A kindergarten readiness checklist is meant to evaluate whether your child is ready to start attending kindergarten. We help you figure out a way to see if your child responds to certain aspects that will qualify him/her to take that first step into entering preschool…
Kindergarten is that time in a child’s life, where parents take the initiative and put their kids on the road to starting out education, before they head on out to school. It is not an experience all of us remember, but it is a time where kids are constantly learning, growing, and having fun. I remember kindergarten, I was told years later on by my mom, that I was the kind of kid that kept away from the rest. Child recluse; I had no idea. All I remember was a wooden abacus that I’d play with. So how do you know if your child is prepared to take on kindergarten?
Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
It is important to keep an eye on your child and decipher his/her behavior, to come to a conclusion if they’re ready to attend kindergarten or not. Some kids tend to develop these skills a little later, depending on what they’ve been exposed to and how fast they can grasp these things depending on their surroundings. A child should ideally be at least 5 years old when being geared up to enter that level we’ve all gone through before school. Don’t worry if you’re child doesn’t show many of the following behavioral traits, it could either mean they’re still taking time to get used to it all, or that they simple aren’t ready. Checklist the following and see if your child can more or less do what’s featured below.
* Click on the table to print it
| Kindergarten Readiness Checklist for Parents | Kindergarten Readiness Checklist for Teachers |
| ☐ Listens to bedtime stories without interrupting you midway. | ☐ Is actively social with other kids. |
| ☐ Is able to button/slip on his/her tee-shirt and put on their pants unattended. | ☐ Able to express themselves in what he/she needs. |
| ☐ Can differentiate between colors, shapes, and sizes. | ☐ Runs, skips, and jumps. |
| ☐ Can construct sentences of at least 5 – 6 words. | ☐ Can narrate a story about a past event. |
| ☐ Manages using the bathroom on his/her own. | ☐ Uses words like ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’. |
| ☐ Can be away from parents without throwing a tantrum. | ☐ Knows how to use a pair of scissors. |
| ☐ Can trace basic shapes. | ☐ Actively participates in group art activities, games, and musicals. |
| ☐ Can identify some letters from the alphabet. | ☐ Can draw a picture of themselves with all the body parts like hands, legs, the head and so on. |
| ☐ Asks for help when needed instead of turning physically violent. | ☐ Starts following certain rules and guidelines. |
| ☐ Respects property and the feelings of others. | ☐ Can successfully count up to 10. |
| ☐ Can identify his/her name in writing. | ☐ Can write his/her own name by hand. |
| ☐ Can scribble or draw objects. | ☐ Can hold pencils, markers and, other stationery properly, and is also able to engage in arts and crafts activities. |
| ☐ Communicates with adults well. | ☐ Starts sharing with others in the classroom. |
| ☐ Can express ideas for others to understand. | ☐ Can ride a tricycle/cycle with support wheels. |
| ☐ Can bounce a ball. | ☐ Inquisitive nature. |
How to Build a Child’s Skills
A child needs to be exposed to a lot of factors that will aid him/her to move forward in their developmental phase. Here’s what you can do to make the most of your child’s fast-grasping abilities. Remember – the sooner, the better in child development.
- Make sure your child has plenty of learning toys like an abacus, coloring books, handwriting books, math problem books, counting books, picture books, and so on. Books are a building block to get a child interested in reading, as well as build on their vocabulary.
- Building blocks, alphabets, puzzles, and likes are a great way to get a child to exercise his sense of logic.
- Cartoons – don’t make it a habit to place your child in front of the television for hours on end; stick to a schedule of cartoons based on classics, word games, quizzes and interactive ones, to let your child learn as well as enjoy him/herself.
- Spend time teaching them about alphabets and numbers, so that they are used to repeating them everyday. In this way kindergarten will be easier for them to handle if exposed to it firsthand by the parent.
- Read to them at night or during the day, as a way of helping them build on thoughts and imagination; entertain questions and other child-like queries.
A child’s initial years are the best times to take advantage of, because their minds are like big sponges, ready to saturate in information at a rapid rate. By checking off items from the KG readiness checklist, you can be sure that your child can definitely be on his/her way to starting off the learning process with hoards of other kids, waiting to learn and have fun.
