While there's no perfect
formula that determines when children are truly
ready for kindergarten, you can use this checklist
to see how well your child is doing in acquiring
the skills found on most kindergarten checklists.
Check the skills your
child has mastered. Then recheck every month to
see what additional skills your child can
accomplish easily. Young children change so
fast -- if they can't do something this week, they
may be able to do it a few weeks later.
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
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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
Count to ten
Bounce a ball |
If your child has
acquired most of the skills on this checklist and
will be at least five years old at the start of
the summer before he or she starts kindergarten,
he or she is probably ready for kindergarten. What
teachers want to see on the first day of school
are children who are healthy, mature, capable, and
eager to learn.
Courtesy of
Peggy
Gisler, Ed.S. and Marge Eberts, Ed.S.
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