Wednesday, July 30, 2003

Preparing for school

By GREGORY K. MOFFATT, PH. D
Child's Play

The beginning of school is just a few weeks away. Every year at this time I'm asked many times about how best to prepare children for preschool and kindergarten. Every child is different, but here are some basic things that can help your child if you want to get a head start.

Perhaps one of the most important things you can do for young children is to limit his or her time in front of the television. Excessive television viewing stifles the child's imagination and creates an expectation that everything should be entertaining. Education is not always entertaining - at least in the same way that television programs can be. Teachers cannot, nor should they, present information in the loud, fast-paced manner that typifies television programming. Therefore, children who watch a great deal of television are easily bored with school. TV isn't all bad, but limiting television viewing to an hour or two a day will help them adjust to the school environment.

There are many educational games available both in the form of computer games as well as card games and board games. Children enjoy games and research has shown that learning through play is very effective. You can use almost any situation as a way to teach your child letters, colors, and other basic concepts. For example, at my home, my son and I play a game in the swimming pool that involves spelling. He doesn't even realize we are learning to read and write while we are swimming. Teaching through games makes learning fun. Enjoying the learning process is, without a question, the most important part of launching a school career.

Puzzles and spatial games help teach a variety of thinking skills and most children love to do puzzles. There are stores that specialize in learning materials (i.e. The Learning Store), but many of these games are very expensive. With a little forethought and effort, you can find games at Toys R Us and Target that accomplish the same type of tasks.

You can teach your children basic information about their lives such as their home address, telephone number, and their full name. Basic colors, numbers 1-10 (1-100 for children entering the first grade), and shapes are also important for their first year experiences.

Anyone who has read my column for more than a few months knows how much I emphasize the importance of reading. Read to your child and let your child read to you. Even if your child can only pick out certain letters or words, practice what he or she can do as you read to the child. Reading is one of the most important skills in your child's education. It is highly correlated with academic success, college success, social skills, and even self-reported happiness and job satisfaction in adulthood. Reading is a skill your child will need every day and it spurs brain activity that improves imagination and memory skills. These benefits cannot be gained by watching television, providing yet another reason to limit television viewing. A child who enjoys reading will enjoy school much more than one who does not.

Even though most children are ready for school by age four or five, keep in mind that even though children may be academically prepared for school, not all children are socially and developmentally prepared. Don't rush your child too much. If you find that your child is very resistant to school or that he or she is consistently upset about school related issues even four or five weeks after the start of school, a consultation with the teacher and/or school counselor might be wise. It would be better to hold a child back a year in school than to push the child so hard that he hates school. A dislike for school could last a lifetime and have significant impact on the child's future, career, and professional life.