Watch how our free preK-at-home program works.
VIDEO NOTE. Barbara's leadership was temporary. Her charity experience was valuable and key to getting the Sisterhood going.
Now co-leading the Sisterhood are Janice Malchow EdD and Michele Aurelio.
The Sisterhood Chapter of the Buns Care Charity understands and promotes the importance of PreK Education.
If you are unable to afford traditional preschool, the Sisterhood can help you get your child ready for Kindergarten and beyond.
Please help us track your child's progress by completing the Progress Survey at the bottom of this page once a month. We are always interested in the effectiveness of our PreK at Home Program.
Print out a copy so you can track the progress, too!
Just 20 minutes per day with your child is all it takes. Both of you will look forward to this time together.
You and your child will enjoy the variety of learning activities as well as the special bonding time.
Children who attended traditional preschool have learned these basic skills by the time they enter Kindergarten.
Will YOUR child be ready?
Email the ladies of the Sisterhood to learn more about this program and receive your free PreK Teaching Kit.
Since the opening of our new Griffith headquarters in May of 2019, The Sisterhood is seeking more volunteers to expand our Free PreK-at-Home program and our fundraising recycling efforts.
TEN SKILLS YOUR CHILD NEEDS
BEFORE STARTING KINDERGARTEN
1. Writing
Help your child practice writing letters, especially the letters in her name.
Teach your child how to write her name with an uppercase first letter and the remaining letters in lowercase.
Write in shaving cream in the bathtub, salt or sugar in a cake pan or in finger paint to make practicing more fun and multisensory.
2. Letter Recognition
Play games to help your child recognize some letters of the alphabet.
Play hide and seek with refrigerator magnets.
Rather than drilling your child with flashcards, use them to play a game of alphabet go fish.
3. Beginning Sounds
Make your child aware of the sound that each letter makes.
Find items around the house that begin with the same sound and identify the letter that makes each sound.
Overemphasize the first sound in words to help your child hear the individual sounds in words.
4. Number Recognition and Counting
Count throughout the day (for example, the crackers she is eating for snack or the socks in that you take out of the dryer).
Point out numbers you see in your environment and have your child name them (for example, the numbers found on food boxes or street signs).
5. Shapes and Colors
If your child is having trouble recognizing certain colors, you might add a little food coloring to cookie dough, milk or vanilla pudding to emphasize those colors.
Help your child recognize more difficult shapes such as diamonds and rectangles by showing her how to draw them on paper and cut them out.
Play games in which your child finds objects of particular colors and shapes around the house or in the neighborhood as you drive.
6. Fine Motor Skills
Give your child several different writing options (colored pencils, crayons or markers) to help keep her interested in writing and drawing.
Playing with play dough is a fun way to strengthen the muscles of the hand that will be used for writing.
7. Cutting
Purchase a good pair of child-safe scissors and let your child practice.
Give her old magazines or newspapers to cut up, or allow her to make a collage of the things she likes by cutting them from magazines and gluing them to a piece of paper.
Cutting play dough is also fun for children.
8. Reading Readiness
Run your finger under the words as you read to your child to help her learn that words go from left to right and top to bottom.
Play games with rhyming words to help your child hear similar sounds in words. For example, as you are going up the stairs, name one word that rhymes with cat for each step as you go up.
9. Attention and Following Directions
Read lots of stories with your child and work up to reading longer chapter books, one chapter each night or as long as she remains interested and focused.
Give your child two and three step directions. For example: "put on your pajamas, brush your teeth and pick a book to read."
Play Simon Says with two or three step directions. For example: "Simon Says jump up and down and shout hooray."
10. Social Skills
Give your children opportunities to interact with other children in preschool, church or social groups or play dates.
Teach your child how to express her feelings if she doesn’t like something.
Role-play different situations she might experience on the playground or at school. Help her find solutions for typical problems she might encounter.
Chances are you're already practicing many of these skills your child will need for kindergarten. Remember to keep it fun and don’t make it stressful for you or your child. With just a little fun practice, your child will be prepared for her elementary school debut!
Source: Education.com
RECYCLE YOUR SMALL ELECTRONICS, LAPTOPS, and PRINTER CARTRIDGES
Our recycling program turns undesirable e-waste into funds that help us carry out our free PreK at Home Program.
YOU MAY BE ABLE TO HELP. We can prove large recycle bins for your business, office, school or church and small bins to use at home or in a small office setting. Once your bin has 20 items or more, call us and we'll pick up the recyclables.
Each batch of 20 items will net the Sisterhood $50-75. Enough to provide 2 PreK Learning Kits!
Fundraising by recycling small electronics, laptop computers, and printer cartridges
Your donation of just $50 will allow us to provide a PreK kits to TWO MORE underprivileged Northwest Indiana children.
~4 posters ~4 books
~4 foam puzzles
~1 magic drawing board
~81 printing transparencies
~64 flashcards
~20 foam counters
~4 pictorial teaching guides
~4 storage bags
~1 hard-sided case