Ready+Child+-+Kindergarten+Ready

** Action Team 1 – Early Childhood **** Comprehensive Definition for “kindergarten readiness” **
 * Erie Region Community Aspiration **

“School readiness” describes the capabilities of children, their families, schools, and communities that will best promote student success in kindergarten and beyond. Each component – children, families, schools and communities – plays an essential role in the development of school readiness. No one component can stand on its own.

** Preparing for Kindergarten **

· ** Social and Emotional Skills: **

Hygiene – bathroom and hand washing Manners – greeting, please, thank you, and excuse me Share Respect for self, others, and authority Communication of feelings, thoughts, and needs Classroom routines

· ** Listening and Speaking: **

Follow multiple step directions Listening and responding to conversation Speak using multiple word sentences Ask and answer questions

· ** Fine and Gross Motor Skills: **

Hop, skip, and jump Button, tie, snap, and zip Hold writing, cutting, and eating utensils appropriately Cut, glue, and color Dress independently – coat, shoes, boots, etc.

· ** Book Handling and Directionality: **

Hold books appropriately Understanding that print contains a message Where to start and which way to go - left to right and top to bottom

· ** Story Sense/Comprehension: **

Make predictions based on pictures and background knowledge Retell portions of stories with some understanding of sequence Some sense of author and illustrator Make personal connections to stories Sense of fantasy versus reality Identify the beginning and end of a story Some sense of varying types of genres Comprehension Identify characters, events, and problems Able to join in on repeated sentences and refrains

· ** Letters and Words: **

Write (capital and lower case) and recognize name Alphabet recognition Sort letters by name or similar shapes Some sound/symbol recognition Some word recognition – environmental print and high frequency words Sense of rhyme Some sense of a letter versus a word Clap syllables with assistance

· ** Writing: **

Draw recognizable detailed pictures Explain picture Some top to bottom letter formation Labeling Some symbolic invented spelling Understanding that print conveys a message

· ** Mathematics: **

Differentiate between letters and numbers Identify colors, shapes, and AB patterns Some sense of different and alike Simple matching and sequencing Counting to ten One to one correspondence in counting to ten Puzzles Understanding of simple graphs Sort objects