Taken from Mesa Public Schools Curriculum, the following are areas that the child should be able to do in order to be prepared for Kindergarten. Do not worry if your child cannot do ALL of the following before he/she enters Kindergarten. Everyone learns at a different pace, but if you work with your child at home, while we work on them at school...your child will feel better prepared for Kindergarten by the end of this school year!
FOCUS
-Can the child pay attention even if there is a distraction?
-Is the child's attention span around 15 to 20 minutes?
WILLINGNESS TO WORK
-Can the child follow directions agreeably and easily or does the child get angry and resentful when an adult gives directions?
-Does your child play cooperatively with other children and work well in a group?
LISTENING SKILLS
-Can the child two are three-step directions in a sequence? Or does the child need help at each step?
-Can the child interact being a leader and a follower with other children?
-Does the child take part in other people's games?
-Has the child learned that sharing can help him make friends and not a way to avoid punishment?
-Can the child be assertive without being a bully?
-Can the child wait his turn or does he cry or whine when asked to wait?
-Does he seek adult attention without crying, whining, clinging, screaming or throwing things?
-Can the child separate from parents without crying or clinging?
FINE MOTOR SKILLS
-Holds a pencil correctly
-Writes own name
-Draws a line, circle or square without assistance
-Draws a person with a head, body, arms and legs
-Uses a fork to eat
-Buttons and unbuttons clothes
-Cuts following lines
-Colors inside lines
GROSS MOTOR SKILLS
-Climbs on a Jungle gym
-Throws a ball
-Walks heel to toe
-Pumps on a swing
-Pedals a three wheeler
-Hops
-Skips
LANGUAGE SKILLS
-Retells a story after being read to
-Relates to the story
-Sequences the story
-Appreciates jokes and knows they are funny
-Speech is understood by strangers 100 percent of the time
-Speaks in complete sentences with five or more words
-Uses past and future tense
-Has a sense of time sequence(before/after)
-Counts to 10
-Recognizes numbers randomly 0-10
-Identifies the alphabet(upper/lowercase) or at least 10 letters
-Names the letters in his/her name
-Identifies basic shapes(circle, square, rectangle, triangle)
-Identifies 6 colors
-Recognizes own name
SELF CARE SKILLS
-picks up after self
-toiled trained
-wash and dry own hands
-eats lunch independently
-dresses with minimal supervision
-ties own shoes
