The first day of the school year is right around the corner. For parents who will be sending a child off to kindergarten, it’s time to set the groundwork with some learning skills that are essential for his or her future development. Here are 10 things you can do to set the tone that learning can be both fun and exciting.

1. Read to your child at least once a day for at least 20 to 25 minutes. While you read, your child learns things like how to hold a book, that pictures match the text, and that print moves left to right. It also helps to develop the parent-child bond.
2. Fill your house with several types of reading material, including books, magazines and newspapers. Place the reading material at your child’s eye level to inspire curiosity.
3. Purchase some magnetic letters for your refrigerator door, or using a magnetic cookie sheet, so your child can use them to explore letters, form names and spell words.
4. Write your child’s name on a special paper so he can refer to it when writing his name. Hang this special sheet of paper in a place that your child can readily see.
5. Talk with your child about things you see when walking down the street or driving in the car, like colors, shapes and street signs. See if he can recognize and read some of the common words in signs.
6. Make up stories together and draw or talk about the sequence of your child’s day (what happened, who she met, what she did). This helps her put words, ideas and pictures together to further explain what’s happening in her world.
7. Play games that require your child to find numbers or letters in old magazines and newspapers. Use a yellow marker to highlight or circle a particular letter or word. For example: Find all the r’s and circle them. Then count how many you found.
8. Count popular items like Cheerios or crackers to help your child learn how to count.
9. Sort M&M’s or Skittles by color to help your child learn to organize and determine shape and color similarities and differences.
10. Find a useful way for your child to learn the names of other children. For instance: Mary’s name begins with the same letter as Aunt Margaret’s name. Can you tell me what letter Mary’s name begins with?