McDowell County Schools…Are you ready for Kindergarten?

The kindergarten readiness checklist assesses children in the areas of social skills, academic/cognitive skills, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills. Parents and/or caregivers can use this checklist to assess a child’s potential readiness for Kindergarten. If you have questions please contact your child’s school.

Social Skills / Yes / Not Yet
Speaks clearly so an adult can understand him/her-Can an adult other than the primary caregiver understand what the child is trying to express?
Plays with other children-Does the child interact with other children as opposed to spending of his/her time alone?
Shares and waits his/her turn-In social play and adult directed activities, does the child wait his/her turn?
Speaks in complete sentences-Does the child express a complete thought rather than utter one word commands for gestures without words?
Follows simple directions- Instead of throwing, hitting, or punching, does your child express anger verbally? “No, I don’t like that” or “No, I didn’t do that.”
Goes to the restroom with minimal assistance-Can the child go the restroom by himself/herself with only clothing assistance. (fastening snaps, etc)
Can tell a story or share an experience-Can a child retell about a story or event.
Can spend an extended time away from mother and father/caregiver-Can the child separate from you and recover from any anxiety he/she has in a limited period of time?
Academic/Cognitive Skills
Recognizes squares, circles, triangles, and rectangles
(3 of 4)-When the child is asked to pick out the shapes (show me a triangle), he/she can recognize at least 3 out of the 4.
Can sort items by color-Can the child successfully respond to “Put the objects that are the same color together”?
Can count 1 to 10-Can the child count to 10 without assistance?
Can count a group of objects to 5-Can he/she touch and count 5 objects?
Recognizes at least 5 colors-When the child sees the color, can he/she call it by name? (any 5 colors)
Tries to write his/her name-Can the child write some of the letters of his/her name? Prefer that only the first letter of the name is capitalized.
Can recognize his/her name-Does the child recognize his/her name when seen in written form?
Can recognize and name any 6 letters of alphabet-Can the child point to and recognize any 6 letters of the alphabet?
Can identify his/her body parts-When you point to arms, legs, head, nose, eyes, can the child name the body part?
Knows his/her full name-Can the child say his/her full name when asked? (first, middle, last)
Knows his/her age-Can the child tell you how old he/she is?
Knows his/her address and telephone number-Can the child tell you his/her street name and some numbers of his/her telephone number?
Knows his/her mother, father, and/or caregiver’s names-Can the child give the first and last name of one of these? Ex. Betty Jones
Fine Motor Skills
Cuts with scissors-Can the child cut paper with scissors?
Holds a crayon or pencil properly-Can the child hold the crayon/pencil in a writing position rather than clinched fist?
Gross Motor Skills
Runs and jumps-Is the child able to run and jump?
Walks backwards-Can the child reasonably walk at least 4 steps backwards?
Walks up and down steps-Can the child walk rather than sit and slide up and down steps?
Total

Total “Yes” Responses: 1-15- A child may require extra support to be successful in Kindergarten. 16-27- Child displays adequate Kindergarten readiness skills