School readiness - it's on the mind of many of us as we get ready to send children off to kindergarten. Many times we can use common preschool activities to help our children become school ready. This week we offer two easy and meaningful ideas that have the added benefit of involving children in keeping your shared space tip top!
Idea 1:
Most of us have centers in our room with names like housekeeping, store, post office, library, etc. When it's time to move on to other activities, we usually ask children to clean up. Make this easier by taking a picture of the center as it should look "all cleaned up." Post the photo in each center. Then when it is time to straighten up, children can refer to the photo to make sure they have put everything back in its place.
This helps with school readiness as children learn to refer to material to assist them. Pictures in books have become more and more important in the Common Core era. Children are directed to use these text features to guide them in comprehending material. Your students will have a head start in using text features in a developmentally-appropriate and meaningful way.
Idea 2:
Tables messy after a snack, lunch, or messy art project? Let children help by wiping the tables. Fill spray bottles with plain water (that's usually enough to clean and we don't want children using cleaning agents). When they spray water on the table, their little hands are building important hand muscles involved in holding writing instruments.
Many children experience writing fatigue in school. This is often because they have not developed the proper muscles in their hands. Simple actions like using a spray bottle helps develop hand strength.
Standards Alignment:
NAEYC - 2.C.03 & 2.E.04.
Head Start - I.D. & II.C.
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