From America's #1 family magazine, a guide to your five- and six-year-old's emotional and cognitive milestones.

Sending your child off to a full day of school means enormous and exciting changes for you and your kindergartner. In "Your Five- and Six-Year-Old," the expert editors of "Parents "magazine prepare you for your child's staggering intellectual leaps and deepening social skills over these transformative years.

Each chapter focuses on a unique developmental milestone-from separating from mom to learning to read and write to understanding values such as empathy and honesty. By giving you insights into what your child is going through- relating to a classroom of peers; being away from home more than ever-this book shows you the best ways to build her self-esteem without pushing too hard, to give her the space she needs without making her feel abandoned. You will also discover how to handle common misbehaviors from fibbing to fits as your child transitions to a more grownup, complex world. In addition to discovering what to expect in the kindergarten and first grade classroom, "Your Five- and Six-Year-Old" will help you to provide a supportive, creative, and healthy environment for your child to learn and grow in.

Each chapter highlights four main areas:

* Developmental Milestone (what you can expect)

* Conflict (changes in behavior that result from this milestone)

* You and Your Child (how this stage of development affects you as a parent)

* Helping Your Child Grow (strategies, games, and activities that enhance development)

Informative, recurring features include:

* How It Feels to Be Me (common scenarios explained from a child's perspective)

* Do Say/Don't Say (scripts of appropriate responses to various situations)

* Is there a Problem? (signs of possible developmental delays)