How to practice language development

Week 3

Kindergarten Ready Skills: At age 5 can your child complete the following:

Gross Motor Skills:

Stands on one foot for ten seconds

Stands on other foot for ten seconds

Stands on one foot for one second with eyes closed

Stands on other foot for one second with eyes closed

Walks backward toe-to-heel four steps

Visual Motor Skills:

Draws:

an X

a square

a rectangle

a triangle

a diamondWe are in week 3 of our summer review for kindergarten readiness skills as we anticipate school starting for our new kindergarten students. I will continue to provide information about skills that cover the five areas of Kindergarten Readiness in preparation for the first day of school.

Academic/Cognitive

Language Development

Physical Development

Self-Help

Social-Emotional Development

Question: Of the five domains above, which area do you think we continue to see a decline when compared to national norms?

Answer: Physical Development. Over the past five years, the BRIGANCE data continues to show a decline in the physical development of our students entering kindergarten.

Week 3 Skills Review: Physical Development

Two areas of physical development that the BRIGANCE Kindergarten Screen reviews are the areas of gross motor and visual motor skills. The gross motor component covers student's core strength and balance by having students stand on one foot for ten seconds, the other foot for ten seconds and then repeating but with their eyes closed. Students also demonstrate the ability to walk backward, toe-to-heel for four steps. For visual motor, students will need to draw an X, a square, a rectangle, a triangle and a diamond.

To prepare for the gross motor skills, outside play is the best way for students to remain physically active. It is easy to allow students to remain stagnant with an electronic device, but encourage your child to run, climb, hop, skip, jump and even practice standing on one foot. You can introduce early numeracy skills by making it a game and counting to ten with them. They may not be able to do the skill today, but keep practicing. They will get better and better!

A tip for visual motor skills is to have your child trace and practice drawing the shapes of a square, rectangle, triangle and a diamond. Once the shapes are completed, let them color the shapes their favorite color. In addition, when you see these shapes in the community, ask your child what shape they see. This also helps with language development. Practice makes perfect. Keep up the great work getting your child Kindergarten Ready!