5 Simple Ways
to Reinforce
What They’re
Learning
Wake your kid up a smidge
earlier than you planned.
Otherwise, you’ll likely lose
patience as your child fumbles
with the buttons on his coat or
struggles with his laces. “Some
mornings it would take my
son five solid minutes to put on
his shoes, but I knew it was
important for him to learn to be
independent,” Schulte says.
“Instead of rushing him or doing
it for him, we started waking up
five minutes earlier.” (See “Hack
Your Home for a Smooth School
Year,” page 119, for strategies
on getting out the door faster.)
Have one-on-one time with
each kid. Toth staggers her
kids’ wake-up times so she
spends five minutes with each
of them before the others wake
up. While they cuddle in
bed together, they talk about
the day ahead. “It provides
a connection first thing in the
morning so we start the
day on a good note,” she says.
Give them a break. Vivian
Udart, a preschool teacher in
Las Vegas, always lets her
children unwind for at least
20 minutes before starting
their homework. “It helps their
mood and makes it easier for
them to focus,” she says.
Go out on school nights every
now and then. Teachers say
if the kids get home late once
in a while, it’s not the end of the
world. (And a break from the
usual routine might recharge
you all.) Just jot the teacher a
note if you think your kiddo isn’t
going to be on his A-game.
1
Count everything.
Whether it’s buttons on a
shirt or stairs they’re
walking up with their kids,
teachers count everything.
“Many parents teach
their kids to count high, but
teachers know that what’s
really important for
kids to learn is one-to-one
correspondence, being able
to count each object in
a set only once,” says Cindy
Hemming, a kindergarten
teacher in Fredericton,
New Brunswick.
2
Create a book nook.
“I converted half of my
daughter’s closet into a cozy
reading space by adding
a dog bed and throw
pillows,” says Heuer. “She
reads even more now.”
3
Play board games.
They help with counting
and teach kids to accept
rewards and consequences,
says Barker, who plays
Chutes and Ladders with her
3-year-old.
4
Engage all their senses.
When Seay’s kids were
in preschool, she’d squeeze
hair gel into gallon-size
plastic zip-top bags,
color it with food dye, then
let them trace letters
in the gel. The goal: Build
fine motor skills.
5
Use broken crayons.
They force kids to hold
them with the correct pincer
tripod grip, Toth says.
Help kids practice in a
way that’s much more fun
than homework!
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MAKE
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PARENTS 52 SEPTEMBER 2019
KIDSÑBack to School
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