Pre-Kindergarten Readiness Test
Assessment of Basic Math and Communication Skills for Kindergarten
Homeschooling parents who are eager to “get started” with a kindergarten curriculum often consult a kindergarden readiness checklist. Knowing what skills are to be mastered at the pre-kindergarten age can help homeschool parents plan for kindergarten.
Basic Math Assessment for Kindergarten Readiness
In kindergarten, children will be learning to create and identify patterns based upon shape and color. Understanding concepts of “more and less” and “before and after” are important early math skills. Being able to recognize groups of one or two items shows an understanding of one to one correspondence, which is also a measurable math goal for pre-kindergarteners. Counting in songs and stories can help children begin to learn numbers and numeric progression.
Communication Skills Assessment for Kindergarten
Kids that are entering a traditional kindergarten are expected to be able to manage two different kinds of communication skills. Verbal communication skills are important for classroom management and sharing ideas, Written/printed communication skills are important on the road to literacy.
Verbal communication skills include the ability to communicate through conversation, to listen without interrupting, to speak understandably, to retell stories about their experiences, speak in sentences loner than five words, identify rhyming words by sound and to give messages from one person to another.
Printed communication skills include the recognize a few letters of the alphabet, and words with or without an association with symbols, like a stop sign, their name
Kindergarten Social Skills Assessment
In a traditional classroom environment, children entering kindergarten need to be able to separate from parents for a few hours without undue emotional trauma. Certainly, even homeschooled kindergarteners should be emotionally stable enough to allow mom a trip to the grocery store. Kindergarteners should also be able to recognize authority, begin to share with others, start to follow rules and understand that their actions have an effect upon others.
Kindergarten Physical Skills Assessment
The same fine motor skills that allow a children to zip their own jacket, and button their own pants can help a them learn to hold a pencil or scissors properly. Being able to jump with both feet and bounce a ball show development of large motor skills. Children should also be able to control their own bathroom needs.
Before beginning a kindergarten curriculum at home, do a self-check assessment of skills to determine whether basic math and communication skills are in place before academic study begins. Knowing your child’s strengths and weaknesses will help you be a better teacher.
Assessment Resources
Ambleside Online has a very easy list of general skills that a parent can check for. Scroll down to the bottom of their "Year 0" page for more information.
