Are You Ready For Kindergarten? Kindergarten Readiness Checklist

Ah…. school is going to be starting soon!  Do you have a little one that will be starting kindergarten?  It seems like yesterday that my daughter was going to all-day, all-week school for the first time.  I was so nervous!  We have totally gotten out of the routine of getting up early and getting ready for school.  Time to start gradually turning that alarm clock back!  If you are going to be having that special “first day” coming up, and are wondering if your child is ready, here are some of the skills they should have.

This is an excerpt from the Kindergarten Readiness Checklist:

Personal/Social and Self-Help Skills

• Uses words instead of being physical when angry
• Plays cooperatively with peers.  Takes turns, shares, and resolves problems
• Respects the feelings, rights, and belongings of others.  Says “please” and “thank you”
• Uses words to express feelings, “I’m angry” or “I’m happy”
• Takes care of toilet needs by himself/herself
• Uses good personal habits – eating, covers nose and mouth to sneeze, washes hands
• Remembers simple instructions and carries out 2 or 3 consecutive tasks.
• Can put on or take off outer clothing – coat, boots, shoes
• Can spend extended periods of time away from parents/guardians

Reading and Literacy

• Holds book correctly, right side up and turns the pages one at a time from front to back
• Knows movement of reading is from left to right and top to bottom of the page
• Pretends to read
• Creates or retells stories
• After listening to a story, can tell what might happen next
• Looks at pictures and can tell a story about what is happening
• Enjoys having books read to them

Personal Information

• Knows their full name
• Knows how old they are
• Knows their address and telephone number
• Knows their mother’s, father’s or guardian’s first names

Movement and Motor Skills

• Holds scissors, pencils, and crayons correctly
• Uses silverware correctly
• Runs, jumps, skips, hops, throws, kicks, and bounces a ball
• Walks up and down stairs
• Walks in a straight line
• Walks backwards

Numbers, Patterns, Shapes, and Colors

• Counts from 1 to 10 and recognizes the numbers
• Counts 5 objects by pointing to them
• Recognizes six shapes:  Circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval and star and can draw them
• Can sort items by color, shape and size
• Points at objects on a page and counts them left to right and top to bottom
• Puts puzzles together
• Identifies 10 basic colors:  blue, green, red, pink, yellow, orange, purple, brown, black and white

Letters and Words

• Recognizes and names at least 15 letters of the alphabet, especially their own name
• Is able to hear and identify rhyming words
• Can repeat words in a sentence
• Can write the letters in their name
• Can identify top and bottom, in and out, under and over

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