An important area that day cares use to help children get ready for elementary school is the proper way to behave. When children enter elementary school, they are required to sit correctly at desks or on the carpet during carpet time. They need to learn how to raise their hand before talking. Another skill that children need to learn is to be able to stand and walk in a straight, quiet line. These are all things children learn while they are in day care.
In daycare there are activities children do that promote phonological awareness. Phonological awareness involves the manipulation of sounds. This includes rhyming or changing the first sound of a word. For example, change the first sound in cat to r and the new word is rat. These are beginning skills children must have in place before beginning to read. Provide children in daycare with rhyming games to reinforce these skills.
Children need to know letter identification. Instruction begins with the capital letters. They are easier for children to learn first. Usually a daycare focuses on a letter a week. The children practice writing that letter and being able to identify the letter in print. A craft is also done that ties in with the letter. For example, the letter of the week during the last week of October is "P" so children can make a pumpkin craft.
Basic math is introduced to children in day cares before they go to elementary school. This includes number identification. Focus is on one number at a time and the numbers that are introduced are zero through nine. Children count out the number of objects based on the number they are learning so they can practice the one to one correspondence. Simple addition is also introduced. Children use math manipulatives to learn the concept of adding to a number.