Safari Books Online is a digital library providing on-demand subscription access to thousands of learning resources.
- Create BookmarkCreate Bookmark
- Create Note or TagCreate Note or Tag
- PrintPrint
Chapter 6: Preparation for preschoolers > Preparing for the kinder years
Preparing for the kinder years
As I’ve had several children and have seen the speed with which they head off to school, I’ve learned to cherish the remaining years before they venture into formal education. So, when I start preparing them for preschool, I don’t drill them with flash cards or teach them to read. I ensure they have the social, independence and organisational skills that will make their transition to preschool easier for them and me.
I made sure we purchased our kindergarten ‘uniform’ (a T-shirt with the kinder logo on it) at the AGM the year previous to him starting kinder.
Bree Whitford, mum of two
Social skills
Kids need to be able to socialise and interact successfully with their kinder classmates. Social skills are the learnt behaviours that allow us to interact and communicate with others. As adults we do these things automatically and it can be easy to forget these skills need to be learned. Throughout our daily interactions with our preschooler, my husband and I role model and encourage social skills such as: