Preparing for Pre-School Prose
By Dorothy P. Dougherty

To develop a love of learning that will last forever, help your child begin his educational journey with the tools he needs to be successful. Begin early and prepare your child for the words heard around the classroom.

"Do you want to play in the block area or kitchen center?" 

By listening to you describe objects, events, and people, your child will begin to understand and express words that tell about important details in his world. This will enable him to make choices and express his own opinions. Talk to your child about color, shape and size, how items feel, and the sounds you are hearing. Give him many opportunities to make and express reasonable choices. Perhaps, which book to read, which desert to have, or which activity to pursue after lunch. 

"Did you have cereal for breakfast?" 

Children need a lot of practice answering and asking questions. Often, ask questions that start with, what if, or what do your think would happen if, to help him learn to guess and speculate about possibility, instead of rushing to just say yes or no. Read a simple story and ask questions. Encourage him to ask you questions as his curiosity blossoms. Also, ask your child questions that have more then one right answer, so that he can learn that people have different opinions and ideas. 

"Put your coat in your cubby and come sit with me on the carpet for circle time." 

Children must listen to learn and learn to listen. Before giving directions to your child, make sure you have his attention by saying his name, or standing close to him at eye level. It will certainly be more difficult for him to understand your directions if he is listening to the TV, or others talking at the same time. Try to speak clearly and slowly. If he is unable to follow the directions, repeat, using gestures, such as, pointing to objects or locations. You could also ask your child to repeat what you have just said. 

"Do you know what this is? Did you ever see anything that looks like this?" 

Your child will continue to learn new words by listening to you talk and explain things in his natural environment as you go about your daily life activities. Encourage him to ask you about new words he hears. Talk about a difficult word and what it means. Use it in a sentence and encourage your child to do the same. 

As your child learns the names of objects, he must also begin to make associations and link new information to the words he already knows. He will do this by learning to classify objects and mentally placing them in groups called categories. The categories into which your child divides his world will continually change and grow as he continues to learn new words. 

Give your child collections of safe objects he can classify. Talk about how they are the same and different. When it is time to clean up, for example, help him put all the stuffed animals on the top shelf, the vehicles on the middle shelf, and things that are round on the bottom shelf. On a trip to the supermarket, talk about the groups of items you see: fruit, vegetables, drinks. 

"What did you do at grandmother's house?" 

To encourage a young child to carry on a conversation, give him time to express himself or tell you what happened. Try not to jump too quickly to put words in his mouth, but instead gently guide him when he seems to be unable to continue. Show that you are listening by commenting on something he just said. 

To keep the conversation going, it is best to try and focus on asking your child who, what, why, and how questions, rather then just who and what questions. Give him choices, "Did you like the ice cream or going to see the animals?" If you just ask, "Did you have fun at grandmother's house," the verbal exchange is over when he answers yes. 

"After we clean up the block area, your mom will be here." 

A child's concept of time develops slowly as he lives in the here and now, and may only be concerned with time if he has to wait for something. When you explain what comes first or talk about what happened yesterday, you will help him learn to understand what time is and how it passes. Give your child a simple chore to complete. Look at the clock when he begins, and again when he is finished. Talk about how the hands of the clock have moved and time has passed. 

As your tuck your child into bed, ask him to tell you about something he did in the morning, afternoon, and evening. 

Translate time into something your child can see by displaying a large calendar. Let him draw pictures in the spaces to signify special activities or events. Your child will soon learn that yesterday came before today, and tomorrow comes after today. 

"We must wash our hand before we have snack." 

Talk to your child as you organize or perform a simple activity to help him learn to plan, organize, and explain what has happened, will happen, or he wants to happen. Often use words that tell about order, such as, first, next, and last, before, and after. 

Ask your child silly questions about sequenced events he performs often: Do you put your shoes on after your socks? Did you eat your lunch before or after your breakfast? Give your child silly directions and see if he can explain why they are silly: Put your coat on before your shirt. Turn the TV on after you watch it. We will read a story after we go to sleep. 

Your child's ability to understand and express language is crucial to his ability to learn and think and will play a vital role in his development of good relationships and positive self esteem. To foster a love of learning that will last forever, help your child begin his educational journey with the tools he needs to be successful. By preparing for Pre-school Prose, you will give your child the language he needs when he needs it. 

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