Supporting Your Child's Learning in Kindergarten
Source: Utah State Board of Education 2021
This PDF guide was developed by the state of Utah in order to provide families with support as their child progresses through kindergarten. It focuses on a child's development in three areas: Motor skills, social and emotional learning skills, and academic skills. Refer to the guide below for ideas on how to support your child as they develop skills in each of these three areas.
things_a_kindergartener_should_be_able_to_do.pdf | |
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MOTOR SKILLS: Increasing Strength and Confidence
Examples of what your child should be able to do with their large muscles...
- Stand/hop on one foot
- Kick a ball at a target
- Catch a bounced ball with hands
- Jump over an object and land with both feet together
Examples of what your child should be able to do with their small muscles...
- Cut out simple shapes
- Write name
- Draw basic pictures
- Trace lines with their fingers
- Hold a pencil or pen properly
- Color within lines
- Dress and undress independently
- Tie shoes
- Speak understandably
SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL SKILLS: Increasing Opportunities for Success in School and in Life
Examples of what your child should be able to do...
- Build self-awareness—should recognize feelings and manage anger.
- Understand others—should develop empathy and take the perspective of others.
- Understand himself / herself—should handle emotions, set goals, and deal with obstacles.
- Make responsible decisions and follow through—should consider long-term consequences of his/her actions for themselves and others.
- Build healthy relationships—should say no to negative peer pressure and work to resolve conflicts constructively
Everyday activities to support learning...
- Develop emotional awareness—teach your child different emotions and how to appropriately express those emotions. Talk with your child about their emotions and model your own emotional awareness, such as naming emotions and how you express and manage emotions. Give your child strategies for what they can do to be in charge of their emotions.
- Give responsibilities—assign simple tasks to help build your child’s sense of self-worth.
- Practice problem-solving skills—allow your child to work through problems on their own before jumping in to help.
- Encourage positive self-talk—model for your child how to think positively.
- Practice mindfulness—teach your child how to focus, calm down, and relax.
- Encourage kindness—complete random acts of kindness with your child to allow them to see how their actions may affect others.
- Check-in daily—ask your child how they are feeling and provide opportunities to talk about how to manage emotions.
- Discuss empathy—describe empathy as the ability to consider how others think and feel and allows one to respond appropriately. Empathy is developed in young children through trusted relationships and structured settings.
- Develop cultural awareness—talk to your child about their cultural background(s) and cultural practices. Encourage them to actively learn, share, and connect with others from different cultural backgrounds to help build shared understanding, respect, and appreciation of various cultures.
- Get curious—praise your child’s curiosity. Ask them questions, share your thoughts and ideas, and engage in conversations the best you can. Encourage them to find answers on their own. Teach them to use curiosity as a way of learning in the classroom and connecting with others.
ACADEMIC SKILLS: Building a Solid Foundation in Order to be Successful in Later School Years
Examples of what your child should be able to do in MATH...
- Count to 100 by ones and tens
- Read and write numbers 0 to 20
- Count objects to tell how many
- Compare numbers and sets of objects
- Correctly name shapes
- Identify flat shapes from solid shapes
- Use simple shapes to form larger shapes
- Compare objects to see which is shorter, longer, taller, bigger, etc.
- Understand that teen numbers are made up of a group of ten and then some more.
- Add and subtract within 1
- Recognize and produce rhyming words
- Name all upper and lowercase letters and their sounds
- Isolate and pronounce beginning, middle, and ending sounds of a three-letter word
- Add or substitute sounds in one syllable words
- Read common high-frequency words (words that occur often in print)
- Ask and answer questions
- Read appropriate text
- Write a complete sentence