Here's a peek at a list of things your child should know before leaving Kindergarten. This list is merely scrapping the surface. There's at least 90 more things your child should know before leaving kindergarten.

1. Kindergarten students should know how to print first and last name.
2. Students should know how to listen responsively to stories and other texts read aloud.
3. Students should know how to respond appropriately and courteously to directions and questions.
4. Count by ones to 100 is an important skill to have before moving on to first grade.
5. Demonstrating an understanding of concepts of time (e.g., morning, afternoon, evening, today, yesterday, tomorrow, week, year) and tools that measure time (e.g., clock, calendar) is a must have skill before leaving kindergarten.
6.Use vocabulary related to time and chronology, including before, after, next, first, and last before moving on to first grade.
7. Kindergarten students should know how to follow rules, such as sharing and taking turns, and know the consequences of breaking them.
8. Make sure your 5 year old is able to identify selected body parts such as head, back, chest, waist, hips, arms, elbows, wrists, hands, fingers, legs, knees, ankles, feet, and toes.
9. Kindergarten students should be able to identify each letter of the alphabet.
10. Kindergarten students should know the difference between capital letters and lowercase letters.

It's hard to believe there's so much to learn in Kindergarten. Kindergarten is certainly not what it use to be. There was a time when Kindergarten was much like daycare. Students practiced their coloring and played on the monkey bars and the swings. There was also the daily story time when the students sat in a circle on the carpet while the teacher read a story to them.

I've been an educator for nearly 20 years and I've worked with at-risk youth for most of my career. I'm currently an elementary school principal at a campus with over 600 students. Throughout my career I've discovered that not only are we teaching the three Rs, but we are spending a great deal of our time teaching social skills. More and more students are arriving to school without the tools to be successful in a structured environment.

Patricia Tatum
http://educationally-speaking.blogspot.com/