READY FOR KINDERGARTEN

I think Nikki is doing so great with our lessons here at home. He does not get bored with lessons and he enjoys answering his workbooks (which I know, not all students feel the same way). I just need to build his self-confidence a bit because Nikki gets so affected when he commits mistakes or when he is unsure of his answer. I tell him again and again, "Nikki, it's okay to make mistakes; it's okay to be wrong." I don't want him to think that he has to be perfect all the time. I want him to learn, to find out why an answer is wrong and why he should find better answers to some puzzling question. I want Nikki to be a thinker and not to just accept things as they are. So far, he is doing great.

When I saw this checklist, I knew that Nikki is on his way. It makes me feel good that despite not going to traditional school, Nikki is learning so much and is happy learning his own way.

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http://school.familyeducation.com/school-readiness/parents-and-school/38491.html

Kindergarten Readiness Checklist

While there's no perfect formula that determines when children are truly ready for kindergarten, you can use this checklist to see how well your child is doing in acquiring the skills found on most kindergarten checklists.

Check the skills your child has mastered. Then recheck every month to see what additional skills your child can accomplish easily.

Young children change so fast -- if they can't do something this week, they may be able to do it a few weeks later.

Listen to stories without interrupting
Recognize rhyming sounds
Pay attention for short periods of time to adult-directed tasks
Understand actions have both causes and effects
Show understanding of general times of day
Cut with scissors
Trace basic shapes
Begin to share with others
Start to follow rules
Be able to recognize authority
Manage bathroom needs
Button shirts, pants, coats, and zip up zippers
Begin to control oneself
Separate from parents without being upset
Speak understandably
Talk in complete sentences of five to six words
Look at pictures and then tell stories
Identify rhyming words
Identify the beginning sound of some words
Identify some alphabet letters
Recognize some common sight words like "stop"
Sort similar objects by color, size, and shape
Recognize groups of one, two, three, four, and five objects
Count to ten
Bounce a ball

If your child has acquired most of the skills on this checklist and will be at least five years old at the start of the summer before he or she starts kindergarten, he or she is probably ready for kindergarten. What teachers want to see on the first day of school are children who are healthy, mature, capable, and eager to learn.