Maria Said:

Is the handwriting stuff they spend so much time on in kindergarten pointless?

We Answered:

It's too bad that her teacher doesn't use other techniques besides worksheets...must be a bit more "old-school" then some. I've use writing trays, textured letters, etc to intermingle with tracing sheets. But there is a purpose...it's so that the children are forming good writing habits early on. I even start singing the songs about how I'm writing my letters and bringing the focus of how to correctly write a letter in preschool. Habits are very hard to break and so we want the good habits formed. Also, most children start forming letters from the bottom and it doesn't lead to a smooth letter formation as they have to pick up their writing tool to finish the letter. When the letter is written correctly... from the top, making the circles of the letters go left, etc...it naturally leads to smooth letter formation. It's through repetition that they learn. Unfortunately, some teachers use worksheets to provide the repetition that is necessary.

Another side note...you are older than her...and you survived Kindergarten. :-) I'm sure you did even more worksheets I remember a little from my early elementary days...before all the "research" about the benefits or lack of benefits of worksheets. We did a LOT of seat work like that. We survive. If you want to add a little more interest to it at home you can make a writing tray with sand, salt, flour, cornmeal, etc. You can ask that your parents purchase a magnadoodle for your sister. :-) Nice to see a sibling caring about their little brothers and sisters.

Lydia Said:

What should I do to preschool a 3 year old till they start kindergarden to have them ready for kindergarten?

We Answered:

preschool is free here in new york, at teh age of 3 you can start teaching the kid how to write, read, shapes, colors, how to conversate appropiate, painting, building, drawing etc...

Margaret Said:

Help with teaching letter recognition to my 4 year old???

We Answered:

Don't worry about teaching too much academics. Your son will be learning these things in kindergarten. You wouldn't learn German before you took a German class right? A lot of parents worry about this. They feel their child should know the curriculum before they enter kindergarten to give them a "one up." These children usually end up bored. Social and emotional readiness is more important than academic readiness. If your son does not have a lot of exposure to other children (one on one and in small groups several times a week), consider enrolling him in preschool (no more than 4 days a week and no more than 3 hours per day). If you cannot do this, do whatever you can to get him exposed to other children as much as possible. It will really help prepare him for kindergarten.

He should learn just a few letter sounds and numbers (every state is different when is comes to how high children should count. Some say to 6 and others say to 20. Check out the requirements for you area). You want him to have the basic knowledge that a given symbol represents a given sound or number. You can play games like "I spy" with him. "I spy in my little eye something that starts with the letter "mmmmm." Teach him lower case letters! His teacher will expect him to learn lower case first since these letters are in most of our writing. You can have a flash card with the symbol for him to recognize as well as object for him to match the card to. Play some counting games with him as well. Count how many cars go by, count the blocks, or count out how many forks you will need for dinner. Keep it fun. If he feels you are trying to teach him, he may resist.

These are some basic skills that you son should have before starting school: hold a pencil in an orthodox way, recognize his name, write his name (upper case first letter followed by lower case), know 8 basic colors, no his address and phone number, cut with scissors, dress himself, open his lunch without help, and take care of ALL bathroom needs. Here is a link to some more readiness skills http://www.srvusd.k12.ca.us/schools/REGI…

Here is another great site!
http://www.enchantedlearning.com

Relax and good luck!

Reginald Said:

In kindergarten there were videos that taught kids ABC's with Mrs A and other ABC characters, whats the name?

We Answered:

they are called The Letter People- if Mrs A said Achooo and sneezed alot..... Aaahhhh makes a short O sound and not short A anyway.... so.... booo hisss on the letter people.
it is a preschool curriculum
Watching television and doing worksheets is not the best way to teach phonics.
Most schools and parents frown on that sort of thing