Becoming Kindergarten Ready!
Within kindergarten is where children will learn to read and write. The transition into kindergarten is made easier when children enter the classroom having well-developed preschool skills: being ready academically, socially, and physically. In this blog post, developmental milestones achieved by ages 4, 5 and 6 will discussed.
The Developmental Progression of Fine Motor Skills:
- By 4 years:
- Builds tower of nine small blocks
- Can copy block designs of up to 6 blocks
- Tracing on thick lines
- Threading a sequence of small beads onto string
- Uses non-dominant hand to assist and stabilize the use of objects
- By 5 years:
- Colors within the lines
- Pastes and glues appropriately
- Can draw basic pictures
- Copying a 9-block model
- Can complete an 8 to 12 piece interlocking puzzle
The Developmental Progression of Written Language and Handwriting Skills:
- By 4 years old:
- Copies prewriting lines of vertical, horizontal, and circle shapes
- Begins to imitate a cross shape
- Static tripod grasp begins to develop
- Learns left to right progression of print
- Knows some letter names and can identify 10 (more commonly those letters that are in their name)
- By 5 years old:
- Can draw a person with at least 3 different body parts
- Has mastery of pre-writing shapes ( -, |, O, +, /, square, \, X, triangle)
- Can connect a series of dots spaces ½ inch apart
- Can write numbers 1 through 5
- Can write their name
- Learns that letters have sounds
- Static tripod or quadruped grasp continues to develop
- By 6 years old:
- Learns all letter names and letter sounds for consonants
- Knows all numbers
- Can match letters to sounds
- Learns some words by sight
- Functional and effective grasp developed
- Hand dominance continues to develop
- Can draw a person with 6 or more body parts
- Can name most uppercase letters but not all lowercase
The Developmental Progression of Scissor Skills:
- By 2 years of age: can make one snip at a time
- By 3 years of age: can snip forward along a line (this is a non-continuous motion)
- By 4 years of age:
- Can cut 6 inches along a straight line without assistance, staying within ¼ inch of the line
- Can cut 6 inches along a curved line without assistance, staying within ¼ inch of the line
- Can cut out a circle of at least 6 inches in diameter without assistance, staying within ½ inch of the line
- By 5 years of age:
- Can cut out a square at least 3 inches wide without assistance, staying within ½ inch of the line
- Can cut out a triangle at least 3 inches wide without assistance, staying within ½ inch of the line
Developmental Progression of Gross Motor Skills:
- By 4 years of age:
- Can stand on one foot for up to 5 seconds
- Throws a ball overarm
- Catches a ball that has been bounced
- Jumps over an object and lands with both feet together
- By 5 years of age:
- Can skip forward after demonstration
- Hangs from a bar for at least 5 seconds
- Catches a small ball using hands only
- By 6 years of age:
- Able to walk on a balance bean
- Demonstrates mature throwing and catching patterns
- Refined/mature jumping skills
Developmental Progression of Sound Awareness Skills:
- By 5 years of age:
- Recognizes/produces words with the same beginning sound (cat – cup)
- Clapping/counting syllables in words (computer à com-pu-ter)
- By 6 years of age:
- Able to recognize words that rhyme and determine the odd word out
- Can identify the first sound in a word
- Can identify the last sound in a word
Developmental Progression of Receptive and Expressive Language Skills:
- By 4 years of age:
- Follows 3-part instructions (i.e., point to the monkey, the dog, and the pig)
- Understand longer, more complex sentences
- Uses nearly 1,500 words
- Understands positions: bottom; behind; first; near; on; off; in; out; up; down; under; top; open; shut
- By 5 years of age:
- Can follow the meaning of others’ conversations
- Can generally understand color and shape words
- Can sort objects into simple categories (i.e. food, animals, colors)
- By 6 years of age:
- Follows multi-step instructions
- Uses imaginative language in play
Developmental Progression of Social Skills/Play Skills:
- By 4 years of age:
- Plays beside other children
- Treating dolls as if they are alive
- Using symbols in their play
- Taking turns with other children
- Playing in groups of children (2 to 3)
- Begin to talk about their feelings
- By 5 years of age:
- Playing with other children with shared aims within play
- Playing imaginatively (dress up, cooking, etc.)
- Engaging in games with simple rules (hide and seek, etc.)
- By 6 years of age:
- Engaging in play which includes themes never personally experienced (going to space)
- Negotiating during play
- Engages in well-organized play
Development of Self-Care:
Developmental Progression of Safety-Awareness:
- By 4 years of age:
- Understands common dangers of hot objects, stairs, and glass
Developmental Progression of Self-Feeding:
- By 3 years of age:
- Can use a fork to piece soft foods and bring to mouth
- Can wipe mouth with napkin when given reminders
- By 4 years of age:
- Can swallow food in mouth before taking another bite
- Refills a cup with some spilling
- Can open several different kinds of food containers without assistance (juice with straw, snack bag)
- Tolerates a range of different textured foods
- By 5 years of age:
- Outs appropriate amount of food in mouth and can chew with lips closed
Developmental Progression of Dressing Skills:
- By 3 years of age:
- Able to put on a t-shirt with a little help
- Able to put on shoes, although right/left orientation may be incorrect
- Able to pull down simple clothing (pants with elastic waist band) independently
- Can button large front buttons
- Able to zip and unzip a jacket if the shank is already connected
- By 3.5 years of age:
- Able to unzip a jacket and separate the shank
- Able to find the front side of clothing and dress themselves with supervision
- By 4 years of age:
- Able to insert the shank together to zip up a jacket
- By 5 years of age:
- Able to dress independently
- By 6 years of age:
- Can tie shoes with practice
