Get Ready for Kindergarten

Click here to learn how to register for school.

Today's Kindergarten looks remarkably different than the play-filled "children's garden" that was envisioned as a transition year between home and school. It has evolved into an academic year considered as a foundation for all future learning.

Entrance Date

Children age 5 by Sept. 30 may enter Kindergarten.
Children age 6 by Sept. 30th must enter Kindergarten.

Some essential skills for entering Kindergarten are:

Self Care

Manage buttons, snaps, zippers, and tying shoes
Pack up school bag
Use toilet independently - wash hands
Put on and take off coat
Dress self
Eat independently
Know first/last name, address, and telephone #
Make a decision when given a few choices

Fine Motor Skills

Display hand dominance - correct pencil grip
Use scissors neatly and accurately
Write first name using capital and lower case letters - 'Thomas'

Gross Motor Skills

Demonstrate midline crossing
Walk a balance beam or curb
Run and jump with coordination
Bounce a ball
Swing

Social Skills

Follow multi-step directions - complete simple jobs at home.
Separate from parent without getting upset
Accept minor disappointments or limits without tears
Cooperate and share with others
Listen to and follow rules
Pay attention to adult directed tasks
Have group experiences (preschool, church, libraries)
Function in a group of 25-30 children
Begin to use self-control

Speech

Speak understandably - speech is understood by a non-parent
Talk in complete sentences of 5-6 words
Tell/retell familiar stories

Intellectual Skills

Has often been read to
Listens to a story without interrupting
Recognizes name in print
Knows colors/basic shapes
Knows rhyming words - nursery rhymes
Identifies some alphabet letters (upper and lower case)
Knows difference between letter, number, words
Is able to match sounds to letters
Is able to count to 10

As a parent, have you:

Read to your child daily?
Limited TV time?
Had your child immunized?
Taken your child for a dental check up?
Provided multiple opportunities for learning or experiences?

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