, however, that this is the temperature without medication. If you dose up on Ibuprofen and get it down from 102 to 100, that doesn't mean your child is good to go. Another thing for you to pay attention to are other signs I will discuss in depth below. If your child is lethargic and can't really participate in what is going on, yet only has a fever of 99.9, it is a good idea to keep the child home.

Do not try to mask the fever with medication and send the child. Keep the child home to rest, get better, and contain the sickness. 

Lethargy/Not Acting Like Self/Can't Participate: Keep Home

Even if there are no other symptoms, if your child is extremely tired, isn't acting like herself, and/or can't participate in the activities going on, keep the child home. These are signs of sickness. Let your child just rest and get better. You will be able to get your child back to full health sooner and will be less likely to be spreading the sickness around to friends. If your child can't open her eyes more than halfway, that is a common sign of sickness.

Last year, McKenna had pneumonia. It took us a while to figure out what it was. We visited the doctor more than once while trying to solve the mystery. By the time we pinpointed what was making her sick, she had missed over a week of school. That stresses the heck out of me. I was anxious to get her back there. Her doctor told me he wanted her on antibiotics for 24 hours AND fever free for 24 hours before she went back. He also added that he thought it would be wise to give it a few more days at home at least. 

Pneumonia is no joke, and I knew that because I had it the winter before she did. It sucks the life out of you. After two days, she was still not ready. She didn't have the strength. Her teacher was AMAZING and had started Facetiming with her to have reading time and math time so she could still be getting those fundamentals at home, yet still be able to rest, rest, rest. Even though she was past contagious, she needed to be home because she couldn't fully participate in school. It would have taken her body longer to fight it off all the way.

I know that basketball game, class party, or birthday party seems like a big deal right now. My kids have missed all of those and more. Brayden even missed the last few days of school in first grade--those are the best days of the year! It seems like the world to your young one. I promise they will get over it, and that in the grand scheme of life, it will be okay.  

Difficulty Breathing: Keep Home

I have a good friend who works for 911 Dispatch. She told me last week that breathing issues is something parents should never mess around with. If your child's breathing is labored, keep your child home. You need to watch your child closely. If your child seems to be having a hard time, don't hesitate to head right to the ER. Sadly, children frequently have fatalities because of breathing problems. Keep your child's fate in your hands under your eyes and don't hesitate to seek medical attention. 

Cough: Send or Keep Home

A mild cough accompanying a cold is usually okay. A severe cough is something to stay home for to be sure you don't have something contagious like bronchitis or croup going on. Sometimes a cough is simply brought on by asthman, allergies, or even bad reflux. Use your best judgement.

Eyes Stuck Shut or Oozing: Keep Home

Yep. Stay home for that one. 

On Antibiotics: Ask Doctor

If you have been to the doctor for a sickness and are leaving with antibiotics, always ask the doctor when your child can go back into society. Most of the time, the answer is 24 hours after starting the medication. Your child's doctor might have further recommendations based on the sickness and your child getting better, like our doctor did for McKenna. Like Daniel Tiger says. When you're sick, rest is best. 

Eyes Red or Watery: Send

This is usually an indication of allergies or at most a cold. Send your child for this one (assuming, of course, you don't have other symptoms on the list of "Stay Home").

Cold/Stuffy Nose: Send

A cold is a sickness you still send your child so long as the other "keep home" symptoms are not present. One thing to keep in mind, however, is common courtesy and what your child will be doing. If, for example, your child is at the beginning of a cold when the snot is just free-flowing, only two years old and therefore unable to blow her nose or stop the flow at all, and you are supposed to be at a friend's house where there is a newborn baby, reconsider attending. At the very least, I wold contact the mom and see what she thinks, making it clear you are happy to reschedule if she feels uncomfortable with the visit. What looks like a cold to some children and adults turns into RSV for infants. So colds are okay in general, but always consider your company.

Earache: Send

Ear infections aren't contagious. So long as your child doesn't have any other of the "Keep Home" things going on (including the "can't participate" one listed above), you are good to send your child.

Sore Throat (no fever or upset tummy): Send

If your child has a sore throat and no fever or upset tummy, you can send. Sometimes it is just a runny nose draining that makes it sore. What you want to be cautious of is sometime like strep throat. If no fever and no upset tummy, you should be good to go.

Real Life Example

This past December, Brayden had a performance at the school first thing in the morning. We all went and he did his thing. Immediately after, he came to me and said he didn't feel so good. This is the sneaky and hard thing about a lot of sickness, it seems. They often hit later in the morning. You wake up feeling just fine and then WHAM! 10 AM and you are not-so-hot. I asked him if he thought he was sick. He wasn't sure. He was pale. I did my scientific mom-kiss-on-the-forehead to see if he had a fever and he felt fine. His teacher walked up to us and I told her he was wondering if he was sick. 

She was great. She told him if he didn't feel good, to go on home. She told him what he would miss that day and offered to grab his stuff for him. So we took him home. He ended up getting a low-grade fever that stayed below 100. He rested all of that day. The next day, he was totally good to go.

Something important to note is that if you respect the sickness from the beginning and just rest, your body can usually fight it much, much faster and you are not as sick as long. 

Another take-away from this for all of us is to be like Brayden's teacher (and McKenna's teacher in the story I shared above). Sickness is what it is. Accept it. Encourage the person to get better. Make it easy for them to go get the rest they need. This way, sickness doesn't have to permeate through us all so long. 

Conclusion

Sickness is a fact of life. People will inadvertently spread it. We are often contagious before we even realize it. However, when we can clearly see something is wrong, we can do our part to help prevent the germs from being spread even more. We can also do a lot for our child by just getting the rest in on day one and letting the little body fight and heal as much as possible. It is sad to miss the fun, but I promise in five years, your four year old will have no memory of missing that church party he wanted to attend so desperately. Life will go on and all will be well.

Related Posts/Blog Lables: 

• Comforting a Sick Toddler/Baby
• Dealing With Disruptions To Your Routine 
• In Action: Comforting Sick Children 
• Preventing Illness {Guest Post}

Sources:

• Is My Child Too Sick to Go to School? - KidsHealth
• Parents struggle with when to keep kids home sick from school
• Should My Slightly Sick Child Stay Home? 
• Is My Child Too Sick for School?

How to Keep Kids Happy and Engaged During Learning Time

The first time my husband and I made gingerbread houses with our two young children, it ended in disaster. I am actually surprised it is a tradition that we have done year after year since. We didn't enjoy it. I don't think the kids enjoyed it. We were all edgy and intense and our picturesque activity went up in flames.

Since that day, I have learned some important steps to take to ensure our learning time and activities is a positive experience. Our time is beneficial and enjoyable. 

Be Prepared--Have Stuff Ready

If you want to really torture yourself and your child, say, "Time to do a learning activity!" and then prepare the activity while your child asks over and over again when you can start. I know, any mom with experience with children is saying, "Duh!" but that is a lesson I had to learn. Have the activity prepped before you announce it is time to start. Announcing before it is ready is like telling your child dinner is ready 30 minutes before it is time. If you like whining, try it out. If not, wait until you are ready.

The only caveat is if you have a child who loves to help and/or is capable of helping to prep the activity, go ahead and have your child come early and help get things ready. Otherwise, be kind to yourself and your your child and be prepared before "starting."

If you want an easy way to be prepared every day of the year, get my eBook Babes, Tots, and Kids. 

Choose Appropriate Activities

You don't want activities that are too hard, nor do you want activities that are too easy. If they are too hard, your child will get frustrated and you will do it all for your child. If they are too easy, your child will be bored and either balk at doing it or be done in under 60 seconds. Sometimes you don't know for sure what is appropriate for your child, which is why it is a good idea to have some back-up plans. Don't forget about your stash of puzzles, board games, or things like the peg-boards I talked about last week. They make great back-ups when your child finishes planned activities too quickly. 

Choose a Good Time of Day

No one operates well when they are tired or hungry. Try to do activities when your child is well-rested and not hungry. Also, do it when you can have minimal distractions. If you have more than one child, either have activities for the other child planned or do the activities when the other child is sleeping or doing something like independent playtime. 

Keep it Fun

Make this learning time at home fun. You are introducing the concept of learning to your child. Don't turn it into something to hate. 

Have Expectations for Abilities

Part of the problem my husband and I faced that first gingerbread house experience was that we both wanted a picture-perfect gingerbread house at the end. We were making it with a 3 year old and 1 year old...so you can imagine how perfect it looked in the end. We both quickly realized our folly. Of course it wouldn't look perfect! Duh! 

It is okay if your child's picture doesn't look like the picture on the blog post or Pinterest photo. Those photos are often taken of the project completed by an adult or older child, not a two year old. Be okay with things looking authentic for your child. 

Have Expectations for Participation

While you want to make it fun, it is okay to require that your child sit and complete the project before moving on to the next phase of the day. Part of the benefit of doing these activities at home is that your child learns to focus, to sit still, to listen to instructions, and to get things done. If your child is burnt out, go ahead and help him finish the project up, or make the decision to set it aside and finish the rest tomorrow. Just make sure you are making the decision based on your best judgement, not that you are letting the child drive and dictate the schedule. 

Related Posts: 

• How I Do It: Learning Time

• Learning Activities (Preschoolwise)

Babes, Tots, and Kids eBook Giveaway!

It is that time of year again--time to think about school time! It can be hard to work in planning and executing preschool at home. This is especially true once you have more than one child you are trying to work with at a time. It is hard to know what to do with a four year old AND a two year old at the same time that will work for both of them equally.

That is why Raegan and I wrote the book Babes, Tots, and Kids. As  moms who do preschool at our home, and Raegan homeschools. We wanted a program we could use with all of our young children at the same time. We love it! I have done the activities for all of my children and have really enjoyed it. You will love it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Entry Rules

• You must enter the giveaway to have an entry.
• No entries are mandatory--you can enter using one or all options. But as I said, you do have to enter to have at least one entry.
• You must fulfill the rules of each entry for each entry to count. If I see the entry is not valid (did not meet entry requirements), I will disqualify your entry. Trust me, I check.
• Entries will be accepted until 12:00 AM September 2, 2016.
• The winner will be randomly selected through Rafflecopter.
• The winner will be announced sometime after the winner is chosen. I will email the winner.
• Once the winner is announced, you will have one week to contact me or another winner will be chosen. Be sure to check back and/or check your email. The only thing worse than not winning is to win but not realize it in time.
• I will not use your email address for any purpose other than contacting you if you are the winner (and FYI, I don't have access to the email addresses except for the winner).

How Babywise Prepared our Twins for Preschool {Guest Post}

By Emily T. Miller
My twins are now 4 years old. Today was their first day of preschool. As I waved goodbye and blew
them a kiss, I knew they were prepared to take on the classroom. I have Babywise to thank for so many reasons! “Train up a child in the way he should go” Proverbs 22:6

1. Schedule – Thanks to Babywise, our twins have been on a schedule since day one! Even now, at age four, they love operating off a routine. They can predict what their day will look like, and as a result be confident and secure. They know when we expect them to get up, eat breakfast, have free time, clean up, rest time, etc. To this day, both of them take a two hour long afternoon nap. I believe they thrive in knowing what to expect from their day and can operate independently knowing what their schedule is! They can anticipate what comes next, and mentally prepare for it without our prompting. I believe this will serve them well in preschool as they adapt to a new routine.
2. 2. Obedience – Thank you Babywise for helping us instill obedience in our twins. Babywise reinforces the principle “Train up a child in the way he should go.” Babywise reminds parents to be clear, concise, and consistent. Just like having a predictable schedule, our twins learned what was acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Yes, they tested us, and yes we had to do a lot of reinforcing, but if you remain consistent in what obedience looks like they will catch on. They learned and are still learning that decisions have consequences. At school, I believe they will operate off a similar system (a set of classroom rules) and that similar behavior will be expected: kindness, respect, sharing, etc. I’m confident they will respect their teacher, just as we expect that of them at home.
3. Independence – Thank you Babywise for helping us value the gift of independence! I’ve seen many parents fall into the trap of needing to be the center of their child’s world. It’s easy to fall into, a sweet snuggly baby comes to your home, and suddenly they become the center of your world. It could have so easily happened with bringing two babies home. We could have let them set the schedule. Thanks to Babywise my husband and I didn’t lose each other when the twins entered our world. We didn’t let them sleep with us or even in our room. I valued sleep too much to give that up. Once our schedule was established, we knew each night when they would go to bed and we would have time for us as a couple. We knew when we could have uninterrupted conversation, and we knew we could entrust them with a sitter because their behavior and schedule was predictable. It has allowed us great freedom. I believe Babywise was a constant reminder for us that our end goal is to prepare our children to be independent, that was the mindset we have tried to parent with since day one. We are building for the future. With our end blueprint in mind, we want our twins to be independent, productive, Christ-centered individuals. I was ready to let them fly this year, because I knew they were ready!

Thank you Babywise for teaching not just our twins, but us as parents! As they start preschool today I
know they are well prepared for what the future holds! Emily blogs at http://alwaysanem.blogspot.com/

Related Posts:

• To Preschool or Not?

Preschool Curriculum eBook Giveaway

Summer is fast approaching and in celebration, Raegan and I want to give away a copy of our eBook Babes, Tots, and Kids. Whether you homeschool or you will have time off of school this summer, this book will be an excellent tool for you to use this summer with your children.

This book works for children from baby on up through early elementary age. We designed the activities with modifications for all age ranges, so you can do the same activity with all of your children. 

See our website here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ENTRY RULES

• You must enter the giveaway to have an entry.

• You must fulfill the rules of each entry for each entry to count. If I see the entry is not valid (did not meet entry requirements), I will disqualify your entry. Trust me, I check each winning entry to make sure it was valid.

• Entries will be accepted until 12:00 midnight May 11, 2015.

• The winner will be randomly selected through Rafflecopter.

• The winner will be announced sometime after the winner is chosen. I will email the winner.

• Once the winner is announced, you will have one week to contact me or another winner will be chosen. Be sure to check back and/or check your email. The only thing worse than not winning is to win but not realize it in time.

• I will not use your email address for any purpose other than contacting you if you are the winner (and FYI, I don't have access to the email addresses except for the winner).