Everything Parents Need to Do to Get Their Child Ready for Today's Kindergarten
Most parents know that much more is expected of kindergartners now than
was true even a few years ago. But parents are unsure about what
they should work on with their children so they'll be as ready as they
can be for kindergarten.
Now a new book answers their questions – and helps them prepare their child for the upcoming kindergarten experience. I'm Getting Ready For Kindergarten,
written by noted San Francisco Bay Area child/parent psychologist Annye
Rothenberg, Ph.D., contains two parts in one book: a colorfully
illustrated story for three- to six-year-old children about what they
can expect in kindergarten, and a parent guidance section giving
complete information about preparing their child for kindergarten.
Whether their children have attended play-based
or academic preschools, parents all want to know what is expected at
the beginning of kindergarten. When parents ask what they should do to help their child be prepared for kindergarten,
they often hear very different answers: “Your child is smart. Don't be
concerned, because the kindergarten teacher will teach him what he
needs to know.” Yet parents also hear that today's curriculum requires
kindergartners to be prepared to learn what used to be taught in
first grade: reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic, starting in
the first weeks of kindergarten.
When parents decide to be pro-active in preparing their child for kindergarten, it can be hard to find out exactly
what to help their child with. The parent guidance part of this
two-section book provides the complete package covering 12 skills. Each
of the skills begins with questions for parents to ask themselves so
they can help determine whether their child needs more help in that
area. For the
skills children need help with, this book explains to parents how to
teach their child before kindergarten begins and even during the
beginning of the kindergarten year if needed.
Sections include:
- Teaching Your Child to Listen to You and Other Adults
- What Guidelines at Home Will Help Your Child to Be Ready to Learn at School
- What Should Children Be Able to Do for Themselves?
- What Should Children Do for the Family?
- Guiding Your Child's Emotional Maturity
- Guiding Your Child's Social Maturity
- Your Child's Speech and Language Readiness
- Your Child's Fine and Gross Motor Readiness
- Preparing Your Child Academically for Kindergarten
- Preparing Your Child for the Structure of Kindergarten
- Preparing Your Kindergartner to Be Able to Focus on the Schoolwork
- What's a Good Daily Routine for Your Kindergartner?
Since greater
curriculum expectations and longer school days are now the norm for
kindergarten, parents have a further dilemma: whether their child needs
another year in preschool. Parents may wonder if their child would do
better and be less stressed if he or she were at the older end of the
class. Parents also may be concerned about their child's readiness for
academics; speech or fine motor skills; or how well he or she listens
to grownups, gets along with friends, or handles frustration. This can
parents cause a lot of worry and doubt. For parents who are uncertain
whether to send their child to kindergarten or wait another year, this
book will help them feel more sure in making that decision.
The section for children has an engaging and
reassuring story. The preschooler in the story asks the questions that
entering kindergartners have: “What will I do in kindergarten?” “Is it
like preschool?” “Will the teachers be nice?” “Will I have friends?”
“Will I like school?” and others. This story answers all these
questions, realistically helps prepare them for what kindergarten is
like, and reassures them. Children will identify with the preschooler,
and they'll also enjoy her younger sister's lighthearted comments. The
dialogue in this story will also make it easier for parents to know how
to explain kindergarten to their child.
Dr. Rothenberg, who is also an adjunct faculty
member in pediatrics at Stanford University Medical School and a
mother, has guided hundreds of families with young children over more
than 25 years. She helps parents whose children are having a difficult
kindergarten year as well as those trying to decide if their child is
ready for kindergarten. Dr. Rothenberg observes children at school and
at home so she can give provide parents the most individualized and
practical guidance.
In preparing this book, Dr. Rothenberg surveyed
state departments of education and school districts about kindergarten
expectations. She interviewed kindergarten and preschool teachers and
parents of kindergartners, and drew on her own and her colleagues'
extensive experience. I'm Getting Ready For Kindergarten is
cutting-edge, straightforward, and complete. It guides moms and dads to
confidently be on the same page in preparing their children for big
kids' school. With this book's guidance, parents can help their child
have an easier adjustment and a more successful kindergarten year.
Dr. Rothenberg is also the author of five other all-in-one books in her
parent and young-child series: Mommy And Daddy Are Always Supposed To
Say Yes … Aren't They? (2007), Why Do I Have To? (2008), I Like To Eat
Treats (2010), I Don't Want To Go To The Toilet (2011), and I Want To
Make Friends (2012).
The first book teaches parents (and kids) how much choice and say young children should have so they don't become overly entitled and self-centered. The second book teaches about rules and how to get young children to cooperate with their parents, including using new and more effective, age-appropriate consequences. The third book excites children about healthy eating and provides essential information to parents about the common eating issues. The
fourth helps children be willing to stop playing to go peepee in the
toilet as well as not to be afraid to go poop in the toilet. Its guidance is useful for parents whose children are uninterested, resistant, and/or fearful about toilet training. The fifth helps children be better friends and guides parents to know how to teach social skills to their youngsters, including when children are having trouble with peers.
I'm Getting Ready For Kindergarten
First edition, 48 pages, full color illustrations, 8”x10” quality
paperback.
ISBN 978-0-9790420-5-8
LC 2012 924112
Publication date: April 2013
Publisher: Perfecting Parenting Press
