For the past several months, my four year-old has been enviously watching her big sister go off to school on the school bus. She’s dying to jump on and be “the big girl.” I’m not sure if mom’s there but, ready or not, she’ll be on her way off to kindergarten this September.
I’ve always left the educational preparation for kindergarten to her pre-school teachers. But what does she really need to know to be prepared? You have to make sure your kids have their vaccinations before they start school but does anyone give you a list of the basic skills they should know? My good friend Stacey Kannenberg, better known as the “Get Ready To Learn Mom,” is the founder of Cedar Valley Publishing and wrote the highly acclaimed books Get Ready For Kindergarten and Get Ready For First Grade. She is a nationally renowned education expert and award winning author with an expertise in children’s education, and “Mom entrepreneurship”.
Stacey found a great way to put together the alphabet, numbers and shapes for parents and teachers in order to allow them to empower kids entering kindergarten and the first grade. The books are colorful, durable and interactive and kids love them!
In talking to Stacey I learned a disturbing fact. When she surveyed pre-school teachers to see if they knew what the seven basic skills were that children needed to know before entering kindergarten on 4% were able to answer correctly!