Signs Your Little One Is Ready for Kindergarten

Parents that have never sent a child to Kindergarten before often wonder if their child is truly ready. Here are some simple ways to judge their preparedness. But don’t worry if your child lags behind in one or two skills. They should catch up quickly in this very formative first year of school.

Social Skills

Have you observed your child working in peer groups?

Can your child successfully follow directions?


These are both foundation skills for kindergarten success. They’ll be working in groups frequently and using social skills to interact and to complete activities. From the very first day, they will need to listen and follow directions just to understand the room rules and routines.

If you’re worried your child needs development in any of these skills it’s not too late to make progress before school. Tell your child what appropriate behavior is when working in groups. Have your child focus on following directions and try a reward system for successfully following directions.

Motor Skills

Does your child have developed motor skills (i.e. can they cut with scissors, can they hold a pencil correctly)?

Some children are late bloomers when it comes to motor skills. Every child this age colors outside of the lines sometimes, but if your child cannot stay in the lines that could be a sign of late development. Your child should be able to write basic letters and numbers. If your child cannot complete this task, their motor skills may require attention. Resolving these issues may just take some extra practice at home, however, if you think your child has a more serious issue consult your kindergarten teacher, that’s what they are there for.

Independent Thinking

Is your child comfortable with independence?

Some children shy away from speaking for themselves or acting on their own. If this is your child, don’t worry. You can work on this skill by giving your child the opportunity to speak and act independently. Allow them to begin to make some simple decisions on their own for example, what to eat for lunch, and what to wear etc. They will begin to understand those decisions and working independently is needed in life.

Not all children are the same. Success in kindergarten will look different for everyone.

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When Toddlers Hit

It’s not uncommon for a toddler to get physical out of frustration. As parents and caregivers, we need to help them to learn how to deal with their feelings. Here is a great article on how to deal with hitting and biting. Click here to read the article.

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Does Your Child Have Trouble Sleeping?

Parents sometimes envy the deep, restful sleep that their children enjoy. However, not all children are peaceful sleepers. Some children wake up in the middle of the night for no reason and have trouble falling back to sleep, others wake due to storms or bad dreams. Here are some reasons kids have sleepless nights and some steps you can take to reduce them.

Scary Dreams – It’s normal for children to occasionally wake due to thunderstorms, or a scary dream. If your child is frequently waking due to scary dreams, you might want to begin to ask some questions to understand the nature of their fear. In some instances, siblings are telling scary stories or your child might be watching a scary TV show without your knowledge. You also could discover monsters are living under the bed or in the closet. A night light can be an easy cure for monsters and all other types of imaginary creatures. A quick check under their bed each night can help to banish all monsters for good and make you a hero to your child. The good news is that as your child ages, monsters like all other fairy tales will begin to disappear.

Bathroom Breaks – Children have small bladders which can trigger your child’s natural instinct to wake up prior to wetting the bed. Install a night light in your child’s bathroom. This can avoid the shock of bright lights, which can further awaken your child. Also, if your child wakes, don’t talk to them if you are assisting them with the bathroom. Engaging in conversation will further stimulate your child’s senses which can prevent them from falling back to sleep.

Too Much Energy – make sure your child is getting enough exercise and eating properly. Lack of exercise can lead to boundless energy at bedtime and trouble winding down. Try getting your child involved with a sport or exercise program. You can also cut out dessert and reduce sugary snacks in your child’s diet.If you are concerned those sleepless nights are a result of a medical issue, or if you need help with your child’s diet and nutrition contact your pediatrician.


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Water Safety

Summer and hot weather mean trips to the family’s favorite swimming hole. It also means taking the proper precautions for water safety. Here is a great article with lots of information and tips to help you and your family stay safe at the pool, lake, and beach. Click here to read the article.

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Traveling with Kids

Traveling with children can present challenges, that’s why planning is important. To help you get prepared, here are some tips and ideas to reduce the stress and make the trip more enjoyable for the whole family.


1. When possible, travel at night or get a very early morning start to your trip and let the kids sleep. But be cautious, because it's easy to get tired.

2. If you plan to travel during the day try stopping about every 90 minutes. By planning ahead, and using travel planning websites, you can find kid-friendly places such as parks with playgrounds, historic monuments to give the kids a 15-minute break and work off some energy.

3. 1,000 bottles of root beer on the wall or B-I-N-G-O can really help to pass the time and create some happy or sad memories depending on how good of a singer you are.

4. Create a goodie-bag. Toys, games, bubbles, coloring books can all help pass the time during a long trip. Bring toys you can use during your small stops, like footballs, frisbees or soccer balls, which will encourage running off energy.

5. Have your children do quiet activities, such as creating postcards or writing a paper, or a journal to document where you’re going or where you have been on your trip. They can also practice the lost art of letter writing to friends they miss at home.

6. Of course, if you need to, you can always fall back on the handheld games, CD and portable DVD players with earphones.

Let each child pack their own box or backpack of activities that way, you can make sure they will like what they brought and it will keep their things organized and accessible.


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School Friendships: Stay Connected Over Summer Break

Summer can be relaxing, but it can also be pretty busy with family vacations, day trips, and spending time with an aunt or grandparents. Young children sometimes have a hard time understanding that their schedule has changed and why they are not seeing their best buddy all the time. Here is a great article on maintaining friendships over summer break. Click here to read the article.


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Recognizing Good Behavior

It’s common for parents to focus on bad behavior more than good. At the point when your child is misbehaving is when you’ll reprimand them. Good behavior can often go unnoticed because it can be as simple as sitting quietly or doing chores. These are things parents are likely to miss and thus miss the opportunity to praise and reinforce the good. Here are some ways you can remember to recognize good behavior.


Systematize Praise – Set up some time each week to think about what your child did well, or keep a list of the good behavior when it occurs. Then, when you have the opportunity, let your child know what you noticed they did well during the week. If your child needs to work on certain behaviors, set up a behavior chart. Give them stickers for when they are good. After a week of good behavior, reward them with something they like.

Stay On The Positive Side – Instead of telling your child what you don’t want them to do, tell them what behavior you want. For example, You didn't clean up your room or you didn't put your clothes in the laundry basket. Try telling them why you need them to do these tasks. Let them know that by pitching in they are helping the whole family.

Be Specific With Your Praise – Don’t just tell your child good job. Tell them exactly what they did that was good. For example, cleaning up your room today really helped me out and allowed me to help your sister/brother with their homework. The more specific the praise the more your child will respond to the positive encouragement.


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