Is My Child Ready For Kindergarten?

Many parents worry about when their child will be ready for Kindergarten. We have found the following list a good gauge of whether your child will be ready next year. In many ways, social skills are most important; we expect to work in the academics, but if a child is not ready socially, it becomes very hard to meet their academic needs or the needs of others.   

Social Skills

• Shares and takes turns with others
• Waits their turn in a group setting
• Sits quietly and listens in a group setting
• Follows directions
• Demonstrates basic good manners while eating
• Respects other students and adults
• Respect the belongings of others and class items
• Expresses thoughts and feelings clearly
• Has had some experience being away from family members for short periods of time

Academic Skills

• Says the alphabet
• Recognize own name, and letters in name; it's a plus if they can write their first and last name
• Recognizes and identifies as many letters as possible (A-Z)
• Rote Count to 100
• Recognize numbers and identify 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
• Count items to 10
• Name the basic colors (blue, red, yellow, purple, green, orange, white, brown, black)

Physical Skills

• Care for personal needs (Use restroom, wash hands, fasten clothes, wipe nose, etc.)
• Walk up and down stairs
• Use pencils and crayons
• Use scissors & glue stick
• Stack blocks
• Put toys and class items where they belong

And a Note About Reading:
We can't emphasize enough how important it is to read to your children every day. You can make it a special time by letting the child choose the book to be read, and ask them questions about the story as you go - this will also help them develop good comprehension skills, which are needed throughout life. 

Go to http://topics-az.parenthood.com/articles.html?article_id=1716 to read more about this topic.

Enjoy these early years together, they grow up so fast! We have never seen a case where waiting an extra year hurts a child if you're in doubt.