What a preschooler should know, to be ready for Kindergarten?

Question

What a preschooler should know, to be ready for Kindergarten?

Answer 1

The most important things that they need to know:

They need to do what the teacher says.

They need to know (or learn quickly) how to get on with other children - ie no hitting or biting.

They need to know you will come back for them.

At this age, obtaining social skills is far more important than ABCs.

Answer 2

More than knowledge, it is important that your preschooler is able to sit and listen, is able to follow directions and communicate his/her own needs, have gross and fine motor skills and problem solving skills appropriate for his age and have personal care and social skills.  My board uses the "Ages and Stages" questionnaire to determine individual children's abilities.  If there are any concerns (ie if there are more than two things in a section that your child is not yet doing), children can be referred to specialists in order to develop the necessary skills.

Answer 3

When my daughter started kindergarten, she could recite the alphabet, count to 20, and knew all of her basic colors and shapes and could read and spell her name and a few small words.

Answer 4

When I taught pre-kindergarten, I taught the children their ABC's and the sounds the letters made, but not letter combinations like th, sh, etc.  I taught them basic word recognition mostly of 3-letter words: cat, dog, boy, toy, etc.  I also taught them their numbers and some basic, simple math.  We worked on writing letters and numbers, too.  We worked on crafts that helped to develop fine motor skills: using scissors, coloring inside the lines, etc.

I hope this helps!

Answer 5

Having taught both Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten I can tell you that the number one thing to learn is social skills.  I am currently teaching Pre-K and I can tell you that I incorporate teaching about social skills into everything I do throughout the day.  They should also be able to recognize at least a few ABC's and tell you their sounds, have worked on early patterning and sequencing, fine and gross motor skills, writing their names, colors/shapes and counting at least to 10, preferably farther.

Answer 6

ABC's, order and basic writing of them

*123's, counting and writing them

*Write first name, and recognize it when seen in other places (i.e. on the VIP board at school, or job chart)

*At least recognize last name, maybe even write it.

*Shoe tying is a good one to know, not a must. Where I work, the kindergarten teacher sends that task to learn home for homework one week. they have to work on it and try to learn it. If they don't they just practice more at school and at home.

*shapes

*colors, able to connect them to objects (i.e. a banana is yellow, a leaf is green, an apple is red, the sky is blue, etc)

*Some letter sounds, and phonics is helpful when reading readiness is practiced

Walmart has great books that you can get for $4, I got some for the kids in my class when they get bored. They have preschool-2nd grade at least, maybe more. Check them out, there are also more fun things there I got for my class like dry erase boards to practice writing. They love it because its like a game to them, and they learn.

Also, check your local library for a series of books (there are many by various publishers) called, "Everything your child needs to know..." there are kindergarten - 5th grade at my library. They have worksheets in some, and others more of reading for you. Good luck!

Answer 7

I don't have any children, but my experience says they should be able to count to 99, be able to write their name, and know their address. This is the minimum knowledge.

Answer 8

Their first and last name, their colors, alphabet, phone number, and how to write basic letters (the way they are written by hand, not typed.).