What My Child Should Know for Kindergarten?

Preparing a child to enter kindergarten will help ensure a successful beginning in education.

What a child should know before starting kindergarten is a question that is often on parents' minds as they prepare to send their child to kindergarten. Children should have a simple idea of academic concepts in areas such as math, writing and reading. The more the child knows prior to kindergarten, the more success he will have during the school year. Kindergarten teachers will often send out list of areas to work on over the summer to their future students. What the kindergarten student is expected to know varies from school to school.

Reading

Children entering kindergarten do not need to know how to read. Reading does not come automatically to children. Children must have a basic foundation of reading to build upon for learning to read. This foundation is laid and nurtured as the child develops reading skills. This foundation includes: an understanding that picture and print carry different meanings; book rules such as how to turn a page and how to open a book; and naming of letters.

Writing

Children getting ready to enter kindergarten should know how to properly hold a pencil. Children may be scribbling or attempting to form letters in preparation to begin the writing process in kindergarten. Using various writing instruments such as markers, chalk or paint will help encourage the child and make writing fun.

Math

Basic counting from one to 10 and understanding what the numbers represent will help prepare a child for kindergarten. Basic shapes and number recognition are also important concepts to know and understand before entering kindergarten.

Social Skills

Behavior varies from child to child. Family life plays an important role in the social behavior of a child. Preschoolers should practice sitting still, how to participate and share with other students. Cooperative playing without hitting or biting is expected in kindergarten. Children should be able to listen to an adult and follow basic directions.

All Children are Different

All children are different and master concepts at different times. One child may excel in a certain area while another may struggle with the concept. It is important to not push to hard or have unrealistic goals for the child. Learning should be fun for both the parent and the child. Children also have different knowledge backgrounds with a variety of experiences to draw upon to relate back to their learning. These experiences play an important role in the time it takes for a child to master a concept.

References

• Education.com: List of Expectaions for Kindergarten
• Education.com: Writing
• Education.com: Math and Reading Skills

Resources

• Education.com: Checklist for Kindergarten Readiness