Kindergarten Ready list

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The idea that simply because your child turns five they are ready for kindergarten is outdated. Experts at the Cleveland Clinic explain that age is not the sole determining factor in whether your child is prepared to start school. Instead, they suggest that you look at your child’s motor skills, attention span, and social skills.

Many schools offer screenings to help assess if your child is ready to jump into kindergarten. Parents will sometimes choose to delay enrollment by a year to give their children more time to catch up. There is even a term called “academic redshirting” that highlights how some parents choose to hold back their child an additional year, hoping they can give them a physical advantage when it comes to sports. Ultimately, the decision is yours. You know your child better than anyone. If you need some extra clues to see if your child is ready for kindergarten, the educational experts at Scholastic urge you to look for the following signs.

Your child may be ready for kindergarten if they can:

1. Take care of their own bathroom needs: They can recognize when they need to use the restroom, ask their teacher to go, and know how to clean themselves properly afterward.

2. Carry their own backpack

3. Open their lunchbox and repack it when they are done

4. Clean up after themselves