Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Are Your Preschoolers Ready For Kindergarten? Don't Wait Til They Get There To Find Out!



Wow! Kindergarten sure isn't the same thing as it was when I was a kid!  The half day sessions that oriented children to going to school filled with snack time, nap time and play time mixed in with some time spent on learning letters and numbers are a thing of the past.  My 6 year old twins are in Kindergarten this year at a local public elementary school which is now a full day filled with learning about reading, doing math, and completing science projects combined with art, music, gym and Spanish classes.  If your child doesn't know their ABCs and 123s they are starting out behind the curve.  It is a good thing the day care and preschool programs our kids were enrolled in alerted us about how Kindergarten has changed and assisted our children in becoming prepared or we probably would have been caught off guard; but fortunately when the time came our family was all set to go.  Are your preschoolers ready for Kindergarten? Don't wait til they get there to find out!

Nickelodeon has an online quiz you can take to see where your child ranks in being ready for Kindergarten and provides a customized learning plan, educational games, interactive video and printable activities to help get preschoolers ready for school.  The learning plan provided to parents will help ensure their preschoolers have the appropriate development skills necessary to be successful in school and its interactive and skill building activities will help kids meet necessary milestones.



CLICK HERE to TAKE THE QUIZ

The preparedness quiz is part of the 2015 Nick Jr. Beyond the Backpack campaign which is geared to help parents and caregivers prepare preschoolers for academic success.  The campaign's spokesperson is Tia Mowry-Hardrict, from the television show Instant Mom, who alongside popular Nickelodeon characters Dora, Wally and Blaze will be appearing in a PSA series airing across Nickelodeon's TV and digital platforms.  Beyond the preparedness quiz and PSAs, Beyond the Backpack features an advisory committee comprised of leaders in children's education who are lending their expertise to the program, a dedicated website, bilingual (English/Spanish) educational materials, and a parent-targeted mobile program providing weekly tips and information.  Nick Jr's Beyond the Backpack focuses on five key areas deemed critical to educational achievement: family engagement, health and wellness, early literacy, social and emotional development and fundamental STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills.  If you would like to opt-in to receive a weekly text message with tips to make learning more fun for your preschooler, text BACKPACK to 91757.

Originally founded in 2010 as part of the 10th anniversary of the curriculum-driven Dora the Explorer, the 2015 Beyond the Backpack campaign has expanded to include a broad range of educational and socio-emotional topics using a variety of the Nickelodeon's programs and characters, including Wallykazam! (literacy), Team Umizommi (math), Bubble Guppies (socio-emotional development), Peter Rabbit (problem-solving), PAW Patrol (social skills), and Blaze and the Monster Machines (STEM).

Are your preschoolers ready for Kindergarten?!  That time in life arrives much sooner than many of us parents realize it so don't get caught unprepared.  For more information, visit www.beyondthebackpack.com

3 comments:

  1. That is great that they have a survey. My daughter was a very young 5 in Kindergarten. I went back and forth about sending her. She really struggled. She is now in third and doing fabulous. Now, I'm glad I kept her going. It's a hard decision.

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  2. Crazy. I don't remember if we were expected to already know our ABCs in kindergarten or not but I was an avid reader (at like age 2 or 3) so I think I probably knew mine.

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  3. I love that they have the Spanish programs so early, those are the best years to learn a new language and it's so cool! Didn't have anything like that when we were kids

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