September

Get Ready for School

Skills to Practice this Month

Provide opportunities for your child to spend time with other children and with adults. In kindergarten your child will spend much of her day with many other children and with different teachers and will be expected to be able to get along well with others.

Activities

Talk to your child about things that she can do working with others that she could not do on her own.

Play games that require two or more people, like catching or throwing a ball.

Have your family work together to create an art or craft project. Hang it proudly in your home. Tell your extended family or neighbors about this idea. Try a neighborhood-wide service project and make a positive difference in your community.

Plan a family meal with your child that needs everyone to work together. Choose a recipe. Decide who will chop, pour, and stir. Then, eat the meal together.

Talk with your child about everything that must be done at home to keep the household running smoothly. Create a “chores chart” to record the chores and who is responsible for each job.

Get Ready to Read

Skills to Practice this Month

To increase your child's vocabulary, or the number of different words she uses, introduce new words by adding more detail to what she says when she talks with you.

Research shows that children who have larger vocabularies are better readers. Knowing many words helps children recognize written words and understand what they read.