What should I do to preschool a 3 year old till they start kindergarden to have them ready for kindergarten?
My 3 year old cousin is 3 years old.. Her parents will not pay for her to go to preschool. And my mom dosen't have enough money right now to pay for it either.. I pratically have custody of her she is always with me she sleeps her almost everyday, she even has her own room here! I was just what I could do myself to get her ready for Kindergarten? I have gotten some worksheets like tracing zig zag lines and things like that. Thats what the website said to start with. It also said not to start with letters till 4 years old. So I guess I'll wait till then. Does anyone have any other ideas or thoughts of what else I can do myself? I have a few extra bucks I can use to buy anything she would need. Thanks!
Public Comments
- 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...
- First off there are many options for preschool that are free of charge. I would call your local school district and ask if there are any programs available (Headstart is nation wide). Secondly the best thing you can do is let the child be a child. Let her explore, read books with her, talk to her, color together, do simple crafts, play house, just have fun. Kids are forced to grow up too early and they have so many years to do academics. Make sure she is interacting with other children, social skills are so important and don't get a lot of focus once reading writing and arithmetic kick in. Go to the park, go to a children's museum, just be with her and interact with her! Oh and did I say read to her and then read some more!!
Before going to school a few things she should be able to do is name her colors, count to at least 10, say her first and last name, write her first name fairly well, and separate without too much anxiety.
- READ READ READ to her!!!
Your local library probably has a story time for preschoolers. That will teach her to sit still and be with other children in a controlled setting.
Add enrichment materials as she shows an interest. Make it fun. She's lucky to have you.
- Forget about not starting letters until 4. You should definitly begin with the alphabet, and learning to spell and write her name. You should also teach her colors, not only how to identify different colors, but also to spell the different colors. You should also teach her to count as high as she can. You should teach her simple, yet very important concepts, such as sharing and using her manners. I suggest these things because a very popular pre-school in my area teaches all of the above. Goodluck!! Hope it all works out really well!!
- flash cards help alot! Flash cards of numbers, letters, shapes and colors. After that teach her how to spell her name aloud and write it on paper. Teach her opposites like big and little, tall and short. Also, set some rules such as hands to herself, use her ears for listening, inside voices and walking feet inside. Hope this helps.
- A public library will be your best aid. Get her books to read every week. Try to find out if they have a children's reading time. Go online and look for free worksheets to trace, color, etc. I don't know how much you are able to spend in materials, but there is this Japanese method called Kumon. If you go to Amazon.com you can find many age appropriate books under this title. They are great for kids, my daughter loves them. The great thing is that they teach simple things such as fine and gross motor skills. Some of the books have activities like folding papers, using stickers, coloring, tracing, cutting with scissors, etc. Maybe you can find some in a library and make copies.
Take her to the zoo, aquarium, museum, etc. Sing songs. The flashcards idea someone gave is great. I get the Baby Einstein cards and they are great. They have beautiful pictures and using them has helped increase my daughter's vocabulary greatly. These are just ideas, maybe you can find different brands that work just as well.
I have to say that your cousin is really lucky to have someone like you in her life.
- My son missed the cutoff date for enrolling in preschool, here's what I did and btw he could say his abc's backwards before he was accepted.
I bought him a special diary, ( a notebook with wide lined paper) and stencils of letters.
I had him do them every day. then I found a poster of the alphabet and had him do those.
I taught him how to write his name by having him copy the letters.
The numbers were easy since they were on the bottoms of both the poster and the stencils.
I bought some sticky pouches for protecting photos and slid in a tracing for his name, write on and wipe off.
Also buy the preschool coloring books that also teach. I found all my stuff at a dollar store in August and Sept.
