It’s that time of year again to make our annual resolutions.  Maybe you’re going to get back in shape, stay more organized, or learn a new hobby .  Parents of preschoolers, here are two more must-have resolutions for 2010…

1.              Read more.

2.              Sing more.

Both reading and singing are critical in the ongoing listening and language development of your preschooler.  Reading provides a wealth of language learning opportunities, and we should be reading at least 10 books a day with our children.  Preschoolers are also beginning to develop several critical pre-reading skills including recognizing their printed name, recognizing print on the page of a book, and even naming some letters of the alphabet.  How can we boost our preschooler’s reading-readiness skills?   Read more to them now!  Start with “The Mitten” by Jan Brett for an animal-filled, snowy story.

Chances are you’ve been singing to your preschooler since infancy.  Did you know you were teaching him vocabulary, pitch, rhythm, intonation, and rhyming through songs?  As a preschooler, your child is probably initiating song-singing with you quite frequently.  Here’s a new trick for you, mom and dad…. sing a variation of a familiar song.  This will spark creativity for your preschooler while expanding his vocabulary.   Here’s one to get you started:

The Winter Hokey Pokey

You put your right mitten in,

You take your right mitten out.

You put your right mitten in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the winter pokey, [shiver]

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about!

More verses:

You put your left mitten in....

You put your right boot....

You put your left boot....

You put your winter hat in....

You put your snowsuit (whole body) in..

Happy New Year.......or maybe we should say Happy Reading & Singing!

Ms. Darcy & Ms. Salle