In this article, you will be introduce to a list of kindergarten readiness skills based upon a preschool inventory given to children at a local Pre-Kindergarten program.

You can use it as a guiding document or a check list of the things you should be teaching your kids before kindergarten.  

PERSONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

LEARNING

• Shows an eagerness to learn and age-appropriate curiosity
• Persists in completing a task and is willing to ask for help if needed
• Exemplifies a pleasant and cooperative personality

SELF-CONTROL

• Follows rules and routines
• Manages transitions (going from one activity to the next)
• Demonstrates normal activity level

INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS

• Interacts easily with one or more children
• Interacts easily with familiar adults
• Participates in group activities
• Plays well with others
• Takes turns and shares
• Cleans up after play

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

• Seeks adult help when needed to resolve conflicts
• Uses words to resolve conflicts

LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

 LISTENING

• Listens attentively to directions and conversations
• Follows one and two-step directions

SPEAKING

• Speaks clearly and can be easily understood without the need for contextual clues
• Can sequence events in an oral conversation

LITERATURE AND READING

• Listens with interest to stories read aloud
• Shows interest in reading-related activities
• Retells information from a story

WRITING

• Uses pictures to communicate ideas
• Scribbles, draws shapes, or attempts to create letter-like symbols to write words or ideas

ALPHABET KNOWLEDGE

• Recites/sings alphabet
• Identifies upper-case letters
• Identifies lower-case letters
• Matches upper-case letters to the lower-case letter counterpart

MATHEMATICAL THINKING

 PATTERNS AND RELATIONSHIPS

• Sorts by color, shape, and size
• Orders or seriates several objects on the basis of one attribute (i.e. “size”– small, medium, large)
• Recognizes simple patterns and duplicates them (i.e. circle, square, circle, square)

NUMBER CONCEPT AND OPERATIONS

• Rote counts to 20
• Demonstrates one-to-one correspondence when counting 10 objects
• Matches oral numbers to their written numerals
• Identifies numerals 0-10

GEOMETRY AND SPATIAL RELATIONS

• Identifies 4 shapes- circle, square, rectangle, triangle
• Demonstrates concepts of positional/directional concepts (up/down, over/under, in/out, behind/in front of, beside/between, top/bottom, inside/outside, above/below, high/low, right/left, off/on, first/last, far/near, go/stop).

Measurement

• Shows understanding of and uses comparative words (big/little, large/small, short/long, tall/short, slow/fast, few/many, empty/full, less/more).

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

GROSS-MOTOR SKILLS

• Pedals and steers a tricycle
• Jumps in place, landing on two feet
• Jumps consecutively- 7 jumps
• Balances on one foot for 5 seconds
• Hops on one foot 2-3 hops
• Hops on one foot- 6 ft.
• Throws a ball with direction- 5 ft.
• Catches a thrown ball with arms and body
• Climbs a playground ladder
• Skips smoothly for 20 feet

 FINE-MOTOR SKILLS

• Stacks 10 small blocks
• Strings large beads
• Completes a seven-piece interlocking puzzle
• Makes a pancake, snake, and ball from playdough
• Grasps pencil correctly
• Copies:  vertical line, horizontal line, circle, cross, square, V, triangle
• Prints first name
• Grasps scissors correctly
• Cuts within 1/4″ of a straight line
• Cuts out a small square, triangle, and circle
• Uses a glue stick appropriately
• Uses appropriate amount of glue for tasks

THE ARTS

 CREATIVE ARTS

• Identifies 10 colors:  red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, black, white, brown, pink
• Uses a variety of art materials for tactile experience and exploration (paint, crayons, markers, clay, etc)
• Enjoys singing
• Dances like no one is watching 
• Makes believe with objects
• Takes on pretend roles and situations