Skills Needed by Your Child Prior to Beginning Kindergarten

Social Skills  Your child should be able to share willingly with others.  Your child should be able to engage with children and adults in conversation.  Your child should be able to play without assistance.  Your child should be able to wait and take turns.

Hygiene Skills  Your child should be able to wash his/her hands.  Your child should be able to wipe their nose with tissue.  Tends to all bathroom needs with total independence.  Cover mouth when coughing.

Verbal Communication  Your child should be able to use language to express personal needs like: going to the bathroom informing an adult when another child is bothering him/her when feeling ill

Personal Autonomy  Your child should…. dress him/her self feed self tie shoe or close velcro zip, button and snap clothing clean up after self

Academic Readiness - Skills Needed for Kindergarten

 Does your child….. show an interest in print and books? have begun to write name in upper & lower case letters? use crayons, pencils, markers and scissors? begun to draw self and other recognizable objects? counts 10 objects and recognizes numerals 1-10? recognizes and names letters in name? recognizes 10 upper & lower case letters out of sequence? knows between 5 and 10 letter sounds?

Academic Standards for Kindergarten

Kindergarten standards now include: Identifies front cover, back cover and title page of book. Is able to explain that printed materials provide information. Identifies and produces rhyming words in response to an oral prompt. Tracks auditorily each word in a sentence and each letter in a word. Counts the number of sounds in a word and syllables in words. Matches all consonants and short vowel sounds to appropriate Letters. Read simple one-syllable and high frequency words (sight words: I, see, my like…).

Identifies and sorts common words in basic categories (e.g. colors, shapes, foods). Describes common objects and events in both general and specific language. Is able to use pictures to make predictions about story content. Connects life experiences to the information and events in text. Identifies characters, settings and important events in stories. Uses letters phonetically to spell out words and write about experiences stores, people, objects or events. Shows information and ideas, speaks audibly in coherent, complete sentences.