Kindergarten is a big step for kids and parents alike. It’s normal for kids to feel nervous or excited about going to school.
In Finland, students spend large chunks of their day playing—but it’s not just any old play. It’s guided, pedagogical play, like organizing toys by shape or operating a pretend ice cream shop.
Learning to Read
Learning to read is one of the primary goals for kindergarten students. By the end of kindergarten, most children can recognize and name letters (both upper and lowercase), know the sounds that each letter makes, and begin to read some high-frequency words, or sight words, which are easy for kids to memorize since they don’t use phonics when reading them.
Developing a strong vocabulary helps students become fluent readers who can make sense of unfamiliar words using context clues. Teaching phonics is essential to this process, as it is the link between word sounds and letters of the alphabet.
Learning to Write
Writing is a skill that takes time to master. Young children first learn to recognize that print conveys meaning, that letters represent sound and that lines go from left to right.
By the end of kindergarten, children should be able to write several sentences about a topic they have studied or an experience that they have had. They should also be able to use drawing and dictation to compose narrative, informational, or opinion pieces.
Keep in mind that kindergarten students have the attention span of fruit flies! It is important to teach them skills in small, short mini lessons.
Learning to Add
Learning addition is one of the first steps to understanding math. Kids can begin adding with their fingers, objects, a number line or marks on paper. Ultimately, kids should be able to add numbers in their heads and understand the part-part-whole relationship with numbers.
The best way to learn addition for kindergarten is through hands-on interactive games both online and offline. It also helps if children get immediate feedback on their answers and can make corrections in real-time. Moreover, it’s best to use multisensory activities as children have diverse learning styles.
Learning to Subtract
Learning subtraction involves comparing numbers and finding one less than another. Kids need a solid understanding of addition to succeed at this skill since it helps them understand how subtraction works.
When students are ready to learn subtraction, they can practice using concrete objects and visual aids, like the aforementioned counting monkeys or number cards. They can also play board games that use subtraction strategies.
Students can also work on their counting skills by using a number line and hopping on it to find the difference. Once kids have mastered these realistic and visual strategies, they can begin working on abstract ones like keeping a large number in their minds to count backwards until they get the answer.
Learning to Multiply
Children need to understand multiplication and division concepts before they can move to memorizing the times tables. They need to be able to convert counting into instant recall, which they can only do when they have the understanding and reasoning behind it.
Children should learn about number families to make this easier. They need to know that 4 x 5 is the same as 20 / 4, for example.
Kids should also be taught to see patterns in numbers, such as doubling when adding two. They should be encouraged to use their math manipulatives or pictorial representations of objects such as ice cube trays or egg boxes to find these patterns.
Learning to Divide
Kids learn division when they’re comfortable with the connection between division and multiplication and understand that the order of numbers doesn’t matter. Typically this happens around third grade, but it may vary by child.
Help your child make sense of division by linking it to sharing. Show them how items can be evenly split among a group of friends. This method makes it easier to grasp the concept.
After your child understands division by sharing, they can move on to long division that ends in a whole number. This requires a strong grasp of multiplication and the ability to correctly interpret remainders.
Learning to Count
Counting is an important early math skill. Kindergarten students learn to orally count objects and then match them with numbers; this is called one-to-one correspondence.
Children also learn to recognize and write the number that comes before and after a given number, which helps them understand number sequences. This is an important foundation for arithmetic and measurement, and builds their understanding of the cardinality of numbers.
Encourage your student to count everyday – from the number of socks in their drawer to the number of cookies on the plate. This repeated experience will help them build a strong counting foundation that will lead to future mathematical success.