What Should a Child Know Going into Kindergarten?

[mjmoon]

This is sort of a thread jack of the "when to start kids in kindergarten" thread. I realize a lot of parents are keeping their kids home for an extra year because they feel, for whatever reason, they aren't ready for school.

My DS will be starting K in August. He turned 5 exactly one month ago. I realize this probably varies from district to district but what is a good measure of readiness, academically? What do they expect them to know right out of the gate? What should we make sure he has mastered at home before his first day? And finally, what will they expect him to master during the K year?

I'm looking forward to your opinions and experiences in this.

 

[RMulieri]

They should Know( according to my local K) Their first and last names and how to write them.Their Birthday, address, and phone number, their letters and be able to recognize them and write them, and their numbers,colors ,and shapes.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

They should also know their body parts. Sounds stupid but they do ask the kids at the screening.

 

[tam626]

Good thread. My ds is only 3 1/2 but I would like to know what to work on with him.

 

[mjkacmom]

My 4th and 5th are in kindy now, and they were expected to know their upper and lower case letters, numbers, and write them, write their name, know their address and phone number, count to 10, shapes and colors. Plus, some beginning letter sounds.

 

[disneybridetobe]

My mom is a Kindergarten teacher, so I hear all about it.

You should teach your child how to tie his/her shoes, and fasten his/her pants after using the bathroom. You'd be so suprised to know how many children aren't taught this!

 

[Miss LD]

I know this isn't academic, per se, but our school also suggested that kids should know the basics such as zipping zippers, snapping snaps and doing up buttons (on pants/skirts), should be taught how to open stuff like cheesestrings/ziploc bags, and should be reminded of bathroom basics (wiping).
I think it's about kids not being embarrassed as well as the teacher not being able to do that for everyone.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

I guess it depends on where you are. My son is in Kinder this year, and they are learning some pretty basic things that my son already knew. Kids learn things at different rates and they seem to be gearing the curriculum to the slower learners. Not everyone in his class knows the month of their birth, yet. He knew all the kinder sight words in the first nine weeks and has been working on the 1st grade sight words. He knew and could write upper and lower case alphabet before school, knew most sounds, could count above 100, knew colors, shapes, and much more, but none of it was needed for him to start kinder here. It is frustrating for us and a little boring for him to be learning things at school that he already knows. But then again, I'm sure it is frustrating for students who are still trying to learn all of this as well. Not all parents are able to work with their children before they start school. My mom teaches kinder and my 3 1/2 year old knew more than some of her students.
So, if you really want to know what is required, you can always contact the school district and they can give you an idea about the curriculum. Just remember, if they are too prepared, they could be a little bored.

 

[EthansMom]

At our school, they want the new Kindergarteners to know how to write their own name (with Capitol first letter and lower case the rest), know their alphabet (sing it and letters by sight), know their numbers (by sight) up to 10, and know some (or all) of their letter phonics.

 

[LadyShea]

Wow, kids are expected to know how to write before they can read these days? Things have really changed from when I was a Kindergartner

DS just turned 3. He knows his colors and shapes, and can say the ABCs and count to 10, and is working on 11-20. He recognizes a few letters and numbers by sight. I thought he was doing pretty good, and didn't expect to have to start working with him on writing his name.

 

[RMulieri]

Yeah I was a little shocked too when DD's preschool teacher approached me in Sept about requirements for the local Kindergarten.But they really expect the kids to know more than they used to, they don't want perfection, but they do not want kindergarten to be the first time they see some of this stuff.It is truly amazing how fast kids pick things up.In Sept DD couldn't write or recognize all the letters(she could sing the song though), now she can do both, and write her name and knows her address and phone number.She just turned 5 last month.Kids learn it fast.we make games out of it.

 

[Heatherhy01]

My DD is in Kindergarten this year and we are having all kinds of trouble. She is a very young 5, just made the cut off for school. She has trouble recognizing her letters. By the end of the year, they are expected to know all upper and lower case letters and their sounds. Also they need to count to 50 and be able to read the "star" words. My daughter may have to repeat kindergarten next year. Her teacher says that she may just be too young or she may have a learning disability. We are having her tested by the school district.

 

[mjkacmom]

I guess it depends on where you are. My son is in Kinder this year, and they are learning some pretty basic things that my son already knew. Kids learn things at different rates and they seem to be gearing the curriculum to the slower learners. Not everyone in his class knows the month of their birth, yet. He knew all the kinder sight words in the first nine weeks and has been working on the 1st grade sight words. He knew and could write upper and lower case alphabet before school, knew most sounds, could count above 100, knew colors, shapes, and much more, but none of it was needed for him to start kinder here. It is frustrating for us and a little boring for him to be learning things at school that he already knows. But then again, I'm sure it is frustrating for students who are still trying to learn all of this as well. Not all parents are able to work with their children before they start school. My mom teaches kinder and my 3 1/2 year old knew more than some of her students.
So, if you really want to know what is required, you can always contact the school district and they can give you an idea about the curriculum. Just remember, if they are too prepared, they could be a little bored.

From my experience, MOST kids know what they need to know. However, if there are kids still learning the basics, they can't go ahead. My kids were reading before kindergarten, and the teachers were usually good at pairing up those who were ahead, with those who were behind, and it was a win-win situation.

 

[Tiffany_MommyOf3]

Here they wanted ds reading simple words before K.. insane if you ask me considering when I was in K we were learning the alphabet and learning how to write our name haha.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

From my experience, MOST kids know what they need to know. However, if there are kids still learning the basics, they can't go ahead. My kids were reading before kindergarten, and the teachers were usually good at pairing up those who were ahead, with those who were behind, and it was a win-win situation.

So, far,they haven't done any pairing up, but they have split them into different level reading groups, math groups, etc. They try to teach to their different levels in the different groups. Even though my son knows most of what he's being taught, I don't complain because at 5 school is more than just ABCs and 123s. Their is a lot of social learning, too. My son was never in preschool or daycare, so he's learning a lot about interacting with other kids (besides his 4 sisters), with authority figures, and I'm sure a lot about life (such as you can't always play fun games in class).
I don't think kinder is anything to stress about. If they don't know something, they'll learn it there and will probably have a lot of fun learning something new.

 

[Becky2005]

I agree, it really all depends on the Kindergarten.

Ours doesn't even do any sort of assessements. They ask you questions & of course, they would love for you to answer "Yes, my kid can do everything on this list" and if they can...well...they basically have just passed the first 1/2 of the year of Kindergarten here.

I know, knowing the ABC's are on there, counting to 10, knowing basic shapes (square, triangle, circle), colors. There were also questions on there on how well they accept discipline, transitioning, etc....

They do ask you if they know how to tie their shoes but in our case anyway, that's irrelevant for schooling. NONE of my kids went to Kindergarten knowing how to tie shoes. It took my older boy until about 2nd grade to get it & my current 3rd grader...well, hopefully this summer (he has fine motor skill delays, so he's always about a step or two behind everyone else for those!).

I'm trying to remember what all is on the questionnaire considering I have to do it again myself this year.

 

[J'aime Paris]

He knew and could write upper and lower case alphabet before school, knew most sounds, could count above 100, knew colors, shapes, and much more, but none of it was needed for him to start kinder here. It is frustrating for us and a little boring for him to be learning things at school that he already knows.

K is the land of extremes!! I work as an aide in K. We have kiddos who can read at a 2nd grade level, and some who still cannot read the basic beginner books.
My advice is get your child familiar with as much as possible, to give him/her a leg up. K moves at lightening speed, and if you fall behind, it is difficult to catch up!

 

[mjmoon]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts!! I think my son is definitely "ready" to start K. He has just about everything mentioned mastered.. though his penmanship could use some work. He's never had shoe laces (I usually do Velcro shoes)so we haven't worked on that yet.. other than that I guess we're set.

 

[AprilJ26]

I teach first grade and my son is in Kindergarten. Basically, they can get by knowing the basics - letters, numbers, a few sounds, shapes, colors, first/last name, etc. Most K classes will work on letter sounds and numbers for the first couple of months of school and then by Christmas the children will (hopefully) be reading booklets with sight words and short vowel words and also learning math facts. All schools are different though. At my school, K students are reading fairly long books before they leave the grade and in first we hit the ground running with a majority of students reading chapter books by Christmas. Same goes for math facts. By first we expect them not to use fingers. But like another poster said, all children learn differently at different paces. So what one child needs to know before entering K might be totally different than what another one needs to know. I depends on how fast they learn and pick up new skills.

 

[ajk912]

My mom is a Kindergarten teacher, so I hear all about it.

You should teach your child how to tie his/her shoes, and fasten his/her pants after using the bathroom. You'd be so suprised to know how many children aren't taught this!

Holy cow, that's nuts. I can see how that's a huge PITA to the teachers and I always compensated by putting my kids in easy on pants/leggings and double knotting their shoes before school. If that ws truly a deciding factor on kindergarten readiness, my 4th grader wouldn't have gone to kindergarten till last week. Heck, he still has issues with some buttons and snaps..I don't know what some of these manufacturers are smoking with some of the buttons and snaps they make for kids clothes! I guess he's still not truly ready for kindergarten.