Kindergarten Readiness Tips for Parents

Before a child goes off to Kindergarten, there is much you, as a parent, can do to help prepare your child for a good start.  Kids don’t learn all the skills and fine motor movements needed on their own.  It takes practice with a patient and encouraging parent to learn even basic skills like coloring… Read More

Books for Beginning Readers

online picture books

Picture books are a fun way for kids to start reading.  The pictures encourage kids to figure out the words as they move through the story.  Although reading isn’t a skill necessary for Kindergarten readiness, many children pick up reading at a very early age.  Even if you have a child that isn’t interested in… Read More

Importance of Creative Play

As parents and teachers we are so very attune to our children’s needs; from their initial nutritional requirements to ensuring that they surpass milestones in a timely manner.  We strive to make them social, happy and keep them entertained.  We read books, sing songs, present age-appropriate art ideas, and encourage letter and number recognition. Later… Read More

Help Preschoolers Learn to Write Their Name

One of the skills children need to learn for Kindergarten is being able to write their own name.  It is a skill that gives kids a real sense of accomplishment when they know what their name looks like and that they can actually write it themselves. But it is important to know how the children… Read More

Flash Cards and Kindergarten Readiness

Learn how using something as simple as flashcards can enhance your child’s early learning and better prepare him for kindergarten. As parents we all want to help our children learn and succeed. Teachers encourage extra at-home practice because it reinforces important academic skills such as number or letter recognition, letter sound identification, or even math… Read More

10 Ways to Increase Literary Development in Children

One of the best ways you can help your child develop a love of learning is to help them discover a love of reading.  For some children reading is a very difficult task in the beginning.  The letters and words just don’t seem to flow together as it does for other children who seem to… Read More

Technology in the Classroom

Insights from a Kindergarten Teacher, Tara Hudson: As a Kindergarten teacher I am amazed at how classrooms have changed. How teaching has changed. How learning has changed. My chalkboard is now an interactive whiteboard, my chalk, the computerized pen that manages my interactive whiteboard, and my tape player, an ipod. My students continue to use… Read More

Common Core Standards

If you have been around “teacher friends” this summer, you have likely heard the current educational buzz words, “The Common Core Standards” (CCS). This set of state-initiated standards, adopted by forty five of the fifty states, has been created to ensure continuity and college and career readiness. Beginning at the pre-kindergarten (pre-k) level and going… Read More

Every Child is Unique

Beach, pool, BBQs, sunscreen and bug spray may be our focus, but it is unmistaken that when that inevitable crispness grips our air, our minds switch from summer-fun to back-to-school.  Whether this is a joyous occasion or the first time you are sending your baby on a yellow bus, preparedness is a must; backpacks, lunchboxes,… Read More