The Unspeakable Hiatus

I had a hard time starting by blog because I didn't want it to be something I started and then quit. But like many others, life got unbelievably busy with 3 active children- one who had a few health problems and sleep issues in his first year, a new job, and a few more hats to wear. What is even more difficult than stopping and having so much to say is finding a good time to start back up. So here we go, now is the time to give it a go again...
Here in Colorado, it is open enrollment time, re enrollment time, lottery time and kindergarten registration time. It used to be easy, you would send your child to preschool where they would learn all of the skills necessary to enter kindergarten and your child would go to the school in your neighborhood.
Now we have so many choices. You can pick the school you want and even enroll in several (your not supposed to but many do). You can change your mind when ever you want to and even change schools every year or when you no longer like your child's teacher because they handled a situation differently than you did. My advice in making these choices and changing your mind...Always have your child's best interest in mind and go with your gut feeling.
Now on to kindergarten. In my district we have adopted the new academic standards which ar much more rigorous and have much higher expectations. The standards were back filled into the grade levels. They were created to ensure that every graduating senior would be ready for Colorado. Starting with those skills, each grade level was back filled with certain outcomes all the way down to kindergarten. It may not make sense but this is what it is. Even if your child goes to your district preschool they may not be properly prepared for kindergarten. While all kindergartners are at different abilities, there are certain things that can be looked at and worked on to better prepare your child.
Below is a Kindergarten Readiness Checklist. This is a teacher's wish list. If Kindergartners come in with this knowledge, they will have the building blocks to soar in Kindergarten. If you have a child preparing for Kindergarten in the fall, it would be great to work on these skills over the summer!
Social and Emotional
Pay attention for 10-15 minutes to adult-directed tasks
Understand behaviors have consequences-both positive and negative
Show understanding of general times of day
Share with others and take turns
Follow rules
Recognize authority
Control oneself
Willingness to communicate/Respond to questions
Know how to win and lose appropriately
Follow 2-3 step directions
Persevere on task asked of them

Literacy
Sit and Listen to stories without interrupting
Recognize and identify rhyming words
Talk in complete sentences of 5-6 words
Identify the beginning sounds of some words
Identify some lowercase alphabet letters in random order (10-12)
Identify some sounds (5-7)
Recognize some environmental words (stop)
Write their name
Draw a representational picture

Math
Trace basic shapes
Sort similar objects by color, size, shape, and name
Recognize groups of one, two, three, and five objects
Count to 10
Recognize numbers 1-10

Motor Skills
Cut with scissors
Grip a writing utensil properly
Bounce a ball
Gallop around the room
Button shirts, pants, and zip up zippers