Erin Dealey

It’s Back-To-School time and this post is for the almost-Kinders (and their parents, teachers, & caregivers) in your lives.

Let’s Get Ready!

When K IS FOR KINDERGARTEN came out (see Book Trailer here), a dear friend, Kathleen Guerrero, the Executive Director of our local First Five El Dorado, saw all of the activities in our book, and gave me some Kindergarten Readiness suggestions. I’ve paired them with picture books:

1. Share your enthusiasm for the start of school. (See our paper chain activity from K IS FOR KINDERGARTEN above.) Talk about when you were in Kindergarten. Read, read ,read books about the first day of school.

2. Make sure your child is comfortable being away from home (and you) for several hours. Here’s a sweet Youtube read-aloud of LLAMA LLAMA MISSES MAMA created by the late Anna Dewdney.

3. Encourage your almost-Kinder to make choices, even if it means making mistakes. Children learn from experiences, and will develop positive self-esteem and confidence.

Mistakes aren’t always bad. Just ask Pencil and Eraser, in WHEN PENCIL MET THE MARKERS.

“Purple Marker colors everywhere―even outside the lines. When the other markers call his creativity a mistake, it’s up to Pencil and Eraser to help Purple discover how making mistakes and making art go hand-in-hand.”

4. Help your child to develop friendships. The ability to interact with peers is critical in Kindergarten.

5. Kindergarteners go to the bathroom all by themselves. Make sure yours can–and knows how to wash hands after!

6. Establish a sleep routine, including reading books, and a set bedtime.

Bonus!

Here’s a month’s worth of activities for August.

Happy Back to School to ALL–whatever that might look like.

Next time on the blog, a Book Birthday celebration for Lindsay Bonilla’s I LOVE YOU WITH ALL OF MY HEARTS.