KPrep-Strength and coordination of small motor muscles

The ARISE Strategic Action Team of parents and partners created this page to share activities and information about kindergarten preparedness. Preparing for kindergarten starts long before the autumn a child enters a classroom for the first day of school. Everyday interactions with young children help develop their abilities and skills – and are a lot of fun too!

Each theme focuses on a different goal in the Alaska Developmental Profile (ADP). This assessment is based on the Alaska Early Learning Guidelines and is the measure ARISE tracks to see how prepared Alaska Native and Native American students are when they arrive at school for that exciting first day. Follow ARISE on Facebook for posts on each month’s topic.

April theme: Strength and coordination of small motor muscles

Fine motor skills are an important part of early development and essential to occupational growth and early educational success. Fine motor skills include the control and use of hands, fingers and arms to manipulate objects and control tools. While many of the activities used to learn fine motor skills can seem messy or require careful supervision, fine motor skills help increase the dexterity we need to write, build and help your child express themselves and interact with their world!

Indicators teachers are looking for when conducting the ADP assessment are:

Cuts, draws, glues with materials provided
Copies several letters or shapes
Able to manipulate clothing fasteners (e.g., buttons, snaps, Velcro, zippers)
Puts together and pulls apart manipulatives (e.g., blocks, beads, cubes) appropriately

Like ARISE on Facebook for more info and ideas. Together, members of the partnership are posting about each month’s theme.

Events

Countdown to Kindergarten events feature fun activities for children age 3-5, and their parents or caregivers. Each month, activities support the current theme!
Friday, 4/6/2018 1:30PM	Countdown to Kindergarten at Mt. View Library. On bus routes 20 and 21.
Saturday, 4/28/2018 11AM	Countdown to Kindergarten at Muldoon Library. On bus routes 10, 20, 25, 30, 31.