Book helps parents with kindergartners

by Deborah Parkhill Mullis

Corresponent

I felt fairly confident about sending my 5-year-old off to kindergarten last year.  An inquisitive kid, I wasn't worried whether or not he would enjoy school.  As a child, I was enchanted by my elementary school in Valhalla, N.Y. and I expected my son to be equally enthusiastic about his school.

But according to the "Kindergarten Survival Handbook," ($12.95) published this year by Parent Education Resources, "many children go to school underprepared because their parents, or others who care for them, are not aware of what children need to know to be ready for school."

In a letter to parents, author Allana Cummings Elovson says, "If children aren't ready, beginning school can be confusing and embarrrassing, even  frightening.  Boys and girls can start to feel bad about themselves, to dislike school."

She adds, "Once a child feels this way, it can be very hard to change."

An educational pyschologist, Elovson wrote "The Kindergarten Survival Handbook" to help children "thrive as well as survive in kindergarten."

Her 95-page handbook begins with a "Before School Checklist" that can be used to assess a child's readiness for school by simply checking yes or not yet to some 100 questions.

The next section, "A Guide For Parents," suggests easy and enjoyable ways parents can help children who, according to the checklist, need to learn a number of things before beginning school.  She stresses that parents are the best people to teach children these basic skills.

I was lucky.  My child's first year of school was success and I didn't have a handbook.  Instinctively, I'd used many of Elovson's ideas.  It seemed only natural to talk with my child about the world around him, draw and play games with him, read books and sing silly songs to him, etc.  I'm sure this is true of most parents.

However, working my way through the handbook, I noticed a number of things that did not naturally occur to me.  For example, part six of the checklist section and part six of the guide section both deal with helping children use all their senses.

"While we learn a lot through seeing and hearing, we also learn about things from how they feel, how they taste, and even how they smell.  Think about how many ways we know it when we wash the dog!!" Elovson says.

The checklist asks whether or not our child can do certain things while blindfolded such as identify foods from taste, describe objects by touch, and tell the difference between two smells.

"Using all our senses helps us tell when things are alike, and when they're different, which is very important for learning everything," she says.

I honestly don't believe I ever played any games intended to develop my son's sense of smell.  The guide suggests a game called Mystery Object which involves trying to guess what an object is strictly by its smell - no peeking and no touching.

"The Next Step"  is the last section of the handbook.  It is short but important.  "The single most important influence in how well your child will do in school is how much parents stay involved in the education of their child," writes the author in capital letters.  Advice on how parents can accomplish this follows.

"The Kindergarten Survival Handbook" provides a great set of guidelines for all parents - even those who feel confident about sending their child off to school.  Parents should remember, however, that these are only guidelines.  Children mature at different rates.  They enter kindergarten at different ages.

Having just celebrated his 5th birthday, my son was one of the youngest in his kindergarten class. Most of his classmates were 6 and some were as old as 7.  It would have been unrealistic to expect my child to have the same level of maturity as those who were 2 years older than him.

Parents shouldn't push their children to accomplish every task listed in the handbook.  Putting that kind of pressure on a child can be counter-productive.  Some tasks simply take time.  Cutting with safety scissors was difficult for my kindergartner.  As a first-grader, cutting things out is not a problem.  Remember Elovson's idea is for families to have fun learning.

"The Kindergarten Handbook" is available in English and Spanish.  Parents can order the handbook from bookstores or by contacting Parent Education Resources, 752 18th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402.   The book has to be ordered by its ISBN number, which is 1-879-888-06-8 or for the Spanish version, ISBN 1-879-888-07-6.  It is now available on Amazon, too. 

This book review was published by The Enquirer-Journal on October 8, 1993