Preschools are designed to get your child ready for the challenges of kindergartners. The expectations on preschoolers are pretty high for their next year. Schools test their skills at the beginning of the year to determine if they are ready. Understanding a school’s expectations for your preschooler will help you get them prepared for this testing phase.
First, visit the school where you intend to send your preschooler. This way you can get clear regulations on what the school expects and how they conduct the testing. You can also find out testing dates and possibly who is doing the testing. The following is just general guidelines since each State is a little different on how things operate.
Your preschooler is going to be tested on their numbers. They will likely be requested to count up to twenty or more. They will have to demonstrate that they can recognize the numbers zero to ten by naming them. Some schools will also require them to countdown from ten to zero.
Letter recognition is also a requirement. Your preschooler should be able to name the letters out of order. This is the way that the school will know whether your preschooler is very familiar with the individual letters and the sounds of those letters.
Writing their name is one of the basic skills that is expected of preschoolers. This is sometimes a difficult challenge with longer names. This can be accomplished with some practice. If your child has a difficult name with a lot of different letters, then they might need more practice than what the preschool offers.
The school will expect your child to at least recognize the basic colors. The basic colors of red, white, black, yellow, green, blue, purple, and black are typically tested.
Basic shapes are also included in the testing. Your preschooler will expected to name triangles, squares, rectangles, and circles.
These are a few general things that kindergarten is expecting your preschooler to know. In order to get them ready, you should check with the school to get clear guidelines on the testing procedures. The standards for kindergarten are often a lot higher than many parents realize.