The one tool you'll need to get your kindergartener ready for school
It’s almost here. The beginning of a new school year. And if you’re anything like me this is about the time you start thinking about how you’ve let your kids slack during the summer on any kind of school work. Many of you are those over achievers that make your kids do the summer packet to turn in at the beginning of school. If you know me at all, or have read my blog for any length of time, it will come as no surprise that we have done next to nothing related to school this summer. I did make my oldest read his REQUIRED reading for 6th grade. I know, I really play hard ball. Two weeks before school is usually when I start trying to get my act together and make my kids do more regular reading. I want to tell you we practice math also, but that would be quite the fib. Reading is about as far as I go. Sorry, math teachers, you will have to re-teach my kids every year because I am totally inept at math. I use words like “inept” to make up for my mediocrity in this area. Now that my kids are older I realize not everything falls out of their head during the summer so I don’t worry about it as much.
When my oldest was little, I worried a lot more about sending him to kindergarten. These days it seems that’s the big question: “Are they ready?” Parents go back and forth over this ad nauseam trying to figure out should they send them on to kindergarten or should they hold them back. And since many parents aren’t teachers by trade it’s hard to know what the little ones need to know before they start “Big Kid School.”
Introducing….
The Kindergarten Toolkit.
Guys, I don’t have kids going into kindergarten anymore but if I did this little kit would’ve been a lifesaver! It has EVERYTHING you need to set your child up for success in their first year of school. And I can tell you after having seen a kindergartener’s report card/assessment, this kit is on point in giving you EXACTLY what you need to practice with your child.
Let’s take a looksy, shall we?
First of all, how cute is the little bee logo?
When you open your toolkit, this is what you’ll find. Flashcards, a dry erase marker, a workbook, a dry erase board, and a business card from the amazing Carrie Ball, creator of the Kindergarten Toolkit.
Flashcards. Yes. Flashcards are awesome because once your kids get the hang of it they can go through them on their own…while you fold laundry, or cook dinner, or check email, or clean a toilet, or do any other chores that need to get done. The flashcards include colors, shapes, numbers, and sight words, all of which will be taught in kindergarten so knowing some of these ahead of time may give your child some confidence going into their first year. I like that all of these are included in this kit so I wouldn’t need to buy any others. I’ve got everything I need in one box.
I’m not sure I’ve ever met a kid who doesn’t like a dry erase board and markers. It’s an excellent tool for practicing letters, numbers, shapes, and words. It’s also good for drawing pictures when your child needs a break. For older kids, this would be great to take in the car to let them practice their writing. For the littles, I would stick to flashcards in the car. If your littles are anything like mine were, marker would just end up everywhere except the white board.
The toolkit also includes goals and has lessons for each goal. This gives non-teachers like me direction and ways to assess how much my kids know when we begin and an end goal to work toward. The lesson plans are well layed out and easy to follow. There is a lot of repetition in the lessons so it's easy for the kids to catch on. I also love that it gives examples of ways to utilize the toolkit while you’re out running errands. As parents our lives sometimes seem to revolve around errands so it's nice to have ways to teach your kids while you're getting stuff done. I think it also helps promote conversation in the car which can be easy to miss when we're listening to the radio or our kids are watching a show or playing electronics. Not that we would ever do that, wink wink.
I can't tell you how I wish I had had one of these when my kids were starting school. It tells you exactly what to work on with your sweet one before they go off to big kid school. And it comes with its own box that's big enough for all its supplies. It practically organizes itself for those who may be challenged in that area i.e. me. If your kids are in preschool, you need this toolkit. Here's how to get one...
www.etsy.com/shop/KindergartenToolkit
Or you can email Carrie directly at: thekindergartentoolkit@gmail.com
Hang in there, moms of littles, summer is almost over. You can almost envision going to the bathroom by yourself again.
-Courtney
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