Kindergarten Readiness

Is your preschooler ready for Kindergarten? There are somethings you can do to get him/her ready if your child isn't going to preschool. Where we used to live, we had one of my daughters attend preschool. It was a great experience. They used the Abeka curriculum and she was reading 3-4 letter words by the end of the year. She knew her numbers and I was so excited that she had learned so much in her preschool. After we moved, I sent my younger son to preschool. This area was known for its excellence in education, so I thought they would turn my young son into the next Einstein. I was so disappointed. Their goal was getting him "ready" for Kindergarten. They made sure he knew how to hang up his coat and put his lunch box away. He needed to know his ABC's and some numbers and he needed to know the names of his body parts i.e. arms, wrist, ankle, eyes, knee, jaw, etc. They did their job. He knew everything he needed to know before he arrived that first day of Kindergarten. Here is a checklist that you could follow to make sure your little preschooler can be all he can be:

·  Listen to stories without interrupting

·  Recognize rhyming sounds

·  Pay attention for short periods of time to adult-directed tasks

·  Understand actions have both causes and effects

·  Show understanding of general times of day

·  Cut with scissors

·  Trace basic shapes

·  Begin to share with others

·  Start to follow rules

·  Be able to recognize authority

·  Manage bathroom needs

·  Button shirts, pants, coats, and zip up zippers

·  Begin to control oneself

·  Separate from parents without being upset

·  Speak understandably

·  Talk in complete sentences of five to six words

·  Look at pictures and then tell stories

·  Identify rhyming words

·  Identify the beginning sound of some words

·  Identify some alphabet letters

·  Recognize some common sight words like "stop"

·  Sort similar objects by color, size, and shape

·  Recognize groups of one, two, three, four, and five objects

·  Bounce a ball

·  Count to ten

       Here is a link to School Sparks which has a Kindergarten Readiness Test  so you can assess your child.

       This is just a guide. Children change so fast, if there are some activities your preschooler isn't getting, try again in a few weeks and see how fast your child will pick up on their new skills. The first day of school, teachers are looking for children that are healthy, mature and eager to learn.