Is your child ready for kindergarten? Many parents do not realize that their child will be asked to prove their competency at basic skills upon entering kindergarten, and some may even be asked to take a readiness test. Subpar scores on that test may lead to delayed enrollment. Know your child is more than ready for kindergarten with a quality preschool program.

Pre-K programs or kindergarten readiness preschools focus on developing and nurturing required skills, and they start early. These schools are well-acquainted with working with young children ages three to four to adequately and reasonably prepare them for elementary education. Learn more about kindergarten readiness skills below.

Reading and Language Skills

Before enrolling in kindergarten, schools will expect your child to show language comprehension skills. Teachers generally ask children to understand rudimentary, two- or three-step directions, speak in full or mostly full sentences, be able to communicate basic wants and needs, and correctly identify qualifiers or comparison words, such as big, little, or small, and round, square, or oval.

Further, children may be asked to "identify some letters of the alphabet" and write his or her name, Scholastic writes. Other skills kindergarten readiness preschools teach are rhyming, a valuable tool when teaching children to read, and helping children identify how the letters of the alphabet sound.

Consider taking it one step even further. A bilingual preschool can be a boon to language development. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), bilingual children are more likely to master language skills as well as have a "reading advantage" when compared to monolingual students.

Math Skills

In their first few months of kindergarten, children will be expected to count up to 10, understand the meaning behind "more than" and "less than," identify shapes and colors, and be able to identify small groups using numbers (e.g., there are two apples).

Kindergarten readiness preschools help instill these skills and more by teaching children to add and subtract using concrete visuals, like blocks or pieces of cereal, teaching children to count, and teaching children to compare objects in real-time (e.g., one toy is bigger than the other, or one toy is red, while the other is yellow). Some programs may even include real or pretend recipes, like recipes for cookies or homemade slime, to help teach kids other mathematic principles, like measuring.

Social and Emotional Intelligence

It is instinctual for parents to want to help their children whenever and wherever they can. In order to thrive in kindergarten, however, your child will need to demonstrate a considerable amount of independence.

For example, he or she must be able to use the bathroom and wash their hands after using the bathroom without help. They must know their full name, first and last, age, and birthday. Children need to be able to put on a coat, pay attention to lessons for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, and be dropped off at school without being unduly upset.

Preschools prepare children for stretches of time away from their parents. They help foster independence as well as teach kids how to respectfully interact with their teachers and peers.

Demonstrable Gross And Fine Motor Skills

Did you know that your child will begin showing signs of being left-handed or right-handed as young as age two or three? Being able to hold a pencil and write one's name is one of the fine motor skills children must demonstrate before entering kindergarten.

Further, schools ask kids to have gross motor skills down, such as running, jumping, and walking up and down stairs. Expected fine motor skills include using pencils and crayons, completing simple puzzles, using scissors, and copying shapes, like circles, triangles, and rectangles.

How do you know if your child is ready to enroll in kindergarten? Refer to the article above for lists of necessary skills. Be confident in the knowledge that, with the right kindergarten readiness preschool, your child will check off all of the necessary boxes.

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