Did you know there are 98 Common Core ACADEMIC standards taught in Kindergarten?
NINETY-EIGHT ACADEMIC Standards that Kindergarten teachers must teach 20+ five year olds. 180 school days in the year.
I shared a post that lists all of the ACADEMIC “Kindergarten Readiness” skills that our public education system assumes every Kindergarten student has mastered when they enter school.
But for this post, I wanted to hear from THE ACTUAL KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS THEMSELVES.
What do THEY need kids to know before entering Kindergarten?
I have created a printable two page Kindergarten Readiness checklist for you to download!
One page includes every academic skill and the second page includes every life skill a Kindergartener should have before entering school. Download it here!
WHAT OUR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS SAY
I reached out to Kindergarten teachers from ALL across the United States.
This is the question I asked:
“WHAT ARE THE SKILLS THAT YOU WISH KIDS KNEW WHEN THEY ENTER KINDERGARTEN ON DAY ONE? WHAT SKILLS DO YOU SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON WITH SOME STUDENTS THAT LIMIT YOUR TIME WITH THE REST OF THE CLASS?”
I received responses from 73 teachers. Of the 73 responses, only 9 of them were academic.
The other 64 responses were skills that were so basic, yet so easy to forget about teaching your child.
NON-ACADEMIC SKILLS KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS WISH KIDS KNEW BEFORE STARTING SCHOOL
I compiled the responses that I received from the Kindergarten teachers and placed them into categories below.
BATHROOM SKILLS
- Flush after using the bathroom
- How to use a urinal without having to pull pants all the way down
- Wipe themselves
- Wash their hands
- Use a multi stall bathroom- shutting the door, locking it, undressing and dressing again
- Potty trained and bathroom independent
- How to undo their own clothing and dress again
LUNCH SKILLS
- How to open a carton of milk
- Open a bag of chips
- Open string cheese
- Clean up after themselves
- Put a lunchbox in a full size backpack (seems basic, but imagine for 25 kids)
- If they have a lunchbox that day and what it looks like
- What they need to throw away vs keep in their lunch (reusable items vs disposable)
- How to open everything inside their lunchbox
- Feed themselves
CLOTHING
- How to zip and unzip
- button/snap/zip/tie
- Tie shoes- tip: buy these instead
- Put on a jacket/belt/shoes
- Keep their clothes on (I already sense that this will be something my child will NOT comply with…)
ATTENTION AND FOCUS
- Follow basic directions
- Focus
- Sit and listen to a story
- Follow one step directions
- Follow a 2 step direction
- Sitting still for short amounts of time
BASIC INTERACTION
- Being a good sport
- Respect, respect, respect
- Respectfully answer an adult
- How to respond when their name is called
- Wait their turn
- Take turns
- Share
- Tattle and telling
- Be kind to others
CLASSROOM 101
- Sit in a chair
- Keep hands to self
- How to pack their backpack
- Blow their nose
- Positional words
- Non-preferred tasks- WE MUST ALLOW OUR KIDS TO BE BORED SOMETIMES
FAMILY INFORMATION
- Their first and last name
- Their parents name
- Phone number
PENCILS, SCISSORS, CRAYONS, ETC.
- Basic fine motor skills
- How to hold a pencil
- How to use crayons
- How to hold scissors
- Roll play dough
PICTURE YOURSELF IN THIS KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOM
You are a Kindergarten teacher with TWENTY students in your class.
Today, you will be teaching the standard “Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text” (this is ONE of the 98 you are held accountable for)
So, your goal is to show each student strategies for figuring out what different words mean in a story.
“Okay class, let’s all push in our chairs and quietly sit on our carpet spot to listen to a story!” (2 step direction)
BUT..
- 5 students haven’t yet learned how to listen to a direction and follow through, so they are still at their seats. You individually get each of them to their spot.
- Johnny has never had to sit and listen to a story until he got to Kindergarten, so he is rolling on the ground.
- Molly needs to use the restroom, but she doesn’t know how to button her pants or wipe herself, so you must pause the story to help her.
You return to read the story, but…
- Jane has a runny nose, and she hasn’t figured out how to blow her nose independently, so you pause to hold the tissue for her.
- She also can’t wash her hands on her own, so you go help her with that.
When you get back to the carpet, you realize you have 20 minutes until lunch- just enough time to read the story.
BUT, you can’t because-
- 7 students don’t know if they have a lunchbox or not, and they don’t know how to unzip and zip their backpacks- so you individually help each child.
- And don’t forget to be sure all 25 students wash their hands– 9 of your students haven’t learned to do it on their own.
Maybe tomorrow you’ll get to read that story..
MY TAKEAWAY AS A MOM
It was so eye opening to read the responses I received from many Kindergarten teachers when I asked them what they wished students would know before entering Kindergarten.
I’m an elementary teacher AND a toddler mom, yet SO many of these skills are ones that I probably would have overlooked.
I probably never would have thought to teach my child how to open his string cheese- it’s much easier for me to do it for him.
Is it really that important? Come on, now.
YES. YES IT IS.
Because in a lunchroom with 20 minutes to eat and 100 Kindergarteners needing their string cheese opened + only 2 adults to assist, my child will be the one that sits there the entire 20 minutes waiting on an adult to make it over to his string cheese, that he won’t think to eat the other food while he waits.
So yes, thank you kindergarten teachers for reminding me of such simple yet important skills. I get it now.
If EVERY parent realized the importance of teaching their kiddo these non-academic skills, we would allow teachers SO MUCH MORE TIME to teach those 98 academic standards.
I have created a printable two page Kindergarten Readiness checklist for you to download!
One page includes every academic skill and the second page includes every life skill a Kindergartener should have before entering school. Download it here!
