The Right Tools for School

By Aviva Patz

Your child knows his ABCs, numbers, colors and shapes, so he's all ready for kindergarten, right? Not so fast. While teachers are always glad to see kids walk in the door with basic academic skills, it's more important for them to have certain developmental skills.

"Kids need to be able to do things like focus and pay attention, which will help them learn everything else," says Sally Goldberg, PhD, professor of education at the University of Phoenix and author of Make Your Own Preschool Games (Da Capo). "We call them foundation skills because kids need them in order to participate effectively in a learning environment."

Here, the core abilities that will help your child thrive in kindergarten -- and how you can help build them up.

• Ability to focus Can your child concentrate on an activity for at least 10 to 15 minutes? Can she follow simple directions -- put your socks in the hamper and your shoes in the closet? Can she solve simple problems, such as how to get the book she wants from the bottom of a stack? These critical thinking skills set the stage for learning in a classroom setting.

Skill-builder Open-ended activities -- building with blocks or LEGOs, finger-painting or decorating cookies -- help kids learn to focus and stay engaged for longer periods. Kids have a more in-depth involvement when there's no one right answer.

• Communication skills Most kids by this age can express their needs and understand what's being asked of them. They should have a reasonably broad vocabulary and be able to convey their thoughts in sentences.

Skill-builder Talk, talk and talk some more with your child. During conversation, boost his communication skills in two ways: supply the words that he's sometimes missing, expanding his vocabulary ("the siren startled you, is that it?") and enrich his ideas ("You're cold? I'm notsurprised; the first day of winter is next week.")

• Motor mastery In addition to running and jumping (if he's not handicapped), your child should be able to feed and dress himself and have enough fine motor control to draw with a pencil and cut with scissors.

Skill-builder To boost her fine motor skills, give her play dough and clay. There's a sequence of actions most kids take with play dough -- they roll it into ball, pat it flat like a pancake, roll it between their palms into a snake, and then coil it up -- that exercises all the fine motor muscles in the hand,  including the pincer grasp, which is important for holding a pencil, zipping and buttoning. Another great project is ripping paper into small pieces for a mosaic. The act of tearing is great training for little fingers -- and lots of fun, too.

• Emotional readiness "I want to do it myself" should be a phrase you hear at home, since pre-K kids are gaining greater independence with each day. They're also reasonably confident and willing -- even eager -- to try and to learn new things.

Skill-builder Make an effort to help build your child's self-confidence. Kids want to feel valued, needed and important. Say thank you to show your appreciation. Say please to show they're valued. You might even single out a special personality trait to acknowledge, or highlight something that makes them unique.

• Social smarts Does your child still play alongside friends, or do they talk and share and take turns? Being able to play well with other children -- and play together in a group -- is an important social skill for many classroom activities.

Skill-builder Family relationships are a training ground for all future relationships, so focus on creating positive interactions at home and with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, if possible. Be aware that you're also modeling how to get along well with other people when your child sees you interact with your friends and neighbors. One-on-one play dates with friends are also a good opportunity for your child to interact with peers on a deeper level.

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