Helping You Understand Kindergarten Programs

Posted on: 20 May 2020

The main purpose of a kindergarten program is to prepare your child for his or her transition to school. It is considered as the first step to formal education.

It is important to note that kindergarten learning is not only the responsibility of kindergarten teachers but also your responsibility as a parent. Kindergarten teachers help you teach your child at home by providing learning books and giving homework.

Your role is to help your child do his or her kindergarten homework, which may include colouring, drawing, writing, etc. You might also be required to help your child read a children's book to help improve his or her reading skills in the home environment; you can do this before bedtime. Here are some specifics about what your child learns in kindergarten:

Alphabets

Learning the alphabet mostly helps in acquiring reading skills. Your child can identify the letters of the alphabet and make their sounds. They are taught to put the letter sounds together; for example, in a word like 'cat ', they put the sound of 'c', 'a' and 't' together to pronounce the word 'cat'. This is how they learn to read.

As your child learns how to make letter sounds and pronounce words, he or she is taught how to draw/write the letters in both capital and small letters. Of course, the handwriting is not perfect, but it improves as your child grows. He or she just needs the basic skills of knowing how each letter is written.

Your child may be given homework that involves drawing and colouring the letters of the alphabet. He or she may also be issued a book to practice reading; you are required to help him or her.

Numbers

When it comes to numbers, your child is usually taught to count things; starting from one to ten. He or she then slowly advances to larger numbers. Your child is then taught how to do basic math problems like simple addition and subtraction with the help of props.

This is also the time that children are taught how to read a calendar. By the end of the kindergarten year, they should be able to read a calendar and know the different days in a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.).

Environment

Your child is taught about the environment, which includes things like different weather conditions, plants, animals and their senses. This way he or she gets to identify when it's raining or sunny, develop emotions, learn how to express his or her feelings and make connections with things.

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