Fox Meadow School

Although kindergarten marks the official start of formal school, children have really been getting ready since they were born. Through their interactions with family, caregivers and friends—the people around them—they have been learning some important readiness skills such as being responsive to others, becoming curious about the world around them and eager to master new abilities. In kindergarten programs that are developmentally oriented, language, cognitive, sensory motor and social-emotional skills are strengthened through play and systematic, planned opportunities. In other cases, kindergarten programs that assume all children are equally ready resemble a downward version of the early elementary grades. They use structured whole-class instruction and paper-and-pencil activities based on reading and math. This type of academically-focused program has been deemed inappropriate by many early childhood educational and mental health professionals.

The child entering kindergarten should have or be in the process of achieving competence in the following areas:

Language and communication—the child should be working towards or be able to:
- express him or herself understandably with a variety of words and complete sentences of 5 or 6 words
- talk about an experience
- ask and answer questions
- produce and understand negative sentences
- follow two or three oral directions

Cognitive ability—the child should be working toward or be able to:

- sort objects by color, size, same/different
- understand number concepts such as one-to-one relationships
- understand relational concepts (bigger, in front of, etc.)
- understand times of day
- identify beginning sounds, rhyming words

Fine and gross motor skills—the child should be working toward or be able to:
- use large muscle abilities such as walking, running, climbing, skipping, hopping, and bouncing a ball
- use fine motor skills requiring eye-hand coordination, such as using pencils, crayons scissors; tracing basic shapes; drawing a picture of self; assembling a puzzle of l0/12 pieces; button and zip own clothing

Social and behavioral—the child should be working toward or be able to:
- understand the purpose of games, such as tag, ball playing
- work independently or within a group
- work with other children toward a common goal—such as building an agreed-upon block structure
- attend to and finish a task
- take turns and share
- be willing to try new things
- show prosocial and empathic behavior such as picking up social cues, reading the reactions of others, comprehending the effect of one's behavior on other children and adults

Social expectations and conventions—the child should be working toward or be able to:
- respond appropriately to adults and authority figures
- follow adult instructions and understand the consequences of behavior
- follow rules, respect property of others

Self-help and personal behavior—the child should be working toward or be able to
- initiate own activities
- care for own belongings
- show appropriate self-control
- care about personal appearance and habits
- be aware of personal data, such as name, phone number

In summary, kindergarten readiness depends on an individual child's developmental pattern and whether it is consistent with the expectations of the kindergarten program.