ESL Blogs

Every parent wants the best for his or her child and usually we go out of the way to ensure our children become successful in school. There are plenty of skills that as parents we ought to impart on our children long before they first set foot in school in order not only to give them an academic edge; but also make them feel confident and happy in this major transition. Ensure your kids learn this 5 must have skills before school in order to improve their talking, reading, listening and math skills before kindergarten. Remember, it needs not to be straining but great fun for you both.

Communication skills

Communication is the foundation of all skills your child will require at school and later in life. The most decisive part of becoming an efficacious learner is having the ability to communicate well. Cognitive psychologists recommend you start chatting to them right from the moment they are born in order to improve their communication skills, babies learn through imitation. Similarly, it is also important to always maintain eye contact when talking to your baby and as they get older try to improve on their listening skills as these two skills are the prerequisite recipes for good communication skills.

Touch typing skills

In the contemporary world, teaching kids to touch type is a vital life-long skill and a component of a successful education. In this age, it is a must have for every student to be equipped with such a skill, computers are here to stay. It is certain touch typing skill will not be taught in school and it is therefore advisable to ensure your kid learn before school how to use a keyboard in order to increase their proficiency and accuracy in typing. In addition, numerous researches conducted have postulated that once such skill is acquired, children with fine motor skills difficulties will enhance their handwriting in equal measure. Try some typing lessons at Ratatype.

Visiting the bathroom

This is by far the most important skill you need to teach your child before he or she joins school. In fact, most schools will not accept them if they cannot be able to handle their bathroom needs. Ensure you train your kids on how to handle the toilet and the manners that come with it. Remember, it is not the duty of the teacher to toilet train your kids as this can greatly impact teaching time, when teachers have to spend a lot of time changing pants.

Social skills

In addition, it is important for children starting school to be able to socialize with their mates. You certainly do not want to be called by the school psychologist that your child is exhibiting anti-social behaviors. Some social skills such as love and compassion are not taught in school. In fact, in most cases, our school system does not teach our children how to empathize with others. So it is the duty of us as parents to instill such values in our children before they begin school e.g. by buying him or her pet, organizing for sleep overs, and taking your kids to the park to socialize.

Success skills

Ultimately, it is very critical to ensure our kids have a positive outlook on life. Always, motivate your kids by starting them with small achievable goals and let them enhance this skill. Ensure you instill on them things may be screwed, but they can be changed for the better attitude and above all make them to learn to believe in themselves, and block out any cynical self-thinking.

It is important for children to learn before school and by following this guidelines will give them a head start. It is also worth noting that these skills are best developed from child birth till two years old during which time most of his or her brain is developing.