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First Years Last Forever
by the Shelton School Readiness Council
Family Learning Time
Learning does not stop when your son or daughter comes home from preschool. Family learning time at home is just as important and can greatly enhance the classroom experience.
The Shelton School Readiness Council provides this monthly column as a public service to parents of preschoolers. Try these ideas and fun activities at home to build your child's skills. At the same time, it will encourage you and your family to do something enjoyable together.
Ask your child's teacher what the class is studying and then plan family field trips that relate. For example, if your child is learning about the ocean, you can visit an aquarium.
Organize a family card night. Playing cards teaches kids number sense, counting, and memory as well as how to follow the rules and be a good sport. Let everyone take turns choosing the game, being the dealer and scorekeeper for popular games such as Go Fish or Crazy Eights.
Take your child to theatrical performances to learn new words and become familiar with stories, settings, plots, and characters. Shelton offers outstanding high school productions and community theater plays. Check your local newspapers.
Show your little one how important his or her schoolwork is by displaying it in his or her very own gallery. Pick a highly visible spot, especially an upstairs hallway or kitchen wall, to hang your child's masterpieces. Draw more attention to them by gluing or stapling them to colored construction paper. Your child will be proud to see his or her work displayed and to hear positive feedback from visitors.
Encourage problem solving. For example, if your child wants to wear his or her favorite shirt, and it's dirty, ask him or her a couple questions. "What's your second-favorite shirt?" or "How can we fix this problem?" Better yet, do a load of laundry together! Next time, your child will probably come up with a new solution.
Build observation skills with games. For example, a color hunt game can be played inside or outside. Call out two colors and tell your child to look for two things in each color. Start with basic colors and easy analogies such as white is for snow and blue like your sofa. Gradually pick colors that are harder to find (navy blue or pale yellow).
The simplest way to be involved in your child's education is to talk about what he or she is doing in preschool. Review papers that come home and ask questions: "I see you are learning about George Washington. What did he do for our country?"
Improve your child's number skills. Have your child roll two dice and count the dots. Introduce addition by asking him or her to choose a number to try, for instance, 6. Let him or her toss the dice several times to find combinations that will make 6 (1+5, 2+4, 3+3).
Collecting is a hobby that teaches your child many skills. Get started by
having him or her organize the collection. Then strengthen language skills by talking about your child's items and encouraging him or her to read a book on the topic.
Sign up for free winter programs and activities at the Plumb Memorial or Huntington Branch Libraries in Shelton.
For more information about the Shelton School Readiness Council, please call Patricia Curran, Chair of the Council, at 924-1023, ext. 325 or Cara Mocarski,
Shelton School Readiness Coordinator, at 929-1430. Also visit the website www.sheltonpublicschools.org
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