What skills do preschoolers need before entering kindergarten?

Question

I have been working with my 4 year old on his colors, shapes, and counting, and very few ABC's. We do not have the funds to send him to preschool and I was wondering what skills he will need to have before he goes into kindergarten next year. If anyone has had a child in preschool I would really like to know what they taught.

My older children never attended preschool, but the curriculum has changed so much over the last couple of years I do not think the skills I have taught the kids int he past will be enough.

Any suggestions on how to encourage him to start writing would be greatly appreciated also.

Answer 1

he is probably set just teach him his ABC's and to identify letters of the alphabet it'll start becoming easier and easier but he is set

Answer 2

The most important skills for preschool children are social ones...how to play with others, how to share and work out problems, how to PLAY! There are no benefits to learning how to read and write before this age, and it may even cause problems for him. Large motor skills should be encouraged, and learning should be fun and come from his interest level, not something he is asked to sit down and do.

Answer 3

I too did not send any of our children to preschool but what I did was the year before they were to attend Kindergarten, I went to the public school and received a copy of the expectations for Kindergarten that our school system publishes. It gives all sorts of items that children should know by the END of Kindergarten. So, I used it as a sort of guideline in teaching my children certain skills. Kindergarten requirements vary greatly from state to state. For example, where we live, children MUST be able to read a certain amount of sight words as well as write at a "stage 2" by the end of the year. They must know ALL upper and lower case letters by sight as well as tons of other things. I come from a long line of teachers so I was able to get all sorts of manipulatives and extra things to do at home. But I would just find out what your school system expects and go from there! Just remember to make it fun and vary the activities. Definitely focus on the WHOLE child, not just one specific skill. But if you do want to zero in on something, I would say reading 1st! Get him to recognize all the upper/lower case letters and their sounds. Just remember that at 4 years of age, most children tire easily and won't want to do it if it seems like a chore!

Answer 4

Most kindergartens these days do have a specific set of requirements thay are looking to have met when the child enters.  I have even heard of a few that will deny enterance if too many are not met.  This because of the pressures put on schools to meet certain guidelines in testing.

As stated above visit the local school district and get a copy of the requirements.  This will help you decide what things to work on.  Your child may not need meet or excede all of them, but i think that the most important is the self help skiil, and the ability to follow direction.  

So many people focus on the letters, shapes, colors etc...., and forget to teach their child how to change their own clothes in case of an accident.

As far as writing......when he is ready he will be interested.  You can find some pre-writing sheets on various web sites, but all my teaching in ECE tells me that this is not the best approach.  Provide a lot of paper and writing devices, as well as letter patterns that he will be interested in.  Especially his name, and any picutres he draws encourage him to autograph (An artist always signs their work) than produce the name paper for him to try to copy.

Do not be discouraged if it is not "right", be supportive of any attempts.

Answer 5

The website for the World Book Encyclopedia company has a wonderful bulleted listing of skills that are covered at each grade level from preschool through grade 12. Here is the link, but if it doesn't work, go to www.worldbook.com and click in the center section entitled: Typical Course of Study. Then select the grade level you are checking.

http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?cur...

Answer 6

I teach Early Childhood Special Education, so I work with children that are typically developing and atypical.  In my school district we focus on our preschoolers knowing the following:

Colors (primary and secondary)

Shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle)

Numbers 1-5 (being able to identify receptively and expressively)

Counting w/ 1 to 1 correspondence to 10

Rote Counting to at least 10 increasing gradually

Capital Letters (at least 1/2 by kindergarten)

   I would recommend starting w/ ones in his first name

As far as writing, I would recommend your child practice writing his name and only in capital letters.  This will also help him to recognize his name in print, which is important. Usually children ages 3-5 don't have adequate fine motor skills to begin writing lower case letters.

I hope this will help.  Also you can call your local school district and ask for a copy of information regarding kindergarten curriculum.  This may help you narrow it down more for your particular district.  Each district/state has different standards.

In response to a previous comment to this question, you should not teach your child to read first!  Most four year olds do not have the adequate skills to begin reading at such an early age.  Letter awareness is the first step in the reading process and writing is a major part of that.  Taking him to the library and exposing him to various forms of print is however, a wonderful idea!

Answer 7

I have asked this question to kindergarten teachers and most of them are really less concerned about academics than they are about behavior. Can your child sit and attend in large/ small group setting for 30-45 minutes without direct attention. Meaning 1 teacher and 20 kids and your child does not need repeated prompting to stay seated, look at the teacher etc.

Even though this is an emerging skill having your child know how to raise their hand and wait to be called on during group or table work. Play well with others, take turns, share, have proactive strategies for resolving conflict. Now how and when to ask for help. Other than that the only academics the teacher said would be useful is knowing the ABCS, counting to 10 and writing their name. I have even had one kindergarten teacher complain that children often come to her class with too many skills. She has to teach the K curriculum whether or not the kid has all the skills mastered. So be careful about teaching too high or your student will be bored and more likely to misbehave.

Answer 8

I agree with everyone who advised not to worry about teaching him things. He will learn that in his classes. Further, the most obstructive thing to learning is the inability or unwillingness to follow directions, interact properly with other kids and to learn to sit and be still.

Make sure your child has times at home when he is to sit and do quiet activity. Do not fill his little system up with sweets from sodas and candy.

Academically, just let him read what he can, read to him and let him draw things on his own without criticism as to if it looks right.

Further, let him play. Allow him to explore outside, get dirty, collect bugs, climb and run.

Do not allow competition between him and his siblings. Each child should be advancing at their own levels.

You sound like a great mom who is looking for the positive in her child. Keep it up.

Answer 9

Academically, "I love my pug" has the best answer.  At my school, Kindergarten readiness testing also includes, physical activities (catching a ball, walking in a straight line, etc.) and social skills (sharing, not hitting or biting, taking turns, etc.)

Answer 10

What is schooling for? I would not put your child or yourself under pressure. They go to pre school to learn through play. A VITAL stage of development. If this stage is missed you will be encouraging problems in the future. I have seen so many children BORED when they go to school. Learning should be new and exciting. The child who enters schooling 'knowing it all' usually has problems with many aspects of sociall skills. There are many socia skills required in order to enjoy school to the full. Children today and parents are having too much pressure on them and so so young. Please let your child be just that. It is a well known fact that all children's learning will level out by the age of seven. It serves no purpose to teach them everything while they are so young. Learning through play teaches children so much more that ABC and counting. Let your child be a child, it comes round only once, you and your child will reap the benefits.

Answer 11

my daughter just tested for preschool ..and was turned down for being to advanced.. she can count to 100 knows all shapes and colors can write all her letters can read some words i am now teaching her single digit adding and subtracting,and i taught the alphabet in sign language just to teach her..children are like sponges they love to learn..just try to make it fun for them..i started her writing on a doodle pad so it was more fun.. i was really bummed i wanted her to be around other children so i really wanted her in preschool.. but you can do like i am ..get a hold of your library find out the days they have story hour and take your child to that..that will encourage learning..and most of all i have never seen a child who did not love praise when doing a good job

Answer 12

Before your teach him to write you should teach him to read.

Go to the library and borrow as many books as you can and start reading to them.  Eventually as he follows the story he will pick up the words abd will lay a good foundation for writing.