There is no preset checklist that can determine whether or not your child is ready for kindergarten.  Each child is unique, and we will do our best to work with them at their skill level. Children tend to pick skills up rapidly in kindergarten. Therefore, a skill that is being developed one week may be mastered the following week.  If you have questions about your child's readiness for kindergarten, you may want to talk with your child's preschool teacher, child care provider, or pediatrician, who may suggest additional assessment with an intervention specialist.  During our August screening, our teachers will be able to answer questions you may have about your child's readiness for kindergarten.  Below is a list of suggestions for what your child should be able to do upon entering kindergarten.
 

 

• Shares with others

• Plays cooperatively with other children

• Separates from parents without being upset

• Begins to control oneself

• Starts to follow rules

• Takes care of self care needs - bathroom, dressing, zipping, buttoning, etc.

• Listens to stories with interest

• Looks at pictures and then tells stories

• Recognizes rhyming sounds - nursery rhymes

• Pays attention for short periods of time to adult directed tasks

• Cuts with scissors

• Traces

• Speaks understandably in complete sentences of up to five or six words

• Identifies the beginning sounds of some words orally

• Identifies some letters of the alphabet

• Sorts similar objects by color, shape, and size

• Recognizes groups of one to five objects

• Counts to ten

 

(List adapted from Smart Start Centre County)