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  Kindergarten Readiness Skills
  
  
   

  Welcome to Kindergarten! This document is designed to be a helpful guide for parents/guardians as they prepare their child for elementary school. Below are skills for you to work on with your child before they start kindergarten to help them to be successful. All children are unique with different levels of ability, rates of development, and learning styles. We do not expect mastery of these skills to enter kindergarten, but the more secure children are in these skills, the greater the likelihood of their success!
  
  **This is just a snapshot of what we want our children to be able to do before kindergarten.  The NELC Preschool Assessment is much more extensive.
  
  By kindergarten, your child should be able to…
  
  
  Math:

  • Count to 20
  • Count 10 or more objects
  • Identify numbers 0-10
  • Identify and name basic shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle)
  • Identify colors
  • Know positional words (in, out, under, around, over, below, above, next to, in front of, in back of)
  • Know quantity words (more, less, same)
  • Make a simple pattern with objects (blue-red-blue-red)

  
  Literacy/Writing:

  • Correctly hold a writing utensil
  • Recognize his/her name in writing and identify the letters in their name
  • Print his/her name with the first letter upper case
  • Know most upper and lower case letters
  • Know many letter sounds
  • Know how to hold a book and turn pages

  
  Social/Emotional:

  • Share with a peer
  • Take turns
  • Interact with both boys and girls
  • Keep his/her hands to themselves
  • Use kind words
  • Show empathy when someone is sad or hurt
  • Use coping strategies when they do not get what they want
  • Work in a small group

  
  Classroom Work:

  • Sit in a defined space (circle, carpet square)
  • Stop and transition from one activity to another
  • Walk and wait when in line
  • Raise his/her hand and wait to be called on
  • Use a scissors, glue (stick and bottle), markers, pencils, crayons
  • Answer simple questions related to a story or experience
  • Follow directions

  
  Personal/Self Help:

  • Zip his/her jacket and backpack
  • Put on and take off coat independently
  • Put on and fasten shoes
  • Hang his/her coat and backpack on a hook
  • Wash his/her hands in the bathroom
  • Cover his/her cough and sneeze
  • Ask for help
  • Use words to communicate with others