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Joel Fosha
Indiana Institute on Disability and Community
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foshaj@indiana.edu


School Readiness: What Teachers Expect; What Parents Can Do

Indiana University Media Relations Multimedia News (August  15, 2011)
News Tip: School Readiness: What Teachers Expect; What Parents Can Do

School Readiness: What Teachers Expect; What Parents Can Do


Routine, routine, routine.

Photo of an Alarm Clock

Children entering kindergarten are presented with many new and exciting opportunities but also with many new demands. Kindergarteners spend nearly all of their class time in structured learning activities where they are expected to sit with their classmates, listen to the teacher, follow instructions and complete specific tasks. Learning how to follow routines -- and having routines to follow, such as morning routines and mealtime routines -- can make the school experience easier for all involved.

The Early Childhood Center, one of seven centers at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University Bloomington, has been involved in research and training in school readiness skills that children need to successfully negotiate the demands of kindergarten.

Experts Susan D. Dixon and Cathy Beard prepared this article, http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/ECC/What_teachers_expect.pdf, to help parents get their kids off to a good start both in the morning and for their school career. The article offers topics and strategies for talking with families about ways they can work on essential kindergarten skills. The article also includes four tip sheets regarding morning routines, mealtime routines, community routines and bedtime routines.

To read more articles from the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, visit http://newsinfo.iu.edu/cat/page/normal/362.html.