Ready to Learn
Provided by U.S. Department of Education
Children start school with different degrees of social and emotional maturity. These
qualities take time and practice to learn. Give your child opportunities at home
to begin to develop the following positive qualities:
- Confidence: Children must feel good about themselves and believe
they can succeed. Confident children are more willing to attempt new tasks — and
try again if they don't succeed the first time.
- Independence: Children must learn to do things for themselves.
- Motivation: Children must want to learn.
- Curiosity: Children are naturally curious and must remain so to
get the most out of learning opportunities.
- Persistence: Children must learn to finish what they start.
- Cooperation: Children must be able to get along with others and
learn to share and take turns.
- Self-Control: Children must learn that there are good and bad ways
to express anger. They must understand that some behaviors, such as hitting and
biting, are not acceptable.
- Empathy: Children must have an interest in others and understand
how others feel.
Here are some things that you can do to help your child develop these qualities.
Show your child that you care about him and that you are dependable.
Children who feel loved are more likely to be confident. Your child must believe
that, no matter what, someone will look out for him. Give your baby or toddler plenty
of attention, encouragement, hugs and lap time.
Set a good example. Children imitate what they see others do and
what they hear others say. When you exercise and eat nourishing food, your child
is more likely to do so as well. When you treat others with respect, your child
probably will, too. If you share things with others, your child also will learn
to be thoughtful of others' feelings.
Provide opportunities for repetition. It takes practice for a child
to crawl, pronounce new words or drink from a cup. Your child doesn't get bored
when she repeats things. Instead, by repeating things until she learns them, your
child builds the confidence she needs to try new things.
Use appropriate discipline. All children need to have limits set
for them. Children whose parents give them firm but loving discipline generally
develop better social skills and do better in school than do children whose parents
set too few or too many limits. Here are some ideas:
- Direct your child's activities, but don't be too bossy.
- Give reasons when you ask your child to do something. Say, for example, "Please
move your truck from the stairs so no one falls over it" — not, "Move it because
I said so."
- Listen to your child to find out how he feels and whether he needs special support.
- Help your child make choices and work out problems. You might ask your four-year-old,
for example, "What can we do to keep your brother from knocking over your blocks?"
- Be positive and encouraging. Praise your child for a job well done. Smiles and encouragement
go much further to shape good behavior than harsh punishment.
Let your child do many things by herself. Young children need to
be watched closely. However, they learn to be independent and to develop confidence
by doing tasks such as dressing themselves and putting their toys away. It's important
to let your child make choices, rather than deciding everything for her.
Encourage your child to play with other children and to be with adults who are
not family members. Preschoolers need social opportunities to learn
to see the point of view of others. Young children are more likely to get along
with teachers and classmates if they have had experiences with different adults
and children.
Show a positive attitude toward learning and toward school. Children
come into this world with a powerful need to discover and to explore. If your child
is to keep her curiosity, you need to encourage it. Showing enthusiasm for what
your child does ("You've drawn a great picture!") helps to make her proud of her
achievements.
Children also become excited about starting school when their parents show excitement
about this big step. As your child gets ready to enter kindergarten, talk to him
about school. Talk about the exciting things that he will do in kindergarten, such
as making art projects, singing and playing games. Be enthusiastic as you describe
all the important things that he will learn from his teacher: how to read, how to
count and how to measure and weigh things.
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Children can develop language skills only if they have many opportunities to talk,
listen and use language to solve problems and learn about the world.
Long before your child enters school, you can do many things to help her develop
language. You can:
- Give your child opportunities to play. Play is how children learn.
It is the natural way for them to explore, to become creative, to learn to make
up and tell stories and to develop social skills. Play also helps children learn
to solve problems — for example, if her wagon tips over, a child must figure
out how to get it upright again. When they stack up blocks, children learn about
colors, numbers, geometry, shapes and balance. Playing with others helps children
learn how to negotiate.
- Support and guide your child as she learns a new activity. Parents
can help children learn how to do new things by "scaffolding," or guiding their
efforts. For example, as you and your toddler put together a puzzle, you might point
to a piece and say, "I think that this is the piece we need for this space. Why
don't you try it?" Then have the child pick up the piece and place it correctly.
As the child becomes more aware of how the pieces fit into the puzzle, you can gradually
withdraw your support.
- Talk to your child, beginning at birth. Your baby needs to hear your voice.
Voices from a television or radio can't take the place of your voice, because they
don't respond to your baby's coos and babbles. Your child needs to know that when
he makes a certain sound, for example, "mamamamamama," that his mother will respond
— she will smile and talk back to him. The more you talk to your baby, the more
he will learn and the more he will have to talk about as he gets older.
Everyday activities provide opportunities to talk, sometimes in detail, about what's
happening around him. As you give your child a bath, for example, you might say,
"First let's stick the plug in the drain. Now let's turn on the water. Do you want
your rubber duck? That's a good idea. Look, the duck is yellow, just like the rubber
duck we saw on Sesame Street."
Listen to your child. Children have their own special thoughts
and feelings, joys and sorrows, hopes and fears. As your child's language skills
develop, encourage her to talk about her thoughts and feelings. Listening is the
best way to learn what's on her mind and to discover what she knows and doesn't
know and how she thinks and learns. It also shows your child that her feelings and
thoughts are valuable.
Ask your child questions, particularly questions that require him
to give more than a "yes" or "no" response. If, as you walk with your toddler in
a park, he stops to pick up leaves, you might point out how the leaves are the same
and how they are different. With an older child, you might ask, "What else grows
on trees?"
Answer your child's questions. Asking questions is a good way for
your child to learn to compare and to classify things — different kinds of
dogs, different foods and so forth. Answer your child's questions thoughtfully and,
whenever possible, encourage her to answer her own questions. If you don't know
the answer to a question, say so. Together with your child, try to find the answer.
Read aloud to your child every day. Children of all ages love to
be read to — even babies as young as six weeks. Although your child doesn't
understand the story or poem that you read, reading together gives her a chance
to learn about language and enjoy the sound of your voice. You don't have to be
an excellent reader for your child to enjoy reading aloud together. Just by allowing
her to connect reading with the warm experiences of being with you, you can create
in her a lifelong love of reading.
Be aware of your child's television viewing. Good television programs
can introduce children to new worlds and promote learning, but poor programs or
too much TV watching can be harmful. It's up to you to decide how much TV and what
kinds of shows your child should watch.
Be realistic about your child's abilities and interests. Set high
standards and encourage our child to try new things. Children who aren't challenged
become bored. But children who are pushed along too quickly or who are asked to
do things that don't interest them can become frustrated and unhappy.
Provide opportunities for your child to do and see new things.
The more varied the experiences that she has, the more she will learn about the
world. No matter where you live, your community can provide new experiences. Go
for walks in your neighborhood or go places on the bus. Visit museums, libraries,
zoos and other places of interest.
