First Steps
To register your child for kindergarten, call your local school district or private school to find out the process. You will likely need to provide documentation to prove your child’s age, such as a birth certificate or passport, and residency, typically your driver’s license and a utility bill in the parent’s name. Most schools also require vaccination and immunization records, along with a physical prior to starting school. The school should provide forms for your pediatrician to fill out when you register or when you bring your child to the kindergarten screening.
Purpose of Screening
Kindergarten screenings are not always required in a school district, but it is a fairly common practice. The purpose of a kindergarten screening is to ensure a child is developmentally ready to start kindergarten and to determine whether any additional classroom supports may be needed. Kindergarten screenings are also a great way to familiarize your child with her new school and gives the school an opportunity to meet your child.
Readiness Skills
A prospective kindergartner will typically meet with a teacher alone or in a group for about 20 to 30 minutes and will be assessed for basic kindergarten readiness skills. Some schools may look for more kindergarten readiness skills than those listed, and some may look for less.
Self-Care Skills
Many everyday tasks need to be taught and practiced. Some of the self-care skills your child may be assessed for include:
Can wash hands on their ownIs fully potty trainedCan dress after using the restroom, including fastening and unfastening buttons, snaps, and zippersCan put on own shoesCan eat lunch or a snack without assistance, such as putting a straw in a juice box and opening a lunch boxCan put on a jacket and zip or button it closed
Language Skills
At the kindergarten screening, your child’s ability to communicate, comprehend, and follow instructions will be assessed. For example, the teachers will check to see if your child can:
Be understood by an adult who does not talk with the child every daySpeak in complete sentences of at least five wordsFollow directions that have at least two different steps, such as “Find your coat and put it on"Answer basic questions, such as name and ageRhyme simple words
Cognitive Skills
Cognitive skills refer to a child’s ability to gain meaning and knowledge from experience and information. In kindergartners, these skills include the ability to:
Classify and identify objects by different variables, such as shape, color, size, etc.Hold a book the right way (reading preparedness); may pretend to “read"Put together a small (less than 10 pieces) puzzleRecognize a pattern and identify the next items in the sequenceCorrectly identify four colorsRecognize their own name in writingIdentify some letter soundsCount up to five objectsName at least five body parts
Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills are actions that use the body’s gross muscles, such as those in the arms, legs, and core. They are sometimes referred to as large motor skills. The school may look at whether a child can:
RunStand and hop on one foot on each footSkipWalk backwardThrow and catch a large ballKick a ball in a straight lineWalk up and down stairs using alternating feet (not stepping with one foot, then the other onto the same step)
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills refer to the coordination between small muscles, like those of the hands and fingers, with the eyes. These skills include:
Cutting with safety scissors, holding them the right wayFitting pieces into a puzzleHolding and using a pencil the correct wayDrawing a straight line, a cross, a square, and a circleDrawing a person who has five body partsPossibly writing some letters and numbers, perhaps their nameTracing a variety of shapes, letters, and numbers
If Your Child Doesn’t Seem Ready
If you have any concerns about your child’s development or are worried they aren’t meeting milestones on time, talk with your child’s preschool teacher or pediatrician. Depending on where their birthday falls, some children that enter kindergarten may be nearing age 6, while others may still be age 4. Some parents choose to hold their child back and delay starting kindergarten for a year, especially if children are young for their class or do not seem ready to start school.
