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Somerset County Public Schools Pre-K 3 Program
Resources for Parents and Families
Ready At Five – for Parents
“You are your child’s first and most important teacher! There are many things you can do with your child, starting at birth, to help him/her be ready to succeed in school.
And, we are here to help. Our ParentTips, parent-child activities, school readiness resources, and other important information will show you how.”
Children’s Mental Health Matters – Parent/Families
“It’s easy to know your child needs help dealing with a fever or a broken bone, but mental health problems can be harder to identify. Children of all ages, even as young infants, can experience mental health problems. A difficulty of parenting is knowing the kinds of behaviors and moods that are usual for the stage of development your child is in and when your child has gone beyond the norm and needs help.”
Early Childhood Maryland Public Schools – Families
“We know that families play the most important role in preparing young children for school and for the rest of their lives. But child care providers are right there too in terms of their impact on children. Choosing the right child care provider could mean the difference between your child being ready for the first day of Kindergarten (and everything that comes after it) or not.”
Ready4K
To register just text SCJC to 70138
“Each week, parents and caregivers receive fun facts and easy tips on how to promote their children’s development by building on existing family routines – like pointing out letters on the cereal box at breakfast, counting the number of steps as you walk to the car or bus, or making feeling faces in the mirror after you brush your teeth.”
Imagination Library
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth to age five in participating communities. United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore has provided the Imagination Library program to children in Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties in Maryland for over 8 years.
Sign up your child today! Simply go to United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore’s website to register your child OR call the office: 410-742-5143. https://www.uwles.org/imaginationlibrary
Pathfinders For Autism
500 by five
Is Your Child Riding Safe?
Did you know that under Maryland law any child, age 0-7, who is shorter than 4’9″ must be secured in a car seat or booster?
With your help we will determine which seat is best for your child. We provide a car seat safety training and a free car seat or booster for families in need. Please call and set a appointment for car seat installation with a certified car seat technician. For more information Contact Tynice DeShields 410-651-1275 (Princess Anne Families), and Janell Hale 410-968-1295 (Crisfield Families). For more information on car seat safety click this link. safekids.org
Car Seat installations will be done on Fridays from 9:00am-3:00pm at the Somerset County Board of Education located at 7982A Tawes Campus Drive Westover, MD 21871.
Need A Driver’s License?
Wor-Wic Community College offers assistance to complete driver’s Ed:
- Scholarships to reduce cost.
- Laptops to borrow to complete classes at home.
- A ride to and from behind the wheel drives.
Register at: worwic.edu/driverseducation. For More info call 410-334-6729
Activities to try!
Pumpkin Playdough
Playing with playdough is great for working your child’s fine motor skills. Squeezing, squishing, pulling, and poking the dough helps build and strengthen their little hand muscles.
Materials: 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour, 1 Cup Salt, 2 Tablespoons cream of tartar, 2 tablespoons pumpkin spice, 2 tablespoons oil (any oil), 1 1/3 cup boiling water
Add all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, Slowly stir in 1 1/3 cups boiling water, mix, then knead with hands until it forms a ball, let your dough sit for 10 minutes to cool and then it’s ready to play.
You can add 2-4 drops of food color into your water when you make it if you prefer to have a color.
Indian Corn
Get four 12 inch tan pipe cleaners and an assortment of beads in the shades you like best. Line up your pipe cleaners so that they are even on each end and twist them together in the middle. Next, evenly space each pipe cleaner and spread them into the shape of a star. Start threading the beads onto each pipe cleaner, until all 8 are covered. Be sure to leave a little over an inch of pipe cleaner showing on each end so you have enough to twist your husks later on. Once you’ve covered your star in beads it’s time to shape your corn! Carefully bend each end upward and gather the points together. Take the tops of your pipe cleaners and twist them a couple times to secure the beads and form the corn “husk”. Be sure to leave some ends free and fan them out a bit.
Materials: 4 Pipe Cleaners, Plastic Beads
Apple Tree Color Sorting
This is a fun activity that works on fine motor skills, and a hands on way to practice identifying and sorting different colors. First, draw and cut three rectangles out of brown construction paper for the tree trunks. Next, draw and cut a large circle out of red, green, and yellow construction paper for the tree tops. Children will glue the circles onto the rectangles to create the trees. After the glue dries, put the trees in a row in front of the children and fill a small bowl with Fruit Loops. The children will then sort through the Fruit Loops and put the matching colors to the trees. They will continue sorting until the trees are full.
Materials: Brown, Green, Red, and Yellow Construction Paper, Glue, Fruit Loops, and Small Bowl