Every parent always wants their child to have the best life possible, and families also recognize that so much of this comes from education. Having a positive and successful academic experience is one of the pivotal and fundamental aspects of life. Academic experiences and successes open so many doors and present so many opportunities, it makes sense why kindergarten and preschool — the first grades that a child ever attends — are so important.
Not only are they milestones in themselves, but preschool and kindergarten are the most important grades. If a child falls behind in their earliest years, this has been proven to be a setback in so many other aspects of life — and not just academic ones. There are a number of milestones that children should hit before they enter kindergarten. Take a look at some pre-kindergarten milestones that your child should strive for (with your help and encouragement, of course!), and enroll for preschool at one of our many locations! The Avenues, The Second Avenues, The Eastside, and The Cottonwood preschools are all exceptional schools in the Reggio Emilia philosophy that would be a great fit for your child. Call today!
Developing Speech
By the time your preschooler has become a kindergartener, they should be able to hold a conversation. Asking questions is an integral part of speech, not only because it’s how people converse and interact as a whole, but it shows understanding. If a child doesn’t have the language to ask about something they don’t know, they might be missing out on information and knowledge — this is especially crucial when children are entering school, where concepts won’t immediately be understood.
Reading Concepts
If your child isn’t reading quite yet, that’s okay — our preschool goes over lots of print concepts with your young one, and they’ll continue learning and developing these concepts in kindergarten. By the time your child does get to kindergarten, however, they should be able to recognize some sight words (such as “the” and “mom,” and words from their environment like “stop”). They should also be able to understand that we read from left to right, as well as hold a book correctly. Even pointing and pretend reading is an excellent form of practice.
Counting and Numbers
Your child should enter kindergarten understanding how counting numbers works, and should also be able to count up to ten, at least. Not only should they be able to count to ten, they should be able to identify which number comes next in a sequence, such as answering questions like “what comes after eight?” and also be able to count a number of objects. Practice with your child by asking them “how many?” and watch them count up the objects in front of them.
Social and Developmental Milestones
Gross motor skills and fine motor skills are highly important to a child’s developmental progress. In kindergarten and preschool, your child should be able to hold writing utensils, like a pencil or crayon — though some children struggle to develop these fine motor skills for a little bit, and that’s usually okay. Using a scissors is also something that should be worked on before entering kindergarten.
In terms of social and other developmental milestones, preschoolers should be able to be able to use the bathroom by the time they get to kindergarten. Of course, accidents happen every now and then, but on the whole, your child should be pretty independent in their bathroom skills. They should also be able to play with other children their age, know the concepts of sharing and apologizing, and begin understanding another child’s emotions.
Get Your Child Kindergarten-Ready By Enrolling in Preschool
Preschool is such an important grade for so many reasons, but one of the main ones is that it continues to help children develop these highly important milestones. Our Salt Lake City preschools can help ensure that your child is on the developmental path that they should be, but we’d also like to remind families that kindergarten milestones are more of a guideline than a rulebook. Everyone grows at their own pace, and not hitting a milestone immediately when they’re “supposed to” isn’t an immediate cause for alarm. But there are resources available that can help your child grow, and our preschools are absolutely one such example. Enroll today with Child Time Inc.!
