Kindergarten Readiness

Every spring our office received phone calls from parents who were trying to decide whether their child would be ready for kindergarten in the fall.  I spent hours meeting with some of these new parents, and talking with them on the phone.  This was probably a bigger issue in Michigan because our cut off date is Dec. 1, so many 4 year olds qualify to begin our full day program.  Of course chronological age is not the only or the best way to tell whether children are ready for school.

When we spoke with the group of parents of incoming kindergartners I stressed that it is so important to consider the whole child.

So often parents see that their child is very mature in one area, but they may be very young in other areas.

I gave them a little information about each area:

But ultimately it is the parents’ decision.

This is a guideline we shared with all parents of incoming children to give them an idea of the skills that a successful kindergartner usually has before starting school.

We also gave them some ideas of things they could do with their child over the summer to help them make the transition to school easily.

I liked to send home calendars of activities that families might do over the summer.   I wanted these things to be fun, but also expose children to lots of language, letters, shapes, colors, counting, motor skills, and simple science concepts.  These calendars are not the same ones I sent out at the end of kindergarten, these are geared specifically for incoming children.

Hey, I love those preschool teachers that read my blog sometimes – please feel free to use these too!

Here are printable copies for you!

whole child

physical

social

emotional

cognitive

puzzle

What Can I Do To Help

Traits

June

July

August

I am thinking of all of you as you finish all the assessments, projects and clean up that is required at the end of the year – and missing all the hugs!