Is Your Child Ready For Kindergarten?

It's never too early to start preparing for school. If your child is enrolled in a preschool, he or she is probably learning a lot of these important skills at school. Either way, it's important for parents and caregivers to be familiar with the key areas of development to ensure they are providing opportunities for their child to gain the skills they need to be successful in kindergarten.

Here are several ways to encourage your child's development:

3 to 4 year old children need opportunities to:

• Play with other children so they can learn to listen, take turns and share
• Develop more physical coordination - for example, hopping on both feet
• Develop their growing language through books, games and songs
• Develop self-reliance skills - for example, learning to dress and undress
• Count and measure
• Participate actively with adults in reading-aloud activities
• Explore the alphabet and print
• Attempt to write messages

4 to 5 year old children need opportunities to:

• Experiment and discover
• Develop their interest in school subjects - science, music, art and math
• Enjoy activities that involve exploring and investigating
• Group items that are similar (for example, by size, color or shape)
• Use their imaginations and curiosity
• Develop their language skills by speaking and listening
• Make reading and writing enjoyable and useful (listen to stories and poems)

You can find more helpful tips and developmental milestones at bornlearning.org.

The US Department of Education has a detailed list of activities that will help your child prepare for kindergarten.