What children should be able to do be the end of kindergarten.
The following is a list of some accomplishments that you can expect of your child by the end of kindergarten. This list is based on research in the fields of reading, early childhood education, and child development. Remember, though, that children don't develop and learn at the same pace and in the same way. Your child may be more advanced or need more help than others in her age group. You are, of course, the best judge of your child's abilities and need. You should take the accomplishments as guidelines and not as hard-and-fast rules.
Books and Print
By the end of kindergarten, a child...
- Knows the parts of a book and how books are held and read
- Identifies a book's title and understands what authors and illustrators do
- Follows print from left to right and from top to bottom of a page when stories are read aloud
- Understands the relationship between print an pictures
- Understands that the message of most books is in the print and not the picture
The Alphabet
By the end of kindergarten, a child...
- Recognizes the shapes and names of all the letters in the alphabet (both uppercase and lowercase letters).
- Writes all of the letters (uppercase and lowercase) without copying
Sounds in Spoken Language
By the end of kindergarten, a child...
- Understands that spoken words are made up of sounds
- Recognizes and makes rhymes
- Knows sounds of all the letters in the alphabet
- Puts together, or blends, spoken sounds into simple words
Phonics and Word Recognition
By the end of kindergarten, a child...
- Knows a number of letter-sound relationships
- Understands that the order of letters in a written word represents the order of sounds in a spoken word
- Recognizes some common words on sight (high frequency words) a, and, the, can, etc.
Reading
By the end of kindergarten, a child...
- Listens to books read aloud
- Asks and answers questions about stories
- Uses what he already knows to help him understand a story
- Predicts what will happen in a story based on pictures or information in the story
- Retells and /or acts out stories
- Knows the difference between "made-up" (fiction) and "real" (nonfiction) books and the difference between stories and
poems
- Reads simple beginning reader stories
Spelling and Writing
By the end of kindergarten, a child...
- Uses phonemic awareness and letter knowledge to spell and write words
- Begins to spell some words correctly
- Writes his own first and last name and the first names of some friends, classmates, or family members
- Writes letters and words as they are said to her
Vocabulary and knowledge of the world
By the end of kindergarten, a child...
- Plays with and is curious about words and language
- Uses new words in her own speech
- Knows and uses words that are important to school work, such as the names for colors, shapes, and numbers
- Knows and uses words that are important to daily life, such as street names and addresses an names for community
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