Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Dialogic Reading Example!

Dialogic Reading example published in Testing for Kindergarten by Karen Quinn:


Parent: What is that doggy doing? (prompt)

Child: Barking

Parent: That's right. (evaluates response) The doggie is barking at the moon. (expansion) What is he barking at? (repeat

Child: Doggies barking at the moon.


Dialogic Reading: An Effective Way to Read to Preschoolers | Reading Topics A-Z | Reading Rockets

Dialogic Reading: An Effective Way to Read to Preschoolers | Reading Topics A-Z | Reading Rockets

Great Games for kids (and families too)!

Here are some board games that help kids develop their language, knowledge, comprehension, memory, cognitive, mathematical, fine motor and visual spatial skills. 

Candy land
Connect Four
Memory Games
Chess
Kids on Stage
Hedbandz
UNO
Checkers
puzzles
Block buddies
Tangos Jr
Mighty Minds

Enjoy and maybe think about these for the upcoming holiday season!



SIgn up for daily testing questions for kindergarten testing!!

If you are looking for sample free daily practice test questions to do with your child go here and subscribe.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

APPs I recommend

Look for these great APPs that are bound to help your children arrive to kindergarten ready to learn (and a bit more prepared for those kindergarten entry tests):

1. What does not belong? (analogies and critical thinking skills)
2. fashion math (math fluency)
3. Team Umizoomi Math (numeracy)
4. Spelling Bug (phonics)
5. Feed Me! pencilbot preschool (an array of skills in math and literacy)
6. Smart Kids fun educational learning game for kids (analogies/associations)
7. Simon says (ultimate memory game)



Monday, September 17, 2012

7 Abilities of Highly Successful Kindergarteners

According to Karen Quinn's book Testing for Kindergarten, there are 7 abilities of highly successful kindergarteners:

1. Language
2. Knowledge/Comprehension
3. Memory
4. Mathematics
5. Visual-Spatial Reasoning
6. Cognitive Skills
7. Motor Skills

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Can your child speak?

If he can say it then don't say it for them it might take longer but they will be articulate and confident beings!

A trip to the zoo!

It doesn't matter how old they are 0-adult a trip to the zoo is ALWAYS a treat. Early on, read all the exhibit description. Describe to your child what the animals are doing. They ACTUALLY will use all those words later on! But if they are older, describe their activities and help your child use those same words to describe his own activities. For instance, look at the penguins swimming briskly in the water. On another day at the park you can tell your child lets run briskly to that tree.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

KINDERGARTEN ADMISSIONS

With a new school year comes the kindergarten admissions saga. If you are in NYC you may have realized ALL the options that you have and once you know of them you can not help but evaluate/consider them all. Here are some of your basic options. I have attached some dates and recommendations for starting the process if you want more details (whats on the test, examples, how to prepare) by all means respond here and I can get back to you with info. It is important to note that you are thinking about Kindergarten for next Sept 2013 so that you don't get confused with dates as you get information.


Local Public School: your local public school enrollment does not start until January and goes on until March. Look on this site for last year's calendar of events.  Most elementary schools are zoned and this website helps you understand how priorities are assigned when you apply to a school outside your zone.

G&T Programs: They require one test. The test is free. The test is composed of OLSAT and the NNAT(new used to be the BRACKEN). It would be good to sign up for updates at the bottom of this website.


Charter Schools: There are many charter schools popping up all around us. There are organizations like KIPP and SUCCESS ACADEMY that have started a couple of schools. Look at this website to find all options in the charter world.


Hunter College Elementary School: This is a free Gifted and Talented program that provides its own test different from the public school because it is not governed by NYC Public School system. Use this website for more info.


Private Schools: This website  will give you a list of schools in NYC . These schools are very popular even in a recession and have STRICT deadlines/requirements and limited number of applications that they will consider. These applications started right after labor day. Please note they also have open houses you can attend.  A great book I used when applying were those by Victoria Goldman.

 ***All websites may not be updated and should just be used as guideposts as they are generally around the same times year after year***

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

What are you thinking of today ????

I'm thinking of an animals that lives in the ocean. It's a mammal. It has a blow hole. It is considered the largest mammal in the ocean. Who am I?

This game can be played just about anytime. One line at the grocery store, while waiting for the subway, in the car etc. This helps children not only in being aware of their surroundings, retaining information but also helps them pay more attention to details and be more descriptive which is essential when taking kindergarten admissions tests.

Monday, September 10, 2012

What's so great about nursery rhymes?

http://www.dannyandkim.com/WhyNurseryRhymes.html

Reinventing the same books

Tired of reading the same book to your baby (ages newborn -2***)

Families know just how important reading to their child is and so we spend our time reading and reading and reading sometimes the same books to our infants. Then we run out of books and think its time to buy more... well we could do that or go to the library but we can also EXTEND the reading. We can take same Goodnight Moon b Margaret Wise Brown.

1. Take the book and show it to your baby (if still pregnant just speak to your belly)
2. Describe all that they see in the cover and point to it. Pay special attention to colors, shapes, animals, letters etc.
3. Open the book. Read the first page.
4. Describe the activities taking place. For instance, here is the room. It looks like a big room. The walls are painted green. The floor is red. There is a light pink round rug in the center of the room etc.
5. Continue to read and follow the above steps.

This should extend the book and make it more of a conversation about observations with your infant. This assists infants in making synapses that they will later draw upon as they continue to build their on their language skills.


*** This can work with ALL age groups (0-5) as well.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Sorting

SORT AWAY

Having your children sort through a variety of objects helps them develop their ability to focus on details. One good way to do this is with a jar of buttons or loose change you may have (making sure there is an adult around to ensure no swallowing) and have them sort by shape, size, color etc. Families should put out about 10 objects to start and then they can build on those. Ask your child what would be the best to organize these objects. You will be surprised what similarities and differences they see that offer some insight as to how keen their senses are. One example of sorting is to take the change and sort the coins by value for instance: all pennies together, quarters together etc . A more sophisticated sorting activity would be for kids to take the same bunch of coins and sort them by year or diameter.