Let’s Get Ready with Cedar Valley Publishing

Introducing basic early childhood skills at home will encourage a child to have positive learning habits necessary to succeed in Kindergarten. Incorporating basic skills will prepare a child for a successful school experience because he/she will ultimately develop a natural love for learning.

Prepared below is a list of early childhood skills that can be introduced and practiced at home and school:

• Share by taking turns.
• Listen quietly.
• Wait patiently.
• Use words to communicate.
• Recognize and know your full name.
• Know your parents and/or caregiver’s first and last name.
• Use toilet by yourself.
• Dress yourself.
• Know how to zip, snap, tie, button and fasten your clothing.
• Recite and recognize alphabet letters.
• Recognize your left hand from your right hand.
• Know basic colors, shapes and numbers 0-20.
• Recognize a penny, nickel, dime, quarter and dollar bill.
• Use positional words (over, under, up, down).
• Print your first name, uppercase for first letter only.
• Know your address and phone number.
• Know how to use a pencil, crayons, glue and scissors.

Copyright 2008 – Stacey Kannenberg, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

Is your child ready?  What F-U-N things are you doing to get him/her prepared?  

How often have you heard the aged-old cliché that “Every child is different”?

More importantly, how often have you, as parents, actively and positively done something about your children’s differences in regards to furthering their education?

I’m not talking about actively treating each of your children differently and making excuses for their weakness.

I’m talking about actively extenuating their differences and positively encouraging our children to turn their weaknesses into their newest strengths?

As a mother of two, I faced many differences in my daughters; perhaps because I treated them differently. I noticed that I enabled my older child, and picked up after the younger one.

As an early child education author and advocate, I noticed that their personal weaknesses, through some influence on my part, may have a direct impact on their ability to learn, so I had to address each issue one by one.

It was most apparent to me when my younger child was entering Kindergarten. I felt a compelling need to write a letter to my daughter’s teacher and give it to her on the first day of school.

The main points I wanted to address were as follows:

• My husband and I were much better prepared for our second and last daughter to attend Kindergarten.
• We enabled our first daughter by doing everything for her, while our second daughter is much more independent and has more advanced social skills.
• Our daughters learn at different paces.
• Difficult areas include, letters and numbers out of sequence, often confusing the q and p; w, n and m; and 9 and 6, and holding her pencil in an unconventional manner.

Our second daughter is:

• Spoiled and very stubborn. She tends to hide in corners when she’s stressed and sharing is very difficult for her.
• A leader and prefers to be the center of attention. She may giggle in line and encourage others to follow her lead.
• Used to having me pick up after her, so keeping things clean may warrant your help.
• Runs to the bathroom at the very last second because she’s usually eagerly preoccupied with her activities. But, once she’s in the bathroom the amazement of soap suds can keep her extremely content for a prolonged period of time.
• “Too big” for naps and hasn’t taken one in months. However, if she’s really tired and hasn’t gone to the bathroom she may fall into a deep sleep and make an accident.
• Compulsive in some of her routines; such as, she can only eat pizza and hotdogs when they’re cut into small piece, because Mommy once said its better for her. She also must have a spoon and fork on her tray even though she may not use them both, as she copies Daddy’s odd but ingrained habit.
• While I listed many of my daughter weaknesses, our baby will always raise to the occasion, and when instructed politely can be a teacher’s best helper. My husband and I are actively working with her and eager for her to succeed. She’s eagerly waited for this day, as she already sees herself as a “big girl”, which I have yet to.

Now you’ll understand why I’ll be crying uncontrollably as I walk sobbing down the hall after leaving my little baby in your care.

This is only one example how I, as a parent, felt a need to actively address the issues concerning my daughter’s education. And, kindergarten is not too early.

Be involved from the beginning and your child’s education will flourish.

Copyright 2007– Stacey Kannenberg, Cedar Valley Publishing, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

How do you acknowledge and celebrate the differences in your child? Have you discussed these differences with his/her teacher and work as a team?  How’d you open up this dialogue?

As a nation, we need to do a better job of educating our parents that we are our children’s first and best teacher. After all, we were the ones who taught them how to eat, drink, walk, and respond back to the call of their names.

In my experience as an early childhood education author, advocate and mother of two; I’ve witnessed far too many parents fear “teaching” when they send their child to pre-school. I don’t see that parents fall victim to laziness; rather they fall victim to not knowing the unknown. Parents start to feel that they no longer have the skills and abilities to keep up with the educational standards and techniques to teach their child correctly. And, the higher their child proceeds through the primary grades, the parent becomes less and less involved in the education of their most beloved child.

We need this to stop!

Remember when learning was fun?

One of my most memorable “educational” moments happened in the bowling alley when I was 5 years old. I was with my friend Steve Barnaby and his older sister Laurie. Laurie was taking Spanish in school and decided to teach us how to count to 10 in Spanish.  To this day, I can recite 1-10 in Spanish, without any problems.  Ask me what I retained from a semester in high school and college; my answer…“No Habla Español!” 

Why does my mind retain what I learned in 30 minutes when I was 5?  It’s because I retained the memory of a fun game and the laughter shared. I remember our parents being equally excited and proud of us as well. We felt satisfaction and joy, rather than a bored lesson plan and structured reading assignment.

As a nation, we need to break the myths that our preschool teachers are babysitters and our Kindergarten teacher will teach them to become good students.  The shift in education is apparent as more families choose to home school.  The old stereotype of the isolated home-schooled child is no longer a reality.  Homeschool groups provide unlimited networking opportunities for social and sporting activities; and teachers at home and school are realizing the importance of making learning fun! 

I thank all the homeschool parents who have inspired me to bring a home school mentality to our family. Even though we have opted for a different route, I know I’m my child’s ultimate teacher and I must foster learning anytime of the day wherever we are. 

A teacher leading a lecture at the podium may be appropriate for large core classes in college; but that’s years away from elementary school.

A perfect example of an interactive parent-teacher-student lesson plan is when a teacher invited her students’ home for a day of cooking to end their unit in fractions.  She had parent helpers, permission slips and buses. Undoubtedly, the students retained their understanding of fractions. I know it would have helped me.  To this day, I get a pained look on my face when I think about fractions, one of dread and gloom.  While not all teachers can host children in their homes nationwide, we as parents can introduce fractions while we’re preparing our daily dinners and make learning fun for the whole family.

I challenge our nation’s parents to remain confident in their roles as their child’s first and best teachers. Involving our children in our daily duties and responsibilities can be a fun learning experience for everyone involved.

Copyright 2007, Stacey Kannenberg, Cedar Valley Publishing, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

Pairing household chores and errands with learning can be both fun and productive.  In what ways do you make learning fun for your child? 

If I could wave a magic wand over our educational system, I would make some serious changes.  I would do a better job of making sure parents, teachers, and kids are all on the same page starting at the core:  preschool.  Until you have preschool teachers and parents knowledgeable on what kids are learning in Kindergarten, at toddler time, you will always have children falling behind.  

Testing has changed as the curriculum has become more advanced.  It is my belief that if each school took the time to have a meeting every year with parents and kids to discuss the curriculum for that year and handed out a sample report card explaining exactly what information they will be tested on, parents and kids would step up to the plate and become more responsible for learning this information. 

It is silly to expect parents and kids to just “know” what kids will be tested on before the kids are tested on it.  For each school to share this information before they begin testing just makes sense.  It would help empower both parents and kids so they would understand just how advanced the curriculum has become.  It would allow parents and kids the opportunity to become more involved in their education.

Another way to keep the fun in school is to change the way we view instruction.  Children should want to go to school and learn.  In the age of computers and technology, classrooms need to move away from the instructor in the role of lecturer at the head of the class, with the attitude that children need to shut up and listen.  I hate to tell you this but not all teachers are great teachers.   Great teachers realize the importance of involving children in the day-to-day learning process and empowering them in a creative and revolutionary way to keep learning fun.  Teachers need to realize that memorization studies show that unless the information is presented in a fun and interesting format, after the test, the information is not successfully retained. 

I would like to bring prayer and the morning pledge of allegiance back into schools.  For those that don’t believe in prayer, both sides will learn acceptance and tolerance for someone else’s belief.  I would like to end the political division in education.  It seems unfair that I know my superintendent’s political belief and yet my child is not allowed to pray in school.  Why is it okay for him to practice his belief on school time and yet my child is not allowed to pray in school?  Where is the union for my child, protecting her belief?

Our public school in Wisconsin has a $10 million dollar budget, the exact salary as the Green Bay Packers pay their quarterback, Brett Farve.  I am a huge Brett Farve fan, but the priorities of our nation say he is more valuable than one entire school district. 

In that district, 85% of the budget or $8.5 million dollars goes for teacher’s salaries, pensions, retired employee’s and health benefits and the remaining 15% is for the kids, right.  WRONG.  Of that 15%, the district needs to pay for school busing, heating and cooling the school and maintaining the school to the tune of another $1 million dollars or so.  So what is really left for our kids?  Not much! Show me any other business that caters to the employees rather than the customer and I will show you a business that was forced to close its doors long ago.  And of course, if you say anything about this discrepancy you have every teacher union president in your face screaming.  Why?  We live in a democracy where we are even allowed to bash our president but heaven help us if we question our educational system.  Why is that?  Sadly, because we have allowed unions to become the heart of education.  They are dividing education into two sides at the expense of our children.  I say, enough is enough; it is time to bring both sides to the table and re-negotiate for the future of education with our children becoming the top priority. 

Copyright 2007, Stacey Kannenberg, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

What are your thoughts on the state of education today?  Are you happy with your school and/or district?  Have any suggestions for reform?

Parent Teacher Conferences are essential opportunities to find out how your child is doing in school.  It’s a time to ask questions and your opportunity to get to know your child’s teacher one-on-one.  Remember, as the parent, you are your child’s first and foremost teacher.  So if you have a question, ask it.  Find out how you can help and don’t be afraid of asking simply:  How can I help? 

Build a network of other parents within your child’s class and volunteer.  The easiest way to be involved is to just show up and make it fun.  Kudos to the Pigeon River Green Gang in Sheboygan, WI.  This group of parents, teachers and kids have been meeting for 6 years, every month and doing improvements to their school.  They have created walking paths, prairie settings, and pizza gardens by planting the basil, oregano, tomatoes, peppers and later having a pizza party or a salsa party for their school to eat the fruits of their labor.  WOW, and that was some yummy salsa they made!!! 

I was recently at Harvard, IL’s 4 year old Kindergarten to talk to parents, via an interpreter about how they can help their children be successful in school.  I told them that just by showing up and asking questions, they are showing their kids that they care.  I also talked about the importance of going through the backpack and folder every night, reading with their kids for 15 minutes and playing a repetitive game for 15 minutes, like jumping jacks and counting out loud as they go.  Stop, drop and listen to your child daily and ask open ended questions to help your child learn to communicate and be involved in school activities and functions and build a network of parents to make it a fun social experience as well.  It’s all about making it fun for the entire family!  If it’s not fun, you need to make some changes to make it fun.  Find new people that are fun and start networking!
 
Copyright 2007, Stacey Kannenberg, Cedar Valley Publishing, Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

Got some neat ideas to make it fun?  We’d all love to hear them!  Don’t stop with us. Share them with teachers, other parents and your local PTA/PTO too!  We’re all in this together!

Have you heard of Everyday Math?  It is used as the elementary math curriculum in many schools across the nation and the concept is simple:  do math everyday.  That I like.  Show children how much fun math can be and show it used in everyday practical matters.  Everyday Math introduces math at the core and presents it in a fun and positive environment.  Math is everywhere in everyday practical matters:  cooking, traveling, banking, simply everywhere.  

My children are at the beginning of Everyday Math so our family has yet to get into the meat of the program to see first hand the benefits in action.  I do hear from frustrated parents who are not happy with one thing about Everyday Math:  they do a different math concept everyday.  One day it could be fractions, the next it could be patterns, the next day measuring, and the next day decimals.   The idea is that at some point the light goes on and children understand the concept and if you are spending an entire unit working on fractions and then move on to measuring, the child might never have had that “aha moment” about fractions.  That might have been my problem with math in school.  The light never turned on for me with math.  I honestly still get nervous about fractions and storybook math problems and I am the first to direct my children to Dad for help on those units.  Math was his favorite subject in school and he uses it everyday in his job.  It is his passion.

So, I am going into Everyday Math with an open mind because math has never been one of my favorite subjects in school.  I am not going to let on to my kids that math was not my favorite subject, instead I am going to attempt to oversee the math homework links, to see if I could possibly start over with math at the core.  It may not be too late for me to have my own math epiphany.  I do believe in the importance of practice and at some point enough practice over and over might lead to that light bulb burning brightly between myself, my children and math. 

Copyright 2007, Stacey Kannenberg, Cedar Valley Publishing, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

Do you have a secret subject that’s still “Greek” to you?  Are you working towards making it more you-friendly?  Tell us how it’s working out! 

I will never forget the day I was finally hooked on reading. I was blessed by the presence of my friend Mary Isham one day in 9th grade.

Yes, you read it right. It took me until 9th grade to finally love reading. I wasn’t a born a reader, nor was a child-bookworm.

Even my school librarian knew I dreaded school assignments that forced me to check out books and report on a particular subject—or any subject at all. I was not a struggling reader, but I never found an interest to read anything beyond my homework assignments; which had too much reading in and of itself.

So, back to that glorious day in 9th grade…

I was walking into the school library and noticed my friend Mary Isham having an animated conversation, mostly to herself, as she openly expressed her concerns with the librarian. She was a cute and bubbly girl, dressed in her cheerleading outfit for the big game that night and seemed to be having some sort of problem.

I walked closer and overheard Mary tragically exclaim, “I can’t bear to part with it, I just can’t, you know.  I can’t stand the thought of it being put back on the shelf and no one reading it – I have checked it out three times and have read it over and over for weeks and the thought of it all alone waiting for someone to read it makes me sad.”  Mary spots me walking in and gushes, “Stacey save me!  This is such a great book and I have to turn it in today and I hate to see it sitting on the shelf alone, please, please take it and check it out…it is such a great book.”

I remember her words vividly.

That was it! 

I couldn’t believe that someone could love a book so much that she was having such a dramatic scene about returning it to the library,

So, I figured it must be good, right?  As pleaded, I took the book and checked it out.  I went home, rushed to my room, and opened its first page. I was hooked!

I even missed the football game that night.

When it was time to return it, I checked out another Victoria Holt romance book and the librarian smiled as to say something about that being a life changing event for me.

I didn’t appreciate it until now. Yes, being hooked on reading became a life-changing event for me.

Thank you Mary Isham!

What’s your favorite book? What title can cause you to get dramatic and overly-animated?

Well, whatever book it is, please introduce that book to your child, friend, family member or co-worker.

You never know, it might be a life-changing event for them too!

Copyright 2007 – Stacey Kannenberg, Cedar Valley Publishing, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

Care to share your favorite book with us?  What about a favorite author or series?  Reading can be a wonderful life-altering experience; the right book can be the key that unlocks the door.