Kindergarten Simplified: A No-Nonsense Guide for Busy Parents

Mary Lou Podlasiak

iUniverse, 2008 - Education - 192 pages

You want it all for your child - excellent grades, admirable qualities, lots of friends, and unlimited opportunities. Kindergarten Simplified eliminates the guesswork in giving your child every advantage during that crucial first year in school. What's more, you will learn how to live vicariously through your child in a healthy way, hopefully inspiring you to recapture the joy of living a life full of infinite possibilities.

• Find out what paperwork and information you will need for registration.
• Feel confident when deciding whether or not to delay enrollment for another year.
• Find out what educators are looking for during the screening process and how to foster those skills.
• Learn how to save money when shopping for clothes, classroom supplies, and lunches.
• Learn how to organize your home and structure your day to eliminate chaos.
• Learn to turn ordinary activities into intellectually stimulating events.
• Increase the effectiveness of your parent-teacher conferences by knowing what questions to ask.
• Familiarize yourself with educational terms.
• Learn how to interpret test results and what to do when your child performs poorly.
• Be prepared to handle a host of difficult problems like a pro - school phobia, bullying, lice, shyness, and more.

Contents

• Every Efficient Operation Has a Central Command Station: 1
• Registration Papers: 3
• How to Decide If Your Child is Truly Ready: 10
• All about Screening: 16
• Cheat Sheet for Understanding Test Scores: 24
• Shopping for School Clothes: 30
• School Supplies: 35
• First Day Checklist: 37
• Taking the Mystery and Fear Out of the First Day: 39
• Developing Safety Plans: 42
• Getting a Jump Start on Rules and Routines: 46
• The Importance of Learning Bus Rules: 51
• Staying Out of Trouble in the Cafeteria: 54
• How Do You Know if Your Child is Too Sick to Go to School?: 56
• Everyones Friend: 58
• Dealing with a Child Who Doesnt Want to Go to School: 62
• What to Do about a Kid Who Wont Get Out of Bed: 66
• Excuses Excuses Excuses: 69
• The Ultimate Parental Sin: 72
• Food for Thought: 73
• Life is Fair in Kindergarten: 80
• ReadingThe Basis of Student Success: 83
• A Word about Learning to Print: 89
• Sneaky Ways to Increase Math Skills: 92
• How to Have a Productive ParentTeacher Conference: 94
• Straight Talk about Special Education: 100
• Nurturing an Independent Thinker Problem Solver: 110
• Home Remedies for Alleviating School Stress: 114
• The Best Way to Handle a Bully: 120
• Helping Your Child Make Friends: 126
• Helping Your Child Become More Likeable: 136
• Acquiring a Sense of Responsibility: 140
• The Value of Homework: 143
• Scoring Points with the School Secretaries: 149
• For Moms Who are Going Back to Work: 151
• Ways to Keep a Broken Marriage from Breaking Your Child: 154
• Homemade Fun for Overachieving Parents: 159
• How Do You Know if You are Doing the Right Things?: 162
• The Best History Book Your Child Will Ever Read: 165
• A Final Note: 167
• Notes: 169

Bibliographic information

• Title: Kindergarten Simplified: A No-Nonsense Guide for Busy Parents
• Author: Mary Lou Podlasiak
• Publisher: iUniverse, 2008
• ISBN: 0595528686, 9780595528684
• Length: 192 pages
• Subjects: Education / General; Education / Parent Participation; Education / Schools / Levels / Early Childhood (incl. Preschool & Kindergarten); Education / Teaching / General