The kindergarten experience can be unpleasant for unprepared children.
Determining whether your child is ready for kindergarten is a challenging task, as you have to evaluate a series of qualities first. You don't want your child to feel out of place and form a negative attitude toward kindergarten. A checklist can help you check regularly your kid's readiness and work on issues you may feel they are behind in. Don't worry if your kid does not fully meet the checklist's requirements, as teachers can help them overcome minor drawbacks.
Motor Skills
Children of kindergarten age must be able to put a small puzzle together, hold a pair of scissors firmly and cut paper and hold a crayon or marker to draw lines on paper (not necessarily letters and numbers). Since children take part in many physical activities and games in kindergarten, you must ensure your kid can walk properly, run, jump, climb stairs and handle a ball.
Academic Skills
The term "academic" in reference to the skills of kindergartners does not mean your child has to read, write and do mathematical operations but rather refers to the most basic of conceptual skills. Kindergartners must recognize different colors, even if they cannot name them yet, match items by shape and count four to ten objects, as well as compare items based on their size to be able to perform the academic tasks teachers assign to them. In addition, kids should be able to identify a few letters of the alphabet, speak in complete sentences, express simple thoughts and ideas and be able to comprehend directions (left, right, under, behind) to communicate with educators and their classmates (See Reference 1).
Social Skills
One of the most important factors to determine whether your child is ready for kindergarten is the development of social skills. These include their ability to express their anger or fear at classmates or teachers with words rather than physical violence and their ability to obey rules during a lesson and during games with other children. Furthermore, they must learn to wait for their turn during tasks and games, ask questions to teachers when they are confused, sing nursery rhymes along with other children and understand that tantrums have no result.
Personal Skills and Information
Personal skills are abilities required by kindergartners to function without their parents' direct supervision and help. Such skills include students' ability to button and unbutton their clothes, manage their bathroom needs and care for their personal hygiene without needing an adult to remind them (clear mud off their hands after outdoor activities for example). In addition, kids must know their full name, their age, their address and --- if possible --- their phone number, as well as their parents' given names in case of an emergency in the kindergarten.
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