School Age Readiness Assessment: A Kindergarten Checklist

When determining if your child is ready for kindergarten, many early education checklists are available to reference so you can learn what is expected and appropriate. Below please find common standards in social skills, reasoning and concept development, motor skills, language, reading, writing, language, reading, writing, math, science, art, music, and social studies. While this list seems quite extensive, you'd be amazed at how bright your child is when you assess how they have grown up and what they can do! It's also important to remember that each child is unique. Lists such as this are meant to serve as guidelines only. Take a moment to review the readiness areas below.

Social Skill Readiness, asses if a child:

• Uses words to solve problems or conflicts
• Uses words like please, thank you, and excuse me
• Adjusts to new situations
• Attempts new tasks knowing it's okay to make mistakes
• Shows pride in accomplishments
• Follows a simple direction
• Stays with an activity to completion
• Asks for help
• Interacts appropriately with adults and peers
• Respects the rights, property, and feelings of others
• Works cooperatively (listens to others, shares, and takes turns)
• Demonstrates increasing self-control
• Participates in clean-up activities
• Takes responsibility for own belongings (lunch, coat, etc.)
• Can dress oneself
• Adheres to a routine and schedule for personal hygiene, eating meals, and going to bed
• Uses good hygiene habits and table manners
• Uses appropriate bathroom skills
• Follows simple safety rules
• Offers to help peers and family
• Tries to regulate emotions properly and articulates feelings in words

Reasoning & Concept Development, assess if a child:

• Matches or groups objects according to size, shape, or color.
• Groups objects that are the same
• Understands concepts of in/out, under/over, on/off, front/back, etc.
• Shows an understanding of the passing of time, including concepts of before and after, and today, yesterday, and tomorrow
• Experiments enthusiastically with new games and toys, sometimes in a trial-and-error manner
• Describes how objects are the same or different

Motor Skills, assess if a child:

• Puts puzzles together
• Cuts with scissors
• Holds and uses crayons, markers, pens, and pencils correctly
• Builds using blocks
• Tries to tie own shoes
• Bounces kicks, throws, and catches a ball
• Rides a tricycle
• Enjoys outdoor activities, like running, jumping, and climbing

Language Skills, asses if a child:

• Talks in sentences
• Follows one- and two-step oral directions
• Uses sentences that include two or more ideas
• Uses descriptive language
• Knows by heart and recites some common nursery rhymes and songs
• Pretends, creates, and makes up songs or stories
• Tells or retells stories and/or everyday experiences
• Asks questions and expresses curiosity
• Expresses ideas so that others can understand

Reading Skills, asses if a child:

• Looks at books or pictures on their own
• Pretends to read books by reading the pictures
• Tries to read in everyday situations (signs, labels, etc.)
• Recognizes rhyming words
• Blends sounds into words
• Recognizes some common words in print
• Recognizes many uppercase and lowercase letters
• Recognizes some letter sounds
• Describes characters' actions and feelings in a story
• Relates stories to personal experiences
• Puts events of a story in order

Writing Skills, asses if a child:

• Tries to write, scribble, or draw
• Asks you to write words or notes to others
• Attempts to write own name and recognizes own name in print

Mathematics Concepts, asses if a child:

• Compares the size of groups of objects using language such as "more," "less," and "same as"
• Arranges objects in size order (big to small or small to big)
• Uses comparison words, like "bigger," "smaller," "heavier," etc.
• Understands concepts of none, some and all, and more than and less than
• Identifies and draws a square, circle, and triangle
• Correctly counts four to ten objects
• Knows that the final number counted represents the total number of objects in a set
• Recognizes some numbers, 1 – 10
• Can distinguish numbers from letters and understands that numbers relate to quantity
• Understands the effects of addition and subtraction

Science, asses if a child:

• Shows interest and asks questions about objects and events observed in their environment
• Notices common properties and differences among objects and materials
• Knows some facts about common plants and animals, such as what they eat and baby names
• Recognizes some objects in the sky, such as the sun, moon, clouds, and lightning

Creative Arts & Music, asses if a child:

• Recognizes and names basic colors
• Draws recognizable shapes and simple objects
• Tells a story with pictures
• Moves to a beat
• Explores with common musical instruments
• Enjoys improvising or copying musical patterns

Social Studies Asses if a Child:

• Recognizes basic traditions such as birthdays
• Understand that people live in different parts of the world and have different customs and traditions
• Explores simple maps and visual representations of neighborhoods or communities

The most important areas of this list are social and reasoning development, motor skill development, and language and writing skills. When children can follow directions, comprehend, and communicate, many things fall into place. Use lists such as this to determine where your little jewel shines or perhaps where they may require a little more encouragement. At Little Jewels Learning Center, we enjoy getting your child ready and excited for school.