WATCH THIS VIDEO FOR ADDTIONAL INFORMATION AS YOU PREPARE FOR A WONDERFUL KINDERGARTEN ADVENTURE! <<<Click here!

If you want to determine if your child is acquiring the skills needed to be successful in kindergarten, check the skills below to see how many your child has mastered.

*  Listens to stories without interrupting

*  Recognizes rhyming sounds

*  Pays attention for short periods of time to directed tasks

*  Cuts with scissors

*  Traces basic shapes

*  Shares with others

*  Recognizes authority

*  Manages bathroom needs

*  Separates from parents without being upset

*  Looks at pictures and can tell a story

*  Identifies some upper and lowercase alphabet letters

*  Sorts by color, size and shape

*  Counts 0-20 with very little difficulty in the "teens"

*  Writes first name and can tell you each letter in his/her first name

*  Can get started on a snack/lunch with very little assistance

Activities to improve pre-writing skills:

*Jump Rope

*Volleyball type practice where hands, paddles or rackets are in palm-up position

*Use squirt bottles

*Shift a slinky back and forth with palms up

*String beads or lace with the tip of finger against the thumb

*Pour from a small pitcher into a clear glass

*Inch a pencil or chopstick positioned in tripod grasp toward and away from palm

*Screw on and unscrew lids on jars

*Play with play-doh   (make balls, cubes, shapes, objects)

*Use a turkey baster to squirt water

*Rip construction paper into small pieces, then glue to make a collage/picture

*Complete a floor puzzle

*Use tongs/tweezers to pick up small objects

*Color on a paper that is taped to a wall right above eye level

*Squeeze out a kitchen sponge then dip in water to repeat several times

*Place coins in a bank or a plastic lid with a slot that has been cut.  

*Press coins into foam and then take them out