Clyde Said:

Moms who stay home with kids close together--what do you do with your toddlers/preschoolers?

We Answered:

I believe children can learn more thru play - building a structurally sound tower, then memorization. While thats important too, dont discard "play" as not a learning activity. Chaos can be quite stimulating to the mind.

As for simple recognition, thats kind of boring. Make a pretend game show, where the gears in their mind have to turn, when you ask them what starts with the "a" sound - Alligator or Crocidile.

Fernando Said:

what should kids learn in preschool? Through out the whole year.?

We Answered:

Before the academics children need simply to learn how to socialize and problem solve. These are not things that can necessarily be taught the same way that the academics are. Children need oppertunities to interact in order to learn problem solving and social skills. Children who do not understand the social part of school have a difficult time learning the academics. So one of the biggest goals for my class is that children can interact with each other and learn how to solve a problem together. The children in my class work hard on writing their names and knowing all the letters in their names. I work on them recognizing the lower case and upper case letters. Most of them do better with the upper case. I would say that children in preschool do not count to 100. This is not really important that they can do this. Some centers might focus more heavily on the academics, but this is not what is best for the child. Just because they can rote recall all the information, does not mean that they know what it means.

Darryl Said:

the class had to write and essay on how tv has an affect on kids? the teacher said my idea was wrong how?

We Answered:

I see nothing wrong with it.

Telivision (and computers) make the younger generations lazy, they do often eat and gain weight, it causes them to not do homework, the energy used for the telivision is killing our environment: causing people to be less healthy; it makes children think that cursing, violence and sex are okay at a young age... and violence and cursing is never "okay". Telivision causes more children to question their religion. But everything you said is true.

Ruby Said:

Are kids learning to read younger and younger these days? Please read first - kinda long?

We Answered:

I think it's a combination of B and D.

My son started reading pretty well right after his 4th birthday, and his reading skills have blown away his teachers from preschool to his current 3rd grade, so it is definitely not normal. I think most kids start kindergarten with a few skills and leave with a pretty good grasp on the basics.

Timothy Said:

what do toddlers/ kids need to learn from their parents before they go to school?

We Answered:

I definitely agree with the other teacher who answered before me. Teachers can teach reading, writing, maths etc relatively easily if they have a child to teach who is ready to learn. By that I mean a child who is used to listening when an adult talks, stops doing something when asked, can concentrate when s/he is being spoken to, won't have a temper tantrum if s/he doesn't get his/her own way, etc. Children that come to school doing those things give teachers great joy, because, honestly, they are getting rarer and rarer. A lot of kids these days seem to come from environemts where they were allowed to do their own thing all day every day, so it is a huge change having to do as a teacher says some of the time. Also, some skills make things a lot easier. Teach your child how to put on her own coat and do it up. It is so easy for a mum to put on a child's coat for them without even thinking about it, but when you have a class of 30 and you have to get them all into coats and fastened up before you can go outside with them or before they are ready for home time, it takes a long time! Also, practise having your child put the coat away on a peg - not just handing it to mum or dropping it on the floor. If they get to school and just leave their coat on the floor it can get misplaced very easily (and please remember to write her name in everything, it amazes me how many people don't do this!). Whatever style of shoes you get for her - laces, velcro, buckles, etc, make sure she can put them on and do them up, and undo them and take them off. Again, if it's PE and all the children have to take their shoes off and then put them on again at the end of the session it can take a long time for a teacher to help every child with their shoes! Find out what her preschool/kindergarten does for PE, if they do it at all (I'm used to English schools so don't know about other countries' practices). Do they change into different shoes? Do they just do it in bare feet? Do they have a whole set of different clothes to change into? Whatever they do, practise with your child before she goes to school. If they do it in bare feet practice taking off shoes and socks, putting a sock into each shoe, putting shoes under a chair. If they have a different set of clothes to wear practise taking clothes out of a bag, taking off school clothes, putting them into the bag, putting PE clothes on (it's often funny when little ones do PE for the first time, as they often just take everything off, underwear and all!). Also, if she is going to school and having to take her own lunch then practice eating it out of the box, like she would have to at school. A lot of children with packed lunches arrive at school on the first day and have no idea how to undo their lunchbox, never mind any of the containers inside. If she can do those things, then the 'academics' are extra. I can't really advise you on the teaching in the early years outside the UK. Here, children learn to write the lower case letters first, but I think elsewhere upper case may be taught first. Knowing how to write her own name would be an advantage, but then again, if she doesn't write it in the handwriting style of the school she will have to relearn it anyway. I see a lot of children coming to school writing their names in all capital letters, but at school we teach them to write it with just a capital for the first letter, so they have to learn all the other letters once they get to school anyway. Also, some parents teach the letter names to their children, whereas it's easier to learn to read and spell if they know the letter sounds first.

Laura Said:

What should kids learn in preschool? Through out the whole year.?

We Answered:

One of the most important things that they need to learn is social skills. They should be able to form bonds with other children as well as teachers. They should also be able to solve some problems on their own.
Preschool teachers should be teaching children their shapes, colors, number and letter recognition. Children should be able to count from 1-29. Once children have mastered the basic concept of counting (21, 22, 23... etc.) it is easy for them to learn the rest in kindergarten and generalize it.
That is the basics. You should check with your state department of education and see if they have standards, for example Michigan has the Pre Kindergarten Standards of Quality which serves as a guide to what it is necessary to do to have a high quality preschool program.
Also, go to college and work on a degree in Early Childhood Education or Child Development.
Good Luck!

Kurt Said:

At what age do most kids know their abc's?

We Answered:

Well, I'll have you know that MY daughter was saying her ABC's in the womb. By the time she was 4 she was studying quantum physics, and playing Beethoven on the piano . . . totally kidding! Some parents can be real competitive over this stuff, so watch out!

I remember when I worked with an after care school age program for the YMCA, there was a 4 year old there who NEVER spoke. Then one day, he just did! Eloquently at that. His mother was super intelligent as well. He caught on to every thing so spectacularly. It was inspirational.

Here is a quote I gathered from an Einstein Biography:

"Einstein's early years did not mark him as a genius. His parents worried because he was so slow to learn to speak. Although his family was Jewish, he attended a Catholic elementary school, where he did not excel."

As for your specific question,

He doesn't sound behind, he sounds ahead! You have no idea how many kindergarteners go in with much less skill than that, and do just fine (MANY go in without even knowing a single English word, but that's another topic . . . )

I wouldn't worry about it at all. In kindergarten they usually do a few letter a week and work on the sounds. They do a lot of phonics, and simple math (counting). They are not expected to read, but by the end of the year they are expected to do Imaginative sentences based on the phonics they learned. My daughter was slightly behind at the beginning, but she did just fine and is now in 1rst grade. Also, remember that kindergarten is supposed to be fun, enjoy it! It is *such* a special age!

He sounds a lot like that sweet boy I watched years ago.