Is My Child Ready for Kindergarten?

By Kris Meyers, M.Ed

 Although the 2013-2014 school year is still a few months away, local elementary schools are beginning to register children for Kindergarten.    Any child who will be five years old by September 30^th, 2013 is able to enroll for Kindergarten this next fall.  But being old enough isn’t always the same thing as being ready.

Kindergarten readiness is important because research shows children who are ready for kindergarten are more likely to succeed in school and in life.  So how does a parent know if their child is ready or not?  Smart Beginnings suggests parents think about the following types of readiness skills …

Learning & Thinking Skills

• Can your child identify how objects are the same & how they are different?
• Can your child match and recognize basic colors and shapes?
• Can your child talk about recent events, and tell what happened first, next and last?
• Is your child curious about the world and interested in learning new things?

Reading & Writing Skills

• Can your child pay attention and listen to a story for a short period of time?
• Can your child recognize letters of the alphabet and identify some beginning letter sounds?
• Can your child identify simple rhyming words?
• Can your child spell and write their first name on their own?

Math Skills

• Can your child count at least 10 objects?
• Does your child understand the concepts of “more” and “less”?
• Can your child sort a set of objects by size or length (ex: puts blocks in order of length)
• Can your child repeat a simple pattern?  (ex: red, red, blue – red, red, blue -)

Social & Emotional Skills

• Can your child tell someone their name (first and last) and their age?
• Can your child take care of their own needs, such as toileting, washing hands and dressing?
• Is your child able to adjust to new situations without a parent being there?
• Does your child interact well with other children and adults?

Remember, experts say no single or simple factor determines whether a child is ready for kindergarten. Instead, a child’s development needs to be looked at from several aspects. If you have concerns about your child, talk to your child’s preschool teacher or contact your local elementary school.

For more information about the importance of school readiness, including tips for making sure your child will be ready for school, please visit www.smartbeginningsroanoke.org/parents.