Ready for Kindergarten: An Award-Winning Teacher's Plan to Prepare Your Child for School

By Sharon Wilkins

You are the most important teacher your child will ever have. Filled with 156 fun activities designed to equip boys and girls for school success, this unique little book can show you how to help your child lay the foundation for developing healthy friendships and a love for God. In addition, it can help you give your child a giant head start in such core subjects as math, reading, science, art, and music! Through three simple, creative activities per week, you can laugh and play with your child while teaching important skills. Let an award-winning kindergarten teacher with twenty-four years of classroom experience show how exciting activities -- from making your initials out of Play Doh to building a cardboard train out of boxes -- can make your child Ready for Kindergarten!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Jan 5, 2010
• ISBN: 9780310863700

Sharon Wilkins

Sharon Wilkins has been an early childhood educator for more than 30 years. She is a two-time nominee of Walt Disney’s Teacher of the Year award and has contributed to four books and written numerous articles for national publications. Sharon speaks at workshops and conferences and on numerous radio and TV talk shows. She and her family live in Arizona and operate the Wilkins Learning Center. www.sharonwilkins.com.

Book preview

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For those who loved me into being—my precious family—my mom, Jean, my hero Skip, and our adored daughters, Jennifer and Melissa.

Thanks for surrounding me with your love, words of encouragement,

and willingness to be my first editors.

And for the thousands of children I’ve taught who ended up really teaching me. This book world not exist without you. I love you in the deepest part of my heart!

ZONDERVAN

Ready for Kindergarten

Copyright © 1996 by Sharon Wilkins

First Zondervan edition © 2000

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN: 0-310-86370-8

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilkins, Sharon.

       Ready for kindergarten : an award winning teacher’s plan to prepare your child for school / Sharon Wilkins.

          p. cm.

      Originally published: Sisters, Or. : Gold’n’Honey Books, ©1996.

      ISBN 978-0-310-23659-7

      1. Readiness for school. 2. Kindergarten. I. Title.

    LB1132.W55 2000

00–021528

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Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this book are offered as a resource to you. These are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Edited by Scharlotte Rich

Designed by David Carlson

Cover photo by Linda Bohm © 1996

Illustrations © 1996 by Mona Daly

Table of Content

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Week One: What’s a Row?

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Two: My Name

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Three: Sticking To It

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Four: My Street and God’s Too

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Five: Leafy Ideas

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Six: Water Wonders

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Seven: For the Love of Books

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Eight: Measuring Up

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Nine: I’m Never Alone

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Ten: Showing Respect

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Eleven: Fun with Shapes

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twelve: Thanks for Colors, God

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirteen: Building Character

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Fourteen: Listening Is Important

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Fifteen: Growing in Responsibility

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Sixteen: Making Music

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Seventeen: Come to Your Senses

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Eighteen: Me? Independent? Yes!

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Nineteen: God’s World

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty: Books in the Making

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty-One: A Blast at Bedtime

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty-Two: Making Friends

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty-Three: Scoop and Sort

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty-Four: Getting Down to Basics

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty-Five: Parts of the Puzzle

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty-Six: Look, I Can!

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty-Seven: I’m a Rock Hound

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty-Eight: Building Your Child’s Self-Esteem

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Twenty-Nine: Recycled Treasures

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty: The Sound of My First Letter

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty-One: Shape Review

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty-Two: Rice Is Nice

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty-Three: I Know How to Lace

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty-Four: Two Important Letters

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty-Five: I Need Dirt

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty-Six: Seeds Are Miracles

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty-Seven: Listening to Directions

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty-Eight: Learning My Whole Name

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Thirty-Nine: Math with Trash

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty: More Fun with Trash

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty-One: Friendship Is Sharing

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty-Two: Reading Readiness

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty-Three: Eating and Adding

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty-Four: Fun with Subtracting

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty-Five: Fun as a Family

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty-Six: Beginning with God

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty-Seven: Teaming Up

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty-Eight: Kindergarten Is Getting Close

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Forty-Nine: Two Weeks and Counting

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Fifty: One More Week, Great!

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Fifty-One: The Night Before School

day 1

day 2

day 3

Week Fifty-Two: My First Day of Kindergarten

day 1

day 2

day 3

Delightful Books to Read to Your Child

About the Author

Ice Cream in a Bag!

A Great Birthday Activity

Kool-Aid® Playdough

No-Cook Easy Flour Dough

Family Fun on a Shoestring!

Cleaning Is a Breeze When You Sing with Threes

Time-In Reduces Time-Out

Human Doing or Human Being?

About the Publisher

Share Your Thoughts

Introduction

YOU are the most important teacher your child will ever have!

The activities in this book will help you provide your child with the foundation for a successful year in kindergarten. After completing this book, I hope you will walk away on the first day of kindergarten confident of your child’s abilities to succeed,having taught your child new skills, a greater kindness toward others, and a new independence.

These 156 kid-tested activities are fun, quick, and developmentally appropriate for children ages four through six. Your child will be involved in a variety of learning areas including an appreciation for God, pre-reading skills, math, science, music, language, art, and activities to help your child get along with others. There is a small journal to jot down memorable moments.

Jesus said, a little child shall lead them. Take your child’s hand as together you enjoy learning, laughter, and most of all, love.

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Week One: What’s a Row?

day 1

A Minute for Mom: For the mother is and must be, whether she knows it or not, the greatest, strongest, and most lasting teacher her children have.—Hannah Whitall Smith

All in a Row!

Materials:

Five toys

Activity: It is important for your child to understand what a row is on a piece of paper. Start with concrete objects first.

Help your child collect five small toys. Ask him to put them in a row. Give help if needed.

Now put the five toys in a pile and see if he can make a row again by himself. Ask your child to touch the beginning of the row. Talk about the first, second, and third places. Compliment him for being a good listener!

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Week One: What’s a Row?

day 2

A Minute for Mom: It is more blessed to give than to receive.—Acts 20:35

What’s Missing?

Materials:

Five different small objects (pencil, button, rock, spoon, etc.)

Activity: Place five objects in a row on a table. Ask your child if the objects are in a circle or in a row. Next have her put them in a circle or a row. Do this several times until your child is confident using these terms.

Now let your child study them for a few seconds. Have your child turn away and not look while you take one object away. Have her look at the objects again to guess which object is missing. If it is too difficult for your child with five objects, try the game with two or three and gradually build up to five.

Always stop and have a snack or playtime when your child