Teachers: Many not ready for kindergarten

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Most U.S. kindergarten teachers think most young children are unprepared for school when they enter kindergarten, a survey indicates.

The kindergarten preparedness survey, sponsored by the Age of Learning Inc., presented at the National Association for the Education of Young Children annual conference in Orlando, Fla., indicated 66 percent of teachers stated that students were only somewhat or not at all prepared, while only 6 percent felt that students were very well prepared academically.

The survey said children entering kindergarten are weakest academically in their knowledge of the alphabet and phonics, with two-thirds of teachers reporting that the majority of children do not know their alphabet when they enter kindergarten.

To get children ready for school, kindergarten teachers recommend parents:

-- Read books with their children and practice the alphabet.

-- Expose children to new experiences and talk with them about those experiences in order to improve their ability to speak and understand oral language and increase vocabulary.

-- Practice identifying numbers and counting with both verbal and written activities.

-- Work with children to identify shapes, colors and objects in the world around them.

-- Place children in social settings with other young children to develop manners, the ability to share and be respectful.

No survey details were provided.