Is My Child Ready For Kindergarten?

“Is my child ready for Kindergarten?”

This is a great question! I will try to answer it in a succinct, informative fashion.

Development is the overarching bones, or consistency, of our curriculum. We base all of our learning on core objectives. Center Stage preschool sees each child as an individual. We keep in mind that to assess development growth we need perimeters, or a baseline, to begin our assessments to measure the growth by. Please remember that within any scale of development measure, there is a breakdown of each skill. Through our assessment tool, we grade by eye. By this I mean intro “P” equals “Progress” or “M” equals “Master”. I have seen parents get very upset if their child hasn’t perfectly mastered all milestones. Let’s keep in mind that the assessment is a snapshot of your child on that day.

There are going to be many variables. In general, taking everything into consideration, our assessment tool can give us a picture of a child’s development thus far in the realms of social-emotional, physical, and academic. Our assessment tool is just one avenue in which we learn where the children are developmentally. Also, how our teachers are doing communicating with the children. Of course, there is the parent and teacher communication partnership. When all these things are in line and we’ve had honest open communication through the academic years that child is with us, we can all come together in a teacher conference and discuss where that child is and if they are indeed ready for kindergarten. As with most questions, the answer can be loaded and multifaceted.

I would like to share a version of our assessment tool with you. This list is a great jumping-off place that shows the milestones for three and four-year-olds. Our assessments are done three times per year. The skills learned become building blocks for future learning:

Goals for 3 & 4-year-olds

Social & Emotional: 3-4

1. Can separate from caregiver
2. Can be independent
3. Is self-directed
4. Demonstrates appropriate control of feelings and behavior
5. Can focus on a given task
6. Can make friends
7. Plays cooperatively with other children
8. Shows concern for others
9. Can transition easily
10. Can follow directions
11. Can play creative make-believe

Fine Motor: 3-year-old

1. Begins to hold a pencil
2. Can trace simple objects
3. Can build towers 6 blocks high
4. Can put together 6 piece puzzles
5. Can draw themselves with 3 parts
6. Can cut on a straight line
7. Can lace large beads
8. Begins using a pincer grip
9. Begins to use a paint brush
10. Can color within an inch of the lines

Fine motor: 4-year-old

1. Holds a pencil with the correct grip
2. Can write their name
3. Can draw objects
4. Can draw simple shapes
5. Can draw a picture of themselves with 5 parts
6. Can color staying within ¼ inch of lines
7. Can build structures with blocks
8. Can put together a 12 piece puzzle
9. Can put on coat and zip or button
10. Can cut on straight and curved lines
11. Can control a paintbrush
12. Can write most letters correctly
13. Can write some numbers correctly

Gross Motor: 3-year-old

1. Can run around obstacles
2. Can climb
3. Can ride a tricycle
4. Can catch a large ball
5. Can throw a ball overhand
6. Can walk up and down stairs

Gross Motor: 4-year-old

1. Can hop
2. Can jump
3. Can skip
4. Can throw and catch a ball
5. Can play games with friends
6. Can climb on play equipment easily
7. Can stand on tiptoes for 3 seconds
8. Can stand on one foot for 5 seconds

Language Skills: 3-year-old

1. Recognizes and responds to own the first name
2. Can follow 1-2 step directions
3. Can match pictures to words
4. Begins to use past-tense
5. Can use a complete sentence
6. Can express feelings
7. Can talk and listen in a group
8. Acknowledges and recognizes greetings
9. Can follow a simple story

Language Skills: 4-year-old

1. Recognizes own full name
2. Can follow 3-4 step directions
3. Can join in group discussions and answer questions
4. Knows names of common objects
5. Uses past-tense
6. Uses plural words
7. Can speak in complete sentences
8. Can re-tell a story
9. Recognizes the alphabet
10. Can express their needs and feelings
11. Can recognize rhyming words
12. Can recognize opposite words
13. Can reproduce consonant sounds
14. Has appropriate phonemic awareness
15. Understands a one-to-one correspondence with written and spoken words

Cognitive Skills: 3-year-old

1. Can recognize letters in their name
2. Knows 5 colors
3. Knows basic shapes
4. Can repeat simple phrases
5. Can sequence 3 events
6. Can count to 8 and recognize the numbers
7. Can give numbers a value up to 5
8. Can sort by color
9. Can sort by size
10. Starts counting left to right
11. Can make an AB pattern
12. Can count to 10

Cognitive Skills: 4 year

1. Can spell their name
2. Can write their name
3. Knows 8 colors
4. Names at least 6 shapes
5. Recognizes the entire alphabet
6. Repeats refrain in songs and rhymes
7. Can sequence 4-5 events
8. Uses critical thinking
9. Can recognize numbers to 10
10. Can put numbers in order
11. Can count to 20
12. Counts and writes from left to right
13. Can give numbers a value up to 10
14. Can make an ABC pattern
15. Can interpret a simple bar graph
16. Can recognize opposite words
17. Can name rhyming words
18. Understands directional words
19. Counts and writes from left to right
20. Understands more/less & smaller/bigger

I’ve said in almost all of my blogs that healthy, open, and honest communication is the true key to success!

Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Ms. Heather