SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Teaching Kids To Be Smart

Dear Aunt Malkin,
I have two children, aged three and four. I am wondering what I can do to prepare them for success in school, but I am worried about jumping the gun.
Yours truly,
Conscientious in Cinncinati

Dear Conscientious,
If I were you, I would definitely start in on teaching your kids right now, as a solid foundation of basic skills makes it possible for kids to benefit from progressive teaching methods. Of course, you should not force your children to sit at desks and learn in a structured way, but rather you should teach them with a playful, fun type of approach in short sessions that leave them begging for more. The materials listed as being for preschoolers on our schoolproofing site are recommended. It is particularly important that you get things right from the beginning, for example making sure that your children hold their pencils and crayons using a tripod grip and form their letters correctly (top to bottom and left to right). 
In addition to giving your children a good grounding in reading, writing, and math, you would be wise to take steps to enlarge their vocabularies and fund of general knowledge. You will find a number of useful ideas in our newsletter archives, especially under the headings “General Knowledge and Vocabulary” and “Preschoolers”. 
You may be interested to learn that the vast majority of the children in gifted programs arrived at school already able to read. 
Yours truly,
Aunt Malkin