April

Get Ready for School

Skills to Practice this Month

Help your child choose and wear clothing that is comfortable for indoors and for outdoor weather conditions. Making their own clothing choices will help children feel proud, comfortable, and confident.

Make sure your child can recognize his own jacket and lunchbox. Help him practice putting on and taking off a coat and tying his shoes.

Activities

Ask your child to name all the things she can do on her own. Make a list of these things together. Ask your child to name some of the things that she wants to be able to do by herself and how she will learn to do these things.

Praise your child’s independence. When your child dresses herself or puts on her own shoes and socks, praise her efforts. You’ll encourage these behaviors and your child will want to try to do more.

Make a growth chart that records your child’s height growth. Use this chart to also record progress she is making and new skills she has learned.

Talk about what the weather is like at different times of the year and the types of clothes people wear during the different seasons. Is it hot in December? Do we usually wear a coat and gloves in summer?

Play a “getting dressed” game with your child. Let him pick out what he would wear for many types of weather and talk about his choices.

Punch 2 rows of 3 or 4 holes in a heavy piece of paper. Provide your child with yarn, ribbon, or shoelaces so that she can practice lacing and tying.

Get Ready to Read

Skills to Practice this Month

Take your child to many places like the library, the park, the grocery store, the post office, church, a friend’s home. Having many different experiences will help your child’s brain develop and see that words are everywhere.

Words are learned through conversations and experiences as you talk with your child about what is happening in the world around you.

Visiting your library will help children to enjoy books, and children who enjoy books want to learn to read.