What kinds of things should my son know by the time he starts Kindergarten this fall?

Question

Any tips or suggestions to help him get ready would be appreciated- he's my first.

Answer 1

my cousin had to know:

first name

middle name

last name

address

home number

parent(s)/guardian(s) work/cell number

abc's

123's

how to tie a shoe

how to spell their name

allergies/medical conditions

emergency numbers

Answer 2

you need to know your complete name, phone number, and address... well in my state you do. and you need to know your abc's.

Answer 3

My son had to know:

Name (spoken and written)

age (spoken and written)

birthday (spoken)

phone number (spoken)

address (spoken)

abc's (spoken and written)

1-10 (spoken and written)

basic shapes (mainly for the eye test)

Answer 4

ABC's to be able to say them and a plus if he can recognize them both upper and lower case. count to 10. (not to 100 by tens LOL...give me a break) and recognize numbers 1-10

colors and shapes...work on patterns like with blocks such as red blue red blue red blue, or triangle square circle, triangle square circle etc...this helps with math skills.

their first and last name and be able to write it.

I would also work on rhyming as this helps with reading and phonics skills.

Their phone number and address are a plus but not necessesary heck my son is in second and has a hard time remembering our address.

Answer 5

In my district: (and it is not that they will keep them out or put them in kinder-kids a 2 year kindergarten program for the less mature kids born after March 1 but this is what the K teachers requested)

Write his name with capital letter followed by lower case letters. Ethan not ETHAN

Count to 20 and recognize numbers.

Recognize all the letters of the alphabet.

Be able to work the shoelaces buttons snaps zips etc. on the clothes he will be wearing (I am getting a lot of slip-on tee shirts and polos and climber pants from Lands End because my guy has some trouble with this -- but there is still winter coats etc.)

Recognize shapes and colors

Wait his turn and follow simple instructions.

We got a calendar for every day of the summer to do something new -- from an I Spy game for colors and shapes to counting each other`s fingers and toes to songs to sing to practicing shoe tying and zipping/snapping of pants.

If he is ready to learn -- can sit still to have a book read to him or look at a book or work a puzzle for several minutes -- wait his turn -- etc. he will be okay in kindergarten. The teachers can teach the general knowledge stuff to kids who are ready to learn.

Our kindergarten teachers say behavior is what really holds kids back into kinderkids or ending up repeating kindergarten. But there are not that many.

Answer 6

if the doctor thinks he's normal -relax.

Answer 7

Most schools expect kids to know their address,phone number,count to 20,have to know their ABC's,shapes and also first and last name.

Answer 8

i know im not a mom

but i have a little brother that my mother is insisting on me tutoring

because he's going to the same school as me

basically,

they need to know how to basically write their first name,

know their full name, count to 100 by 10's, home phone number,

and address

Answer 9

Call your local school district and see what they expect him to know as some things are a bit different depending on where you live. You could also try your state dept. of education.

Look at the links on this page for more help:

http://www.education.com/reference/kinde...

Answer 10

Most everything said I agree with.  My son just finished kindergarten and they did a lot of phonics work.  It would help him if he knew what letter a sound makes start with easy ones and overenunciate ex. ball what letter does b.b.ball begin with.

Answer 11

Your son doesn't HAVE to know anything to go to Kindergarten.  However, there are a few useful things.  Knowing how to write his first name would be a plus, but it's not a must.  Many kids have a very difficult time learning how to write.  Being able to recognize his name written down is a definite plus though.  

If you're concerned,  visit your local Wal-Mart or Dollar Store and find some "Pre-K" workbooks.  My son has a bunch of fun sitting down with me to work them.  They'll also help you realize the types of things they want him to know.  

Basic starting skills are:  

1) Color Recognition

2) Shape Recognition

3) Pattern Completion

4) Identify Numbers

5) Identify Letters

My 4-year-old son had a pretty easy time with number recognition, but is having a much harder time with letter recognition.  In order to help him I developed a game with scrabble tiles.  I actually had to ransack two scrabble sets to get enough tiles, but we've had fun.  We play a version of "memory" but with the scrabble tiles.  There are two of each letter.  However, since we're just starting out, there isn't really much "memory" involved.  Once a tile is flipped, it stays flipped.  The point is to help him start recognizing which parts of the letter shapes are important, so that he can remember which letter is which.  It's worked pretty well so far.  Before we began playing the game, he knew probably 5 letters on sight.  Now, about a month later, he knows about 13.  

Good luck!