Today’s kindergarten curriculum is significantly different than its intended purpose back in the 1830s. The original purpose was to socialize children but today most children are socialized prior to kindergarten due to attending daycare or preschool. Today, emphasis is placed on academics and cognitive learning skills. In addition, teachers assess the students in several key areas.
Prior to entering kindergarten, a child must show a degree of readiness. Being five years old is not always the benchmark signifying a student’s successful entry into the classroom. Many schools offer kindergarten screening to assess the child’s abilities as well as to give parents an idea of the skills the child should already have in place. This screening is not an intelligence test; it merely registers a child’s developmental levels in several areas. The entire process takes about 20 minutes and includes activities like drawing (to observe hand preference and fine motor coordination), visual and auditory memory, using language, body movements, like skipping and hopping, and building with blocks (to test hand-eye coordination and perception).
The following list contains basic kindergarten readiness skills:
Follow directions
Complete tasks (when asked the first time)
Work independently
Begin to share with others
Listen to stories without interrupting
Manage bathroom needs
Dress without assistance
Wash and dry hands
Stand and hop on one foot
Throw and catch a big ball
Use eating utensils
Hold and use a pencil
Trace a line
Cut using scissors
Speaks understandably
Converse in complete sentences (5-6 words)
Know basic colors and shapes
Count by rote to 10
Counts groups (up to 5 objects)
Sort objects by color, shape and size
Knows full name
Recognizes first name in print
Can identify letters in own name
Recognizes some letters
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