GAULT FAMILY LEARNING CENTER
716 BEALL AVE
WOOSTER OH 44691-2989
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Because My First Years Last Forever
Volume 1
Issue 19
Five Years Old
Inside:
What It’s Like to Be
Five Years Old ............ pg 2
Just for Parents:
Helping Your
Kindergartner Adjust ..... pg 3
Q
A
Nourishing Meals for
Dear Parents,
As your child reaches age five,
kindergarten is just around the corner. This issue focuses on the
changes ahead for you, your child
and the rest of your family.
The school bus may become a
part of your child’s life soon, and if
your child attends all-day kindergarten
you may face the dilemma of brown bag vs. cafeteria
lunch. We offer tips on school bus safety and on healthy
meals prepared at home or at school.
The Kindergarten Readiness Assessment-Literacy (KRA-L) is
given to every Ohio kindergarten student during the first six
weeks of school. Inside this issue you will find information
about KRA-L and what your child’s score means to teachers
and to parents.
Enjoy your new status: kindergarten parent!
the New Student ....... pgs 4-5
When should I keep my child at
home because of illness?
Free or Low-cost
Kindergarten Readiness:
Sick children should not attend preschool or kindergarten, to decrease
the spread of communicable diseases.
Reading Assessment ...... pg 6
Children who have the following
symptoms should not attend:
• Fever of 100 degrees when in combination with any
other sign of illness
• Any fever 101 degrees or higher
• Diarrhea three times in a 24-hour period
• Redness of the eye with discharge or crusty eyelids
• Severe coughing or extreme nasal discharge
• Sore throat with difficulty swallowing or swollen
glands
School Bus Safety .......... pg 7
The extra time at home resting may help decrease the
duration of your child’s illness. Persistent symptoms
require a check by your physician.
Janice Kratzer, R.N.
Licensed school nurse for Southeast Local
Schools
Q&A: When to Keep a
Sick Child at Home .........pg 8
ChildLink
Phone 330/263-6363
or 1-800-247-9473
Call for more details!
Your child may qualify for FREE health insurance if your
family income for 4 is less than $37,700.
Wayne County Family & Children First Council
Funded in part by ODJFS through federal and state reimbursement.
It’s time for kindergarten!
What It’s Like To Be ...
Health and Safety
FIVE YEARS OLD
School Bus Safety Rules
Your Child At Age Five
Hand and Finger Milestones
Five-year-olds are learning a sense of independence
and are becoming more confident in their abilities.
Listed below are some milestones that are typical for
five-year-olds.
*
*
*
*
Social Milestones
*
*
*
*
*
Wants to please friends
Wants to be like friends
More likely to agree to rules
Likes to sing, dance and act
Shows more independence
Emotional Milestones
* Aware of sexuality
* Able to distinguish fantasy from reality
* Sometimes demanding, sometimes eagerly
cooperative
Language Milestones
*
*
*
*
*
Recalls part of a story
Speaks sentences of more than five words
Uses future tense
Tells longer stories
Says name and address
Movement Milestones
*
*
*
*
Stands on one foot for 10 seconds or longer
Hops, somersaults
Swings, climbs
May be able to skip
Cognitive Milestones
*
*
*
*
Can count 10 or more objects
Correctly names at least four colors
Better understands the concept of time
Knows about things used every day in the home
(money, food, appliances)
Draws person with body
Prints some letters
Dresses and undresses without assistance
Uses fork, spoon and (sometimes) a table knife
The American Academy of Pediatrics
Caring for Your Baby and Young Child Birth to Age Five
The Complete and Authoritative Guide
Steven P. Shelov, MD, F.A.A.P., Editor-in-Chief
Copyright 1991
Acknowledgments
Information in this issue of Growing Together was
compiled by the newsletter editorial board of the
Prenatal to Five Committee of Wayne County
Family and Children First Council.
The information presented here describes a typical
child of each age. These descriptions are based on
the study of many children. Because your child is
unique, he or she may do things somewhat earlier
or later than is indicated.
Funding for printing and distribution has been
made available through the Institute of Museum
and Library Services by an Act of Congress, in
accordance with the FY2004 Consolidated
Appropriations Bill.
Growing Together is produced and distributed by
Gault Family Learning Center
716 Beall Ave.
Wooster, Ohio 44691-2989
330-263-8912 – Fax 330-263-8910
Questions should be directed to newsletter editor
Melody Snure at Gault Family Learning Center.
Even professionals are not always in agreement on specific child-rearing and feeding recommendations. Consult your
doctor if you receive conflicting information. If you have any questions about your child’s development (e.g., whether
she is doing the things she should be doing), call Help Me Grow at 330-263-6363 or 1-800-247-9473.
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Although drivers of all vehicles are required to stop
for a school bus when it is stopped to load or unload
passengers, children should not rely on them to do
so. The National Safety Council encourages parents
to teach their children these rules for getting on and
off the school bus.
Getting On The Bus
• When waiting for the bus, stay away from traffic
and avoid roughhousing or other behavior that
can lead to carelessness. Do not stray onto streets,
alleys or private property.
• Line up away from the street or road as the
school bus approaches.
• Wait until the bus has stopped and the door
opens before stepping onto the roadway.
• Use the hand rail when stepping onto the bus.
• Stay away from the rear wheels of the bus at all
times.
Behavior On The Bus
Crossing The Street
• When on the bus, find a seat and sit down. Loud
talking or other noise can distract the bus driver
and is not allowed.
• Never put head, arms or hands out of the window.
• Keep aisles clear — books or bags are tripping
hazards and can block the way in an emergency.
• Before you reach your stop, get ready to leave by
getting your books and belongings together.
• At your stop, wait for the bus to stop completely
before getting up from your seat. Then, walk to
the front door and exit, using the hand rail.
• Always stop at the curb or the edge of the road
and look left, then right, and then left again
before crossing.
• Continue looking both ways until you are safely
across the street.
• If your vision is blocked by a parked car or other
obstacle, move out to where drivers can see you
and you can see other vehicles. Then stop and
look left-right-left again.
Getting Off The Bus
Safety Town is a hands-on learning adventure
designed to teach various aspects of safety to
kindergarten-age children. Check with your
local school district to see if your community
offers a Safety Town program.
• If you have to cross the street in front of the bus,
walk at least ten feet ahead of the bus along the
side of the road, until you can turn around and
see the driver.
• Make sure the driver can see you.
• Wait for a signal from the driver before beginning
to cross.
• When the driver signals, walk across the road,
keeping an eye out for sudden traffic changes.
• Do not cross the center line of the road until the
driver has signaled that it is safe to start walking.
Permission to reprint granted by the National Safety Council,
a membership organization dedicated to protecting life
and promoting health.
www.nsc.org
Him or her?
This series of newsletters gives equal time to both
sexes. That’s why we take turns referring to
children as “him” or “her.” Keep in mind that we
are talking about all children when we use “him”
or “her.”
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Kindergarten Readiness
Reading Assessment
The Kindergarten Readiness Assessment-Literacy
(KRA-L) is a short assessment given to all Ohio
kindergarten children during the first six weeks of
school. Teachers or teachers’ aides do assessment
activities one child at a time, in a quiet area away
from other children. The teacher will write your
child’s answers on a score sheet.
Here are the six assessment activities along with
brief examples of the kinds of questions your kindergarten child will be asked during each activity.
1) Answering Who, What, When, Why and
How Questions
Your child will be asked to answer three questions.
For example, she may be asked, “Why do you brush
your teeth?” or “Where do you eat lunch?” The
teacher will wait several seconds for your child’s
answer and then write down what your child says.
The teacher will notice whether your child answers a
“why” question with a reason and a “where” question with a place.
2) Sentence Repetition
This activity consists of four items. For each your
child will be asked to listen to and repeat a sentence. For example, the teacher may say, “Building
with blocks is fun,” and then will ask your child to
repeat the sentence.
3) Rhyming Identification
Seven questions make up this assessment. Your child
will be asked to say whether two words rhyme. For
example, the teacher may ask, “Do the words ‘tap’
and ‘nap’ rhyme?”
4) Rhyming Production
This activity has five questions. Rhyming is the ability to notice that some words sound the same. Your
child will be asked to provide a word that rhymes
with another word. For example, the teacher may
say “cat” and ask your child to say another word
that rhymes with “cat.” Perhaps your child will
respond with “fat” or “bat.”
Just For Parents
5) Letter Identification
Your child will be asked to identify letters of the
alphabet. The teacher will point to a letter of the
alphabet and ask her to name that letter. There are
two parts: one for identifying capital letters and
another for identifying lower case letters.
Helping Your Kindergartner
6) Initial Sounds
The teacher will ask your child to find a picture that
represents a word that begins with a given sound.
First the teacher will provide four pictures such as
pictures of a hat, a box,
a hand and a shoe.
Then the teacher will
ask your child to identify the picture that
begins with the same
sound as the target or
first picture. The teacher
may draw your child’s
attention to the picture
of a hat while saying
the word hat and explaining that “hat” starts with
an “h” sound. The teacher will then ask your child
to point to the picture of something that begins with
the same sound as the word “hat.” The correct
response in this example would be the picture of a
hand.
Stress comes from facing the first day, from being in
a system that challenges too much or too little, and
from dealing with adults (teachers) who are not very
well known. Peer and parental expectations can add
pressures, too. How can you help?
What Do The Results Mean?
• Listen. If your child, from kindergarten on, gets in
the habit of telling you almost everything that
happens in school, you’ll be better able to spot
sources of stress for your child and the window of
communication will stay open through your child’s
school days.
Your child’s responses provide a small snapshot of
some of what she knows and can do with words and
letters at this time. This information can help you
and the kindergarten teacher make good decisions
about how to best support your child’s reading
development. Teachers will use the results to decide
whether more assessments are needed to identify
possible concerns or difficulties that may interfere
with reading development.
In our next newsletter issue we will suggest ways
you can help your child succeed in learning to read
and write.
Source: Ohio Department of Education
Center for Students, Families and Communities
A Family Guide to Understanding Early Reading Skills
School has the same importance to a child’s life that
a job has to an adult’s. School is where children
spend a large portion of their time. It’s where failures
and achievements are measured in structured ways
and where children are compared to each other.
• Talk to your child about what is happening at
school, such things as learning quietly and listening, standing in line to get milk, getting permission
to go to the bathroom, and so on. Try role playing
and practicing some of this at home. Even though
the teacher has probably explained these things,
Mom and Dad can reinforce them.
• Keep a positive attitude about school. Your enthusiasm and positive feelings will be contagious. By
the way, your own anxiety (however much you try
to hide it) can quickly be sensed by your child. As
one authority says, “Take your child to school
cheerfully, then go home and have a good cry if
you have to.”
• Get to know your child’s teacher and the school
environment. Find out what teaching and learning
methods are used with your kindergartner. These
methods vary greatly from school to school. Your
interest and input are needed.
• Provide the teacher with helpful information about
your child. Teachers appreciate knowing about
habits, likes and dislikes.
Failures Are Inevitable
If you have specific questions on feeding your preschooler and would like to speak to a registered dietitian at the
Wayne County Health Department WIC program, call 330-264-1942. For helpful tips on satisfying picky eaters,
preparing healthy snacks and other preschool food issues, call The Ohio State University’s Wayne County Extension
Office at 330-264-8722.
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What about failures? Sooner or later every child will
fail to measure up to someone’s standards — teachers’, parents’ or peers’. Maybe your child will forget
lines in the school play or wet her pants in school.
Any failure or disappointment hurts. Here are ideas
to help your child (and yourself) through these times:
• Resist the urge to “fix” the situation for your child.
Kids need the chance to learn how to pick themselves up and move on. Acknowledge that the
event happened and that the feelings your child
has about it are real and are important. That’s
much better than saying, “Oh well, it's not so
bad.” It was bad for her. Also, help her move on
to new experiences and a “next time.”
• Make sure your child knows it’s OK to fail and try
again. To be able to handle failure and disappointment is a very important success in itself. It’s a
lesson that will be useful throughout life.
Source: North Dakota State University
Extension Service
Parenting pipeline newsletter
Books That Build Reading Skills
Your local library is a wonderful, free resource for
parents. Wayne County
Public Library is located at
304 N. Market St., Wooster.
The countywide library has
branches in Creston, Dalton,
Doylestown, Rittman and
Shreve. Wayne County
Public Library’s web address
is http://www.wayne.lib.oh.us/newweb.
Orrville Public Library is located at 230 N. Main St.,
Orrville. Orrville Public Library’s web address is
http://www.orrville.lib.oh.us. Fredericksburg
Community Library is at 108 S. Mill St.,
Fredericksburg.
Here are some picture books to help your child
develop reading skills.
Books With Beginning Sounds of Words
Jeffie Ross Gordon — “Six Sleepy Sheep”
Laura Rankin — “The Handmade Alphabet”
Dana Meachen Rau — “So Many Sounds”
Shelley Rotner — “Action Alphabet”
Brian Wildsmith — “ABC”
Jane Yolen — “All in the Woodland Early: An
ABC Book”
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Kids and Mealtime
Starting The Day Off Right
The morning routine sets the stage for the day.
Hopefully your family has some strategies in place
to make things go smoothly with only an occasional
bump.
As your child is turning five and entering the doors
of public school, we need to give her the best start to
the day as possible with a good breakfast and calm
environment. If we are running around and forget
to eat, then the morning is spent with the “grumblies” which can cause distractions.
Some Breakfast Tips
What can you do to help your child be the best that
she can be? Here are a few tips to make the morning go more smoothly and good foods to start the
day right.
• Set a good example. You as the parent need to
eat breakfast, too. Even if you aren’t hungry, eat
something light. Remember, you are building
habits for life and breakfast is one of the most
important meals of the day for all of us.
• Prepare breakfast ahead of time. Set the
table with boxes of whole grain cereal, bowls and
spoons. Have everything but the milk ready to
go. During dinner the evening before, talk about
the menu for breakfast so everyone can make
suggestions or help with preparation.
• Pack a breakfast to go. Sometimes children
enjoy eating at day care or at school with their
friends. If that’s the case, pack a nutritious breakfast of cereal, fruit, and fruit juice or milk if you
can keep it cold. A donut and soda are not what
your child needs to be her best.
• Keep it simple. Breakfast doesn’t have to be
elaborate. Leftovers can be a nutritious breakfast.
Macaroni and cheese, peanut butter or meat loaf
can be a great breakfast if that’s your family’s
preference. As early in their lives as you can, let
your children help in the kitchen so they are
learning the skills needed towards independence.
Try Something Different
Do you ever get tired of the same old things? Here
are some items to consider serving to keep breakfast
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from becoming a bore for your family.
• Breads and cereals — Serve ready-to-eat whole
grain cereals, bagels, toaster
waffles, muffins, English
muffins, toast, graham
crackers, breakfast bars or
granola bars. Or pull out
last night’s leftovers if
breakfast foods just don’t
appeal to you. There is
nothing wrong with
spaghetti for breakfast.
• Fruits — Apples, pears,
bananas, oranges or
strawberries are all good breakfast choices. Fresh,
canned or frozen fruits are all nutritious. Try a
fruit smoothie by adding fruits with yogurt, tofu
or lowfat milk for a tasty drink on the run.
• Vegetables — Cooked or raw, vegetables are easy
to grab and run. Try your favorite veggies in a
drink, too.
• Dairy items — Low-fat milk, low-fat yogurt and
pudding, and cheese sticks are great additions to
a quick breakfast.
• Proteins — Don’t forget to get endurance by
adding protein to your morning meal. Try sliced
ham or turkey, peanut butter or hard boiled eggs
for a quick breakfast.
Try to make breakfast a time when everyone can sit
for a minute and discuss the day’s happenings and
schedules. It’s a great way to start the day and build
healthy habits for life.
School Lunches: Cafeteria or Packed?
As you child is headed off to kindergarten he is taking a big step toward independence. He will be
choosing what clothes to wear, what bookbag to
carry and whether to “pack” or “buy” lunch if he is
in a full-day program.
If your child has had the opportunity to make choices at home, then hopefully he will continue to make
wise choices as he enters the cafeteria world.
Most elementary schools have fewer vending
machines or a la carte selections than upper-level
school buildings. The french fries and pizza tempt
many older children every day. Let your child help
to evaluate what foods he likes from the cafeteria
and determine whether taking his lunch would be a
better option for him.
Do school cafeterias really provide healthy lunches?
If your child is among the 26 million children each
school day who eat the nutritionally balanced, lowcost or free lunches provided by the National School
Lunch Program, you may think that he is eating
healthy foods.
• Use popcorn instead of potato or corn chips. It’s
lower in fat
• Try to include at least four different food groups
and have a variety of color, texture, shape, and temperatures in your child’s lunch each day.
Above all, keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold to
make sure they are safe for your child. Let your
kindergartner help prepare his lunch and make
choices to help build healthy habits for life.
Melinda Hill, CFCS
OSU Extension, Wayne County
But the Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine and the Healthy School Lunch Campaign
say that foods served in school lunch programs are
too rich in saturated fat and cholesterol and too low
in fiber- and nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, whole
grains and legumes.
After School Nachos
Lunch Box Suggestions
Top chips with cheese. Put in microwave until
cheese is melted, about 30 seconds. Top with any of
your favorite toppings or eat plain.
What can you do as a parent? Encourage your child
to eat a variety of foods, especially whole grains,
fruits and vegetables. Here are some suggestions
you might consider for your child’s lunch box:
• Fresh fruits such as
melons, grapes, apples,
pears or kiwi. Canned,
frozen or dried fruits are
also good options and
may work as an additional after-school snack.
• Chill or freeze sandwiches or roll ups with
lean meat. If you have a
thermos to keep foods
safe, pack soup, spaghetti or other warm leftovers.
• Cheese cubes, cheese sticks and cheese and crackers are decent sources of protein.
• Graham crackers, pretzels, gingersnaps, fig bars
and oatmeal cookies are low in fat and are good
sources of fiber to include for variety.
6 tortilla chips
1 cup grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
taco sauce
olives
onions
Source: Kansas State University Childcare Cooperative
and Kansas Home Economics Association
Apple Crisp
6 cups peeled, cored and sliced cooking apples
1 T. lemon juice (optional)
Topping:
6 T. butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup flour
1 t. cinnamon
Place apples in 8-inch baking dish, sprinkle with
lemon juice. Melt butter in small mixing bowl. Stir
in remaining ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle
over apples evenly; press down lightly. Microwave
at High 8 minutes. Rotate dish and microwave 6-8
more minutes or until apples are tender. Serve
warm or cold.
Source: Mini Meal Magic 4-H Book
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