What Does My Child Need To Know Before Kindergarten?

What does my child need to know before Kindergarten?  It is a question that a lot of parents ask themselves before sending their child off to school for the first time.  As a  Kindergarten teacher, I can tell you that having some prior knowledge and developmental skills will help your child feel confident and succeed in school.  Even though every child develops at his or her own rate, there are many things that you can use to help prepare him or her for school.  Here is a list of 45 Kindergarten readiness skills to work on with your child.

What Does My Child Need To Know Before Kindergarten? 45 Kindergarten Readiness Skills:

Fine Motor Skills:

• Holds writing utensils such as pencils and crayons correctly
• Completes hand-eye coordination activities (puts puzzles together, laces shoes, etc.)
• Holds child safety scissors correctly and can cut a piece of paper
• Can stack small blocks on top of one another

Large Motor Skills:

• Can bounce, kick, throw, and catch a ball
• Rides a tricycle or bike with training wheels
• Can run, jump, and climb
• Balances on one foot

Social Skills:

• Interacts with adults and other children
• Respects others and their belongings
• Cooperates with peers (shares, takes turns, etc.)
• Participates in group activities
• Cleans-up after him or herself
• Accepts responsibility for his or her own actions and belongings
• Shows self-control
• Follows rules and routines

Language Skills:

• Talks in sentences
• Asks for help
• Retells stories
• Uses words to express feelings or solve a problem
• Asks questions

Listening Skills:

• Listens to adults and other children
• Follows multi-step directions
• Listens to stories read aloud

Reading Skills:

• Identifies lowercase and uppercase letters
• Recognizes his or her own name
• Identifies some letter sounds
• Pretends to read by looking at the pictures in a book and telling a story
• Identifies rhyming words
• Recognizes some sight words
• Tries to read words around him or her (labels, signs, etc.)
• Understands the sequence of a story

Writing Skills:

• Can draw and scribble
• Writes his or her own name
• Can write some letters and numbers

Math Skills:

• Identifies and draws shapes
• Can count and write numbers 0-10
• Identifies colors
• Groups objects according to size, shape, or color
• Compares the size of groups of objects
• Understands positional concepts (over and under, on and off, etc.)
• Puts objects in size order (small to big, short to tall, etc.)
• Understands the concept of addition and subtraction
• Describes how objects are the same or different
• Identifies simple patterns

Before sending your child off to school for the first time, practice these 45 Kindergarten readiness skills and help him or her succeed in school.

Read More About Preparing Your Child For Starting School:

4 Ways to Prepare Your Child For Kindergarten

10 Picture Books About Starting Kindergarten