MILESTONES YOUR CHILD SHOULD REACH TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN KINDERGARTEN

Starting Kindergarten is a big deal for your little one, and its such an exciting time. You and your child will be discovering a whole new world of independence (especially if you've been a stay at home mom for the past few years!). Some kids will start kindergarten right after their 5th birthday, others will be held back until they are 6 years old or almost 6 ... our school district has strict age restrictions and so my kids won't be in school until they are almost 6 here in New England.
Regardless of age, your child will need to meet many developmental milestones in order to start and to succeed in kindergarten. While most children progress in a natural sequence of development -each child will grow and develop at their own pace some reaching milestones earlier than others.
According to the CDC children should meet a certain criteria of age related developmental milestones by the age of 5 and many of them coincide with the level of development that is necessary to be successful in kindergarten and develop the skills needed moving into 1st grade. If your little one is approaching kindergarten within the next year or so its a great time to check in and see where he or she is developmentally.
We've curated this list to help you identify areas your child needs to improve on before starting kindergarten to ensure they have the best and most rewarding experience.
Behavioral & Cognative
To get the most out of Kindergarten your child will need to meet a number of behavioral and cognitive milestones. Behavioral milestones in an age appropriate attention span is important at this stage because it helps ensure all children can participate and get the most out of a kindergarten level curriculum. At the age of around 5 years old your child should...
Know their own name - Kindergarteners will start learning writing and reading skills and doing many different activities independently, knowing their own names is important to build those communication skills needed to have conversation and at the very least will boost their understanding in helping them writing their names on class assignments. Also, if there is ever an emergency or situation in which they need to communicate their name to someone they will need to be able to do so.
Know their parents names and phone numbers - If for nothing else, your child should know their parents names as soon as they can comprehend that "mommy and daddy" have other names too... Your child should know how to communicate their personal information to others in the event there is ever a situation that someone would need to contact you for any reason regarding your Childs safety or wellbeing (school nurse, bus driver, camp counselor, grocery store clerk etc.).
Exhibit patience and takes turns with other children- Yes, I know we are talking about small children that just stepped out of toddlerhood here ha ha. But we're looking for more of the understanding of not getting what someone else has until they are done with it, its really the acknowledgement and possibly the ability for your child to move onto something else until its their turn.
Understand the concept of sharing - Simply understanding what sharing literally means and can comprehend it - regardless of whether they like to partake in sharing, that's a totally separate situation. :/
Can draw a person with 6 or more body parts - Cognitively this shows that your child understands multiple body parts and is able to display and relay that on paper in an abstract way. It also speaks to the level of their fine motor skills and shows a good level of comprehension and understanding of themselves and how they see others.
Able to sit quietly and listens to simple directions - An attention span for a child between the ages of 4-5 is about 5-10 minutes and children over the 5 year mark probably about 10-25 minutes. So don't get worried if your child isn't sitting through a lengthy book, or putting every toy in their play space away with ease they may still be maturing in this way. Instead, look for signs that they are engaged in an activity or direction that you gave them and they can follow simple 2-3 step activities. This is a good sign for development progression and you can build upon where they are developmentally over time.
Able to stay engaged in a story or activity - Does your child get excited to hear their favorite story, or read a new book? Do they pick books up off the shelf and thumb through them exploring the pages of pictures? Do they get and stay engaged in a favorite sensory activity? I would not worry so much as how much time a child between the ages of 4 -5 stays engaged in a single activity (like keeping their attention on a whole book) its about noticing this development within an appropriate attention span for their age and that the interest is there.
Wants to play with and interact with other children- This, of course, does not take into account children's different personality types. If you have a more introverted child then that is just who your child is, however if you notice that your child is not interested in interacting at all even when approached, seems scared of other children or even uninterested when noticing other children at play then it may be worth getting an opinion from a licensed professional either at your local daycare, preschool or pediatrician. Some kids just need to be warmed up to a new environment and others may not be totally ready developmentally yet - all children hit milestones, including emotional ones, at their own pace.
