How Much Should by Daughter Know by the Time She Enters Kindergarten?

She is doing great. There are a few that can read by now, but not many. A lot of the kids won't even know their alphabet. The first half of the year will be totally a review for her. Reading really doesn't even begin until after Christmas.

She sounds totally fine. You could teach her to read if you wanted to, but if not, kindergarten will teach her. She's not behind and she's not ahead. She's perfect.

If you want to teach her, get something at a learning store with all the individual letters on it. Don't say "this is kay and this is gee". Call them by their sounds, so she gets it when she sees a "g", she doesn't say "gee", she says "guh". It's relatively easy. Good luck!

Hi A.,
my name is T., i teach pre-school and have for the last 6 years. My daughter also misses the public school deadline by only 3 weeks. I think your daughter sounds like she knows plenty to be successful in kindergarten. As i was teaching kids in pre-school, my boss always gave us an outline to gage the kids by. In few words it says:
*have a positive learning attitude
*CAre about others, by sharing and cooperating
*Take care of own restrrom needs
*Understand basick concepts such as:phonological awareness,vocabulary, reasoning, problem solving skills and sorting and classifying objects.

* know left had from the right
*write first name using lower case letters (except the first letter)
*Identify the 8 basic colors and color words
*Recognize numbers 1-20
Cut straight and curved lines with scissors
*put together a simple puzzle
*Rhyme words and identify words that rhyme
*Complete descriptive statements such as:fire is ____. ice is _____.
*repeat a series of at least 4 numbers in order without practice.
8Give a description of simple words such as wind, apple, mother,father, etc.

I hope this gives you a better idea of what you want to know. Have fun with your daughter reading. It sure is amazing how fast they learn!
see you later,
T.

Last year my daughter missed the cut off date by a month so she too is one of the older ones in the class. Months before she started school I found a great website to help her learn what sounds each letter makes. It also has different levels of reading and the stories are interactive (my now 4 year old figured that one out.)The website is: www.starfall.com Check it out and let your daughter spend a few minutes a day on it. It's ok if she is reading some when she begins school. The important thing is to teach her the LOVE of reading! It should be fun - not a chore!
Also, I once had a Kindergarten teacher say they would like the children to be able to write their names correctly - making the first letter upper case and the rest lower case.

I wouldn't worry too much about reading. It sounds like your daughter is on the right path. Most kindergarten classes want the children to know their numbers up to 10-20, the alphabet and how to write their first name. They will eventually also want the children to know how to tie their shoes. Most Kindergarten classes will have a parent orientation night a couple months before classes begin. They will let you know what their expectations are for children entering Kindergarten. You may want to reach out to the school your daughter will be attending to make sure they have something like that lined up.

It sounds like she is right on track. But if you want her to have an edge up I would have her work on writing her name with uppercase for the beginning and lowercase for the rest of the letters. I would also have her practice the sound of the letters as well as saying the letters this will give her an advantage when they start reading. In our elementary school after they learn their letter names and sounds then they start learning how to read word families. ie. an, can, fan, tan, ran, etc or at, cat, sat, bat, rat,etc. These are basic words that you can sound out using phonics. They then learn some basic sight words like the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that and it.

I wouldn't worry too much though because they will review all of these things and teach them in kindergarten.

They learn to read and write in kindergarten, she sounds like she is right on track and ready to go!

Hi A., from what you described of your daughter, she is most likely ready for kindergarten. While some kids can read by the time they enter school, most are pre-readers or emergent readers. My son was only 5 yrs and 1 month when he entered kinder. He was an emerging reader and he did just fine academically and socially in kindergarten.

This literacy guide for kids from pre-k to 1st grade might help you. It gives you a list of skill sets and what strategies you can use to help her along in her literacy.

http://www.bnkst.edu/literacyguide/early2.html

We just had a luncheon with our preshool class and the teacher said most of the stuff you stated. She also said our teacher likes them to be able to write their names and recognize the letters in their name when written in other places. Soulds like your daughter is doing great... oh yea cutting with sissors is helpful for the K teacher.

Hi A.,
It sounds like your daughter has the necessary academic skills to prepare her for kindergarten. Another important aspect to keep in mind is lifeskills. Can she get on/off her shoes and boots and jacket? Can she open up all her snacks (ziplock baggies, Gogurts, etc.)? Listening skills are also critical.

many children can't read before they start kindergarten, but most 4-5 years olds are capable of sounding out small words (3-4 letters). in my preschool it is my goal for my 4-5 year olds to be able to sound out 3 letter words and have at least five site words memorized. get some early reader books, they are a great starter, you usually fidn them in places like walmart or target. Step in Reading books are really good and have books based on disney movies. get the step 1 books and read them with your child, letting her sound out the words. at first she will most likely be able to make all the sounds but may not understand how to string the sounds together. let her just make the sounds and you slowly string the sounds together while she listens. it will take practice, but once she understands the idea she will start to do it herself. the sight words most kindergarten teachers start with are A, At, To, Be, etc, the articles and conjunctions you idnd in every book. you don't need to push your daughter to read, but giving her a head start if she is ready will make the transition to kindergarten much easier.

I sent my first two girls to head start. That was helpful in teaching them some of the beginning skills for school, but sometimes the more kids know before they go to school the more bored they will be. My neighbors' son went to preschool and learned a lot. By the time he was in kindergarten he was a real troublemaker because he already knew the stuff. Depending on your child preschool can either be a good or bad thing. Most of all it depends on the child. Good luck with your decision.

Sounds like she is on track. In daycare/preschool they should be giving you an assessment of where she is and if she is academically there. Also most public schools will test her before the school year starts to see where she is at. The main thing is if she knows most of her letters, can spell her name (not necessarily write it). They are not required to read before starting Kindergarten, during Kindergarten they learn through phonics how to get the fundamentals of reading but do not know how yet when starting (though some kids do).
She sounds like she is ready to go! I do suggest you meet with the school to see what they want to see. Kids enter Kindergarten and a ton of different levels, some have had no preschool, some have been in daycare and getting learning daily, some have been at home so it they will test her more then likely and they all kind of mesh the kids together and let them learn off each other. That is what they did at my daughters school and my son who will get starting in the fall. I have met with his Pre K teachers to see if he is ready and they gave him the go ahead. He does not know how to read yet but can start sounding things out, can write his name and all that.

It sounds to me like your daughter was just about where my daughter was when she started K this fall. She is near or at the top of her class in every subject and is receiving marks indicating that she is exceeding grade-level expectations. You are fine, she'll be fine.

She sounds like a smart little girl. Congrats, but get ready for the tears involved in sending your little one off (both hers and yours). :)

I have a kindergarten age daughter. I have found that the Leap Frog Letter Factory and Word Factory has helped my daughter learn to spell and the sounds of all the letters as well as letter recognition. These two DVDs have helped her start to read. I've also used the "I Can Read" Biscuit books that I ordered from Scholastic. Here is also a website that you can use to help your child. It is starfall.com. I've found it to be extremely helpful.

Good luck. It is an exciting time watching your children learn and grow and become a confident person.

I am a kindergarten teacher. Kindergarten has changed drastically over the years, as many kiddos are coming from pre-school settings. Coming into Kindergarten your child should recognize her name and know how to write her name, the letters and sounds of 1/2 the alphabet, counting and recognizing the numbers to 10, and rhyming words, and colors. She doesn't need to know how to read, she will learn that in Kinder. It sounds like your daughter is ready.

Speaking as a former kindergarten teacher, I know that most kids don't read a whole lot before they enter kindergarten. The END of the year curriculum standards state that they should be able to decode simple CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant, like cat dog big hot etc) and about 25 high frequency words. So really, they don't need to know all of that at the beginning of the year. (I taught in a high risk area and we were extatic if kids could recognize their name and know half the alphabet). Colors and shapes are also helpful, and so are numbers. She's definitely on track.

If you want to do anything else to help her get a jump start, read to her every day (you probably do). Put your finger under the words as you read and use a hop (instead of a slide) from word to word. Play games with sounds in words, especially beginning sounds (not identifying the letter, focus on the sound). And start teaching her the sounds of the letters. For now, use just short vowel sounds (a makes the sound at the beginning of apple, not the sound at the beginning of angel) and the hard c and g sounds (like in cookie and girl).

Really, though, her social development is as important as her academic. A big part of kindergarten is learning how to work in a group, follow the teachers directions, get along well with others, and listen and respond appropriately. She probably got a lot of that in preschool already.