Pre-K Skills for School Readiness
Though all children develop and learn differently, this is a guide that shows
what children need to be successful in kindergarten
Health and Physical Development: 
-  uses a pencil or crayon to draw or copy and tries some letters 
-  has independent restroom and hygiene skills -- zips, buttons, ties, washes hands, and brushes teeth
 - uses tools to color, cut, and paste
 - demonstrates left to right progression
 - shows sense of responsibility and keeps up with belongings
 - gets at least 10 hours of sleep per night, and health needs met
 - has plenty of opportunity to run, skip, jump, hop, and climb

Social and Emotional Development:
 - listens to, understands, and follows simple 2-3 step directions
 - understands conversation – takes turns talking
 - understands personal space – keeps hands and feet to oneself
 - can play/work in a group – shares, takes turns, and uses self control
 - expresses a range of emotions, needs, wants, and feelings

Approaches Toward Learning:
 - is curious – asks questions
 - can stay with a self-chosen activity for 15 minutes
 - can stay with a teacher-directed activity for 10 minutes
 - uses a variety of strategies to problem-solve while learning
 - initiates activities in the classroom

Language Development, Communication, General Knowledge:
 - speaks in complete sentences
 - tells first and last name, age and birthday, and recognizes first name printed
 - knows parent’s real first and last name, street address, and phone number
 - shows awareness of the connection between letters and sounds
 - identifies front of a book and looks at print from left to right
 - listens to a story and can talk about it, answer questions
 - tries “writing” to describe ideas and asks adults to write their stories
 - recognizes and understands commonly used words (mom, stop, dog, the, dad), sings some songs, and recites some simple rhymes
 - recognizes colors and shapes (6 basic colors, 5 basic shapes)
(red, blue, green, yellow, white, black ---- circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval)
 - counts to 10 and recognizes numbers 1 - 5

Developed by the School Readiness Transition Teams
Alabama Partnership