One, Two Get Ready for School

 Learning begins at birth. Watching your baby experience the world in new ways is so exciting.

It seems like too many parents today are pushing their babies to get into the "best" pricey  nursery schools for the klout to gain  entrance into the most prestigious colleges.

• Learning should be fun and with out any kind of stress or pressure to be the next prodigy.
• I just can't go along with the Ivy League mentality of preschool. I believe that children need to be children. They need to play, get dirty, and pretend in order to be well rounded.
• Children needs lots of hugs, kisses and positive strokes; not achievement medals, or framed engraved certificates to hang on the wall or enclose in their resume' at age 5. (OK stickers are great as long as they aren't stuck all over the windows of the car. Soccer trophies for being punctual are part of the fun of pee-wee soccer's final picnic.)

• Encourage your kids to just be themselves and enjoy life.
• Explore new things. Ask questions.
• Expect them to put forth their best effort. Let them know that they do not have to appear to be perfect or always win first place. It is not healthy to pressure a child over everything with the old fashioned "readin' 'ritin' and 'rithmatic taught to the tune of a hickory stick." 

 You may see where I am going with the above paragraph. I admit it; I watch Dance Moms. I do not agree with Abby Lee Miller's thoughts on winning first place all the time. She says,"Second place is the first to lose." I worry about the the girls on that dance team. Dance is a wonderful skill to learn, but not everyone is born to be a Star on Broadway. and that is alright.

I have stated my position about what concerns me.

Now I am ready to share some little ditties to help prepare you little ones for Kindergarten. Have lots of fun using the basics in everyday activities.

Alphabet Song

(Tune of Twinkle Little Star)

A-B-C-D-E-F-G,

H-i-J-K-L-M-N-O-P.

Q-R-S, T-U-V,

W-X-Y-Z

Now I know my A-B-C's

Next time won't you sing with me.

Of course we all know our letters. I didn't need to spell it out for you, the grown up. One thing to be aware of is children often hear "LMNOP" as one letter. They sing it really fast not realising that they are separate letters. I suggest that when you begins the A-B-C's go very slowly with L-M-N-O-P.

• When you and your tots go grocery shopping point out letters on the canned goods. "Oh, I spy a letter S! What letter do you spy?" 
• "Can you find the word M-I-L-K on the jug of milk?  

This gets the child interested in doing something useful besides running down the isles and knocking over the oranges.

Speaking of oranges, you can have a games of seeing how many colors of fruits and vegetables you can name in the produce section. I have been doing this for decades. I don't care if I look like a crazy red head getting excited  about the bunches yellow bananas and the round orange oranges with the one and six year old; they are learning.

Make grocery shopping ans exciting treasure hunt.

• You may have prepared a written grocery list. 
• Do you let your four year old use safety scissors to cut coupons to use for your trip to the store? That demonstrates organization to your child.
• Plus it keeps you on target when those impulse items calls out, "Buy me. I am a bargain. You need more sugar and fat in your diet." 

Don't listen to what those impulse items say. If they seem grab your child by the collar to try to convince them that will will starve if they don't get that kind of candy bar, have the child help you look over your list. If a Snickers bar or a Whatcha May Call It is not on the list, you won't be buying it.

 Let's say that the paper grocery ad says "Buy 5 cans of corn you can save 50 cents." Let your child look at your list and the coupon. Match the brand in the flyer picture to the cans on the shelf.  He/she can count out 5 cans of corn and place them in the cart for you. then tell him/her ,"Well done. You are getting so good at helping me shop."

"How many kinds of things can you find with tomatoes in it?"

You will have to make adjustments to these ideas and the ideas you come up with according to the child developmental age. My point is, don't wait until the second quarter of Kindergarten to start showing your child  every day opportunities for learning experiences.

Preschool has its place, don't get me wrong. I love teaching preschool. Just don't expect  some teacher to be responsible for training you baby into being an Einstein. Every parent has the responsibility to teach their child about every day life. Leave the calculus and rocket science to the professors.

My ideas are just a few to get you started on increasing your child's awareness of the use of letters and numbers in a practical sense. Getting a giggle and hug while actually holding items in their hands helps the child to understand the relevance of learning their A-B-C's and 1-2-3's.

Flash cards, tracing letters on papers with cartoon drawings of objects, I suppose have their place in the classroom at some point in school. But holding and smelling a  kiwi or a cucumber involves the senses far better than a flat drawing on a piece of white paper. Other wise the child may feel, "What's in it for me?'

Spending time with you child and sharing what you do for your tasks of daily living is the most valuable schooling you can give your child. It is priceless.

In my next post...

I have more ideas coming up on how to help with learning the tricky left and right hand thing. do you remember your gym teacher facing you and saying,"Put your right hand out" and it doesn't  look right when she does it?

This is Malika Bourne the no Non-cents Nanna saying, "Make good choices."

All opinions expressed are my own. All products pictured are those I had on hand.the pictures are not paid endorsements nor hav I been compensated for the display.