Parents can add fun summer twist 
to make transition to first grade easier

A variety of parent-guided learning activities can create some summer fun and make your child's transition from kindergarten to first grade easier, an instructional specialist with the Pasadena Independent School District says.

"It is important for the children to retain what they learned in kindergarten, and if it is not reviewed over the summer, they may not be able to remember the things they have learned," said Angela Murphy, the district's pre-kindergarten/kindergarten instructional specialist. "The transition from kindergarten to first grade is important and children need their parents' help in order to make it a smooth one."

Murphy said making sure children know all of their letters and sounds is one of the skills that must be mastered by first grade.

"By the end of kindergarten, all children should know all of the letters and sounds," she said. "However, if they are still having difficulty, it is important for parents to work on those skills with their child over the summer."

Murphy said one way to help children with their letters and sounds is to make lessons in the form of a game. "Go to the grocery store and point out items that begin with the same letter sounds," she said. "Have your child look for other items that begin with the same sound."

In addition, parents can help their child blend sounds of simple phonetic words to read. The parents can ask their child to tell them each sounds of a simple printed word and to blend those sounds to read the word. For example, a parent would read the word "dog" and ask the child to say the sounds, "d-o-g" and then blend the sounds together to read the word "dog."

To that end, Murphy said reading is one of the most vital skills to practice with your child during the summer - or any time.

"The best thing that you can do for your child is to read to them every day for 10 to 15 minutes," she said. "Listening to you read serves as a model for your child's reading skills."

Murphy also suggested taking your child to the library and give him or her a library card. "Let your child have ownership over that library card," she said. "It will give he or she a feeling of pride and fuel their interest in books. Also let your child attend storytime at the library. Most area libraries have storytime a couple of times a week."

Murphy said math skills also are important to practice during the summer months. "You can do activities such as letting your child sort common household objects by color, shape and size," she said. "To practice counting, you can have your child count objects such as buttons, beans or paper clips."

Learning addition and subtraction problems using numbers less than six can also be done with a fun twist.

"You can have your child use objects to solve these problems using the numbers 0-5," Murphy said. "For example, you can give your child three cookies and ask him or her how many would be left if he or she ate one of the cookies. Then the child can act out the problem (eat the cookie) to find out."

Writing skills also must be practiced during the summer. "The students must know how to hold a pencil correctly and how to write their first and last name using capital and lower case letters," Murphy said. "There are many fun ways that children can work on their writing skills."

Games such as picking up small objects with the thumb and forefinger will help develop the fine motor skills needed to correctly hold a pencil or pen. Spreading shaving cream across a flat surface and letting your child write letters with their fingers amongst the lather will also develop writing skills.

In addition, Murphy said having children write notes each day or labeling pictures they have drawn are other ways to practice writing.

"There are so many activities you can do with your child during the summer to help them before they begin first grade," she said. "It is easy to incorporate fun academic activities into summer playtime to help your child begin first grade with confidence."


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