Ready for Kindergarten!

Do you have a preschooler in your life?  If so then, Ready for Kindergarten! by Deborah J. Stewart, MEd will be a book that will help parents, caregivers and teachers prepare children for kindergarten success.  Stewart shares easy to read tips and information about things children should know and how you can help them.  The book is divided into three sections:  Building Strength from Fingers to Toes, Building Confidence as You Go, and Building on Things to Know.   I am delighted to participate in a study of the book and will be focusing on one chapter and sub-section of the book:  Ready to Read- A Print-Rich Environment.

Full Disclosure:  The author of Ready for Kindergarten! provided a review copy of the book.  However, all opinions expressed are my own!

Helping children notice that print is all around them helps them to get ready to read.  Print is all around us- letters on a license plate, a stop sign, a favorite restaurant or the box of crackers on the shelf at the grocery store.    Stewart suggests drawing attention to the print in your environment.  At home, she states to keep your child’s printed name all over and have lots of reading material on hand.

Here are some ideas on how I create a print-rich environment in my home.  I hope you will find the ideas useful and easy to incorporate in your home too.

Ideas for Creating a Print-Rich Environment

This is My Name

In each of my boy’s bedrooms, we have their name hanging on the wall.  We framed letters from vintage ABC animal cards for my youngest son’s name.  For my older son, we chose to decorate with wooden  letters.

We also created this parking garage to help our oldest learn the letters in his name and organize all those cars and trucks in the house too!

Puzzles

My son pretty much taught himself the alphabet with this ABC train puzzle.  Alphabet puzzles are a fun and kinesthetic way to practice letter recognition.

We also create name puzzles out of foam pieces so that he can put them in the correct order on the bathtub wall during bath time.  Here is a link to some other bath time literacy activities that we like to do.

Reading Material Everywhere!

We pretty much have books in every room of our house.  My son is potty-training right now, so we also have a basket of books next to the potty!  Here are some ideas for creating a library on a tight budget.

My son also loves to get mail! Last week, he sent a note to Grandma and asked her to write back.  A few days later, he had mail from Grandma!  He also loves to get his magazines in the mail.  His favorite is Highlights High Five.  We also get National Geographic Little Kids.

Charts, Posters and Signs

We recently hung a days of the week chart to keep track of activities we do throughout the week.  Creating charts, posters and signs helps children create meaningful text.

Take it Outside!

We love to go on letter and word  hunts.  Sometimes we do letter digs and other times we go on walks through the neighborhood looking for print.

Still need more ideas for creating a print-rich environment?  Check out this Print Rich Homes Pinterest Board!

Would you like to see more ideas from Ready for Kindergarten! ?  Check out the other bloggers who are also studying and illustrating the remaining chapters from the book at Deborah’s page.  You will also be able to order your own copy of the book there too!

Enjoy the book and the journey of helping your child prepare for kindergarten!

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