It isn’t always easy for parents to determine if their youngsters
are ready to start school. Parents often worry about their children falling
behind the rest of the class, being too small for sports, or being too
young to meet ever-increasing academic standards. While it is important
for a child to have basic academic skills, the development of the whole
child should be considered when determining if he or she is ready to start
kindergarten. To help your child get ready for school, consider transitioning
him or her out of child care and into a
Children tend to do well in kindergarten when they have already learned
how to listen to adults and follow simple directions. You shouldn’t
expect your child to display perfect behavior all the time. But he or
she does need to be able to follow classroom rules and other instructions.
The younger the child, the shorter the attention span generally is. Your
youngster doesn’t need to have the attention span necessary to listen
to an hours-long lecture. However, he or she should
display a general interest in learning. If your child enjoys listening to stories or music, he or she may be
ready for kindergarten.
Another benefit of pre-kindergarten is that it supports a child’s
socio-emotional development. Incoming kindergarteners should possess basic
social skills, such as the ability to cooperate with classmates, take
turns, and share items. Your child should also have a basic understanding
of peaceful conflict resolution.
Physical development is often overlooked when considering kindergarten
readiness, yet it’s just as important as cognitive development.
Incoming kindergarteners should be able to grasp a pencil and use child-safe
scissors, which involve fine motor skills. Additionally, kindergarteners
are expected to know when it’s time to use the bathroom and to be
able to do so by themselves.
Children’s Learning Adventure offers educational and child care programs
for kids from infancy through the early school years. If your child isn’t
yet ready for kindergarten, consider enrolling him or her in our preschool
program, which provides a gentle transition to our kindergarten program.
For more information about pre-kindergarten in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia,
Indiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, or Texas, call our child care centers at (888) 674-1487.