How do you know if your child is ready for kindergarten? Here is a list of things to think about to ready your child for school.

Below are some suggested activities and skills that could be useful for your child when they start school. Obviously it is not imperative that your child can do them all, but hopefully this list will get you thinking and give you some ideas about what may be expected of your kindergartner when they start school.

Health and Physical Well-being

Is your child:

• Eating a well balanced diet
• Receiving appropriate medical and dental care
• Immunized
• Getting plenty of rest and relaxation
• Having lots of active time each day running, throwing, hopping, climbing, jumping (gross motor skills)
• Participating in lots of play activities like cutting, pasting, threading, drawing, puzzles, playdough and painting (fine motor skills)
• Able to go to the toilet by themselves
• Able to put on/remove clothing/shoes if needed
• Able to blow their nose

Social and Emotional Well-being

Is your child:

• Gaining confidence in trying new things in a range of environments
• Learning to finish tasks and tidy up
• Beginning to show self control in some situations
• Able to occasionally work well alone and do tasks independently
• Following simple instructions
• Helping with some simple family chores
• Working, interacting and playing with others
• Able to co-operate with other children and adults
• Aware of different relationships they have with people

Basic Readiness Skills

Is your child:

• Read to regularly
• Able to have access to reading books regularly
• Encouraged to ask questions
• Encouraged to problem solve
• Learning different shapes and colors
• Learning to count and able to play simple counting games
• Able to draw, listen to music and to dance
• Encouraged to sort and classify objects - for example put all the red cars together
• Able to talk about similarities and differences
• Learning the alphabet
• Able to recognize and learning to write their own name
• Able to say their full name, address and phone number and your name 

If you have checked off lots of the above points, then you’re well on the way to getting your child ready for school. Great job!

Parent tips

Maria writes ‘I was really nervous that my daughter was under prepared for kindergarten. I had meant to teach her lots of things, like writing her name, recognizing all the letters and basic math but time flew by and school started. Luckily she really enjoys school and I’m amazed at how quickly she is learning lots of things. The teacher is wonderful and assessed where she was at and moved her quickly forward.’

John writes ‘I’m glad I developed a love of reading with my son. Prior to starting kindergarten, I read him lots of books about school, about friendships, about children who solved problems. We talked a lot about the characters, and I often changed the context to be about him at school and what he would do. It was great. The transition from day care to kindergarten went well. I think he is quite resilient and I’m glad he will have good memories of starting school.’

By Tracey Richardson

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