What is Kindergarten Readiness Anyway? - A Quick Parent's Guide

It is an exciting and emotional time. Your child is getting to that age that they are almost ready to head off to school. If the phrase "Kindergarten readiness" has been flooding your news feed like it has mine, you may be wondering what it really means.


From a teachers' standpoint, we understand that all kids may start off at different levels. Each child has a different background, so we don't expect them to start off school already having been taught half the basics. There are 6 things that almost all teachers can agree on that are crucial to kindergarten readiness.

A readiness to learn

By readiness to learn, we mean the parent has helped instill a desire to learn more information, and to want to know the answer. Parents can help this ideation prosper by talking about stuff with their children and being willing to answer questions.


Kids are like sponges, so it doesn't matter if you think the answer you have to give is too advanced, go ahead and share. By showing, listening, and answering you are helping them understand that what meets the eye is so much more and that asking questions will be met with a truthful answer. It helps grow their wonder and desire to know more.

The ability to listen and follow directions

While kids will be kids, and a teacher should never expect anything close to perfection from a child, the ability to follow directions is something that is very important to the classroom environment.


The average teacher has 18-28 student on their hands, so being able to move activities, and for the students to be able to hear what’s going on, that requires that the students listen in a reasonable timeframe. This can be achieved at home no matter the differences in parenting techniques, by making different activities and games that require different skills and helping your child follow through, and be able to transition without crying that they want to stay on the previous activity.


This doesn't mean that you need to make elaborate activities, and stations in your home. It's as simple making time for your child to color, before dinner, and be willing to help put away their project to go eat dinner with you at the table without getting tantrums that they wish to keep coloring.
Development of fine motor skills


We don't expect a child to be adept in all of the basic skills we teach in kindergarten, but there are things that heavily help us teach the educational basics. Teachers fully understand that all parents have very different allowable time during the week to make their household work.

Things that help us heavily with our job are simple things like, helping teach your child to hold writing utensils in a way that they can easily be taught to write. Being taught how to use scissors and semi follow a line without hurting themselves, being able to unbutton their pants to go to the restroom. How to tie their own shoes. All can be taught with very low supervision. A few extra minutes every day to help foster minor independence with small tasks.


It does not need to be overly involved if you're busy. You can easily set them up with some crayons while you cook supper and occasional help reposition their hands to help encourage holding it properly. Helping them trace stuff you write down.


While it is helpful if they know things like identifying their alphabet and numbers to 10, we heavily understand if they just aren't there yet, but the development of motor skills for small tasks can help us easily catch them up to where we want them to be.
The ability to adapt to new situations


The hardest things to watch as a teacher is a child that comes into the classroom terrified. Most of us really want your child to have fun and have a good time and really enjoy coming to the classroom and be ready to learn from the start.


Most teachers that choose to teach younger children use the preschool and pre-kindergarten days to foster a love and desire to learn. While all children eventually adapt, its really hard when the child is terrified of us, the other children, or the new situation.


Ways to improve your child’s kindergarten readiness whether your a stay at home parent or a working parent is to help breach the bridge. Take them with you on errands, help teach the correct behaviors for the place. Sign them up for preschool, or find a daycare you can do once or twice a month drop-ins, sign up for a local moms group that does outings and playdates together, take them to the local park and instead of hovering over them encourage them to interact with the other children.

Teach your child to leap into a situation and explore, versus always helping them through. Pretty much teach them to be confident even if you are not apart of the interaction.

Potty Training

While not all districts require children to learn to use the restroom on their own prior to starting school, this life skill is important to a child's development and is therefore highly recommended. Help teach them everything from understanding the need to go, to properly undressing and redressing after using the facilities.


We understand that all kids have accidents sometimes, but it is easier on them and us when they are for the most part potty trained. Children can be pretty mean about accidents, and we hate seeing the kids sad or embarrassed. While accidents happen, with an avg of 18 to 28 students per class, if many were not potty trained it would take a lot of time out of our activities and learning time if we have to dress, and or change each student.


There are tons of resources online to help give ideas on how to successfully potty train them if you are struggling. You know your child best for which techniques may be a win.
Basic independence


Ensure they know their full name, their teachers’ name, and a parent’s name. While many parents may walk their kids to class at least for the first few days, you would be surprised at the number of students who may become confused on their first attempts to find the classroom without them.


Knowing basic information about themselves can help us easily escort them to the correct location. Even if they normally go by a nickname, knowing their proper name can help us do this much faster. As for the rest, your child will find it very beneficial to not need help for tasks such as opening their fruit cup at lunch, or how to take on and off their own jackets, and how to open and close their own bags lunchboxes.


While we will gladly help them, knowing how to do these tasks without help will help ensure they get the most time from their lunch breaks and recess breaks to unwind without having to wait for assistance.

Reaching kindergarten readiness is a lot easier than it initially sounds. Teachers understand that many students will start off at different places educationally based on a parents time, and or resources and that is okay. Knowing at least the 6 above skills can help us easily catch up with the students that are behind their peers catch up to the same level of advancement.


We help develop all of these skills and more while fostering a huge love for learning in our preschool.