We Are Learning in October |
Now that your child is in kindergarten, there are new ways you can help them learn. Try these activities, then visit your library to check out a book about it. Click here to print this list.
We are learning Social and Emotional Development
Do it!
Go outside one night with your kindergartner to look at the stars. Talk about what can be seen. If you can't see the stars, discuss what might prevent you from seeing them (like clouds in the sky or bright city lights). Find children's books in the library that explain astronomy. If your kindergartner's vision is limited, find star books in braille and that glow in the dark, so they can touch the stars. Make a star book using stickers and construction paper, so they can touch the stars.
Read it!
Stars by Mary Lyn Ray. Papa, Please Get The Moon for Me by Eric Carle.
We are learning Language and Literacy
Do it!
Look through books and magazines to find words that rhyme. For extra practice developing these skills, talk in rhyme to your kindergartner. For example, "I see that cat is on the mat and needs a hat." Once your kindergartner is able to recognize words that rhyme, ask them to produce a third word that follows the rhyme. Find picture books or nursery rhymes that include rhyming words. Create your own picture book with braille or written words next to the picture. Play hand clapping games like Pat-a-Cake and Miss-Mary-Mack or sing songs that have rhyming words with action words like "I'm a Little Teapot."
Read it!
Pizza, Pigs and Poetry by Jack Prelutsky. Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino.
We are learning Social and Emotional Development
Do it!
Have your kindergartner draw a picture of themself. Write a sentence of what they like about themself. Bring out a mirror so your kindergartner can look at their facial features, point out two eyes, one mouth, etc. Show how you would draw yourself to give them clues on where to start. Talk about colors and shapes while you're drawing. For children still developing writing skills, another idea is use pre-cut shapes your child assembles into an image.
Read it!
Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch. Elmer by David McKee.
We are learning Language and Literacy
Do it!
Go to the library where you and your kindergartner can each pick out a book to read. Which book is the funniest? Which has the best pictures? Which book is the favorite? Ask the librarian--they might have resources like large magnifiers, larger print, braille books and books on tape. For emerging readers, wordless picture books make reading the story fun and less intimidating. Have your kindergartner look for pictures, words or numbers that guide your kindergartner's favorite things.
Read it!
Fooling Ewe by Mike Demers. Fishing in Potato Salad by Othen Donald Dale Cummings.
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Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Health released the COVID Alert PA exposure notification application. It is now live in the Google and Apple stores, and you can download it for free at:
COVID Alert PA is a free mobile app using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology and the Exposure Notification System developed by Apple and Google. The app offers:
- Interactive COVID-19 symptom checker
- Opt-in for alerts for potential exposures to the virus
- Updates on the latest public health data about COVID-19 in PA
- Advice for what to do if you have a potential exposure to COVID-19
COVID Alert PA protects both privacy and personal information. The app does not use GPS, location services, or any movement or geographical information. It will never collect, transmit, or store personal information. It is completely anonymous.
Existing traditional contact tracing processes rely on a positive individual to remember and name who they have been in contact with recently, and for how long. In many cases, positive COVID-19 individuals may not even know the people they were in close contact with, like if the contact happened on a bus or train, at a check-out line in a grocery store, a restaurant or some other public venue.
The app supplements traditional contact tracing processes by being able to identify strangers a positive app user came in contact with and help stop the rapid spread of COVID-19. If the app detects that you have been in close contact with another user who has tested positive for COVID-19, you will receive a push notification on your phone. This is called an exposure alert and will be followed by what you should do to monitor your own health. You can learn more about the app and how it works here.
The Department of Human Services is committed to supporting this effort and helping protect the people we serve encouraging use of COVID Alert PA. This technology only works if others have downloaded the app, which is why the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Human Services are asking all Pennsylvanians to unite against COVID and download the app. Will you download the free app and join in the fight against COVID-19?
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Fine Motor Skills for Kindergartners |
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From the time they’re born, children are working on their fine motor skills and they continue to develop their fine motor skills as they get older. Fine motor skills are the movements the hands and fingers make to grasp and manipulate objects. The way an object feels, moves or even tastes can help a child learn about the world around them.
When your kindergartner was a baby, they used fine motor skills to grasp your fingers and clench their hands. They may have grabbed or held onto rattles or teethers and passed objects from one hand to the next. As your kindergartner got older and became a toddler, they used fine motor skills when eating, playing and exploring the world around them. By the time your child got to kindergarten, the fine motor skills they started developing as a baby are helping them learn to write, use scissors, button clothes, build with blocks and more.
Tips to help your kindergartner learn fine motor skills
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Give your kindergartner opportunities to explore and manipulate age-appropriate objects. Give her supervised access to crayons, child-safe scissors, finger paints, pipe cleaners and other craft objects to draw, mold, and manipulate. Even toys like LEGOS, puzzles and blocks can help with the development of fine motor skills.
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Encourage use of both hands. Did you know that being left or right handed can come from mom or dad? A recent study shows the same genetic markers tied to being left-handed may also play roles in brain development and communication between different brain areas. Although children may be as old as six years old before they show a preference for using their left or right hand, encouraging them to use either hand means they can more fully explore their world and learn.
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Expect a mess. Messes can be learning experiences! When your preschooler digs into the dirt, or cuts construction paper into small pieces, these are learning experiences using fine motor skills.
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When Frightful isn't Delightful
It's the season for ghosts, goblins and scary things, especially for young children! Even if your family does not participate in Halloween activities, there are displays at stores, schools or activity centers.
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10 Books about Being Afraid
Children can have many fears--of the dark, going to bed, or new places. The fears can change with their age or experiences, and sometimes we don't understand their fears. But for children, those fears can be very real.
Talk with your child's teacher, doctor or health care professional if your child is having difficulty with fears, or you feel the fears are causing problems with your child.
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Protecting Your Kindergartner from the Flu
Just as it does every year without fail, influenza season – also known as flu season – is coming. Many people don't realize it, but the flu can be a very serious illness. It causes thousands of deaths in the United States every year, some of which are among previously healthy children.
As a parent, the best thing you can do to protect your children from the flu is to get them vaccinated. Everyone around them should be vaccinated, too.
At the end of last flu season when COVID-19 was circulating, more people had to be hospitalized or died from what doctors called "influenza-like illnesses." Flu and COVID-19 will be spreading at the same time again this winter. Getting a flu shot will help protect your child from one of these viruses.
Check out these resources to help protect your child from the flu.
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Health and Safety in a Before or After School Program
When you trust your child to someone else, you want to be sure that both you and your child feel safe. In Pennsylvania, child care programs must meet state health and safety regulations.
The regulations cover areas like
- Safety standards for the building and classrooms;
- Staff requirements, such as age, education level;
- Staff to child ratios - how many staff people must be in a classroom with a certain number of children at all times (the younger the children, the more staff per classroom);
- Classroom and playground equipment;
- Supervision of children; and
- Nutrition and adult and child health.
When you are looking for a before or after school program for your child, visit the program and look for signs of safety.
- Department of Human Services child care certificate posted.
- Check inspection and violation history of child care programs before you visit at www.findchildcare.pa.gov.
- Does the facility appear orderly and clean?
- Are hazardous materials locked away?
- Is there an emergency plan and is it posted?
- Are there security measures in place?
- Is there a policy for sick children and other circumstances?
- Find resources for supporting your child in a before or after-school setting during COVID-19 on the PA Promise for Children website.
Visit PA's Promise to find more information about finding a safe and secure location for your child to learn. |
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Our Top Pins for Kindergartners!
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The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) provides families access to high quality services to prepare children for school and life success.
Find more information about Quality Early Learning in Pennsylvania
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