Kindergarten: Children Ready for School Part 1

As of 2007, most states have established developmental standards for children entering into Kindergarten.  How do you know if your child is on track with their social and emotional development, approaches to learning, language and literacy, creativity and the arts, cognitive development, and physical and motor development?   Throughout the month of August, I will be posting about early learning standards and how parents can track their child's progress.

Below are examples of different social and emotional developments.

Cody has been working on a complicated puzzle.  After several tries, she cannot complete it.  She goes to the teacher and says with a frown, "Ms. Ashley, I am really really frustrated!  I can't do it!  Help me, please!"

Cody has shown progress in emotional development.  Instead of using actions to describe his emotions, he increasingly uses words to express his emotions.  Cody can also understand and respond to others' emotions.

Laura observes two other children playing in the housekeeping area.  After a few minutes, Laura approaches them and asks, "Can I play?"  The children ignore her.  Laura stands and says more assertively, "I make chicken soup."  One child finally notices and responds, "Okay."  Laura joins the little group and they all continue to play together.

Laura is showing signs of progress with social competence and relationships.  She is able to interact easily with one or more children and with adults that she is familiar with.  She and her playmates are also using play to explore, practice, and understand social roles.

Below is an example of different approaches to learning.

Daniella's first language is Spanish, and Poua's first language is Hmong, and they are both learning English.  They are playing in the beauty shop, pretending to put on nail polish, when Daniella says
"Red."  However, the bottle they are using is white.  Poua looks around, goes to the art shelf and brings back a red marker.  They scribble on the bottle until it's red, giggling.  Then they happily apply the imaginary "red" nail polish they have created together.

Even though there is a language barrier, Daniella and Poua have solved their problem using a combination of flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness.  They are also trying out pretend roles in play or make-believe settings.  

Below is an example of language and literacy development.

During circle time, Sally sits in the teacher's chair and begins to "read" a book to three other children.  She points to the text and describes each page from memory.  When Sally reaches the end of the story, she proclaims, "The End!"

Children show progress in language and literacy development when they initiate stories and respond to stories read out loud.  They are also able to guess what will happen next in a story using pictures as their guide.  They also recognize some letters of the alphabet, especially those from their name.  They also start to associate sounds with words and letters.