Dear Parents:

Your child’s success as a lifelong learner depends on many factors. Research has shown that the amount of time a child is read to at home; and the level of parental involvement are two of the most important factors contributing to your child’s accomplishments.

Keep in mind that you are your child’s first and most important teacher. Right from birth, your child listens to you and watches your every movement. By imitating your words and actions, your child learns language and number concepts, and develops social, emotional, and physical skills. Each day, your child learns as you talk, play, and work together.

There are some things you can do at home that will reinforce the concepts your child is learning at Children’s Harbor. Remember that children learn by doing. Information is more easily retained when children have had the opportunity to use all of their senses and manipulate the materials during the learning process.

Physical Development

In school children will be writing their name, cutting shapes, painting masterpieces, riding tricycles, and bouncing balls. They need daily opportunities to use their large and small muscles.

At home you can provide opportunities for your child to:

• Play on outdoor equipment at the park
• Catch, throw, and bounce different sized balls
• Practice jumping rope
• Skip, hop, run, and gallop
• Ride tricycles and two-wheeled bicycles
• Pump on the swing
• Use crayons, markers, pencils, and pens
• Cut pictures from magazines
• Dress her/himself
• Brush his/her teeth
• Use a spoon and fork at mealtime
  

Social Emotional Development

Children need to know how to function effectively as part of a group. They need to know how to take turns, make compromises, approach familiar children, obey those in authority, and generally be nice to others. At home you can provide opportunities for your child to:

• Let your child know what is expected
• Treat others with respect
  
• Get hugs and smiles
  
• Receive praise and positive encouragement
  
• Find words to describe his/her feelings
  
• Be a friend
  
• Hear and see adults use good manners
  
• Hear and see adults solve problems in a positive manner

Parents also can help their children by:

• Remembering that discipline’s goal is teaching positive behaviors rather than punishing misbehaviors
  
• Separating the misbehavior from the child and remembering that it is the behavior you do not like, not the child
  
• Understanding your child’s limits
  
• Letting your child know all feelings are okay, but not all actions are acceptable
  
• Accepting your child’s honest efforts without criticizing
  
• Treating your child and others with respect
  
• Maintaining realistic expectations regarding your child’s abilities
  
• Discussing and role-playing possible solutions to disagreements
  
• Giving your child unconditional love
  

Expressive/Receptive Language

Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are inter-related. These skills are integral parts of everything your child will learn or do in school. At home you can provide opportunities for your child to:

• Talk about what interests him/her.
  
• Answer questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” or one word answer.
• Be heard by others
  
• Play rhyming games
  
• Hear and learn nursery rhymes
  
• Follow directions containing “position” and “direction” words
  
• Compare objects related to size
  
• Ask questions about how things work
  
• Retell stories that have been told to him/her
  
• Use puppets to practice language and conversation
  
• Memorize poems and fingerplays

You can also help your child by:

• Establishing and maintaining eye contact during conversations
  
• Encouraging other family members to listen to your child
  
• Encouraging your child to develop and share ideas by asking questions and offering suggestions
  
• Singing familiar songs
  

Phonological Awareness
Print Knowledge

Reading aloud is an enjoyable and interesting experience for children. It is the most important way parents can help their children learn to read. Daily, parents need to set aside 15 – 20 minutes of uninterrupted time to share books with their child.

Keep in mind that writing is an integral part of reading. Children pretend to write and then read what they have written. Just by reading, writing must become part of the child’s daily routine. At home, you can provide opportunities for your child to:

• Receive and give books as birthday and holiday presents
  
• Care for books on a designated bookshelf
  
• See family members reading and caring for books and magazines
  
• Obtain a library card
  
• Hear their favorite stories over and over again
  
• “Pretend” to read
  
• Write words and letters
  
• Receive notes from you and others
  
• Send thank you notes to you and others
  
• Use a variety of writing implements
  
• Use magnetic letters
  
• See his/her name in print

While reading a story:

• Sit close to your child
  
• Allow ample time for your child to look at and talk about the pictures.
  
• Ask questions so your child is able to predict upcoming events in the story.
  
• Let your child touch the pictures and pretend to read the words.
  
• Ask questions about the pictures. Discuss the colors, shapes, and events.

After reading a story:

• Go back to the beginning of the story and let your child turn the pages and discuss the story.
  
• Use puppets and help your child recreate the story.
  
• Help your child compare the story’s situations to his/her own experiences.
  
• Encourage your child to draw pictures of his/her favorite part or favorite character.
  
• Be prepared to read the story again and again.
  
• Put the book on a shelf designated for books.
  

Cognition

Children learn by constructing their own understanding of concepts as they interact and work with materials, people, events, and ideas. At home, you can provide opportunities for your child to:

• Complete puzzles and build with blocks
  
• Sort toys by function, size, shape, and color
  
• Learn his/her body parts by playing “Simon Says”
  
• Play dominoes and other matching games like “Go Fish” and “Old Maid”
  
• Develop visual memory skills by playing games like “Concentration”
  
• Practice sequence skills by organizing pictures into what happened first, next, and last
  
• Learn color names by using color words to describe articles of clothing, toys, and household items
  
• Create structures using glue and fabric scraps, paper towel tubes, yarn, and toothpaste boxes
  
• Sort the laundry by color
  

Number Concepts

The development of number concepts – classifying, ordering, counting, and time and space relationships – is directly related to the child’s ability to perform mathematical tasks. It is important that children feel confident when dealing with number tasks. At home, you can provide opportunities for your child to:

• Go to the grocery store, select items, pay the cashier, and put away the groceries at home
  
• Compare objects regarding more than, less than,
  and equal to
  
• Compare objects regarding big, bigger, biggest and small, smaller, smallest
  
• Count items such as toys, household items,
  and personal items
  
• Recognize shapes in his/her daily environment
  
• Add and subtract numbers using marbles, chips, M & M’s, and Cheerios
  
• Set the table so s/he can practice counting objects around the house
  
• Learn about time. Make a clock and set the hands to the time an event happens (dinner). Let your child tell you when this time is indicated on an actual clock.
  
• Talk about yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Give your child a calendar and help him/her cross off the days. Put stickers on special days and count how many days until that special day occurs.
  
• Discuss morning, afternoon, and evening. Make a chart and use pictures and words to indicate what happens at these times of the day. Let your child attach the pictures next to the words.
  
  

A Combination of Factors

Physical well being, social and emotional maturity, language skills, an ability to solve problems, an ability to think creatively, and a general knowledge about the world - contribute to school success. Parents can help their children reach their potential if they remain involved in their education and the learning process.