Kindergarten Brains: How to understand what your child is thinking

Here it is. The first year of Kindergarten! It’s exciting and stressful, and it’s a huge intellectual leap for your child. This is the year they start to read, talk, and listen. They’ll start to follow rules better, and they’ll get new skills that you’re going to have to learn to deal with. Here are a few cognitive milestones your child will go through this year, and how you can help them make the best of it.

Living in a fantasy world: This is probably the last year where kids are still able to live in their own fantasy world. This might be fun for them, but it might also create irrational fears. Talk to them and explain things to them. It might be funny and crazy to you, but to them it’s a reality.

Talking like adults: Now’s the time when kids start to better understand advanced language. They’re more likely to understand conversations between adults, and are therefore more aware of what’s going on. Here’s your chance to stop talking to them in simplified ways and start talking to them like adults. They’ll learn very quickly to follow your lead.

Once upon a story: It’s story time all the time these days. Kindergarteners love stories, especially now that they can stay focused for 15 to minutes at a time. They’re also able to discuss what characters they prefer and put themselves in the situation of story characters. Here’s where you can expand on the genres of books you read together. Not only will it help them fall in love with reading, it will also equip them with better problem solving tools later on.