https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 08 May 2026 02:47:11 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2913067 Sun, 29 Mar 2020 16:39:13 +0000 Elizabear 2913067@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@macintosh: I'm not sure a public school would allow that. You can however ask for an evaluation to see if he qualifies for a gifted program. I would say in any class 1/3 of the class comes in very prepared, a couple maybe reading, 1/2 know some of the skills and the rest make me want to ask the parents what have you been doing for the last 5 years? Teachers able to differentiate for all levels so I won't worry about that too much. The real challenge for me as a teacher is the amount of time I spend on a couple of kids who require so much attention behaviorally either though a medical diagnose or bad parenting. I am not complaining and I do believe in what I do; I just see the challenges that exist in public schools. Some kids need more of me leaving less for the kids who come from great families and it kills me. For that reason, I've decided to send my daughter who will be entering kindergarten next year to private school. Mostly because she will entered skilled and I want her to be in class with kids who come from families that value education. Public school teachers will meet needs though differentiation and know how to work with kids who learn skills and concepts quickly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2913065 Sun, 29 Mar 2020 14:40:50 +0000 crazydoglady 2913065@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Elizabear: Thank you! This is helpful! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2913062 Sun, 29 Mar 2020 13:52:36 +0000 macintosh 2913062@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Elizabear: Thanks for this! I’m wondering what you think about a child skipping Kinder. DS is pretty close to meeting the kinder goals you stated above and he turns 5 next month. The more I see how fast he learns the more I think he may get bored 😬 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2913017 Sat, 28 Mar 2020 14:32:21 +0000 Elizabear 2913017@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hello! </p> <p> K teacher for 11 years before this one in 2nd grade.</p> <p>The kids who are most successful :<br /> Socially:<br /> Can wait for turn<br /> Keep hands and feel to self<br /> Handle disappointment/ not getting their way<br /> Can follow and understand two step oral directions<br /> Can open snacks<br /> Take turns<br /> Understand that following directions is not optional<br /> Cut<br /> Can toilet independently (a k teacher will not help a child in the bathroom) </p> <p>Academically:</p> <p>Recognize all capital and lowercase letters<br /> Can Rhyme<br /> Knows how to hold a book, turn pages<br /> Can count to 10 and recognize numbers 0-10</p> <p>Of course, teachers will help your child form wherever your child's skills but having that foundation will set your child up for success.</p> <p>The goals of kindergarten in my school are to:</p> <p>Read CVC words<br /> Memorize 90 High Frequency Words (yes, 90)<br /> Identify character, setting, and sequence events from listening to a story<br /> Read and write numbers to 100<br /> Count to 100 by 1s, 5s, 10s<br /> Count by 2s to 30<br /> Identify 4 basic shapes - circle, square, triangle, rectangle<br /> Compose and decompose numbers to 10 </p> <p>I would say most important is listening skills and cooperation. All kids learn more when kids are on task and cooperative and lots of learning is lost when a teacher is addressing behavior issues. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912930 Thu, 26 Mar 2020 23:00:08 +0000 poppygirl15 2912930@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just wanted to chime in that in my DD’s kindergarten they covered a letter a week. So, based off of where your son is now, I’d say he’s fine academically. :happy: I’d spend this time working on social/emotional growth. Maybe practice sitting in your place during circle time? Listening to and following directions? Also, my DD was the baby of her class and her teachers accounted for that when she got tired out by writing a bunch of letters that kids a year older had no problem doing. All this is to say, I think he’ll do great! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912748 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:17:22 +0000 Petitduck 2912748@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@crazydoglady: I used to! Sounds like he’s in great shape. It can be surprising how little kids know and can do when they start school. And the range of ages and knowledge is huge. The other thing that often makes a difference is whether or not kids have been in group settings with other kids and/or organized childcare before they started school. I found that kids who had some experience with being away from their parents were better off as it wasn’t such a shock to their system. </p> <p> They catch on really quickly and thrive on the routine of school usually. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912747 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:12:30 +0000 MamaCate 2912747@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@crazydoglady: I agree with all these as the parent of a 2nd grader and rising K.</p> <p>But I also want to mention social-emotional skills like:<br /> -waiting your turn<br /> -raising your hand before you talk<br /> -sitting in circle time<br /> -solving problems with words and then a teacher vs. with hitting or kicking<br /> -having some basic coping skills to manage when things don’t go your way</p> <p>A lot of these are obviously best practiced in a group but I find Daniel tiger a nice resource to reinforce some of this (“when a friend doesn’t want to play with you, you can find something else to do”, etc) so that might be a resource for now? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912740 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 18:51:30 +0000 charm55 2912740@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As a primary literary lead for our district, I am really happy if an incoming Kindergarten student can:</p> <p>-Print their name (if you can get them to do first letter uppercase then other letters lowercase even better - ie: Anna instead of ANNA)<br /> -Identify their name<br /> -Identify at least 10 letters (out of 52 total uppercase and lowercase).<br /> -Can identify the front and back of a book and open to the beginning of the story<br /> -Identify rhyming words (bonus if they can generate rhyming words)<br /> -Show engagement/stamina during a picture book read aloud </p> <p>We get many many children who have had no exposure to any of this and we work with them to build these skills quickly. Some kids come in knowing much more. So - there is a very wide area of readiness! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912739 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 18:36:39 +0000 MrsSRS 2912739@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with @peaches1038 on the busytoddler post. Also, maybe order the BOB books. You can't beat them for early reading work. A lot of school districts these days expect kindies to come in reading, unfortunately. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912729 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 16:35:06 +0000 peaches1038 2912729@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In Washington you can look up the standards for kindy readiness. Also @busytoddler on IG has a whole series about kindy readiness that I found helpful.</p> <p><a href="https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/wakids/pubdocs/gold_hndt_objectives.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/wakids/pubdocs/gold_hndt_objectives.pdf</a></p> <p>[attach=1712/20/q7o1ai.277x600.DDC65BB9-F35B-4FD5-9A90-A757F03C2F4D.png] </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912716 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 15:18:45 +0000 caitcat 2912716@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ooh, I’ll follow along too. Our preschool just closed for the rest of the year, and after a few days of trying to do anything vaguely academic with C, I’m more grateful than ever for all the stuff her preschool teachers did with her! </p> <p>Thanks for these ideas of what to prioritize. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912708 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 14:55:07 +0000 Bluemasonjar 2912708@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following! This is reassuring and also helps me know where to focus our efforts right now. We've done lots of practicing writing our letters and especially his name. Sounds like I need to keep working on number recognition for the double digits and scissors as DS often holds them incorrectly and just hacks away at the paper lol </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912705 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 14:37:38 +0000 MeAgain 2912705@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The main things our pre-K worked on to prep for K were:<br /> Spelling name and writing it.<br /> Upper case and lower case recognition and writing<br /> Numbers 1-20 (recognition, counting to 20)<br /> Sorting (by color, shape, etc)<br /> Patterns (Using colors, shapes, objects)<br /> Scissors, how to hold a pencil, were probably the prevalent fine motor skills they worked on. </p> <p>I think those are the basics. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912703 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 14:30:22 +0000 crazydoglady 2912703@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Petitduck: Thanks! Do you teach kinder? I'm middle school so..🤷‍♀️<br /> He can use the potty by himself, can count to 100, knows his letters/colors/numbers, can write his name, knows a couple of sight words, can use a pencil, is alright (lazy) with scissors, can do some simple addition and subtraction. So, that's alright? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912702 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 14:18:53 +0000 Petitduck 2912702@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not a lot academics wise. It is helpful if you can make sure he can do use the toilet entirely solo and knows how to wash his hands, knows how to put his shoes and boots on and off solo, and his clothing (outdoor and indoor), can sort of out on his own sunscreen. If he knows all the letters and can recognize his name then that’s about all he really needs, if you want to throw in numbers 1-10 that’s great. And for more motor skills, knowing his way around a pair of scissors would be useful. Otherwise that’s it. Basically, you want to make it easier for the teachers to actually be able to teach them and help them work through social situations vs doing basic bodily care for them. Obviously we help them when they need help at school, but 23-28 kids and two adults is a lot. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-kids-really-need-to-know-before-kindergarten#post-2912700 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 14:07:50 +0000 crazydoglady 2912700@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS (4.5) is going into kindergarten next year and (due to him being one of the youngest in his grade/ socially immature/ speech delayed) were really counting on preschool to get him as prepared as possible. Now that the school year is, pretty much, canceled, I am left wondering what to do next. We have been doing those daily at home scholastic lessons but they are mostly about comprehension vs skill building. I also got him a wipeable workbook for the alphabet and numbers.<br /> My question is: what do kids REALLY need to know before kindergarten. L is a handful if not stimulated, so I don't want to do the kindergarten teacher's job. </p>