Is my son going to be ready for kindergarten?

Question

He can:
Count to 100
can visually ID numbers 1-10
knows his ABCs and can visually ID about 3/4 of them ( caps only)
Knows his shapes
knows his colors
knows his body parts
can make his bed and put away toys
string beads
He can't:
Write his name
draw a stick figure ( drawing is around age 3 level with a circle and legs comming out of head)
He does not know letter sounds
he cannot read
Can't draw shapes

He is in a Pre-K program now, but the district I am getting him into said they should know letter sounds and some reading before kindergarten, which makes me nervous because he seems behind some of the other students ( He goes to my colleges pre-k program bbut we are moving out of here and to Naperville)

Answer 1

I would suggest you teach him to tie his shoes.. even if he doesn't have lace shoes. It was the only thing my daughter could not do.. mostly they want them to be able to count to 20, know their shapes and colors. He doesn't have to know how to read.. and he still has what 9 months before school starts if you continue to teach him he should know the rest by August.

Answer 2

My daughter is in kindergarten this year. She went in not knowing the sounds of letters, still can't read (4 months into the year). I think your son will be fine. Plus if you are really concerned, you have a few months to work with him.
Oh, plus, when my older daughter started school, I was told that the "circle with legs coming out of head" thing, is very normal. Both of mine did that in kindergarten. Usually by the end of the year they are at least starting to give them actual bodies. I would not say he is on a 3 year old level with that.
With my older daughter, we didn't even think about if she could write her name, and on the 1st day the teacher was like, can you write your name and she just picked up a pencil and wrote it...we didn't know she could do it, so he may surprise you. With my little one, I would write her name on a piece of paper and she was trace it and then copy it over and over till she finally got it.

Answer 3

What concerns me in your list is his drawing level being at a 3 and that he can't draw shapes. Do you have good health insurance? If so, or even if you don't and can afford it, find an eye doctor that specializes in learning disabilities related to vision, and have him screened.

We held our son back and repeated him in kindergarten, primarily because of fine motor issues (which include writing). I just had him tested last week and confirmed that he does have a vision related disability that can be corrected with 4-6 months of vision therapy. Even if a child's ability to see is 20/20, vision related disabilities are more related to their eyes being able to work together and to communicate info to the brain and then to the rest of the body. Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there. I think these sorts of disabilities are common and are unfortunately rarely diagnosed because they're not screened for by pediatricians or schools.

Answer 4

He needs to know how to write his name. That's important. Also, I would work on getting to know the sounds of letters and what they look like (lower case) Most kindergartens do some form of testing on letters in October. While, most will not know all, it's benefitical to be ahead, rather then behind.

In some school districts, kids need to be able to read by the end of the year. They are tested by reading a book approved by the district. In some cases, if they can't read the book; they fail and can't advance to 1st grade.

The better prepared he is, the better chance he'll have.

Answer 5

The letter recognition seems all backwards to me, but then I'm not in the US - in the UK kids are encouraged to learn lower case letters first, and by sound rather than name. Caps and letter names come much later - you can start to read with lower case + sounds, the letter names are basically useless and far fewer letters in books are capital than are lower case.

If he can't visually ID letters, he doesn't know them. Chanting some rhyme is not the same as knowing letters.

If I were you, I'd start right now to teach him to recognise his own name as written (i.e. first letter capital, remainder lower case) and to try to write it. He'll need that right away, to find his peg, his drawer etc., and so his work can be identified as his.

And I'd ask advice soonest about the caps / lower case, and letter names vs. letter sounds thing. Like I said, if you were in the UK, you'd be doing the exact wrong thing there, and he'll have a horrible shock if he gets to kindergarten thinking he knows what letters look like and what they're called and suddenly all the shapes are different (some very different) and the teacher's calling them by the sound instead of the name.

Answer 6

It's a long time till kindergarten starts, and he can do lots of stuff. Counting to 100 is actually more than is expected of kindergarteners. Putting away toys is a good one, too. ;-) The most important thing is being able to sit still and follow directions. I'll bet he'll be perfectly ready for kindergarten by next fall. It's certainly not important that he can't yet read -- some of his peers will be able to, but most will not. And as the parent of a bright kid who still draws at about an age 3 level in first grade, fortunately I can say that's not too important. ;-)

I would spend the next six months working on getting him to be able to identify the other capital letters (don't worry about lower case for kindergarten), write his name, and figure out letter sounds. You can do that by making signs for his stuff (stop signs for the trucks, his name on his room, "to dad" on his picture, etc.), playing rhyming games, playing games like Zingo where the word is printed under the picture so you can talk about it, reading to him a lot, playing silly word games with alliteration "six silly snakes sipped soda....", etc. Write his name on his artwork for awhile, and eventually let him do the first letter. Have him sound things out as he goes. My kids learned letter sounds through play and also we played around with the Dr. Seuss book "Hop on Pop" which has lists of rhyming words at the beginning so kids get the sense of how the changed first letter changes the word. I'm not much of a video fan, but I do also like the Leap Frog video "the letter factory" for teaching phonics (and the sequel, the word factory). play games where you draw a shape and he copies it. of course make sure everything's in a spirit of fun.

ask his preschool teacher if his fine-motor skills are on target or if he might benefit from a little occupational therapy at this point. it's fine if he's not an artist, and most 4-year-olds write their name kind of shakily. but if drawing is really a problem, maybe there are issues with how he holds the pencil or with the muscles in his hand. those things are always best addressed early. but certainly no need to panic. sounds like your son is well on track for the middle of a preschool year.

edit -- the UK way sounds much more sensible (since you use lower case more often and the important thing is how letters sound, not what they're called), but that's not how schools generally teach it here. kindergarteners generally write in upper case only (though they do need to start recognizing lower case). they start expecting lower case writing sometime in mid-first grade in our school district.

Answer 7

Maturity and social skills also play a big role. But since most kindergartens start in September, Id see if your district has any "ready for school" type program, evaluation, or pre-k. Our district does, and starts testing as early as 3.

Also get check out a book by a Dr. Perlmutter, has some great pre-K activities. Not just things like ABCs, but how things like play-doh build creativity and thinking skills.

Answer 8

That should be fine, letter sounds would help but he should be fine. Once he is in kindergarten, he will catch on quickly. How old is he? Don't send him to kindergarten before age 5, you may think he's mature enough, but a lot of children just have to repeat kindergarten because they are not mature. Stop worrying so much, he'll be fine.

Answer 9

here is a list off of my nephews kindergarten first report card that he needs to know.

he needs to be able to write is first and last name
how to write most of the letters of ABC's
Know his phone number and address
draw basic shapes
recognize written letters in lower case also
follow 2 step directions
count by 5's and 10's.
use scissors and glue properly
hold a pencil properly.

tying his shoe is not required but should be taught before 1st grade.

Answer 10

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Answer 11

You'd be amazed at how much he'll learn by the time next fall comes around!
He doesn't need to read, but he surely should be learning some letter sounds. Just practice them with him, flashcards are good for this, usually even dollar stores have them - like "Buh, ball..." as you go through them with him.
Don't worry about the drawing, though I'll bet he can and you just don't know it.