As parents, we want to help our children succeed in school. We want them to grow up and have good jobs and happy lives. Experts say that if we want our young children (birth to age five) to do well in school, we should be teaching them all kinds of things before they even get to Kindergarten so that they’ll be“ready to learn.”

Exactly what should we be teaching our young children so they’ll be “ready to learn?” Most parents believe we need to teach them to write their names, say the alphabet, identify shapes and colors, and count to ten. These are important skills. However, there are other very critical skills a child needs to have in order to be “ready to learn.” These are called social-emotional skills. This booklet is for parents who want to help their young children (birth to age five) to be socially and emotionally healthy so they can succeed in school.

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