Kindergarten Readiness: What Parents Need to Know

Is your child ready for kindergarten? Whether they’ve been in preschool or this is their first classroom experience, the transition to kindergarten is a big one. This guide will help you understand the key kindergarten readiness skills your child needs to thrive – socially, emotionally, and academically – before their first day.

Here’s a list of skills most kindergarten teachers would LOVE for children to have BEFORE they step foot in the classroom. However, if the decision is that you keep your child at home this year, this will be a great resource for you when teaching your child at home to prep for next year.

Why Kindergarten Readiness Matters?

Many parents are surprised at how different kindergarten is from when they went to school. They cannot believe how much kindergartners learn and are expected to do in their first school year. I have had so many conversations with parents in our first conference about how sorry they are that they didn’t work with their child BEFORE they came to kindergarten, thinking it was just an extension of preschool. Getting your child ready for kindergarten will save so much stress later in the school year.

Preschool parents and teachers know how important social and emotional learning, as well as academic introduction, is for young children. Children that have background in a wide variety of experiences find much quicker success in their kindergarten year than those that have never experienced a school situation before. Knowing colors, shapes, some letters & sounds, numbers, how to write their own name are just some of the skills that are important at this level.

Families need to give children readiness experiences at home.

If your child didn’t go to preschool, it’s important that families give those learning experiences to their children AT HOME. There are lots of easy things families can do to help young children get ready for kindergarten. Teachers do not consider this age children toddlers, so they will not be overly babied in kindergarten. It is important for them to learn to become independent – doing many things BY THEMSELF. Five-year-olds are developmentally ready to take on independence. Parents need to make sure they are assisting with this natural progression and not overly babying their child at this stage.

Key Skills for Kindergarten Readiness & Success

Fine Motor Experience

Fine Motor Experience is muscle building in a child’s hands that allow them to use the tools of school. These muscles allow them to do many things on their own. Most of these skills will be worked on throughout kindergarten. Don’t wait until your child hits the door to start helping them learn these skills. The starred ones are very important for your child to have MASTERED.

Child stacking blocks to develop fine motor skills for kindergarten readiness. — Build fine motor skills by building with blocks & other manipulatives.

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Use the restroom independently*
Wear clothing that can be buttoned or zipped independently*
Zip coats and jackets independently*
Tie Shoes
Practice writing with pencils, pens, and crayons
Practice cutting with child scissors
Regularly build with blocks, work puzzles, play with playdough and other small manipulative activities

Social and Emotional Skills

Social Skill experience will determine how easily your child adapts to a learning environment filled with lots of other children. Many kindergarten classrooms have up to 27 children in them. A parent cannot expect a teacher to create a successful learning environment until children know how to work in productive ways. They must be able to work without disturbing the learning of others.

Parent playing card games with children to develop proficiency in following directions. — Use family time to spark discussions to build vocabulary and learn to follow directions.

Sit and listen or work on a task for at least 10-15 minutes at a time*
Follow simple one-step instructions*
Follow simple two-step directions
Move around a room without bothering others
Show self control in play
Respond well to redirection by an adult
Express feelings appropriately
Try to find solutions to problems
Manage transitions without issue
Try new tasks without giving up easily
Express own experiences clearly
Show interest in classroom activities
Speak with others in group discussions
Develop friendships with other children
Help with basic clean up tasks

Children listening and raising hands to take turns talking in groups are showing kindergarten readiness. — Learn to listen and take turns talking when in small groups or when family is together.

Academic Readiness

Academic skills WILL be taught in kindergarten, but children need BACKGROUND and language experience to build their learning. If children are not exposed to these skills for kindergarten readiness they will be set up for difficulties in their understanding of new concepts.

Recite the alphabet independently*
Name most capital and lower case letters
Write their first name*
Recognize their name in print*
Count to 10 or higher
Group and count up to 10 objects
Match objects that relate to each other
Know address and phone number
Recognize and name shapes
Recognize and name colors
Repeat patterns

Child learning number recognition and counting with manipulatives for kindergarten readiness. — Practice early learning skills at home to build up some background knowledge.

Vocabulary Development

Vocabulary is the amount of words your child knows, uses, and understands. Successful students know A LOT of them. Many parents have been talking to their child since they were in the womb. Children with large vocabularies have parents that talk to them, explain the world to them, ask questions and engage with them through life and by reading books. They also go places with their parents and witness the world: parks, zoos, museums, restaurants, shopping trips, downtown city, country farms, vacations.

Children without large vocabularies are usually those that are not engaged in conversation, are placed in front of televisions and screens for long amounts of time. They are not invited into family conversation regularly and may get corrected way too often when they try to interact.

Help increase your child’s vocabulary by teaching them LOTS and LOTS of WORDS! Be supportive and ask your child lots of questions to encourage their practice in speaking and using words and explaining what new words mean. Do this in your child’s HOME LANGUAGE. It is not necessary to be done only in English! The learning of oral language for kindergarten readiness happens in any language!

name things in the house, yard, neighborhood, park, city, town
say the names basic shapes
name animals
group animals by farm, pets, zoo, ocean, etc.
group objects by kitchen, bathroom, bedroom
name things in books
know difference between letters and numbers
know how things are the same and different
understand and use direction words: over, under, in front of, behind, beside, between

Good Manners and Independence

Follow bus, school & classroom safety rules after first few weeks of school
Learn to sit still on a bus or in your car AND keep hands to self*
Sit at the lunch or dinner table without without a device or getting up for 20 minutes AND keep hands to self*
Open own food that is brought to lunch, independently*
Use good manner words: please, thank you
Use nice words and actions- never name call, use potty words or hurt others’ feelings on purpose
Say “I’m sorry” if you make a mistake and mean it
Ask before using someone else’s belongings
Play games and learn how to win without bragging and lose without crying.

Hygiene and Germ Free Manners

wash hands with soap independently
keep hands out of eyes, nose, mouth and other body parts
don’t put anything in mouth or share food
sneeze into arm and when using a tissue & throw it away immediately
follow and learn the directions for being safe at school

Child washing hands to promote good hygiene skills in kindergarten. — Wash Wash Wash those hands before & after eating and going to the bathroom.

Tips for Parents at Home

Check out my post on Ways to Make Learning Fun to help keep your child engaged in learning at home! You can also read more from the CDC’s Important Milestones for Children Birth to Age 5.

Final Thoughts: All Children Grow at Their Own Pace

All children are different and each has their strengths and difficulties as they grow and learn. Your child may not have everything down pat from this kindergarten readiness list before the first day but, that’s okay! Kindergarten teachers are built for helping children learn. Be sure to think about how to help your child be as ready as possible for kindergarten.

Use this list to ensure your child has some level of understanding for most of these skills and the kindergarten year will be a smooth and joyful experience!